Spring Break
A Guitar Hero's journey: Part II
Jared Caraway, Contributing Writer, jcaraway@smu.edu
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Entertainment
When I left off last Thursday, I had just arrived at the castle of Marcus Henderson, master shredder extraordinaire and fast fingers behind most of the recordings used in the Guitar Hero video games. I challenged his credentials, and he naturally conjured up Lynyrd Skynrd, no questions asked, and began to wail out a highly embellished rendition of "Free Bird."
It gave me pause; a single tear rolled down my cheek and I was proud to be a Southern American. I promptly wiped the tear away and regained my composure, which I maintained throughout the remainder of the song. I figured that if I crossed my arms in front of my chest I'd look a bit more threatening; I must have, because the demons which had been circling around me while he played quickly backed off.
Once he stopped playing (and I stopped waving my lighter in the air), I pummeled him into submission with a stare so intense it made his eyes bleed. I'd heard tales of him, how he devoured men whole and filled quaint little goblets full of their blood just to be creepy. I'd studied closely the art of the intense mortal death stare for months in anticipation of this meeting.
He magically grew a fresh set of doom-gazers and shot rock 'n' roll laser beams back at me. He had the upper hand, and I threw up my arms in surrender, bowing down before him. In the end, all I got was a lousy interview (and a singed eyebrow). Here's how it played out:
Jared Caraway: Hey Marcus, thanks a lot for taking time off from your busy schedule (read: Rolling Stone, Stuff magazine interviews) to talk to a lowly college journalist like myself. What's with the guards at the gate?
Marcus Henderson: The term "guard" is overused these days and requires too much insurance. We prefer to call them "masked henchmen." They are the chosen rock warriors here to guard the secrets of [Guitar Hero] III and beyond.
JC: Rock warriors, eh? …Right. Now, I have to ask: Do you rule at your own game as much as you rule at guitar?
It gave me pause; a single tear rolled down my cheek and I was proud to be a Southern American. I promptly wiped the tear away and regained my composure, which I maintained throughout the remainder of the song. I figured that if I crossed my arms in front of my chest I'd look a bit more threatening; I must have, because the demons which had been circling around me while he played quickly backed off.
Once he stopped playing (and I stopped waving my lighter in the air), I pummeled him into submission with a stare so intense it made his eyes bleed. I'd heard tales of him, how he devoured men whole and filled quaint little goblets full of their blood just to be creepy. I'd studied closely the art of the intense mortal death stare for months in anticipation of this meeting.
He magically grew a fresh set of doom-gazers and shot rock 'n' roll laser beams back at me. He had the upper hand, and I threw up my arms in surrender, bowing down before him. In the end, all I got was a lousy interview (and a singed eyebrow). Here's how it played out:
Jared Caraway: Hey Marcus, thanks a lot for taking time off from your busy schedule (read: Rolling Stone, Stuff magazine interviews) to talk to a lowly college journalist like myself. What's with the guards at the gate?
Marcus Henderson: The term "guard" is overused these days and requires too much insurance. We prefer to call them "masked henchmen." They are the chosen rock warriors here to guard the secrets of [Guitar Hero] III and beyond.
JC: Rock warriors, eh? …Right. Now, I have to ask: Do you rule at your own game as much as you rule at guitar?
Be the first to comment on this story