Drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica is loving his band’s latest game project, particularly its popularity with the kiddies.
“I have a 10-year-old, a seven-year-old and started realizing that this was actually a great way for them to be exposed to music,” reflected 45 year-old Ulrich.
His band, Metallica, will be releasing its own Guitar Hero-branded videogame in 2009, a band-exclusive Guitar Hero successor to the profitable Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Due to the impressive sales of the Aerosmith game, GH publisher Activision sought out Metallica to be its second act, an offer the band immediately understood and accepted.
“That was what we in Metallica’s world call a no-brainer,” said Ulrich. “That was one of those decisions that took about 12 seconds to facilitate.”
The band members were given huge creative control, influencing the song list and stages.
“We were involved in terms of song selection, in terms of graphics, in terms of storylines. We were very hands on in all those areas … I sat down and approached it like a show – a set list,” explained Ulrich.
Reports of young kids taking their guitar gaming skills to the professional level are proof that the upsurge in music games is introducing youngsters to music they probably haven’t heard of but still seem to wildly enjoy, even if it was before their time.
Ulrich commented, “In five years time or 10 years time I think we’ll find that this platform of reaching the kids and a way of getting music to the fans is probably one that is going be very viable – a pretty major source for people to get access to music.”
“I think that bands and artists will be releasing records directly into Guitar Hero and all their competitors platforms and so on over the next few years,” he added in support of digital distribution.
Despite knowing how popular the game is with kids and being a fan of the game himself, he admitted, “We haven’t played the game as a band yet. My kids completely obliterate me at this game and embarrass me.”
via: GameCulture
