They may be great fun for amateur rockers but what do the professionals make of the latest generation of music-making games?

We asked British Sea Power, the indie band nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music prize, to put both titles through their paces.

The band are keen to get started, and make a beeline for the Guitar Hero instrument controllers.

The first tune picked from the on-disc set list is Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On a Prayer.

The straightforward chord progression of this soft-rock stadium anthem should be a piece of cake for British Sea Power, who pride themselves on intricately arranged guitar pop. But the game disagrees: the band manage to play through only 31% of the 1980s classic before the in-game crowd call a halt to proceedings with a cacophony of catcalls: the game’s response to a succession of duff notes being played.

Frontman “Yan” (Scott Wilkinson) remains unconcerned. “Remember, if they boo you it’s ’cos it’s a crap song,” he explains.

Next up is Some Might Say, by Oasis. This goes a little better: Abi Fry, the group’s resident viola player, nails the Gallagher guitar solo note for note.

Suddenly, things start to fall into place. “I feel like Alan Partridge; oh the power!” “Noble” (Martin Noble) exclaims, while assuming a caricature rock god pose. The real-life guitarist is enjoying putting his virtual rock persona through its paces on the screen as he whips through Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger.

The band are in sparkling form. Fresh from a successful UK tour, British Sea Power are enjoying a rare moment of downtime.

“There are definitely parallels between rock’n’roll and Guitar Hero,” muses Yan, the singer and guitarist. “The more beer you drink, the easier it gets,” he says, before dutifully finishing a lager.

Although British Sea Power consider their gaming skills to be no greater than “one out of 10”, the heightened co-ordination and sense of rhythm of professional musicians helps them quickly grasp the Guitar Hero fundamentals. In-game tutorials are waved away in preference to on-the-job training.

“I didn’t think Interpol songs were this easy,” says Yan in a discreet tone, but the frontman’s confidence is premature. An ambitious foray into the Beastie Boys’ 1986 classic No Sleep Till Brooklyn results in a humbling 6% completion rate. “Okay, the Beasties are beyond us — we know our place in the world,” he concedes.

Time for Nintendo’s cartoon-like family-friendly music game with its myriad instruments. After 20 minutes of random jamming sessions, involving instruments as wildly diverse as vibraphones, ukuleles, harps and a saxophone, predictable questions bubble to the surface.

“It feels really cool, but how do you get scored? What’s the point, exactly?” asks Phil Sumner, keyboard player and newly qualified maestro of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.

Yan picks up on the child-friendly benefits of the Wii game. “I thought that the education aspect was one of the main positive sides of Wii Music. I think it’d be a lot of fun if you were a young kid, but you don’t end up with any skill at the end of it unless you’re under eight.”

Asked to pick between the two games, Yan immediately selects Nintendo’s offering. “I’d go for the Wii one — it’d be good just to get people round and have a laugh.”

Noble was less convinced. “They’re both okay. But overall, I think I’ll stick to my day job.”