Celebrity Byte

What's it like to see yourself in this game?

It's a little surreal. I've seen other people playing the game and it moves a lot like me because they had me do the motion-capture thing. It looks pretty much like me. It's definitely an animated version of me. It's obviously an exaggerated version of me. It's weird to see myself in the context of a video game and to see how my actions are manipulated a little bit by the interactions with the player.

What was it like to gear up for the mo-cap session and wear all of that equipment?

It was about six hours out of my comfort zone. They told me what I would have to do and I complied, because I wanted to be cool. First they do the laser sculpture of you and then they do the motion-capture session where you play along to three different songs, which represent different tempos. There are different angles they shoot from, so it's a bit tedious. But at the end of the day, it was about doing whatever it took to make it work.

Slash at the 2007 KROQ LA Invasion Concert.

Have you noticed the Guitar Hero game becoming popular among musicians in addition to the mass market audience?

When I was first turned onto it, none of the Velvet Revolver camp was playing it. Everyone knows about it because it's so immensely popular and you hear about these Guitar Hero II junkies...this huge legion of fans out there. After I started getting involved with it, I noticed a lot of the guys' kids and wives were playing it. I know there are a lot of musicians out there who play the game, I just don't hang out with anyone much outside the members of my band.

What role do you see this game playing in introducing new music to kids today?

I think it's all relatively new at this point. A little bit more time may tell. The music they have on the three games is all great stuff. You couldn't ask for a better play list on the radio, let's put it that way. It's definitely exposing kids to music and bands that they might not necessarily have been hip to without it. It will be interesting to see where that might go in terms of record sales or increased interest in bands from the games.

As a guitar player, even though it's shaped like a guitar and you hold it like a guitar, it doesn't play like a guitar. I think it's harder for guitar players to play it than people who don't play guitars.

What about kids getting interested in playing the real guitar through this game?

That can go a couple of different directions. You can pick up Guitar Hero and it can stimulate you to go play the real guitar, but then again, it could stimulate you to play more Guitar Hero because a real guitar is pretty hard. I guess on the flip side, for somebody like me, Guitar Hero is very challenging. As a guitar player, even though it's shaped like a guitar and you hold it like a guitar, it doesn't play like a guitar. I think it's harder for guitar players to play it than people who don't play guitars.

Slash and his wife at Spike TV's Scream 2007.

What level do you play Guitar Hero on?

I'm a medium guy. At expert, as soon as they start throwing those chords at me really fast--I'm done. Guitar Hero is really a hybrid of Simon. It's totally hand-eye coordination using memory. You get to know the song and then press the buttons as the colors go by. It's really interesting.