It’s not about sales. Sales alone don’t make a great game/book/movie/etc.

And it’s not just about Cobain.

It’s about the artistry that goes into making a game. Taking a dead rock star and inserting him willy nilly into a game is novelty. That’s what GH5 did.

Taking an old band and creating a tribute to their times and music is a work of art. That’s what TBRB did.

I don’t care if you love or hate Cobain and how you think he should be treated. It’s about game developers being aware of the wider world and incorporating it into their games. It’s about expecting more from game developers than a cheap thrill.

I think that it’s kind dumb for people to be dramatic and over sensitive about Cobain being “misused” in a video game. The world is a snarky place and people who get off on making fun of Christians and fat people and corporations really don’t deserve to have one of THEIR sacred cows declared to be immune to similar treatment. Cobain fans aren’t any more special than anyone else. They need to learn to deal with the fact that most other people don’t think that Cobain is the second coming or the spirit of the 90′s or a founder of the alternative sound or ANY of that crap. He’s just another fragile rockstar who gre miserbale, lost it, and killed himself. That’s sad but it doesn’t entitle him to universal posthumous reverence.

Nor was Nirvana ever known for writing particularly deep lyrics. Mostly they did emo whining that tied to make ennui sound rebellious and that was fashionable at the time that they did it. They were a POP band that learned to brand themselves as something else while outselling other types of pop. If you think their lyrics were especially deep and profound then you are one easily impressed guy. Not that there’s anything WRONG with that. But seriously there are much better written songs and poetry out there.

It’s silly to get upset over this. If you don’t want puppet Cobain signing Flava Flave tunes then one solution is : don’t unlock him or if you do then don’t use him in Flava Flave songs. If it REALLY bothers you then don’t buy Guitar Hero V. Whatever. It’s not like anyone anywhere really cares about Nirvana fan’s hurt feelings over a freaking video game. Guitar Hero V is selling really well. Most people see nothing wrong with having fun with a little fake Kurt Cobain avatar dancing around.

And no, it wouldn’t bother me a bit if they did the same to Johnny Cash, or Jimi Hendrix, or Janice Joplin, or Elvis, or Freddie Mercury, or Syd Barret, or Tiny Tim, or Roy Orbisson, or John Lennon, or George Harrison, ANY other dead celebrity.

Shouldn’t that read ‘Guitar Hero’, and not ‘Rock Band’? Just thought I’d point that out with it being a main point of the article.