Fender and Rock Band 3 are helping blur the line between gamer and musician with their latest invention. Fender created an actual guitar that uses MIDI to play along with Rock Band’s challenging game.
The Dixie Sun reported:
The guitar is fully functional for use in a standard amplifier, and it also features MIDI input for use in digital recording software. Fender released the guitar on March 1 at Best Buy for $279.99. The Mad Catz MIDI Pro Adapter, required to connect the guitar to either Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 consoles, is sold for $39.99.
The game, released in October, features a Pro Mode. Pro Mode gives an accurate representation of playing music as opposed to simply pushing colored buttons and is featured for guitar, drums and keyboard. It provides a learning opportunity for those interested in learning to play a real instrument, as well as the same satisfaction of scoring points for playing accurately.………
The game features trainers for the instrument. There are exercises to teach everything from simple power chords, to more complex barre chords, to teaching advanced arpeggios.
There are also segment trainers for every song that features a Pro Guitar track, allowing you to learn songs exactly as an artist plays them.
The songs featured in-game span multiple rock genres and skill levels—from simple punk classics like “I Wanna Be Sedated” by
The Ramones to challenging epics like “Roundabout” by Yes. Harmonix, the developers of the “Rock Band” franchise, release new songs for download every week at $2 apiece. Songs featuring Pro Guitar tracks require an additional $1 upgrade fee to access that feature.
It seems gaming geeks just got a whole lot cooler.
Source: Dixie Sun