Ginny from the Blog

As you may remember, my eyes were recently opened to the joys of Guitar Hero. I don’t own the game, so I either have to urge my friends to invite me over to play or go to Fox and Hound on a Sunday night (which I have done … once and it was only slightly embarrassing to play on stage in front of the preppy patrons).

I would hardly consider myself an addict. I can’t even get through an entire song on hard. I have friends who I thought were pretty brilliant at the game, but none of them can even come close to the mastery of Raleigh teen Blake Peebles.

Blake counts himself among the top 10 Guitar Hero players in the world. He loves the game so much that he was able to work out a deal with his parents. He’s tutored at home now so he can spend more time playing video games. The News and Observer wrote an article about him.

Blake seems happy with his home school arrangement, as you would expect from a teenager who is allowed to stay up into the wee hours to play video games. Sometimes, when Mike heads to the gym before 5 a.m., his son is still playing video games. Blake calls it working “the late shift.”

He didn’t enjoy school, he says, and especially didn’t like the rules associated with attending the Christian academy. Shaggy hair is more his style.

He’s good at video games. “I wasn’t really good at anything else that I liked.”

I caught up with Blake during the Raleigh Wide Open celebration two weeks ago. He was playing Rock Band at the booth next to ours, so I pulled him aside for an interview.

Before you judge Blake or his parents for letting him drop out of school to be homeschooled, listen to what he has to say. And read the N&O article for more insight into how he’s doing.

Thoughts?

I used to think Guitar Hero was stupid. I tried it a couple of times and it was too hard. The notes were falling so fast. I felt like I was going cross-eyed. So I wrote it off as a silly fad and forgot about it.

But then I went to visit my family in southern Illinois, where an actual source of entertainment for local teens is going to Super Wal-Mart. Luckily for this city mouse, my 13-year-old sister just got Guitar Hero. She kindly showed me how to play it, and with a little practice, I was on the medium level in no time. It was addicting.

Check out one of my first attempts at the game (includes some creative camera work from my sister):

After my trip, I spotted an article in the N&O about a North Raleigh teen who dropped out of school so he could devote more time to perfecting Guitar Hero. I read that Fox & Hound in North Hills offered free Guitar Heron on Sunday nights, so I went to check it out. I was hoping to spot Blake Peebles, the local Guitar Hero whiz. Instead, a friend signed me up to play.

Before I knew it, I was standing on a small platform in front of a restaurant full of people playing Guitar Hero on a projector screen. I played “Ruby” by the Kaiser Chiefs on medium and lost (though I contend the green button wasn’t working properly).

Fox & Hound offers free Guitar Hero from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Sunday nights. They have two guitars, so you can square off against strangers. It’s fun. And if you’re not into Guitar Hero, it’s completely amusing to just sit there and watch (especially when the bracket pairs up a tween with an adult).