And there’s a whole genre of YouTube videos of bands doing poorly in Rock Band at their own songs, so that would be a resounding “yes” to the question of people who are better in real life than at the game.

@Dan: I agree 100% with what you have, but I can’t hold back my desire to point out that some people don’t “get it” the way you do, and they actually see it as performance. This itself varies in degree of realism, for some will get inspired to take real guitar or voice lessons, while others assume getting good scores in the game means they must automatically be able to play the real thing.

General question: Am I the only one that knows people good at the real thing and terrible at the game?

Oh, and one very specialized appreciation for it: One of the kids in my classroom does “air Rock Band guitar” when he’s stemming sometimes during his lessons, and it’s 1) a lot less distracting than when he wants a Hot Wheels car or something, and 2) approved by his physical and occupational therapists-they really like the idea because of the coordination it takes. It’s actually pretty impressive- he’s a million times better than I’d ever be, I have no doubts.

Just a theory: I think the way different people “interpret” a game like Rock Band, what they take out of it, can vary from person-to-person in a way not unlike other games. Take all of those “fact-based” war games, for example- an enlisted guy is probably going to think about one on a very different level from someone who’s only experience with war or veterans was watching “Forrest Gump.” I think the conversation here is a little skewed because the comments, so far, have been dominated by people with at least mild experience in music performance and/or analysis. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I’d be curious to hear from anyone that has never played or studied music but has experience (good or bad) with the game.

As for Lady Gaga, I watched a interview she did on ‘Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’ and she said that her stage name was a ‘Queen’ homage (although the only thing that pops into my mind is the song ‘Radio Gaga’) and that she did go to the different clubs as a teenager and do all sorts of crazy stuff; using hairspray in combintion with a lighter was one example she gave. She also said that she likes, and even searches for, non-traditional outfits (for the interview she was dressed in what looked to be a plastic post-it dress with one stuck in her hair).

I think that she thrives on all the “buzz” her outfits and music causes, not really caring what people think about her which I think is good but at the same time it can be detrimental to her career because she’ll do anything if it creates enough sales.

That alone is worth something.

Music I’ve played on Rock Band would probably be about a 1.5. That’s pretty low, but it’s nothing to sniff at.