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Guitar Hero, On a Real Guitar, To Hit Shelves In 2009

Posted by timothy on from the it-looks-like-you're-playing-a-guitar dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Minneapolis Star Tribune features an article (with photos) about a prototype electric guitar that doubles as a Guitar Hero controller. It is not just another guitar-shaped controller with buttons: it is an actual, playable guitar, shown in-action. The startup company, Zivix, LLC, intends to bring the product to store shelves in 2009. Web searches indicate that the company may have raised around $800K for the venture. The company is also working on technology that enables finger sensing on a real guitar that would allow your computer to teach you how to play chords or evolve into a future guitar synthesizer."

3 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. It's cool, but... by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's cool, but I highly doubt it will convince many people to really learn the guitar. Guitar Hero is a game. You can pretend to be Slash or Jimmy Page with minimal effort. That's why people play it.

    I smell Christmas cash-in on parents who worry little Johnny and Susie are wasting too much time on a video game. "Now they can REALLY learn music... the FUN® way!"

    People would be better off putting that money into a month's worth of guitar lessons at the music shop down the street. That's about the amount of time it would take for someone to decide they're serious about learning to play, and also about the amount of time it would take to get sick of playing this "Headliner."

    1. Re:It's cool, but... by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Getting "serious" about learning to play foists a lot of your hopes and dreams onto a kid who probably just wants to have a good time with tunes. "Serious" is where you live. "I'm interested enough to play with it" is where the kid lives. I say if a little extra expense might open some real doors for the kid, go for it.

      Speaking from experience, the best way to kill little Johnny's musical enthusiasm is to stick him into a cramped room with some old bastard who -- right or wrong -- makes you play scales instead of have fun with the music. "Serious" kills in the creative realm, at least until comfort, experimentation, and dedication settle in. And yeah, they're all different qualities from "serious."

      In my younger days I walked away from the viola because I hated my music teachers and the expectations that my parents shoveled onto me. I wish I'd had the sense to keep it up in my own time, but the teenage years: you know they're all about rebellion. Now I'm thirty-five and wishing I could play now like I used to. If there was a Viola Hero with a real viola, I'd zip out and get one in a moment.

  2. Re:Long time coming by tackledingleberry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But does it tell you that YOU ROCK! if you get most of the notes right?