Rock Band Rocks!

My son and I just finished playing a game of Rock Band on his Xbox 360 entertainment system. For months I have been hearing the constant rhythmic thumping of the electronic drumset (included with the game) without realizing exactly what was going on, but I finally got a chance to try it first-hand tonight. When I went downstairs to ask him to play one of his games with me, he was already playing the guitar (also included with the game), clicking the color-coded buttons in rhythm as they made their way down the screen at a seemingly impossible pace. I decided I would give the drums a try. Within minutes (after choosing a much easier difficulty level), we were playing songs as unique parts of the fictional band that we created in the game. We played songs by all kinds of artists, ranging from the grungy sound of Nirvana to the more vintage sound of bands from my era, like Mountain. It was interesting to play the game, because not only was it incredibly addicting and fun, we both had the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and also enjoy music from each other’s unique generations.

We virtually performed them in the game together. It was very refreshing to play a game like this. That, in itself, is a reward--to have a common ground with my teenager.

The object of the game is not violent or antagonistic; rather, it is entirely cooperative. I hope games like this continue to be popular with today’s youth as they promote much better values while still managing to be incredibly fun.