I’ve always wondered what musicians thought of music/rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Like, do they feel as if it’s a shoddy knockoff and an insult to their life’s work? Or do they think it’s really cool to let everyone feel like a rock star, and do they wish their music was in it?

Five-time Grammy winner (and Rolling Stone-sanctioned “New Guitar God”) John Mayer is apparently in the former camp. According to CVG (via Entertainment Wise), Mayer told Rolling Stone that he is anti-Guitar Hero because he feels that it makes it easy for people to pretend that they’re, well, actual guitar heroes:

Guitar Hero was devised to bring the guitar-playing experience to the masses without them having to put anything into it. And having done both, there’s nothing like really playing guitar. I mean, what would you rather drive, a Ferrari or one of those amusement-park cars on a track?

I absolutely love John Mayer’s music -- I own his first EP and his three studio albums, and I saw him in concert twice last year -- but I’ve always been annoyed and angered by what I like to call the “go play a real instrument” people. I’ve been playing the guitar for about six or seven years now, and while I agree with Mayer in principle -- that the feeling obtained from mastering a song in a music videogame doesn’t come close to the elation you get from doing so on the real instrument -- I also understand that it’s a game, and I don’t see any problem with letting regular people feel like they’re rocking out. After all, isn’t that what videogames are all about? Living vicariously?

In any case, this saddens me, because I’ve always wanted to see some of John Mayer’s music in Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Oh well. For some reactions from my colleagues, hit the jump.

[Via Entertainment Wise by way of CVG -- thanks, Adam!]