For a long time I resisted playing the original Guitar Hero. I had read the rave reviews. I had heard the buzz from friends. But I dismissed it out of hand, figuring that it was somehow beneath me. Being an accomplished guitarist, why would I want to pay 80 dollars to play songs on a fake guitar that I can already play in real life? So when Guitar Hero II came out, I hardly gave it a thought.

Cool as it may be to have a tool to be a groupie-getter, there is another point to Guitar Hero—it's also about making music.

I don't usually like music games. They don't do much for me. I don't like singing along doing karaoke, I don't like sweating and stepping on arrows in Dance Dance Revolution, and I don't like anything that uses bongos… but I like Guitar Hero. Why do I like Guitar Hero when so many other audio-based games leave me cold? In this case, it's all about the controller.