Drops out of High school for Guitar Hero

[TheGreatSatan]

This guy dropped out of high school to play Guitar Hero!

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/101746

[xRyokenx]

Hahaha, it wouldn't be as bad if he were playing a real guitar.

[Eclecticos]

I would consider not going to work if I had this thing.
Its a "Compuitar" :D

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8119/computar2oc6.jpg

Is actually a touchscreen laptop embedded into a guitar body
and appears to have working frets and all.
Click Here (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/17/its-a-guitar-its-a-computer-its-its-a-compuitar/) to see the video.

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7479/computargo9.jpg

[SgtM]

Parenting fail. 'nuff said.

[noopypoop]

Guitar Queero much?

[Crimson Sky]

Brain Cells Not Found. Abort, Retry, Fail?

[Pointy_Stick]

We may sneer, but should he succeed, we're going to come off as a bunch of cynical jerks.

That said, I don't think we have much to worry about. But good luck to him just the same (c'mon, it would be a pretty sweet job to have).

[d_stilgar]

We may sneer, but should he succeed, we're going to come off as a bunch of cynical jerks.

That said, I don't think we have much to worry about. But good luck to him just the same (c'mon, it would be a pretty sweet job to have).

I don't think dropping out of high school is ever a smart decision. Whether you have been drafted for pro football and will make millions a year or not, you should finish high school. You take your education everywhere you go and it can't be taken away or changed. Pro guitar-hero will end. DDR isn't as big as it was a few years ago and I'm already pretty bored of the simulated guitar series of games. This will end in disaster.

The only way I would ever support someone dropping out is if they had a terminal disease and they wanted to do anything else with their last year besides high school.

[Drum Thumper]

Parenting fail. 'nuff said.

I think there's a lot more to this story that we aren't being told. From what I gathered from the article, this kid could be considered an outcast among misfits--"not well liked in school" could have all sorts of meanings, and the knee-jerk reaction that one gets when reading that quote from the article is usually something along the lines of "this kid has a disrespect for authority".

Then take into account that this kid has a private tutor now--he didn't drop out (remember, headline writers are like used car salesmen; they want results in a hurry), he changed his approach. Every kid has a different learning approach--some do well in classroom situations, others do well on their own, and others still need some one on one teaching.

And finally, nothing is said about the parents' careers. Perhaps this kid has an inside track because mommy or daddy happen to work in video games or he's got a relative in Redmond? There's a ton of information that we don't have, USA newswriters only write about what is going to sell papers or make people turn on the TV.

Sorry for the long ass reply, but public education has it's place in life, as does what I refer to as "street smarts". Besides, nobody bitched because Wolfgang Van Halen took a year off from school to go play with his dad and uncle. Well, Valerie Bertinelli might have, but she was a definite minority.

[xRyokenx]

Good points DT. The news these days seem to be like nationwide rumors... not very accurate and they destroy peoples' reputations.

[Tavarin]

Still not as bad as a friend of mine dropping out of high school to play World of Warcraft

[xRyokenx]

Still not as bad as a friend of mine dropping out of high school to play World of Warcraft

Nice. If those stupid MMORPGs become too much more popular they'll cause the downfall of society... at least in countries that have an abundance of computers.

[Quakken]

I'm personally thinking about dropping out for Warhammer.

Okay. Not really at all.

He's still got a tutor, and I'm guessing that his parents aren't exactly poor if they will hire a tutor and let the kid drop out to pursue a professional gamer career path. But, if he's seriously considering that career path, he is quickly going to understand that it's one of the hardest things to make a living in. And he doesn't live in south korea, where there are actually clearly defined gaming leagues.

No, in this country, he will have to absolutely flipping amazing to get anywhere close to getting enough money to live off of guitar hero. And guitar hero isn't a big contest game, he will have to get good at RTS's and FPS's to get anywhere close to real money.

Right now, bad choice. I hope he has a backup plan.

[Drum Thumper]

Right now, bad choice. I hope he has a backup plan.

Hehe...he's 16! He'll just move back in with the 'rents.

Oh, and xRyokenx: take a few college level business writing courses and you'll have a much greater understanding of how skewed the news here in the States really is.

[xRyokenx]

Oh, and xRyokenx: take a few college level business writing courses and you'll have a much greater understanding of how skewed the news here in the States really is.

Dude, I watch Fox News and get a very good idea of it, lol. It's so obvious that it's a lie it's amazing anybody actually watches it.

[luciusad2004]

Dude, I watch Fox News and get a very good idea of it, lol. It's so obvious that it's a lie it's amazing anybody actually watches it.

LOL My dad lives for fox news. We went to New York and made a special trip to the building they are in. I felt a little strange standing outside taking a picture of him in front of it.

[nevermind1534]

I like fox better than some other news stations.

[xRyokenx]

Man, I watch Comedy Central when they show comedians... and then I flip down a channel and the O'Reilly (orly?) Factor is on... I'm not sure which causes me to laugh more. It appears as though not all American humor is labeled as such. hehehe :P

[nevermind1534]

I don't like when the people are complete Democrats, or Republicans. There's issues that I don't agree on for both of them. Sadly, most of them are very strong right, or left wing. One thing about a lot of republicans that I don't like is how they are so business oriented, and care only about themselves. After hearing somebody in a conversation with me say, "you're the only person that really matters, right?" I realized how bad some of them are.

