Rock Band 3's new guitar controller...is a guitar.

[Flipsnake]

Yep. With pickups and strings. Has a MIDI output, so the game knows what notes are being played.
Also being introduced - A 2-octave MIDI keyboard.
Vid of the guitar in action
The keyboard in question.
So what do y'all think about these newfangled contraptions?

And a bit of my ramblin' here:
Guitar Hero 3 started off my current musical journey.
I got to the point where I was playing in practice mode, and my rational side said: "Just learn an instrument, fool."
So I picked up the bass. And I discovered how awesome this stuff can be.
I'll just say: Some people think that these games are ruining music. I say otherwise. Because through stuff like this, some people become curious enough to investigate playing actual music.

[WyrdoBass]

The vid won't work for me .

If they're trying to make it more realistic, great. Maybe there'll be less overall Guitar Hero/ Rock Band flaming. I don't care for the games myself, but it is cool to see people who have been inspired by them, instead of the kid who continually brags about his Guitar Hero PwN-osity.
Have fun on the low road!

[Time Consumer]

I say more power to them if it can actually get people into playing then great, my fear is that your average gamer wont wanna put forth this much effort, I'd hafta see it to believe it. And im not putting down gamers, I play games very frequently myself but I still cant see it. I'll be more happy about the fact that I wont be gettin my ass handed to me in these games by people who've never touched an actual guitar due to it being more relistic, lol.

[elavate7]

weres the bass???? i only saw guitar, vocals, drums , and keyboard.....

[MRDOOM]

I'm not sure how I should feel about it. on the one hand, its real strings/keys, not just five puttons, and it seems to show what is essentially the tablature for the songs. But on the other hand, its going to get even MORE people to start playing guitar. Ive lost so much respect for that instrument now that everyone and their mothers can play it. its going to make it even harder for genuinely talented players to get noticed.

[Jones_Stuff]

For the love of god...

It was fine when the 'controller' was remotely guitar shaped and had 5 cheap buttons and a flappy piece of plastic to imitate the strum, but now this monstrosity has taken the game element away and sacrificed it for a half-assed 'instrument.'

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people picking up instruments and learning to play, but damn, just get a guitar already...

In addition, theres BOTH a Squier and Fender controller?!?!? What, will the Fender cost more? Frankly, that's absurd.

[Time Consumer]

Originally Posted by MRDOOM

I'm not sure how I should feel about it. on the one hand, its real strings/keys, not just five puttons, and it seems to show what is essentially the tablature for the songs. But on the other hand, its going to get even MORE people to start playing guitar. Ive lost so much respect for that instrument now that everyone and their mothers can play it. its going to make it even harder for genuinely talented players to get noticed.

Yeah, that too, but look on the bright side, once the market is flooded with crappy guitarists(like it already is), good bassists will be in even higher demand than they are now.

[Flipsnake]

Originally Posted by MRDOOM

I'm not sure how I should feel about it. on the one hand, its real strings/keys, not just five puttons, and it seems to show what is essentially the tablature for the songs. But on the other hand, its going to get even MORE people to start playing guitar. Ive lost so much respect for that instrument now that everyone and their mothers can play it. its going to make it even harder for genuinely talented players to get noticed.

These are gamers we're talking about. And when you think about it, everyone and their mothers can play bass too. A greater presence of noob guitarists shouldn't bother any talented players anyways.
Though I get what you're saying about losing respect for the electric guitar. When I see pics of Lil Wayne being a fool on stage, I just weep for the true guitarists out there.

[jnevi9nr]

dont forget about this new game:

Power Gig: Rise of the SixStrin

same concept.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sim/...&mode=previews

[standupright]

Originally Posted by Flipsnake

<snip>And when you think about it, everyone and their mothers can play bass too. <snip>

really?

[Govier966]

hmm i think there are gonna be a lot more musicians in the next few years. I know a ton of people that have played guitar hero, got real guitars and gave up on those. Maybe the fact that the real instrument is incorporated into the game means more people will learn guitar. I actually kind of want that game is that treason? The problem is guitar hero and rock band make my contacts fall out. maybe someday musicians and video game nerds will live in harmony.

[Tommygunn]

Originally Posted by standupright

really?

Yeah sounds like what I hear my friends who play guitar say. They think bass is easy until they realize they have no rhythm.

