I’m a gamer and as such, I’m pro-gaming across the board. So, I was thrilled to see some new research out of the UK that shows that playing games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero has encouraged up to 2.5 million kids to learn to play real musical instruments. You constantly hear the doom and gloom merchants bashing gaming on the head for distracting kids from other activities, but here we have a story about gaming encouraging kids to take up music for real. The research, conducted by UK charity Youth Music, shows that this relatively new genre of game is the inspiration behind this revived interest in musical instruments.In addition, guitar stores around the country have reported increased sales of instruments featured in the game and music teachers have reported an increased number of requests for lessons. In an interesting twist, many of the kids are asking to learn what we would now deem rock-classics such as numbers by Alice Copper and Birmingham’s finest, Black Sabbath, because they are featured in the games. With Wii now in on the act, the number of kids looking to take-up musical instruments for real will surely increase, especially on the back of the success already had by the guys and gals at Xbox 360.
MyTake – Yet another reason why gaming is good and actually enhances and enriches lives. We constantly hear about the shrinking number of kids taking up the more traditional pastimes and hobbies, yet despite all efforts by society to reverse this, it’s gaming that actually gets the job done in the end. Look at the impact of other games such as the Brain Training products from Nintendo, the Viva Piñata from Xbox 360, yet more examples of the positive impact gaming can have on our kids. I guess for some people, the world is still flat and that’ll never change….shame, they’ll never get to enjoy the delights of Pro Evolution Soccer!
