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Ysy

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Where's the game?

This has been bothering me for a while.  Actually, it's been since Guitar Hero's really taken off with sales and has managed to break sales records.  And the question's become more frequent with each new generation of music game, peaking thus far with Guitar Hero: World Tour.  It's the question a lot of musicians I know have asked and a lot of gamers detest, but it's more relevant than ever.  I ask the following as both a gamer and a musician:

Guitar/Bass/Drum players of said games, why even bother paying for this instead of acquiring an instrument and relishing in some real enlightenment?

I understand that as a programmed piece of software, the game forces the player to strum and bang along in rhythm; this could be a major benefit for those lacking musical talent.  People who have never taken an interest in music theory can use it as a tool for learning rhythm, principles behind playing techniques, and the like.  Hell, I can understand playing it just for competing against scores.  But, over the last week or two, we've seen the unveiling of both Rock Band 2's Ion drum set and Guitar Hero: World Tour's new guitar.  

Rock Band 2 Ion drum set
Rock Band 2 Ion drum set

The former, the Rock Band 2 Ion drum set, is an optional, $300 purchase.  Just look at it:
This is a controller to a video game.

The latter, the Guitar Hero: World Tour guitar comes packaged with the forth-coming bundle.  I can't, unfortunately, find a demo image (but most gamers are familiar with the set-up of the standard gaming guitar used by both Rock Band and Guitar Hero).  In addition to the five fret buttons at the top of the neck, there will be a new touch-screen added near the base of the neck for the high-octave guitar and "unbound solos - shred how you want".

At what point do these games stop becoming games and start becoming crappy lesson simulators?  The Ion drums speak for themselves and after such a financial and time investment to purchase and practice for that score, why didn't one bother to just get a real set-up?  The guitar is far less of a simulator compared to the Ion drum set; however, taking style techniques such as slides begins to punch through the thin wall.  In the competition to have the best plastic instruments, which company will add more than one column to the fret board of these guitars?  Which company's software will feature enough drum tracks to become a full-fledged drum simulator?  I pray that this world will never know.
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