I was in PC World the other day (buying some memory for my now-speedy PC) when I noticed something by the tills that caught my attention. It was a little black guitar, a Wii and a TV proudly displaying the end screen for a Guitar Hero 3 song, on easy, at 22% completion. I smirked to myself, thinking how much better I could have done on easy when a couple walked up and the woman grabbed the guitar…

She was clearly excited by the game, expertly using all the buttons to make her selection, and as the song started she smiled at her partner and began rockin’ away. She had some good moves, keeping her finger work steady whilst tapping a foot and nodding her head, but I quickly noticed that she wasn’t hitting a single note. The song failed her at 22% and she looked a little downcast and jumped into the queue.

Next up was a skinny guy who looked like a pro, starting up the song again without batting an eyelid, but he wasn’t hitting any notes either. I then noticed two things. Firstly, easy is a silly mode - surely if you are not hitting any of the notes, you should not be able to get a fifth of the way into a song. Secondly, the guy was failing to strum. I put on my most helpful Frag Doll face and leaned over to quietly tell him his error. I received a mumbled ‘thanks’ and the glory of him then completing the song. Yey! Gaming Good Samaritan Sarin at your service.

The best bit was that the woman who had been on before him clearly saw what was happening and jumped back out of the queue and back on the Wii. She was still rockin’ out when I left the shop. I suddenly wanted to find some old ladies to help across the street and a struggling mother whose shopping I could carry for her. I felt all warm and snugly inside, that pious feeling of helping others.

So there you go - next time you see someone in a public situation failing miserably, don’t just quietly think how great you are and walk away. Try offering a little help. People won’t eat your face off or punch you in the crotch; they just want to play like you do. A quick tip goes a long way, and my tip for newbie’s today is that the strum button is not just for menu selections - it is for use with every note, every single note I tells ya!