Guitar Hero makes cameo in Veronica Mars

by Kyle Orland { Oct 18th 2006 at 4:55PM }

How do you measure a game's success? Sales? Review scores? Combined worldwide playtime? All fine metrics, but to be truly successful, you need cultural impact. And what better indicator of cultural impact is their than a mention on prime time network TV (if you consider the CW a real network...).

This is all an effort to add some sort of meaningful context to the below clip from last night's Veronica Mars, which includes a brief cameo by everyone's favorite guitar simulator. It may not compare to selling your company for millions of dollars, but it still must be cool to hear fictional college kids say your game rocks.

Tags: guitar hero, GuitarHero, Tv, veronica mars, VeronicaMars

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Babylonian @ Oct 18th 2006 5:03PM

Okay, that was corny as hell but actually pretty funny to see on TV.

I still don't understand why people watch that show, though.

mattmatt @ Oct 18th 2006 5:04PM

dude that roxs hopefully wii will be mainstream like that.

Wreckhart @ Oct 18th 2006 5:14PM

I have been playing the Demo nonstop and cannot wait for Guitar Hero 2.

For you wanna be shredders EB games has a wireless first party guitar from Red Octane listed for 11/7/06 release, this kicks all forms of ass.

I wanna play Rage, Primus, STP, G-n-R

Jose @ Oct 18th 2006 5:09PM

Babylonian

Only because veronica mars is cute as fuck.

Jose @ Oct 18th 2006 5:09PM

And sadly, that's still not enough of a reason to get me to watch it, I just assume.

crono141 @ Oct 18th 2006 5:17PM

"I wanna play Rage, Primus, STP, G-n-R"

Then get Frets on Fire for PC, along with a usb->ps2 adaptor for your guitar.

You can play metallica and dragonforce on that game.

Clayton @ Oct 18th 2006 5:36PM

That was a nice suprize when I watched it last night. Great game on a great show. :)

Henry @ Oct 18th 2006 5:40PM

Additional gaming references in Veronica Mars:

Early in the first season, there was a scene where two college students were excitedly discussing their anticipation of the then-unreleased Matrix Online.

Halfway through the second season, the chauvanistic Dick is seen playing Dead or Alive X-Treme Beach Volleyball and heckling the onscreen players.

Various other games are seen being played by characters throughout the series, though without specific description (Fable, Unreal Championship, Hot Shots Golf).

(Yes, I'm a fan, though I wouldn't give any of these as reasons to watch the show. There are better reasons.)

Jesuit @ Oct 18th 2006 5:41PM

Who says this wasn't product placement

jabbertrack @ Oct 18th 2006 5:45PM

I had to look up what the "CW" network was...

apperantly it's where shows like Gilmore Girls go to die... what used to be the WB and UPN

well I guess that's one small step for good games.... one... very... small.... step

smarterray @ Oct 18th 2006 5:44PM

you can also watch Tony Leung's character playing some Guitar Hero in the HK movie Tokyo Raiders

Eliot Phillips @ Oct 18th 2006 5:56PM

Henry fails to mention that Unreal Championship makes an appearance as three people playing it supposedly head to head on a single player screen. This is the same episode Veronica shouts "OWNAGE" after knowingly TKing someone. Good show. They're only on the 3rd episode of this 3rd season so there is still time to get on board. You can find it in HR HDTV on Mininova.

Nerdtacular @ Oct 18th 2006 6:53PM

Veronica Mars is one of the wittiest shows on television. And while this season has yet to become as complex a mystery as the past two...it is more fun than most other network shows. This is a show that actually pays off at each season's conclusion.

And all of the gaming references are spot on.

mark @ Oct 18th 2006 6:38PM

Its actually a pretty good show once you get past the weird name. But most people, despite the popular saying, judge the book by its cover and miss out on whats inside.

le sigh.

Ed @ Oct 18th 2006 7:10PM

Veronica Mars is freak'n awesome. One of the best written shows on TV today.

snarfoogle @ Oct 18th 2006 6:44PM

IT'S NOT OWNAGE, I'M ON YOUR TEAM!

Brodalco @ Oct 18th 2006 7:04PM

Let's see... Veronica mars airs on the CW... Which is owned by TimeWarner... Joystiq is part of Webblogs, which is part of AOL, which is part of TimeWarner...

Did any executives from higher up tell you to mention this, Joystiq?

ck @ Oct 18th 2006 8:50PM

I agree that Veronica Mars is a great show, top 10 on TV. That was a great cameo, although the characters playing the game were total douchebags, which makes me wonder what the writers think of people who play video games. Especially since Dick & Logan are usually the ones playing. And for all the lame asses who commented otherwise obviously don't enjoy good television with great characters, witty dialogue and engaging plots. Get past your egos and turn on the CW - because there are some good shows.

Jennifer @ Oct 19th 2006 1:40AM

[Playing Mortal Kombat]
Dick: Dude, you know what I'm gonna do to you?
Logan: No.
Dick: First, I'm gonna kick your ass. Then, I'm gonna grab your head and yank out your spine. What do you think about that? Sound okay? Okay. Boom. Oh! Look, look, I'm doing it, I'm doing it. Yoink! Say hello to your spine. [squeaky voice] "It's me, your spine!"

R2P2 @ Oct 19th 2006 4:31AM

The CW came from UPN and The WB
UPN was owned by Viacom
Viacom owns MTV
The "partners" page on the Guitar Hero site shows the MTV logo, and MTV is buying Harmonix

Yes, there might be a chance this was product placement. But it was still neat. :)

Hak Foo @ Oct 19th 2006 9:09PM

Veronica Mars is a great show. You might want to give it at least two episodes before making a decision on it.

I, too, can't wait for Guitar Hero 2!

Terry @ Nov 10th 2006 7:35PM

The writers supposedly play a lot of video games and Guitar Hero is their favorite.

Wolfkin @ Feb 9th 2008 5:43PM

What no mention of the Battlestar Galatical references this season as well. BSG and it's... how did they put it, "profanity of the future". Now that ladies and gentleman is a phrase which when you say/hear it out loud is about twice as dorky as when you say it in your head.

#15. To you and all the others who apparantly don't know there will be no season long mystery this time around. Just three or four minor arcs.

VM /is/ a nice show. Personally I dispise Veronica in the first two seasons (like I dispise those cops on L&O who just yell at people and *bam* confession) but everyone else on the show is cool.

Polter-Cow @ Oct 19th 2006 12:45PM

Rob Thomas and the writers are big *Guitar Hero* fans. As other commenters have mentioned, video games have shown up numerous times on the show, and they're always portrayed authentically as opposed to just some images with bleeps and bloops. I really appreciate it.