::A Geek in Korea::

I went to my local game shop. There was a crowd around the display, and someone was rocking out to American classic rock. This could only mean one thing: Guitar Hero had arrived in Korea. This is the first encounter I’d ever had with Guitar Hero. I watched a beginner strum out the Toadies.

I was tapping my feet along to the tune, but it was clear it was new to the person with the guitar shaped controller. While rocking out to classic rock tunes seems like a lot of fun, I’m not about to drop the cash for an X-box 360 with special controller for one game. If my Playstation2 still worked, maybe. (Scowls)

There is an alternative, if you don’t mind looking a little goofy. Frets on Fire is a Guitar Hero clone for the PC. It even runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac! While it doesn’t come with a cool guitar controller, it would work if you used an adapter and plugged in one on the PC. Normally you simply take your keyboard and use the F1-F5 keys, with the Enter key acting as a “pick” for the string.

Yes, it’s exceedingly dorky to use a keyboard as a guitar, however, Frets on Fire does have an advantage over Guitar Hero. You can download music and create your own “tabs” or the key presses that the game uses. Thus, if you wanted to import your own music into Frets on Fire, it would be possible! That’s really cool! There are also modifications available that let you change the backgrounds and the game mechanics.

There are music “packs” available where people have created the tracks for popular artists already available too. I haven’t done anything except play with the free tracks available with the game though. I’ve got carpal tunnel already trying to bend my arms and trying to use all five keys at the proper time. Game setup is an breeze in Ubuntu. Download and run. There is no .deb package available however that I could find.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhn_TDc1zk[/video]

There are a ton of videos available at video sites that show how cool both Guitar Hero and Frets on Fire are when played by guitar or keyboard gods.

I gave the game a few tries, but I’m hopelessly bad at it. Still, it’s a really fun concept, and another proof that there are games for Linux that people might want to check out.