Guitar Hero goes Bike Hero
I feel like I'm missing something. This viral Bike Hero video shows in first person a bicyclist navigating the Guitar Hero tab sheet for the song "Prisoner of Society" by the Living End, which have been slapped as decals on a city street. As he follows the path, LED lights on the front of his bike flash, indicating hit frets, and occasional posted signs proclaim his score. Star power is activated via a light show (although regrettably, without popping a wheelie).
It's all a lot of fun, but what I feel like I'm missing is the skill. I could get psyched if he was hitting each and every note with the front of his bike wheels, but he's clearly not: he's just riding around a pre-determined course as programmed lights flash on his bike. That's cool, and there's no doubt the video took a lot of work, but not as jaw-dropping as the YouTube comments make it seem.
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I have to disagree with the lack of skill here. The fact that the run is pretty much bang on the dots is massively complicated. If the run was a straight line it might be easier, but this is turns, transitions to different places, negotiating a (possibly scripted) car and bicycle, etc.
I had never seen this vid, and held off reading your comments til after, to prevent a prejudicial viewing (I haven't read the YouTube comments either). I agree that this isn't mindblowing, but when you realize, halfway through the video, that the dots are still so in time, it's definitely cool.
This took a lot of work, I'm sure, but the skill is in the very tight timing. I mean, syncing pre-recorded content to real-world-action has been a challenge for a long time, let alone trying to do so on a bicycle.
I've got to agree with Arkizzle. This is a pretty stunning endeavor. I'm not entirely sure he isn't triggering the LEDs as he rides, too.
Excellent points, and ones I stupidly hadn't considered. If this hasn't been faked (I'm pretty sure it's a viral video), then I totally cave.
viral marketing video. probably fake.
This is a great video, free pie to the makers.
But since it's in vouge to call 'fake' on everything you see on the internets, I suspect there were at least two cuts in the video, one when the camera looks up into dark sky near the beginning, and one near the end when the camera looks at some passing bushes.
Regardless, free pie.
Perhaps they used a sensor to determine the distance traveled, like one of those cheapo speedometers, and programmed the LEDs to fire at predetermined intervals.
I smell viral marketing, based on the youtube channel's genericness and the composition of the video. I think the dots are CG. CONSPIRACY! CONSPIRACY!
Really, I may poke fun at my own cynicism, but I think this is fake.
"the dots are CG"
Pie for you. S'what I thought.
definite professional commercial, which I guess means 'fake'
C'mon, a jump (with flip? hard to tell) and absolutely perfect fire trails at the end?
Well done commercial, but there is no way this video is amateur -- which probably neans half the comments are disingenuous too -- that may be the slimy residue u r seeing brownlee
I suspect people on the intertubes lack the cognitive and sensory ability to detect what is actually 'fake' these days.
The guy's channel actually holds up to a cursory look. At first glance it appears the video is genuine, but by the end, it's obvious there was a lot of help in getting it done. The question is, who gave the help? Was it Activision? Probably. It's a nice job of astroturfing if it is. If not, then this guy has a large number of pretty talented/generous friends, which by law of averages, is unlikely.
The dots are pretty obviously CG. They have the same lighting on them pretty much throughout, and they seem to just appear at a pre set distance in front of the bike.
The LEDs on the front of the bike are what is triggering the CG dots to display in time with the music. You'll notice at the beginning he plugs a black box into a red cable. This black box will probably have the board that controls the timing of the dots in it.
This had to have been done in multiple takes, otherwise how do you explain the fact that the writing on his hand changes all the time to update the score.
It looks pretty cool, it must have been pretty hard to pull off, but I'm with John here, I just don't see the point of the excersise.
Again, another meatsack claiming to see CG when there is none. Did you and I watch the same video? Check out the different way he holds his hands -- it's obvious how he changes the score. WATCH THE VIDEO.
CG or not, it's marketing. Glossy, professional, staged and scripted.
Impressive, but only in the context of something with a $50,000+ budget, and I'm guessing Activision Blizzard spent far more than that.
Unfortunately, it is indeed fake, designed by an ad agency.
http://www.gamecyte.com/bike-hero-viral-video-a-fake-designed-by-ad-agency-droga5
Still awesome though.
Hmmm. After checking out StarFire's link I am disappointed.
The fact that it was created by an ad agency wasn't an issue for me though. No matter who made it, it was clever and cool, and well executed. The disappointing thing, for me, was the CG bit (and watching it again, with the critical eye I didn't have in the first rush of excitement, seems to validate it).
It's still an excellent piece of work.
/slighty disillusioned
whether or not Bike Hero was deliberately created to be a viral video, it still rocks... i could not tell at any point that it was fake