The XBox Factor

For years, on tour buses and backstage, I was tortured by home video games. The mechanical music would drill into my cranium as if I were the subject of an inhumane scientific experiment like the character in the Stanley Kubrick film “A Clockwork Orange” (also named Alex). Since then, I’ve bemoaned the notion of our youth wiling away the hours with a joystick instead of a musical instrument, book, saucepan, paintbrush, or other creative device. I've remained convinced that these games would serve as a demarcation line symbolizing the descent of modern society. In short, I’ve never been much of a ‘video game’ person.

So how is it that I, Alex N. Skolnick, goal oriented creative person with a focus on productivity and a strict work ethic, have just purchased my very own Xbox 360?

It started on my most recent tour, where all the buses were equipped with Xbox’s. I noticed that, thanks to technology, the games have gotten much more more sophisticated and less annoying than their predecessors from the early 90's. In some cases, they are even more visually detailed than the twenty-five cent arcade games of my youth which I enjoyed playing, such as Pac Man and Defender. On this tour, you had to learn how to work the Xbox, which was the resident DVD player, CD player and gaming consul for each bus. It also has the capability of providing instant access to your Netflix subscription. By the end of the tour, as a gift to myself, I decided I had to own one.

Several guys on our tour would pull their hair out in frustration over this thing, myself included. We were rescued by a guy from another bus who had had to learn how to use one at home out of, in his words, 'dire necessity." He's the father of three young boys.

The hand-held remote resembles a tiny spaceship or robot and has an array of track wheels, buttons and triggers, some of which light up. It is very easy to make a mistake. There were nights after a show when, relaxing with our late night beer and wine, an accidental push of a button would interrupt a crucial scene as we were watching a ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ DVD. This would prompt a chorus of aggravated moans and dirty looks cast towards the perpetrator, his face growing more red than the button on the far right of the controller as he tried in vain to fix the problem. But once you get over the hurdle of this controller, you feel like you’re on top of the world.

I still believe in books and music over video games. But I’m at the point where those activities, while very constructive and enlightening, are not always recreational. When listening to good music, for example, I’m inspired to compose. When reading a good novel, I’m inspired to type. This is a wonderful problem to have. But sometimes its good to just clear your mind and do something that is purely a fun waste of time. The Xbox is perfect for this. Besides, it looks really great in my apartment.

I have to hand it to Microsoft for this creation. I'm definitely an Apple person when it comes to computers and accessories, but Mr. Gates and company really scored with this one, on the level that Apple did with the iPod. Some friends tried to steer me towards the Play Station or Wii, but I resisted. There was simply no other option besides the Xbox, which I purchased at the new 24 hour "Best Buy" store in Manhattan, buzzing with people, TV's, electronic beeps and clicks, blaring music and lights at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night.

With me was someone whom I'll call Jackie. We share a similar taste in books and art. An NYU honors student with a high grade point average, she is quite the opposite of the degenerate home video game junkies of my past, stoner couch potatoes whose daily lives were reduced to a bag of pot, a twelve pack of Budweiser and spending all day in front of the screen playing 'Donkey Kong.' I'm sure that mentality exists in dorms and apartments everywhere, but there are many others like her: creative, literate, artistic young people who are able to shoot aliens or commit grand theft on screen in moderation, with a sense of humor and fun and without losing their higher ambitions or their appreciation of more sophisticated activities. These games are something they’ve grown up with, along with the internet, MP3 players and text messages and they fit into their lives without taking them over.

Jackie suggested I pick up a copy of ‘Halo 3." I've enjoyed playing it so far, even though I suck. Other friends are threatening to come over and 'whoop my ass' at it. I'm also planning to have people over to share in the part of my purchase that was most exciting: an entire kit for the game 'Rock Band II.'

Why would someone like me, that actually plays guitar for a living, want to own Rock Band or Guitar Hero? For one thing, it's to see what this experience is like. After all, hundreds of millions have purchased these games which simulate live music performance, making it a big factor in my industry. I need to see what it's all about.
Also, a song I wrote many years ago, on a tiny four track cassette recorder in my parents' garage, is now available on RockBand II. It's called "Souls Of Black."

But I'd say the real trigger was this: I saw a VHI special on the new Beatles Rock Band, game, designed with creative input from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the kin of George Harrison and John Lennon, which blew me away. There has never been a game like this one, which recreates key moments and places in Beatles history including Liverpool, Shea Stadium, the "Let It Be" rooftop concert and recording sessions with perfect detail, right down to the carpet and mixing console at Abbey Road Studios. A lifelong Beatles fan, I had to have this game and the little guitar controller that came with it.

When I told him my father my plans over the phone, the conversation went something like this:

“You’re buying a machine that comes with a toy guitar and lets you pretend you’re playing guitar on stage in front of an audience?”

“That’s right.”

He pondered this for a moment. “Do you really need this thing?”