[Flipsnake]

Originally Posted by Govier966

hmm i think there are gonna be a lot more musicians in the next few years. I know a ton of people that have played guitar hero, got real guitars and gave up on those. Maybe the fact that the real instrument is incorporated into the game means more people will learn guitar. I actually kind of want that game is that treason? The problem is guitar hero and rock band make my contacts fall out. maybe someday musicians and video game nerds will live in harmony.

Nerdy types can already fit in real quickly into the musical world. I'm fairly nerdy myself, and I couldn't wait to study musical theory when I began to take music somewhat seriously.
Videogaming itself is becoming more mainstream, though...it's getting less nerdy and more "retarded angry teenage pastime". Which is why I'm glad when a non-shooting game gets some attention.

[NineSpine]

I actually worked on Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero so I'm a little more sensitive than most to the rhythm game bashing that goes on.

It's a friggin' game. Seriously. I play Guitar Hero because *it's fun*. I don't hear people crying that gamers should be out kicking each other's ass if they like playing Street Fighter so much. Should I go to a shooting range if I like playing Halo? Games are GAMES! Do you tell kids playing Risk that they should join the military and become generals if that's what they like to do? Get over it.

Also, in case you don't know, the people behind these games are largely MUSICIANS. The note tracks are actually written by some pretty musically talented people because understanding music allows you to create more fun patterns that seem to fit the music better.

[Flipsnake]

Well, I just wanted to see what kind of response I could get by tossing this info around on a site filled with musicians. =D. And It makes sense for people here to be bashing the rhythm games. We have a lot of older folk around in the site, and the videogames in general are probably alien to them.

But I do love it when people say stuff like "VIDEO GAMES ARE RUINING OUR CHILDREN'S LIVES!". I have commited probably millions upon millions of digital murders, and I'm still a fairly wholesome individual (I hope).

[Duckwater]

Where's the bass?

[Time Consumer]

Originally Posted by NineSpine

I actually worked on Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero so I'm a little more sensitive than most to the rhythm game bashing that goes on.

It's a friggin' game. Seriously. I play Guitar Hero because *it's fun*. I don't hear people crying that gamers should be out kicking each other's ass if they like playing Street Fighter so much. Should I go to a shooting range if I like playing Halo? Games are GAMES! Do you tell kids playing Risk that they should join the military and become generals if that's what they like to do? Get over it.

Also, in case you don't know, the people behind these games are lagely MUSICIANS. The note tracks are actually written by some pretty musically talented people because understanding music allows you to create more fun patterns that seem to fit the music better.

Thank you, I try to point that out every time GH or RB comes up but...

Originally Posted by Flipsnake

Well, I just wanted to see what kind of response I could get by tossing this info around on a site filled with musicians. =D. And It makes sense for people here to be bashing the rhythm games. We have a lot of older folk around in the site, and the videogames in general are probably alien to them.

But I do love it when people say stuff like "VIDEO GAMES ARE RUINING OUR CHILDREN'S LIVES!". I have commited probably millions upon millions of digital murders, and I'm still a fairly wholesome individual (I hope).

Yep, the older folk dont seem to want any part of it cuz videogames has appearantly destroyed a generation

Originally Posted by Duckwater

Where's the bass?

They seem to always give bass the cold shoulder, dont know why.

[Admiral Axtell]

wow i was shocked when I saw this, I was also recruited to playing real instruments by guitar hero, i started playing GH before the second game even came out haha so i was a bit of a nerd. wow actually a real guitar... that is crazy, im glad they are doing this im sure it will get a lot of people into actually playing instruments as my friend also started playing drums because he loved to play rock band drums, now that the guitars are more realistic (well actually totally 100% realistic) we are sure to see more guitar players. Too bad they neglect the bass

[Flipsnake]

The neglect for the bass may have some roots in practicality.
I've read somewhere that it's more difficult for an instrument to trigger MIDI notes with lower-frequency notes.
And I don't see many gamers lining up on RB3 release day for the bass guitar.
So either way, Harmonix would not have made much more money if they made a bass to go along with this.

And on a related note, I may pick up one of those GH plastic drumkits, and see how much fun I can have by connecting it via MIDI to my computer...

[gttim]

http://gizmodo.com/5565262/vuvuzela-...he-buzz-builds