BRIAN MARKS | DAILY KENT STATER

Freshman marketing major Anthony Burnside competes at the Guitar Hero Tournament hosted by KIC last night.

Credit: Adam Griffiths

She sat with her bandaged, recovering leg propped up on a chair waiting patiently for her turn. Despite having surgery less than a week ago, Bekah Stoltz came out to compete in her favorite game – Guitar Hero.

Last night the Kent Interhall Council hosted a Guitar Hero competition for all Kent State residence hall students to participate in. Stoltz, a sophomore biology major, was just one of the few girls who came to participate in and watch the competition at McDowell Hall.

“It makes you feel like you are playing a real guitar,” Stoltz explained. “It’s just captivating.”

Nearly 90 students, comprised of mostly men, competed against each other in hopes of winning the top prize, an electric guitar. Other prizes included a bass guitar, electronic keyboard and harmonica.

Set up similar to the NCAA basketball tournament bracket, students competed one-on-one with each other, with the winner moving on to the next round.

“I am very passionate about music, specifically guitars,” said Derek Lenehan, a director of programming for KIC who organized the competition. “This was my under-the-table way of promoting music.”

Guitar Hero is a Playstation 2 game that came out in November 2005. A sequel, Guitar Hero II, was released in November 2006 for the PS2, and for Xbox 360 earlier this year.

Similar to Dance, Dance Revolution, participants play a fake guitar and follow instructions about what keys to press in order to win the game.

“Everyone wants to play the guitar, but nobody actually can,” said Adam Patterson, a freshman nursing major on why people play the game. “This is a guitar they can actually play.”

Editor’s note: The Guitar Hero competition had not announced a winner as of the Stater’s deadline. Check StaterOnline.com for results of the competition.

Contact room and board reporter Sarah McGrath at [email protected].