Guitar Hero III is a kick-ass game that has actually encouraged a lot of people to pick up a real guitar and learn how to play it. But if musician Charlie Daniels, he wouldn’t have anything to do with the game.

Daniels’ song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, appears as the climactic song to Guitar Hero III. But Daniels has stated that he is quite bothered by the guitar duel the player has to battle with the devil.

According to him “the song… is supposed to be a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses,” Daniels wrote. “That is not the case with the Guitar Hero version which comes complete with a horned, guitar-playing devil who battles the player and very often wins. I want any of you parents out there whose children have this game to know that I did not grant these people my permission to pervert my song and am disgusted with the result.”

Daniels revealed that he lost the publishing righs to the song over a legal dispute and if it were up to him he would not have approved the use of his song.

Daniels did have some sage advice to parents with regards to video games. He encouraged them to take some time to be with their children when they are playing video games so that they can guide them and explain the content accordingly.

I think Daniels is overreacting with regards to the involvement of his song. If he has really taken the time to find out the nature of video games then he would realize that “boss battles” are an intrinsic part of any game design and that it is supposed to be very hard. It does not, in any way, signify that bad guys (or the devil) are undefeatable and we should therefore worship them.

I have to agree with his advice about parenting though. What we need are more hands-on parents who can really guide their children and help them make more informed decisions.

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