Guitar gaming showdown! Which new music game will make you a real rock star?

As an avid musician, I was pleased to be covering the most innovative musical games of E3. No, I’m not talking about Guitar Hero, but a game where you can play with an actual six stringed guitar. With many competitors fighting to receive credit for this new technology, I decided to take a closer look at the different products and give you my inside opinion on the goods and bads of this new technology.

HeroMaker Controller

One of the smaller music booths at E3 was home to Peavey’s very own “Custom” guitar. This prototype guitar (pictured above) is for use with such games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and has been constructed out of a licensed Peavey guitar. For some reason it has been dubbed “HeroMaker”, although to tell you the truth it didn’t look very heroic. The sensor bar is a bit unsightly, but this is still a prototype so I’ll go easy.  As I mentioned before, the guitar functions through the use of a sensor bar. The sensor bar is integrated into the first 12 frets of the high E string to make for a realistic guitar-playing experience.  I was unable to get a hands on demo, so I do not know exactly how comfortable it is to play.  I have always been a Fender girl, so it’s difficult for me to say that I would enjoy buying a Peavey guitar, even if it did function as a videogame controller. Perhaps if it’s cheap enough I might be game. Aside from being an actual electric guitar (yes, you can plug it into an amp), the controller has a whammy bar that can be used to effect noises digitally on a computer. If that’s not your thing you can always use it to gain star power in your favorite music games.

Powergig

This prototype guitar is quit the cutie (despite being shaped like a mini coffin)! A bit smaller than your average guitar, it is petite. If ukuleles had a little more edge and decided to go metal, this would be the outcome. It has a limited amount of buttons and knobs because simplicity is the key to music games (mostly because they’re already too difficult to grasp for people with no sense of rhythm).  

I was able to get a hands-on demo of Powergig, which oddly enough was a lot better than I expected. It functions basically the same way that Peavey’s guitar functioned, with the frets acting similarly to the buttons in Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  The guitar was easy to pluck and strum, but I can tell you now that you’ll need to get used to the sizes of the frets if you ever want to play without looking.  With the simple push of a button, the pickups can be lowered so that you can play the controller like an actual guitar.  Sure it may not be name brand, but it is small, transportable, and oh so easy to impress your friends with. The game itself was only playable in easy mode (which was a huge let down for me, because I like to play expert and suck so that everyone can watch me and laugh).

Rock Band 3

So usually, I will say that I am a supporter of indie developers and underdog companies who outshine the abilities of the larger corporations, but unfortunately this was not the case at this year’s E3.  One of the most promising and innovative guitar controllers was presented by Harmonix.  This new guitar will be for use in Rock Band 3 Pro Mode, allowing easy and fun training for aspiring musicians. If you’ve ever wanted to learn guitar for popular songs, Harmonix is making it possible! Rather than displaying the colors of the buttons for the player to press, the new Rock Band 3 Pro Mode will show six strings, and numbers will scroll towards the bottom indicating the frets.  The best part is that if you decide you want to play the guitar into an amp and follow the instructions on the screen, you will find yourself playing the actual song! The instructions on the screen are as accurate as the songs written by the musicians. This new controller is sure to revolutionize the way everyone (not only gamers) learn guitar.

With all of these competitors trying to get their names out there, it is apparent that a bridge will soon be formed between the world of gamers and musicians. We can only hope that this crossover technology will deliver and show Guitar Hero the real way to rock out with your cock out.