I must admit I had an uneasy feeling yesterday as my roommate and his girlfriend left for the mall. Their mission? To purchase Guitar Hero III - possibly this season’s hottest Christmas gift and the instigator of many unnecessary rivalries and breakups.

I had played Guitar Hero before - it was fun, but I never quite got into it. I was never good enough to “earn” the classics like “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and the concert-killer-turned-living-room-stunner “Free Bird,” and I always found myself ultimately dejected, withdrawn to a corner of a crowded room, shamed, ridiculed, my untrained fingers nearly bleeding.

Thus it was that Nick and Kristin left last night to buy what I believed would ultimately serve as the Pontiac Aztec of our living room - a revolutionary system that would ruin my carefully constructed world and perpetuate public embarrassment.

…

I was up until 2 a.m. last night playing Guitar Hero III.

With such tracks as “The Seeker” by The Who and “La Grange” by ZZ Top, this game is seriously rockin’. All previous skepticism quickly surrendered to sheer bliss as Nick, Kristin and I jammed to Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” and shredded the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

At one point I found myself jumping off the ottoman and kicking back my legs mid-air in a gloridiculous tribute to Pete Townsend.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is perhaps the most addictive game on the market today. And, unlike many of rock’s notorious “hobbies,” this is one addiction you can afford to keep.

Rating: 5/5

* Guitar Hero III is available for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, as well as PC and Mac computers.