With it's ever increasing popularity, I always thought of the Guitar Hero franchise as gimmicky fad that would eventually disappear. I have long been a hardcore gamer and something about it just didn't fit into my idea of a fun game. Clearly I was wrong.

It started with the generous and surprising gift we received from Beth's parents for Christmas — a Nintendo Wii. The idea was that Beth (who is not a big gamer) and I would play the Wii together and, while that intention is still a work in progress, I have found some new uses for the console. My inspiration came when I got the chance to visit with my good friend Nat while he was in New York for the holidays. His parents live in the city and the holidays are usually my best chance to spend time with him during the course of the year. Nat just so happened to have received a copy of Guitar Hero III for Christmas and, after connecting it to his parent's Wii, proceeded to jam for at least a couple of hours. I was hooked. And knowing that I could play against him and my friend Kevin (also a Christmas Guitar Hero recipient) over the internet, I just had to get one.

Well, my virtual ax arrived last night. So, put in your earplugs and lock you daughters up. It's time to rock.