'Guitar Hero II' and the Key Club in L.A.

Last night I checked out a Guitar Hero II 360 tourney/party at the Key Club in Los Angeles, a place that's built a reputation for being a pretty hot spot for parties and checking out music. Honestly, it's the first bona-fide "club" that I've been to in Los Angeles. Most of the action happened in a downstairs lounge area (with an open bar) with the 360 hooked up to a big screen, with a pair of dueling guitar controllers ready to be abused. And abused they were.

There was a sign-up sheet, and players were paired and went at it -- best score won. It was a little scary how good some of these guys were. On "expert" difficulty, the notes really fly down the screen and I'm certain my hands would stop working if I tried them at my current skill level, or lack thereof. The final two got to battle it out upstairs on the main stage, being cheered on by a pit of fans who were there to check out the live music. Surreal ... I wish I was good at that game (which is out right now). The winner got a copy of the game, as well as an Xbox 360 Premium system. Not too shabby.

I got to hang out with the All Games Interactive crew there, as well as Gerry and Jessica Chobot from IGN, who I almost killed with a drink suggestion (I won't explain it here too much -- this is a family blog, not a place to pontificate on the drunken exploits of gaming media).

I'll put some pictures up as soon as my phone and e-mail stop acting stupid.