Explaining Guitar Hero to someone who has never played it is an exercise in futility. I don't care how powerful your descriptive powers are, there is simply no way to properly convey what makes the game so special. Sure, you could imply that it's nothing more than Dance Dance Revolution for fingers, and that statement wouldn't be too far removed from the truth, but Guitar Hero II is far more than that simplistic synopsis. It is, above all else, a perfect union of variables that has no equal.

Virtual Reality...Finally

For nearly two decades now we've been hearing predictions and promises about the imminent arrival of Virtual Reality. The 90s saw an endless stream of stories about how Virtual reality would change the face of gaming and lead us all to the promised land. We all saw an endless parade of photographs that depicted developers wearing goofy-looking helmets that allowed them to navigate rudimentary 3D environments, or read one article after another about how VR would cure vertigo or how surgeons would conduct medical procedures from some remote location, all because they were “jacked-in”. Well all those promises came to nothing.

I can't tell you how many peripherals I've seen at trade shows that all promised to be the future of input. Everything from stereoscopic glasses to three-dimensional mice have been offered, and while a few actually shipped to retail outlets, the great majority quickly disappeared. Of the few that made it, none of them made any noticeable impact beyond that of fringe interest. Part of the problem is that most new peripherals require the support of game companies and this leads to a chicken and the egg dilemma, as game companies are loathe to invest time in something few people own, and people are loathe to purchase something that has so little support.

I bring all this up because Guitar Hero I & II is the only product to seamlessly meld an effective controller with a great game. They didn't simply release a great guitar controller with the hope someone would get around to making a game to support it. It represents a perfect union and sets the stage for an impressive future that will find the concept expanding in exciting directions.

So all those haphazard VR predictions from the 90s may not have led anywhere, but the fact remains; Guitar Hero is the best example yet of what Virtual Reality truly means. When you have that plastic guitar in your hands, you feel like you're playing a song. You act as if you have musical talent. And for the first time ever, you are tricked into thinking you can play an instrument, fulfilling all those fantasies you had in your youth of joining a successful rock band. If that isn't Virtual Reality then I don't know what is.

It Passes the Everyone Test

Beyond the fantastic controller, Guitar Hero represents the pinnacle of success for its ease of use, limitless replayability, demanding difficulty levels and excellent soundtrack. I let my mother, who is nearing 60, try out Guitar Hero II on the PS2 a few months ago, having no illusions that she'd actually enjoy it. This is a person who freaks out when a controller is put into her hands, the kind who wastes no time driving right into a wall when faced with a driving game or giving a new FPS approximately 5-seconds before she loses all sense of perspective. So it was with great shock that, after playing the initial tutorials, she jumped right into Easy mode and started playing Guitar Hero as if she were a born natural. A huge smile was spread across her face as she continued to nail the timing. Her foot was tapping, her hips were swaying and, well, she was jamming. After completing her first song, she turned to me and simply said, “This is incredibly fun. I feel like I'm actually playing.” It was one week later that she called me, begging to let her borrow the game for the weekend.

That's the magic of Guitar Hero.

I was skeptical the first time I tried Guitar Hero, probably because it had been explained to me so many times. But a few songs into Easy Mode and I was hopelessly hooked. Then I did something stupid: I checked out what songs were like on Medium difficulty and failed miserably. I thought to myself that there would be no possible way I could ever hope to handle a higher difficulty. Dealing with three fret buttons was more than enough. But something unusual happens after a bit of practice. You realize that you're actually developing a skill. There comes a time when you are no longer concentrating on the visual cues and instead find yourself “playing” the song. It's as if time and space melts away and you become “one” with the pattern. Before I knew it, Easy mode was just too easy and I was ready for something more difficult.

At first, Medium mode kicked my ass. But then I started gelling with it and found myself performing “pull-offs” and “hammer-downs” without even knowing that that was what I was doing. After a few weeks of relentless playing, suffering a few fingers that could no longer bend correctly, I was finally able to tackle Hard mode, a setting that had seemed all but impossible. This is where I currently reside and it is still humbling me, though I have finally managed to succeed in completing several songs, albeit not in the prettiest fashion.

I'll be on hard mode for quite some time. The game is serious now. I won't even look at the demands of Expert. I don't want to know what's in store. I can only imagine that it's a nightmare of pacing and hand-cramping maneuvers.

No matter. Guitar Hero II is one of those games you want to get better at. And you do get better. It's appeal is huge, its design flawless. Its future, and what it means to frustrated musicians across the globe, is all-encompassing and massive. The ramifications are impressive, at least in terms of actually teaching music. Right now it may be just a game, albeit one of the greatest ever devised. But with a little tweaking, Guitar Hero could easily morph into the purest teaching tool ever. Music Instructors listen up: your days are numbered. A new teacher is on the horizon. Just you watch.