Daniel Fenster is one of the world’s top-rated guitarists, but rather than a wooden instrument with steel strings, his musical device of choice is made of plastic.
According to the official Guitar Hero ranking website, Fenster, a freshman studying psychology, is ranked first worldwide in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and second worldwide in Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero Smash Hits.
Another site that ranks guitar heroes, scorehero.com, ranks Fenster first in the world in Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Xbox Live, however, places his ranking at second rather than first because it does not count the scores for bonus songs, Fenster said. These songs, such as Dragonforce’s “Through the Fire and the Flames” — which Fenster claims to have earned a perfect score on 30 times — are counted on his ScoreHero account but not on his Xbox Live account.
Despite Fenster’s stellar ranking, he still sees much room for improvement.
“Just because you have a No. 1 ranking doesn’t mean you’re the best. You can always get better. There can always be that one unknown person,” Fenster said, adding that the coveted ranking does not create fierce and bitter rivalries.
“The competitive community on Guitar Hero is, as it gets harder, is actually more friendly,” he said.
Fenster has been ranked mostly first — occasionally dropping to second — since the end of his sophomore year in high school.
He said that Guitar Hero 3 is his favorite game of the series because it has the best songs and is the most difficult, adding that he has completed every song on the game with 100 percent accuracy.
Fenster uses a different method to play the game, strumming with his elbow and hitting the buttons on the fret board with both hands during particularly difficult sections.
Although this approach helps Fenster master speed-of-light riffs and solos, he attributes his success to hard work and his friendly, yet competitive, attitude.
“If you practice enough, you’re gonna get it,” he said. “I’ve gone 32 hours straight practicing. Except for food and bathroom (breaks), obviously.”
He also explained that while his schedule limits his practice time at school, he still tries to meet his quota of practicing three to five hours daily.
“People used to say that I was addicted to video games a lot, but since I have been down here, it has died down,” Fenster said.
He picked up his first pseudo-six-string in 2005 when he tried the game out a Best Buy and immediately fell in love. Today, Fenster claims to own all of the Guitar Hero games that have been released.
“He is the true guitar hero. Dan is the man,” said Nick Sacchini, a freshman with an undecided major.
Many others who have seen him have been equally impressed — starstruck, even.
“(He is) the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life,” said Nicholas Marchinoda, a freshman with an undecided major.
Video of Fenster playing is available at http://www.youtube.com/ggamerman, and he plans to stream some of his game play live during Winter Intersession.
ld311710@ohiou.edu
