The Problem With Reality

Video games are meant to be flights of fancy but, as with television, reality has become an increasingly popular concept to tap into.

Nowhere is this more evident than in music-themed video games. Titles like Guitar Hero 5, The Beatles: Rock Band and soon-to-be released DJ Hero all use real musicians, living and dead, to help create a stronger sense of realism.

https://lastchance.cc/dj-hero-in-house-impressions-5356639%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

But is that a good thing?

The self-titled Rock Band game released to phenomenal reviews and delivered an experience that was solely devoted the band. The game, it seems, was an effort to not only give people a chance to play through their favorite Beatles hits, but to get a better sense of how The Beatles grew both as musicians and a band.

https://lastchance.cc/the-beatles-rock-band-review-blisters-on-my-fingers-5352358%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

The same week that fans of the fab four were rejoicing in the singular experience of The Beatles: Rock Band, the widow, fans and band mates of late grunge icon Kurt Cobain were up in arms over his inclusion in Guitar Hero 5.

Prior to the game’s release, publisher Activision told Rolling Stone magazine that Courtney Love wasn’t just integral in bringing Cobain to life in the game, she was great to work with.

But in a frenzy of late-night Twitter updates a week after the game’s release, Love denied that she was happily involved in the project, posting 214 Tweets over a six-hour period decrying the game, Cobain’s inclusion in it and most hotly the ability to have the grunge singer perform other songs.

http://gawker.com/5356730/twitter+crazed-courtney-love-wants-dave-grohl-ass+raped-by-everett-true

It’s this single feature, which allows gamers to unlock Cobain and have him sing everything from Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire to Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name, that seems to be the most upsetting to friends, fans and family.

Some critics too, were unhappy with it. Kotaku’s own review described the ability to reanimate the virtual corpses of Cobain and Johnny Cash and control them as marionettes in other people’s songs, as tacky and crude.

https://lastchance.cc/guitar-hero-5-review-do-the-evolution-5354074%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the two surviving members of Nirvana, released a joint statement asking Activision to alter the game to prevent the virtual Cobain from performing songs that are not his own.

https://lastchance.cc/activision-courtney-love-signed-cobain-contract-for-gu-453112534%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

“Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.”

They did send along a prepared statement saying that the game had the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a “written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5,”

While Love didn’t respond to our requests for an interview, her attorney did, saying that while there was an agreement in place, it didn’t allow the sort of treatment Cobain is getting in the game.

“Ms. Cobain is extremely upset about Activision’s use of Mr. Cobain’s likeness to sing the songs of others in its Guitar Hero game,” Keith A. Fink, Love’s attorney, told Kotaku. “Activision was granted permission by Kurt’s trust solely to use his name and likeness. Activision was not given an unbridled right to use Mr. Cobain’s name and likeness. ”

https://lastchance.cc/cobain-attorney-calls-for-activision-to-limit-musicians-5357425%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

“The agreement Activision has with the trust doesn’t allow them to use his likeness in ways that denigrate his image.”

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.