Amy Nelson, Associate Writer

My Name Is Amy, And I Love Rock Band

I never meant for it to be this way. Me? Rock Band? No way! Too trendy, too cheesy—those aren't real instruments, you know. But there it was, every time I'd go over to a friend's house, at the mall, on the Internet. And then my husband wanted to buy it. So, fine—I'd try it. Just once. You know, be a good sport. Nothing would come from it, I was sure it was not my kind of thing.

I didn't want to like it. But once I tried it I was hooked. I can rock out to "Poison" almost as good as Alice Cooper. (Almost-because no one could ever really top Alice). My 5-year old can sing "Handlebars" by the Flobots flawlessly—probably because he picks it over and over again, until you forget that you used to like that song. Even Auntie Nikki, who spurns video games for the written word, rocked a duet of "We Got the Beat." Where else can you play Metallica and the Beastie Boys right along with Stephen Colbert and Timmy from South Park? You heard me—Stephen Colbert. Awesome! And anyone can rock out—you don't have to be good, or even know the lyrics. Make some up, hum—you'll be fine! Although, for some reason, whenever I say, "Just sing, it's okay if you suck" people seem to get insulted.

For the 10 people out there who still haven't given Rock Band a chance, you are totally missing out. This is a phenomenal game, if only for the reason that literally anyone can play it. You don't have to be good at video games, good at music, or good at quantum physics. You can literally just pick up the controllers and rock out, thanks to "No fail" mode. By setting it to no fail in the options menu, you can assure that every song plays to the finish, even when Grandma is giving it a try. Don't worry, though, there is still crushing defeat available for those of you who like a challenge/epic failure. With skill levels ranging from beginner to expert, this game assures that you will never quite be good enough. Awesome!

The amount of music available for your playing pleasure is staggering. In addition to the stellar variety offered in the Rock Band games, you can also get "Track Packs" in various genres—country, metal, etc. Even better, you can go online and download individual songs for about two bucks each. My children currently break out "The Sweater Song" by Wheezer at random intervals, which they had never even heard of a few months ago. I shudder to think how we neglected their musical education before this game came along. There are even some free songs available for download, if your taste is not too discerning. All the tweens were super excited to see a song by the iCarly girl, even if the parents were not as impressed (for the non-procreaters out there, iCarly is a Nickelodeon show that airs non-stop in order to punish adults for ever being born).

You can pick up a Rock Band set for around $100 at the big box stores. This includes both the game and all of the necessary controllers (drum, guitar, microphone). I suggest picking up another guitar to maximize the fun—more people can play at a time, and you can have person on guitar and another on bass. There is quite a selection available to choose from—Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Beatles: Rock Band. For your original investment, it doesn't matter which set you decide on. After you have the instruments—which is the biggest expense—you can add the other games, pick up track packs, and download songs a few at a time.

The very coolest thing about this game is that it can make anyone feel like a rock star. Pick up that guitar, and within moments you start thinking "Wow, I really need to think about getting a Fender, and an agent."