Guitar Hero

“Guitar Hero 2 Bundle with Guitar” (Activision)

I've played Guitar Hero 2 a couple of times, and surprisingly had a lot of fun. Just wish I could choose the songs to play instead of the alt-metal of some of the included tunes. I did best on songs I knew, like Can't You Hear Me Knocking and War Pigs, even though the fingering of playing an actual guitar and playing the Guitar Hero five button controller couldn't be more different.

Contrary to some purists' claims, the popular video game is inspiring kids to rock out for real. - Salon:
I kept wishing for “Guitar Hero.”
The magic of the video game is that it lets a novice sound like a pro. On “Guitar Hero,” playing well is easy. Even if you suck and stick to Easy mode, you can ape a solo worthy of Jimmy Page. It “makes you feel like you're a guitar player without having to practice for years and years,” says Ted Lange, an associate producer and in-house guitar expert at Red Octane, the company that makes “Guitar Hero.”
The game's guitar has no strings; its fretboard features five colored buttons that you press with your left hand as you hit a plastic strumming bar with your right. You do this in time according to what's on the screen, winning points -- and playing a cool song -- for hitting the right notes at the right time, and losing points, and making bad music, when you mess up.

I'd probably do well on the 80's rock version too, unfortunately.

“Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's” (Activision)

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