Because calling it “Guitar Hero 101” would be a bit too obvious, New York University now offers students a course called “Guitar Heroes (and Heroines): Music, Video Games and the Nature of Human Cognition.”
As you rightfully guessed, the class covers Activision’s wildly successful Guitar Hero rhythm game series, though instead of just giving students an extra few hours every day to practice their faux musicianship, the course raises deeper questions such as “Why are human beings so easily sucked in by videogames?”
As the New York Times points out, some parents are a bit upset that their children are learning about videogames.
“I just wrote a big check here,” says Glen Jackson, father of a new NYU student. “I’m not paying for him to study video games. It seems a bit watered down.”
Published: Sep 4, 2009 01:33 pm