Globe Editorial
Even though video game makers have long targeted their products at teenage boys, music-oriented games such as “Rock Band’’ and “Guitar Hero’’ have somehow come to rely on old war horses such as Metallica and Aerosmith. The trend culminated last week in the release of “The Beatles: Rock Band,’’ in which players use game controllers shaped like instruments to mimic the lads from Liverpool.
All that hype about bringing Lennon and McCartney to a new audience turns out to be true: One young boy, of about age 10 or 11, sat behind a “Rock Band’’ drum kit at South Bay Center last week and expressed great enthusiasm for the game - and an utter lack of familiarity with songs such as “Day Tripper’’ and “Yellow Submarine.’’ While a purist might object that “Rock Band’’ lets people pretend to be rock stars without cultivating any skills, surely any game that brings players into the minds of storied performers is well worth celebrating.
Then again, some legendary rock bands have a harder time than others making the transition from “rebellious rock star’’ to “wholesome fun for the whole family.’’ In “Guitar Hero 5,’’ an avatar of the late Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain doesn’t just play his own songs; he can also cover the likes of Bon Jovi - the very symbol of the hair-metal excess to which the grunge movement was a reaction. Nirvana’s surviving members have criticized the game, and Cobain’s widow, musician Courtney Love, now claims game maker
Cobain’s signature pose of ironic detachment may seem misplaced in a commercial video game. Nearly two decades on, though, the battle between hair metal and grunge is hardly worth refighting. And it would be surprising indeed if Cobain, who became an icon to the Atari generation, figured any less prominently in video games than far older bands.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
