70: Guitar Hero

Image Text

And then do it again in a moment now that they're out of Star Power.

Explanation

Okay, to start: Guitar Hero is a series of video games (originally a single game), currently distributed by Activision. In the game, players simulate playing guitar on famous guitar songs using a plastic guitar-shaped controller which has five color-coded buttons on the neck (representing guitar frets) and a rocker bar on the body (simulating a strumming motion). The game now includes other instruments such as drums and vocals, although not at the time this comic was published.

During gameplay, the screen is typically split as shown in the comic with a computer animated band shown on the top half, and the actual musical "chart" on the bottom as a song plays. The chart is written as depicted in the comic as a track shown in perspective, broken with horizontal lines to indicate beats of music. As the song progresses, the chart comes towards the foreground. Notes that must be played are shown as the colored circles. when a colored circle reaches the foreground and overlaps the empty circle at the front of the chart, the player must hold down that colored fret of the controler, and strum (YouTube would give you a clearer picture of what it looks like). The game's creators attempt to be as accurate as is possible with five buttons to the actual hand movements required to play a song.

In this comic, Randall suggests that, were he in a real rock band, he would perform a mellow song but intentionally put a complicated guitar solo in, not for musical value, but solely to antagonise Guitar Hero players with an impossible solo. As the comic suggests, a random flailing would likely make for a very difficult passage to play in Guitar Hero.

Another element in Guitar Hero is "Star Power: Playing certain sections accurately in their entirety adds to a player's "Star Power" meter which, when full, can then be used at an opportune moment to double one's points for a period of time. This is most advantageous during passages with the most notes (commonly during solos). It can be frustrating to get to a solo and not have Star Power available to double your points. Thus, to do a second solo right after the first one would mean that players who wisely use their Star Power during the first solo would never have Star Power available for the second solo, frustrating them.

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Discussion

The image appears to me to have a female in the background, the hair hanging below the face might look like a beard/goatee. But I suggest it is a supposed to be a long haired individual rather than a person with a beard. -JD132.3.25.78 09:17, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Agree it is Megan and whomever thought it was a beard must have made the mistake you refer to. Have corrected and added category. Was here looking for characters with a beard and though why is beard written here when I saw the comic before finding the error. --Kynde (talk) 21:54, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

It is agreed that the man is Hairy. -JD132.3.25.78 09:16, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Has anybody actually done that? I'll be more than happy to add it into osu! (the exclamation mark is part of the game's name) Sobsz (talk) 21:55, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

"osu!" has spinners. Omg Oriental Music Group (talk) 09:10, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Is the transcript in any way official (if yes, where can I find the source?)? Because I don't see the area with the "bump" as a "catwalk", but just as the area of the game where they approach. The stage is the background, separate from the rest. Fabian42 (talk) 14:43, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

The source is here: JSON interface to comic 70: Guitar Hero

[[On a stage, a guy with a beard is in the background, holding a microphone. In the center is a guy with an electric guitar. The catwalk has bumps to resemble the tracks of Guitar Hero.]] When I'm in a rock band, I'm gonna do a cool, mellow song. Then in the middle I'll stop, announce "this part is just to be an asshole to people playing Guitar Hero," and then flail wildly on the strings for 30 seconds.

BTW: The catwalk with the bumps is in front of the Guitar Hero... --Dgbrt (talk) 16:36, 8 June 2018 (UTC)

This won't happen unless the guitarist is also a Guitar Hero level developer. Omg Oriental Music Group (talk) 09:12, 13 April 2023 (UTC)