Op-Ed

We Rock

Under the heading: "Worth the Price of Admission," JR, Joe, Shannon The Man and I had the extreme pleasure of visiting the Red Octane booth for a few precious minutes this afternoon to preview Guitar Hero 2.

There simply are not enough adjectives in the English language to describe the experience.

The game is expected in November of 2006, and will bring with it full co-op (lead and bass guitars), the ability to set a different difficulty setting for each player and a slew of new songs. Among them, "War Pigs," "You Really Got Me" and Primus' "John the Fisherman" - as played by Primus. Apparently the band was so enamored of the original game that they "just gave" Harmonix their master tape. To say that this never happens in the music industry would be an understatement.

JR and I rocked out to "You Really Got Me," giggling like school girls the entire time. It was, aside from my first experience with the original game (and a few "adult moments"), the most enjoyable five minutes of my life to date.

The Red Octane booth is easily the most popular at the show and not a few people have dubbed GH2 "Game of Show," among them, our very own Shannon. I'll reserve judgment on that until after the show, but I can say that I know exactly where the first 50 of my gaming dollars are going to be spent in November.