The Best Thing You'll See Today: Bike Hero

by Justin McElroy { Nov 20th 2008 at 12:50PM }

That's right, the video you're going to see after the break, which expertly blends Guitar Hero and bike riding, is the best thing you're going to see all day and (unless your firstborn child is due by Friday) probably all week. Seriously, go watch it. You'll have to hire a gang of neighborhood kids to pinch you before you'll be convinced you're not dreaming.

But is it really made by some kid and his friends with wayyyy too much spare time and not a well-funded ad agency? Well, no. But let's all just pretend so we can keep enjoying ourselves. Agreed? Agreed.

[Update: Stephen Totilo got Activision to spill the whole thing, and it's rife with some pretty hilarious back-pedaling. ... Get it? Back-pedaling?]

[Thanks, everyone who sent this in.]

Tags: activision, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-world-tour

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Archon @ Nov 20th 2008 12:58PM

Doesn't look 'home made'. Isn't really that cool. Watch me turn invisible!

Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 1:42PM

No, this is how you turn invisible:

M$ UP TO THEIR NORMAL TRICKS TRYING TO MAKE A PROFIT

FAR CRY 2 IS NOT IN MY OPINION A GOOD GAME

Joystick Hero @ Nov 20th 2008 1:50PM

Your invisibility trick seems, for the moment, to be defective good sir.

Archon @ Nov 20th 2008 1:56PM

Ok... So... How about... "This would be great if it was an Rock Band ad. Epic fail!"? Am I doing it rite now?

Shagittarius @ Nov 20th 2008 2:11PM

This is how a pro does it:

LULZ, must be for the Wii version cause it was a little kiddie on a bike who wasn't old enuff to drive a car.

Wii is for kidz.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 20th 2008 2:56PM

No, no, no, you're doing this all wrong. Watch and learn.

Ahem.

portal? more like Whore-tal lke youre MOM! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Alex @ Nov 20th 2008 3:30PM

What is the matter with you?

FISRT POST FTW
LOLLLLOLOLOLOLOLOLL!!!111!!11!!!!!1!

MGS4 IS SH!T!!!11!
LPB LIKCS BALLZ!!1
GAYSTATION!!!!

Shmil @ Nov 20th 2008 3:30PM

you fools, if you want to turn invisible you simple click your heels together three times
and start reciting old memes

This was a triumph
DO A BARREL ROLL!
This is madness
madness?

Archon @ Nov 20th 2008 3:38PM

*just stands here crying*
What... did... I... just... start...

Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 4:26PM

I just realised the one way you could definitely have turned invisible..

FIRST!!!

jinn35 @ Nov 20th 2008 4:28PM

I would just like you guys to know that I voted every single one of you up.

Courtney @ Nov 20th 2008 4:33PM

Here, I'll try too:

HAHAHA! YOU MaDE archon cry, he must be a CWII BABY. Go home and cry in your wii, little cwii-baby.

Megadanxzero @ Nov 20th 2008 6:51PM

Almost all of the above posts are sensible or indeed intelligent, and as such I have upvoted every single one of them...

On a side note, WHAT THE FUCK ;_________________;

Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 7:18PM

What are we even talking about? :'(

Rollins @ Nov 20th 2008 7:50PM

but can it play crysis

Shmil @ Nov 20th 2008 9:06PM

Snake? Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

zuburi @ Nov 20th 2008 10:36PM

Oh yeah? Well the jerk store called, and they're all out of you!

....

Dammit.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 21st 2008 12:47AM

Well, the important part is that we made asses of ourselves. I mean tried.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 21st 2008 3:43AM

The Best Thing You'll See Today: this thread

Nick @ Nov 20th 2008 12:58PM

WHHAAAAATT!! How does that work!?

Kevin @ Nov 20th 2008 1:19PM

Looks to me like they had the thing on the handle bars flashing to the correct notes, then they edited the film to put the dots in later on and just really really polished it.

It's *too* perfect for them to be drawn on the ground.

rhoymand @ Nov 20th 2008 4:12PM

the flashing lights on the handle bars are easy to add in post. but its actually a lot easier and less time-consuming to actually put those dots on the ground than it is to actually match move the ground and rotoscope the handle bars for the entire video. 3min 36secs = 5184 frames of match moving and rotoscoping... no thanks!

Negativecool @ Nov 20th 2008 12:59PM

As much as I want to pull out the cliche "Some people have too much time on their hands"...

This is really too god damn awesome for that silliness.

Kudos to all the work.

Edog Lost @ Nov 20th 2008 1:00PM

Activision to Ad agency: "We want something edgy, something viral. You know, something the kids are into."

Negativecool @ Nov 20th 2008 1:01PM

Jeez...I'm so naive.

