Week 11

One nice feature of Rock Band is that it encourages me to learn on my own. After I play the game, I am curious to hear other songs by these bands, or look up general information on song artists. For example, after playing songs by the Rolling Stones, I can use the internet to research their other songs and group history on a few websites. Not only does this increase my knowledge of rock music, but it also shows that there is a motivation for external learning outside of the game. Other games, such as Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart are fun to play, but do not have the research capabilities that Rock Band has. In my research, I have discovered a few new bands that I like. Before playing the game, I had never listed to Weezer or Nirvana, but after enjoying the game play of their songs, I decided to research their other music. As it turns out, I recently bought the Weezer Green Album from iTunes and I have enjoyed it a great deal since my purchase. Because Rock Band encourages studying music in one's free time, outside of the game, it provides a great learning opportunity for its players and students everywhere. Every video game should model Rock Band and motivate people to study in their free time by creating a solid and creative theme for their game.