Gamasutra has an excellent interview up with my pal Rich Dansky of Red Storm and Ubisoft fame. Rich is one of the best computer-game writers around, an excellent writer of fiction, and a gentleman and connoisseur of fine scotches to boot.
I also owe Rich for introducing me to Guitar Hero, one of the greatest video games of all time. Having played it at his house, I considered running out and buying a Playstation 2 just so I could have the game at home too. Instead, I waited patiently for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II to hit stores. My wife and kids rewarded me with a copy of the game (and the X-plorer guitar controller) as my Father’s Day gift, and I’ve been rocking out ever since.
Best moment in the game so far: When you complete the Career mode on Medium difficulty, the game gives you the option of playing “Free Bird” as an encore for your sold-out concert at Stonehenge. It even gives you several chances to back out of tackling this legendary monster if you like. If you accept and manage to strumble (dibs on that word!) your way through the song, the alien mothership that’s been hovering overhead sucks you up in a beam of light and hauls you off into the stars. As the ship becomes just another star in the sky, the constellations rearrange themselves to read “Live and Let Rock.”
Too damn awesome.
