Ready to Rock ‘n’ Roll

Cover image created by Midjourney using prompt:
guitar hero facing off against mario, stylised like a UFC poster

Hardcore music in video games is a fairly recent topic of convergence in contemporary history. Peripheral-based music games were rarely commercially successful until Guitar Hero and games alike came along. Guitar Hero reunited bands such as Motorhead and The Sex Pistols to rerecord some of their tracks for the franchise. Even going as far as inspiring artists such as Post Malone to start a music career. But what is the relationship between hardcore and video games and what is the significance to its fans and both industries is the burning question. 

The three analytical frameworks I plan to use in this research and why are as follows:

• Persona
  • This is to investigate the types of people that indulge in this segment of gaming and as to what their motivations are to participate, their characteristics, demographics and the sense of community they gain from participation.
• Nostalgia
  • This is to analyse emotions of reminisce experienced when playing or viewing these game texts. Do they have a deep connection to the game, which has led them to indulge in the hardcore space? Did this inspire them to pursue musical endeavours beyond the game? Do they feel a sense of nostalgia playing newer games like Metal Hellsinger? And what makes that occur?
• Media Archaeology
  • This is to analyse how the game text has been preserved over the years. This such as the physical guitar peripherals, the software discs/cartridges. Even further do they still play the games on their original platforms or do they prefer playing through the Clone Hero emulator? 

Video references:

Presentation design template created by Lut Toribio, Canva Creative Studio

Game Cover Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Image, Altar of Gaming, viewed 14^th August 2023, <https://altarofgaming.com/game/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock/&gt;.

TikTok Logo, image, Nogen Tech, viewed 14^th August 2023, <https://www.nogentech.org/tiktok-logo-and-its-story-growing-across-the-world/&gt;.

Twitch 2023, Twitch logo, image, Variety, viewed 14^th August 2023, <https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/twitch-backtracks-branded-content-rule-changes-backlash-1235636798/&gt;.