This is called "advertising" children.

Fool me once...

nonpareil @ Nov 20th 2008 1:03PM

100% viral.

ZaxCG2 @ Nov 20th 2008 2:41PM

True... but it doesn't stop it from being somewhat impressive.

Erluti @ Nov 20th 2008 1:03PM

I'm mad I didn't catch that it was ad-funded! When the kid in kiss make-up jumped out with the new Kiss guitar I was like, "That seems too new for people who spent time making this video!"
I'm so mad I didn't notice.

deathwombat @ Nov 20th 2008 11:05PM

I sort of caught on when the car crossed the path of the bike and thought that it was too well timed.

Myth84 @ Nov 20th 2008 1:03PM

Who cares if it's advertising? It doesn't change the fact that it's a cool vid with a bizarre but interesting concept.

elle @ Nov 20th 2008 6:47PM

The coolness was that people thought a kid in Indiana and his friends did it - and by extension, if we had the free time, we could do it, too.

But it was an ad agency with a five- or six-digit budget, CG artists, filming clearance, licensing, film editors, lawyers. Professionals. Finding that out just makes you realize that you _couldn't_ do it if you tried.

If people paid to be creative for a living had to fake parts it, then it's not actually possible to do it as a truly homemade, sincere video. It's not nearly as impressive when it's the idea of a ActiBlizzard Marketing VP and not a bored kid.

Sam @ Nov 20th 2008 1:04PM

Gee sure is viral around here.

I was all up for this being my favourite video ever when they started out, and i thought some kids had layed out stickers then rode along at the right speed, but then after a minute or so when it became obvious they were digital, i knew it was not in a million years home made.

Shame.

Oh well.

inb4 200 billion hits on youtube. viral video of the year. Congratulations activision, you win this round. Go hug your giant piles of money

*goes back to playing the unfairly unpopular rock band 2*

baby sea tuna @ Nov 20th 2008 1:08PM

...the unfairly unpopular *and* wildly inferior Rock Band 2 ;)

Sam @ Nov 20th 2008 1:13PM

Dohoho.

You know its funny. You'd think given the amount of man hours and money that activision poured into GHWT, that they'd be able to at least make a game as good as the one they were copying, nevermind maybe improve upon it a little bit.

GHWT comes out 7th nov and isn't even as good as the year old game its copying, nevermind its recently released sequel, and yet outsells both of them in 3 days.

There is no justice in the world for the amazing developers at harmonix.

/salute

brandon_r87 @ Nov 20th 2008 1:13PM

Wildly inferior to what? Guitar Hero? Not even close, Rock Band is a far better game. Guitar Hero is good, but they cut corners a lot.

Farseer (GDI) @ Nov 20th 2008 4:04PM

Thank you Sam.

Kudos Harmonix.

Shagittarius @ Nov 20th 2008 1:06PM

I don't get it...

brandon_r87 @ Nov 20th 2008 1:09PM

I've always wanted to do something like this on a road and drive over it with a car while someone in the passenger tries to play on a guitar controller.

Kamizar @ Nov 20th 2008 1:12PM

Seems like they need to kick up the difficulty...

mernmern @ Nov 20th 2008 1:17PM

I dont understand why people take such issue with viral advertisements. They are more interesting than 30 second tv spots and for the most part leave you wondering how it was done. Pretty cool vid. Heck, many of you have no qualms reading posts based solely on info released by the marketing or PR divisions of game developers. At least the viral stuff involves some creativity which in gaming is something we all crave.

Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 4:29PM

It's the fact that they pretend to be all amateur and therefore we're amazed when they're polished and excellent.

Then we realise that it's not down to creative, it's down to the millions of dollars paid to some greasy tosspots who work in marketing.

mernmern @ Nov 20th 2008 4:55PM

So I take it you feel creativeness only counts when it is demonstrated by amateurs. It seems your only real concern is that you believe you were mislead. Either way, viral marketing and viral games are all about forcing you divine the answer or the source. I tend to feel they necessitate a certain level of user or viewer input, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It engages the audience and that is the purpose of both viral marketing and grass roots efforts. The only real concern is whether it is enjoyable or not. Also, before you bemoan all marketing efforts realize that without them you would likely see less money in gaming and as a result inferior products. Like it or not marketing helps sell products and raise interest levels. And before you ask, no, I am not in marketing.

Ethan @ Nov 20th 2008 1:27PM

They should just make it a normal advert, put the product at the end. (Apart from the start it could be Rock Band) Instead of "viral marketing," how about genuine advertising, just that it'll be free for you to distribute. Everything about this ad is great, but the whole presentation is condescending to it's market because of the context.