‘I think it might have inspired people to get real guitars and real drums,’ Billie Joe Armstrong says of the video game’s appeal. By James Montgomery Green Day might not be the first band that comes to mind when you think “video games” (although in their early years, they did have a Sega Genesis on their “Book Mobile” tour bus). So with the release of the new, ultra-deluxe “Green Day: Rock Band” right around the corner, we asked the guys just why they decided to partner up with MTV Games for the project. And, as is the case with many things involving the band, the answer was a combination of both high-minded idealism, and, well, low-brow, decidedly boozy realism. “When I’ve seen ‘Rock Band,’ what I’ve noticed is that there’s a lot of old songs and different kinds of songs by different bands that kids are picking up on,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong explained. “And that’s what I thought was so cool about it … [‘Rock Band’ is] its own radio station in a way. But, you know, you’re sort of involved with it. And though you’re playing plastic guitars, I think it might even have inspired some people to actually go out and, you know, get real guitars and real drums and start to figure it out on their own, you know?” “The first time I ever saw ‘Rock Band,’ uh, it was like in a pub in California and they had a TV and they had the game set up in a little corner,” drummer Tr
