

New Guitar Game with Real Six String Controller - moollaza
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/seven45-studios-ups-the-ante-for-music-games-intros-guitar/?s=t5

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halo
I've thought for a while that the concept of teaching instruments through
games is a great idea, and hope this lives up to my expectations. If this
piques your interest, you might want to look at the independent PC title
Synthesia (<http://www.synthesiagame.com/>) which is based around a similar
idea for piano; despite not particularly polished it has the core concepts
down and is improving all the time. I hope that one day someone sees the
potential in his and throws money at the developer to give it the time and
resources it deserves to turn it into a large-scale commercial project.

I have great hopes for these sorts of products, and think teaching instruments
via games is simply the low-hanging fruit of a bigger idea. I think using
technology to improve learning is a woefully unexplored area, and that
learning is a sector that is ripe for some serious disruption. I don't think
textbooks or lectures are an good or efficient way to learn, but we're still
using those same methods that have existed since time immemorial without
strong emperical evidence simply because it's the status quo. Meanwhile,
technology and our knowledge of neuroscience and psychology have improved
beyond all recognition, yet they are massively underutilised in terms of
helping people learn. I can't help but feel that one day all these dots are
going to be connected and it's going to dramatically change how we learn and
educate for the better.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
I really want to pick up a midi keyboard for this game. I dabble at piano and
can read music but this seems like the fun factor would encourage me to
practice.

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jmackinn
This reminded me of the same game concept that was supposedly under
development a few years ago when Guitar Hero and Rockband came out. The game
was to be called Guitar Rising and was going to allow for the ability to use
any electric guitar. Now the game is beginning to seem like vapourware but you
should check out the demo video.

<http://www.guitarrising.com/>

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colings86
If you want a game that realistic why not actually play a six string guitar?

~~~
imp
Because if you're a beginning guitarist you don't get any feedback. The game
could be more useful for learning guitar than anything else.

~~~
colings86
What kind of feedback do you need? It just seems to me that console games
producers are under the impression that console games are the answer to
everything when in fact its much more impressive when someone can actually do
something like play a real guitar or cook a real meal then if they do it on an
XBox or a DS especially when they charge so much for things like guitar hero.
It would be better if they provided an interface for you to plug an electric
guitar into your console and learn to play using the software, then when
you've learn you can 1. play a real guitar and 2. have a real guitar without
the non standard socket they will inevitablely put on it.

~~~
imp
Initially it would be "you didn't hit that string cleanly, try again" which
would move to "you played that progression well, nice job!" Then it could move
to "You nailed 80% of those chords and your timing was AVERAGE." I'm assuming
that the game guitar is very close to an actual guitar. I agree that it would
be ideal if you could use a normal guitar and get the same feedback.

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dstik
That reminds me of Disney's Star Guitarist
([http://gizmodo.com/5128332/disney-star-guitarist-guitar-
hero...](http://gizmodo.com/5128332/disney-star-guitarist-guitar-hero-but-
with-real-guitars)), a game using a real guitar, not sure if it ever came out
though..

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moollaza
Anyone think this will be a real game-changer? At least now my friends can't
complain that the game is easy because there's no actual strings/chords to
play.

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dmn001
Those old casio MIDI guitars could very easily be added into a game.

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stcredzero
I think there's an age cut-off where people go from thinking this is cool to
being embarrassed to own one.

[http://globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2007/07/...](http://globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2007/07/guitar-hero-comic.jpg)

~~~
scott_s
No, but there's a middle phase where you're self-conscious about having fun
for the sake of fun.

~~~
stcredzero
Being able to just have fun _actually playing an instrument_ has truly been a
blast for me the past 20 years.

~~~
scott_s
I bet it is - more than just fun, I imagine, but enriching. Not everyone
chooses to enrich themselves in that way. I have chosen others. But it's still
fun to play Guitar Hero or Rock Band with a bunch of friends, despite having
no musical talent or practice.

~~~
stcredzero
If tunes get stuck in your head, you have musical talent. If you can play a
rhythm game like Guitar Hero, you can probably play music too. It used to be
that most every household had someone very good at music. In the same way that
there was a lot more awesome home cooking.

~~~
scott_s
I don't disagree, but I also don't see why that should make me self-conscious
for having fun playing those games.

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stcredzero
I don't have to make you anything. I have a right to my opinion and to express
it politely. Please quote any impoliteness on my part.

I'd also suggest this _gedankenexperiment_ : imagine buying a game controller,
owning it for three years, and getting good at the game. Then imagine buying a
guitar, owning it for three years, and getting good at it.

How does this suggestion make you feel? Do those feelings come from my words,
or from somewhere in yourself?

Please don't blame me. I'm not making you be anything.

~~~
scott_s
We have a strange semantics mis-understanding. I _don't_ feel self-conscious
playing those games. Nor do I think I or anyone else should. Your comment
makes it sound like we should. I tried to explain why I think that is
mistaken.

Your comment about impoliteness is baffling, since I never said anything about
your tone.

~~~
stcredzero
You're seriously putting words in my mouth. Why do you think I want to coerce
emotions in others? Wouldn't an entirely pragmatic interpretation fit just as
well?

To paraphrase William Gibson: "My songs are of time and distance. The emotion
is in you."

More directly: am I trying to coerce you into feelings, or talking abstractly
about people's feelings now and in the future?

~~~
scott_s
Sigh. Let me put it this way: It's the only reasonable interpretation I can
come up with of your original comment.