[xRyokenx]

I am mostly antipolitical in the sense I refuse to join a certain party... that and I have other things going on in my life that take priority over which dumbass to vote for in the next election, lol.

But yeah, it is frustrating when people feel they have to become whatever they're labeled as. What is even more frustrating are trying to debate with such people. Politicians really are the worst, it's all arguing and an entirely different language.

Man... I hope I've said something relative to what you just said, lol. My mind is randomly blanking out or something.

[Drum Thumper]

BBC News is the only news reporting agency I've found to be (mostly) unbiased when it comes to U.S. news.

[nevermind1534]

They had us take a survey at school, and it said that I was 60% conservative. I would never stick to just one party, unless it was me running and I agreed with everything. I don't really even watch the news too much anymore, because all of the ones here seem to have a bias. I can get BBC on PBS sometimes, and on the satellite radio in the car.

BTW, if anybody is wondering, the no commercials on the satellite radio is a joke. For XM, at least it's the XM-run stations that don't have commercials. Most of the other stations do.

[Okele]

I actually have to agree with DT here. If what the article says is true, and this kid was unliked etc, the parents actually made a smart choice by getting him homeschooled(which is really what happened here). In essence they very well could have prevented a repeat of columbine and/or virginia tech in the future. The likelyhood that he will make any real money playing guitar hero 3 is pretty slim, but it could very well land him some sponsorships from some gaming companies and eventually land him a job at one.

Knee jerk reaction is to get upset at the parents for making this mistake, but is it really a mistake? Personally I probably would have done the same thing if my daughter was in that situation where at any moment she could break. Just my thoughts on it.

[mittelmeier]

I agree with DT and Okele. The parents took the kid from a bad situation and put him in a better one. And letting him pursue a career in gaming can be a good lesson for him. It's good to go after what you want but at the same time if he doesn't make it he's young enough that it won't be that bad and he'll learn it's good to have a plan b.

[TheGreatSatan]

Home schooled? That would imply that he would still be getting a diploma when done, right? Pursuing professional gaming is just rediculous.

[nevermind1534]

I read that he has a tutor. That could mean any number of things. He may, or may not be getting a diploma.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

As long as he's being tutored, I'm in favor of it. Speaking as someone who was arguably "failed" by the public school system, they do the best they can with what they have - but they can't (or occasionally won't) come up with an ideal plan for everyone. Not enough funding, not enough staff, not enough empathy.

Additionally, there's the likelihood that "not well-liked" refers to his peers - again, the school just doesn't have the resources to stop bullying and harassment. It's like fighting "the war on terrorism" - if they knock one bully down, so to speak, another will pop up in its place. While the odds of this kid becoming violent are fairly low, there is still that possibility - and for once, I think somebody's looking at it from the right angle, supporting and encouraging the alternative education of a potential "problem" rather than marginalizing his views further.

Another long-ass rant, sorry - hope I got my point across okay.

[xRyokenx]

Hey, Fuzz: They didn't do me good either. Not to go too far OT, but being treated like a potential school shooter sucked pretty bad too. It's funny how someone puts video games together with violent rampages through a school...

[nevermind1534]

I have a friend, that (jokingly) says that I'm going to be one of those shooters. I will get a laugh out of that sometimes.

[Okele]

It was back to school night for my daughter tonight. While my wife and I were sitting there listening to the teacher explain how the year was going to go, she proceeded to ask for donations to help out the class. The district can't afford to supply paper and pencils to these classes, and thats at the elementary school level. Most of the high schools in the area have cut out the music classes, the computer classes and a few of the art type classes in favor of this standardized bullcrap.

Just saying, if my child gets to the point to where she can't actually get an real education then Im going to pull her out of school and teach her myself. Maybe its just in california that stuff is just so bad that we have to fear whats going to happen to our kids.

Meh.....

[luciusad2004]

Assuming the kid is going to get a real education and a real diploma i would say this is a smart move. It may help him focus on his school work better than he would if he were stuck in an environment that makes him uncomfortable.

[Drum Thumper]

@TGS: What's wrong with pursuing dreams? He's 16 ffs. Let him fall flat on his face a few times. For the longest time, I wanted to do nothing but make music for a living. I knew what I was getting myself into--and failed. However, I was able to "pull myself up by my bootstraps", get my **** together, and realize that I have more talents than those I still put to use behind a drumset.

If we didn't pursue dreams, would there have been a Super Bee mod? Or a Doom3 mod? Or would Tony D be doing professional airbrushing work? Would Rick be taking part in the "Banner for the Troops" airbrushing project?

You kill dreams, you kill the very essence of being human.

[The Great Destroyer]

at least he plans on taking it somewhere. when i started playing WoW, my best friend and i played in a guild with his (at the time) girlfriend's uncle and his friends, and her uncle ended up dropping out his senior year so that he could stay home and play WoW all day... and the sad thing is, his parents and grandparents let him!

[Acey]

No sided-comment on this news. People basically have the right to choose the path they wanna take, be it leading to a downfall or ending up a hero (no pun intended).

[progbuddy]

Seems kinda interesting that this happened. I've been through a lot going through school. I would see why he would want to get out a government-maintained building that serves genetically altered slop on a bun with french fries (only 8 thousand calories...) and a horrible learning environment with rooms as dark as caves and teachers that make you work straight out of a book with no additional attention if needed. It did drive me nuts, but then I stopped caring. *is finally a senior and is graduating early*

-Kevin