By Colleen Lerro

My interest (or as some might call it – my obsession) in Guitar Hero began last December when listening to a really bad 80s cover band, my friends and I decided we could definitely rock better than them. Having no idea just how much time Guitar Hero would consume, we decided that it would be an easier route than learning to play an actual instrument. Since then I have played on PS2, PS3, XBox and even purchased a Wii and Guitar Hero III so I could play at home too.

Fortunately, I’m not alone in the numerous hours I spend gaming. A 2006 Gaming Technology Study CEA released showed 26 percent of adult gamers spend more than 10 hours per week on their game console. This compares surprisingly to only seven percent of teens who spend more than 10 hours a week on their consoles. Among adult gamers there is an even balance of male (51 percent) and female (49 percent) players, but specifically in the 25-34 age-group women outnumber men two to one regardless of the gaming platform.

Gearlog posted 10 Signs You May Like Guitar Hero Too Much: Accessories, Mods, and More, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t own any of the products on the list – maybe I’m not as obsessed as I thought. Then I caught myself wondering where I could buy one of the guitar stands, and hey, a bag to store my guitar in might not be such a bad idea. I also thought about getting Guitar Hero for BlackBerry to pass the time as I metro to work everyday.

OK, so maybe I do have a problem, but Digital Freedom artist Samantha Murphy’s visit to our office last week made me feel a bit better about it. Samantha came to talk about how new artists use our technologies, and when the subject of Guitar Hero came up she said she was “all for it.” If everyone could play an instrument it wouldn’t be special, she said, so she sees no problem in people finding different ways to express their love of music.

Guitar Hero rockers everywhere can be happy that new music is on the way. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will become the first game of the series to be almost completely dedicated to a single band, and Def Leppard has confirmed three of the band’s songs will be on Guitar Hero IV. You can even win your way into the next Guitar Hero. Now that might be taking things a little too far.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 10:40 am and is filed under Consumer Research, Digital Rights, Gaming. Reply to this post, or trackback from your own site. Follow responses to this entry through the comments RSS feed.