E-Mail This Article to a Friend An axe to grind, continued

Even with all that cred, LoPiccolo admits the 50-plus-person company is amazed by the overwhelmingly positive response to Guitar Hero. Harmonix games have caught on before: Karaoke Revolution (developed by Harmonix and published by Konami) is on its fourth release, Karaoke Revolution Party, and has drawn such a loyal fan base that Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s celebrated KR Party’s recent release with collectible soda cups. But there were doubts about whether a rock game would fly.

"At first, we weren’t even sure kids cared about rock anymore. We were like, ‘Is all they care about hip-hop?’" LoPiccolo says, cradling the Gibson-SG-modeled controller in his lap. "But I knew somebody would get it, because we liked it and we’re not the only people in the world like us. I think maybe we had a little bit of surprise about how much people have liked it."

People do like Guitar Hero ... a lot. Dan, a 30-year-old from Tulsa, posted video online of his television showing that he beat the game’s most complex songs (Pantera’s "Cowboy from Hell" and Ozzy’s "Bark at the Moon") at the highest difficulty level. On Guitar Hero’s MySpace page, 17-year-old Luke from Houston posted photos of him and a friend canoodling with the plastic instrument. The official GH message board already has fans discussing how they’ll customize their guitar controllers. And when I e-mailed GameSpy.com executive editor Dave Kosak about the release, he wrote back, "I’d love to talk about Harmonix ... as a matter of fact, as I type this, I’ve got another editor a few feet away from my desk playing ‘Ziggy Stardust’ on Guitar Hero."

In a corner conference room furnished with a wide-screen television and a PlayStation 2, LoPiccolo offers to demonstrate Guitar Hero. Cruising through the six possible venues, he points out that a few reference Boston. The lowest-level basement show is located at 34 Winship Street, which was the address of the Tribe communal band house. The Freak Pit, a dingy tribute to CBGB’s with a poster of the Model Sons on one wall, is located on 675 Mass Ave — the actual coordinates of Harmonix’s Central Square headquarters. Red Octane, a third-level venue named after the game publisher, is described by LoPiccolo as an "upscale rock club like the Paradise or Avalon." And the stadium is called the Garden.

"We all have this loyalty to the scene," explains LoPiccolo. "Or at least fond memories of it." Then he rips into Helmet’s "Unsung."

The novelty of a plastic guitar wouldn’t last if not for the songs you can play on it, like Franz Ferdinand’s "Take Me Out" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ "Higher Ground" and Jimi Hendrix’s "Spanish Castle Magic." Harmonix obtained the rights to the songs, and hired an incredibly authentic cover band to perform them.

"Part of our attitude with the [song] licenses [was] we started thinking about ourselves in this proselytizing mode. Saying, ‘Oh there’s going to be a lot of 12-year-old kids and we’re going to introduce them to [Motörhead’s] ‘Ace of Spades’ and the Edgar Winter Group, and won’t that be great."

Harmonix also adopted this attitude for the game’s lesser-known songs that are unlocked as players progress. They’re nearly all songs from local bands like the Upper Crust and Count Zero, rock acts who either had members working at Harmonix or were musicians familiar to Harmonix employees. (See sidebar on page 35.) Explains LoPiccolo, "We started to reach out to local rock heroes that we knew."

But the game isn’t just some retooled Playskool Magic Guitar for adults. Guitar Hero’s other genius lies in its knack for uncanny details. The volume turns up to 11, à la Spinal Tap. High scores are compiled on a bathroom wall beside band-promo stickers and a flushing urinal. Game menus appear inside taped-up rock posters. (Poster artists Tara McPherson, Jay Ryan, and Shepard Fairey of Obey Giant fame, an old friend of Ryan Lesser’s from the Rhode Island School of Design, all contributed.) And as each track loads, an illustrated amp stack appears scribbled with rock-and-roll adages like, "Always keep an empty bottle in the van. You’ll see."

"We’re poking fun at the genre, but in an affectionate way," admits LoPiccolo. "This was the easiest game to make. Usually we have all these dilemmas: ‘Oh, what’s our vibe?’ Or we’re trying to figure out art direction. This one, it was so smooth: ‘Yes, rock! Meatheaded rock, yes!’"

Camille Dodero can be reached at cdodero[a]phx.com.

"Guitar Hero Release Concert" takes place this Saturday, December 10 with Graveyard BBQ + the Acro-brats + Count Zero + Freezepop + Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives + Artillery + Din | Harper's Ferry, 156 Brighton Ave, Allston | 8:30 p.m. | $7 | 21+ | 617.254.9743.