A ‘Hero’ takes a fall

I don’t know where I’ve been, or under which rock I’ve been hiding, but I just learned that Guitar Hero will soon join pet rocks, Britney Spears, and those hideously ugly Crocs shoes in pop culture oblivion. The video game's publishing company is cancelling the planned 2011 release, and I’m devastated.

OK, not really. I never liked or played the game. But it seems like just 2009 when Guitar Hero ruled the world, and every family room had a quiver of cheap plastic instruments in the corner. Now they’re about to become lawn ornaments, or sit silent in landfills for the next 1000 years.

The worst part about this news is that it makes the release of Long-Term Care Hero highly unlikely. I was hoping the colorful toy guitars would someday be replaced by cute plastic med carts and children would grow up imitating the moves of animated caregivers.

They could take virtual vitals, make a bed, or wheel a resident to lunch, either earning points or f-tag citations. And on expert level, they’d either win a National Quality Award or be run out of town by negative media.

But alas, it is not to be. America is so fickle.

Gary Tetz

Gary Tetz is multimedia consultant at Consonus Healthcare Services. He was a columnist for I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2005-2012.