Over the weekend I played Rock Band and Rock Band 2. As I was told by DJ Solobuns, “Rock Band 2 > Rock Band 1,” and he’s right, I suppose. The layout is cleaner, there seem to be a ton of songs, and when I was playing with him and GC on Saturday night, the track list was laid out by decade. We coulda played the Monkees’ “Take the Last Train to Clarksville,” although I don’t know why we didn’t. We were up until about 2:30 in the morning playing “Everlong” and that Stephen Colbert song and then we played Dream Theater (or tried, but failed miserably), and a few 80′s songs.

I remember not liking the whole “Guitar Hero” fad, but when “Rock Band” came out, slightly different story. I realised why while playing the drums almost all night that night. People like these games because you don’t really need any musical talent to play. You need to have a sense of rhythm, and you need to know how to push buttons. And anyone who’s played Mega Man knows the importance of timing jumps and just how to mash buttons.

I’m a guitar player. I am not a drummer. And the reason “Guitar Hero” and its sequels don’t appeal to me is that guitar-playing has been dumbed down to a series of clicks and switches. On the bright side, I could play an Aerosmith solo no problem on EASY mode, and I can pretend like I know how to play drums when we’re not trying to tackle “Panic Attack.”

And maybe real drummers aren’t a big fan of “Rock Band” for the same reason I’m not a fan of “Guitar Hero.’