'Guitar Hero' tournament is contest for charity

Matt Louw came ready to play.

The 22-year-old from Des Moines zoned out the audience, and the competition, as he fingered and strummed with an authority and focus reserved for masters of the craft.

Two years ago, he took second at the “Guitar Hero” tournament put on by the Vans Warped Tour, a traveling punk-rock festival that pit him against hundreds of punk-rock loving competitors.

This summer, he won the Iowa State Fair's “Guitar Hero” tournament. On Saturday, he was playing for a 32-inch flat-screen TV at the Coralville Best Buy. He thought a little about the TV, but thought more about winning it all.

“I like to win, but it's more about having fun with it,” Louw said. “After (four) years of playing the different editions, I'd say I'm ahead of the game.”

These tournaments are nothing new anymore. The first “Guitar Hero” game, which gives players a guitar-shaped plastic controller and tests their rhythm and hand-eye coordination, came out in 2005. Since then, there have been 11 other editions of the game that allows people to play along with some of the greatest songs in rock 'n' roll history.

Louw was one of nearly 50 guitar hero hopefuls at Coral Ridge Mall for the Dance Marathon's first “Guitar Hero” tournament fundraiser.

With the help of the Children's Miracle Network and Best Buy, Dance Marathon cashed in on the cult video game's following to raise money to support the pediatric oncology ward at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

“We wanted to find a new and inventive way to fundraise, and to try and get out more into the community,” said Sarah Freed, one of the student group's event coordinators. “We've definitely been successful with that.”

After three hours of pool play, the pool of competition was narrowed to a final bracket of eight. Then players had to face one another head to head.

Adrian Letta, 22, of Iowa City, was on hand to watch the contest and marvel at his handiwork. Letta works at Budcat, a software developer in Iowa City, that helped create the newest editions of the “Guitar Hero” franchise.

“It's humbling and amazing to see people enjoy something I worked hard to help create,” Letta said. “It amazes me how much of a cultural phenomena it has become, and how hard core some people are about it.”

The franchise has sold more than 25 million copies world wide and introduced classic bands like Rush and great guitarists like Jimi Hendrix to a new generation of music fans. It's given groups like Dance Marathon a dynamic way to bring in some money for a worthy cause. And it's given Louw something to pride himself on.

Even if he didn't win.

“I got knocked out in the first round of the finals,” Louw said.

As it turned out, he and everyone else were outplayed by an 18-year-old “Guitar Hero” fanatic, Brian Sulzer of Iowa City.

Louw was OK with it.

“Playing for charity put a whole new dynamic to competitive play,” he said.

“It seemed like you were just hanging with friends and playing ‘Guitar Hero.'”