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"Games are about Wanking", Says Limey DJ

Posted by Cole Stryker

In the latest issue of NME, a British rock rag that hasn't been relevant in decades, has published an article about the relationship between virtual rock stardom via games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and SingStar vs. actual rock and roll. DJ David Quatick, who from the above portrait looks like he lives a downright debauched life, says:

Games are not rock 'n' roll, they're metal - aggressive, loud, violent and scared of women. You can't dance to a game or have sex to it. games are still for nerds. Rock 'n' roll is about fucking, games are about wanking. Rock music makes you leave the house and meet drugs, games make you stay in and smell of your own piss.

Whine on, you crazy diamond. I am reminded of one-time NME darling Kurt Cobain, who claimed to spend nearly every waking moment of his youth sitting in his bedroom with a guitar, learning old Beatles songs.

According to the the Guardian Games Blog, the article paints gamers as socially stunted, nerds. Progressive, I know. There is one dissenting opinion, courtesty of the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten:

[Guitar Hero is] teaching you how not to be a rock star. How not to be an arsehole, and how not to seek fame and fortune, because the whole fucking thing's a joke.

The most rock and roll act I saw live last year (and I saw about a hundred) was Crystal Castles at Glastonbury. These journalists need to quit being such crochety old rockists. Oh Chad Kroeger, up yours!

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Posted Dec 09 2008, 08:00 AM

Filed under: guitar hero, rock band, cole stryker, england, nme, rock and roll

Comments

Demaar said:

Hmm, I dunno, playing guitar all alone in your bedroom sounds more like wanking than playing plastic toy instruments in the lounge with friends.

December 13, 2008 1:27 PM

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.