Remember the old Johnny Carson days when Johnny would say something and the audience would answer, say, "How hot is It?" and he would give a funny response?

No? Look, we know this article is about "Guitar Hero," or more accurately, it refers to a much better story on "Guitar Hero" in our NextNC section. So you may not be old enough to know who Carson was. But since "Guitar Hero" apparently is for everyone (see the story), we figured you'd get this.

So bear with us.

OK, so if this were a Carson monologue, he'd say, "Man, that Guitar Hero is popular." And we, the audience, would say, "How popular is it?"

And Carson would say, "It's so popular, a guy from Norway commented on a blog written about the game by one of the Greeley Tribune's reporters."

Roberth Strand of Norway said in an e-mail interview that he enjoys playing guitar and also plays "Guitar Hero" and doesn't really see a connection between the two. Guitar-driven bands are almost a religion in that country. He began playing when he was 9 after listening to Metallica.

Some say "Guitar Hero" might discourage some from actually playing real guitar, but Strand doesn't see it that way.

"Personally, I think 'Guitar Hero' encourages people to at least try playing the guitar," Strand said. "I know some young people that want to learn it after playing the game."

Strand plays in a band and all the guys in it play the game. He enjoys comparing his scores on a site called scorehero.com.

"There is nothing like trying to get high scores and find out that you are one of the top 30 players out there on that song," he said.

Then there's Kyle Lobato, 21, of Greeley, who plays it just for a good time.

"It's not like I play it every day," Lobato said. "I don't take it too seriously. But it is fun because you can get all your buddies together and goof around."

Read more at www.nextnc.com.