At the ages of 65 and 72 respectively Nick Mason, of Pink Floyd, and Bill Wyman, of the Rolling Stones until 1992, can be forgiven for being a little curmudgeonly. However, in a piece published by the BBC today the two seem to be the latest in a line of musicians for whom the phenomenon of the musical video game has become a topic of mild irritation. In particular with the notion that the instant gratification of playing a game like Rock Band or Guitar Hero discourages people from the more arduous task of learning the real instrument.

Despite describing the games as "interesting new developments" Mason, who drummed on the legendary 1973 progressive rock album 'The Dark Side of the Moon', told the BBC:



Bill Wyman, bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992, also expressed a negative opinion towards the games in terms of their musical impact on the youth:



In contrast to those opinions the co-founder of the company behind Rock Band, Alex Rigopulos, said:



Puns about the wall aside, in the context of education no less, it remains to be seen how much validity there is to either point of view. Do people who otherwise would have learned an instrument forgo that experience to instead play a computer game equivalent? How does Rock Band or Guitar Hero compare with the live, compositional and improvistional aspects of music?

Source: BBC