My pals at RockBandAide and PlasticAxe had outstanding roundups of their recent hands-on time with a bunch of these new real(ish) guitar controllers at E3:

• The Real (and Real-ish) Guitars of E3
• Hands-On Impressions of New REAL Guitar Peripherals at E3

But before you click through, let’s take a trip back in time … way back, to 1994. When Windows 95 was the latest OS sensation, the Sony Playstation was a hot new console, and the Nintendo 64 was still just a rumor.

The 1994 PC game Quest for Fame was the first (that I know of, anyway) game that attempted to use a full-size guitar peripheral.

The Unsung Story of Quest for Fame documents the game’s brief and somewhat sad history.

Players plug a “virtual guitar” into the computer to make music in the game. Fritz still owns a couple; they’re almost the same size as a real electric guitar and fairly heavy. Unlike the make-believe instrument in Guitar Hero, the Quest For Fame virtual guitar has strings, and there are no colorful push buttons on its neck.

A player watches a window in the computer monitor as a red line scrolls past a series of green blips, like pulses on a heart monitor. When the red line crosses a blip, the player strums the virtual guitar’s strings, and the computer’s speakers respond with Aerosmith hits like “Eat The Rich” or “Walk This Way.” Hit the strings too early or too late, and out come discordant notes and insults from on-screen characters.

Quest For Fame was a hit with critics. “I have seen the future of interactive multimedia, and it rocks,” wrote Stephen Manes in The New York Times. The game acquired a number of avid fans, like Ian Hughes, a virtual worlds evangelist for IBM Corp. in Hursley, a town south of London. “It was wonderful,” said Hughes. “I liked the immersion in the music. You’re in the music and feeling the music.”

If you’re wondering how the game works, I found a video of the game in action via the old British TV show Bad Influence — the Quest for Fame demo starts at 8:20 or so.

Quest for Fame certainly predicted the eventual appearance of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith 10 years later.

Here’s hoping the current crop of virtual guitars …

• Peavey HeroMaker
• Power Gig: Rise of the Six String controller
• Rock Band 3′s Squier Stratocaster and Fender Mustang Pro
• the You Rock Guitar

… fare a bit better than Quest for Fame’s virtual axe did.

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/the-original-virtual-guitar/feed/ 6 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/details-on-pro-guitar-mode/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/details-on-pro-guitar-mode/#comments Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:20:44 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1232 One of the most exciting Rock Band 3 announcements is Pro Guitar Mode.

But how does it work?

This video of a Bang Camaro member playing Rainbow in the Dark on Pro Guitar Expert — while a Harmonix team member describes what’s happening — is the best explanation I’ve seen:

If we look at the frets on the Fender Mustang Pro Guitar …

There are 17 rows of 6 buttons — a total of 102 buttons in all.

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the fret buttons are numbered in each row along the top, where you’d expect to see colors on the simpler 5 button guitars. They start at 17 closest to the strum area, decreasing down to 1 at the far end.

So there are a few things on the screen in pro mode, starting with the actual six guitar strings as the “note corridor”.

The bars that come toward you tell you what you’re supposed to be doing with the 102 fret buttons and 6 strings at that time in the song:

1. The size and location of the bar represents the chords (strings) you’re supposed to cover with your left hand.
2. The number on the bar represents the lowest fret button your left hand should be on.
3. The color of the bar (green, red, orange, blue, yellow, purple) represents the strings, red being the lowest string and green being the purple being the highest.
4. The shape of the bar connotes a chord, and the rough ‘shape’ your hand should be while playing the chord, as noted below.
5. (as a little notational bonus, if you know how to read music, the actual musical chord you’re supposed to be playing is also printed next to each chord, to the left of the corridor.)

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the “left hand position wave” shows in realtime on the note corridor.

The left hand position wave is telling you where your left hand is:

The number (shown in the wave) always represents the lowest fretted number your left hand is on, and the shape represents where your other fingers are supposed to go. It’s important that you know what your left hand is doing, without having to look down, at any time. The left hand position wave will outline the shape your left hand represents in its current position — if that shape matches the shape of the bars are in the corridor, they will “fit” through!

As for skill level, pro guitar mode runs the gamut from easy to expert, just like classic five button guitar mode:

• Pro Easy just doing single notes, the correct notes at the right time.
• Pro Medium introduces chords.
• Pro Hard is the full guitar part, but stripped down a bit to be more fun and playable in real time.
• Pro Expert is every guitar note in the song, for better or worse. Chords, notes, arpeggios, hammer ons, pull offs, slides. The whole enchilada!

Harmonix has invented a whole new set of music notation to teach guitar — but you’ll need a copy of Rock Band 3 and a compatible pro guitar — either the Fender Mustang or the Squier Stratocaster — to learn!

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/details-on-pro-guitar-mode/feed/ 0 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/rock-band-3-now-available-to-pre-order/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/rock-band-3-now-available-to-pre-order/#comments Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:46:10 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1206 I apologize for the lack of updates, I’ve been busy, yadda yadda … anyway, the big news is, Rock Band 3 was announced and it’s ohmygodamazingincredible!

I know, you’ve heard it all before. But just watch this video. And have some new underpants handy. Because you’re gonna need ‘em.

You can see the “other” pro guitar, the one with a zillion buttons, in action in this full band E3 stage demo. (They play Bohemian Rhapsody in the latter half, so don’t tune out in the middle.)

Yep, that’s seven people in one band. In fact, there’s so much awesome in Rock Band 3 I have a hard time figuring out where to begin:

• An all-new keyboard instrument, with 5-key basic and 26-key “Pro Mode”
• Guitar / Bass “Pro Mode” where you play the actual guitar hand positions in the real song
• Drums “Pro Mode” where you play pads and cymbals
• Three part vocal harmonies (ala Beatles Rock Band)
• Massively improved song sorting / selection / filtering to support enormous song libraries
• Drop in or out of play on any instrument at any time

It also works with all your existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero hardware, of course; the pro mode stuff and new keyboard instrument is all strictly optional.

I’m as giddy as a Japanese schoolgirl at a Hello Kitty convention. Rock Band 3 isn’t just another cookie cutter sequel — it redefines the entire genre of fake plastic rock. Literally!

Only 26 of the ~80 on-disc songs have been announced, but even as a partial list, it’s epic:

You can (and I just did!) already preorder Rock Band 3 with the new instruments:

The “Mustang” Pro Guitar (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Wireless Keyboard and Rock Band 3 bundle (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

(I haven’t been able to figure out availability of the doubles-as-a-real-guitar Squier Stratocaster guitar yet, but I will surely update the blog when I do.)

Ladies and Gentlemen: the fakereal plastic rock revolution begins October 31st, 2010.

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/06/rock-band-3-now-available-to-pre-order/feed/ 3 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/02/rock-of-the-dead/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/02/rock-of-the-dead/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:18:15 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1201 Sure, you can kill zombies with your keyboard, but did you know you can kill zombies with your Guitar Hero or Rock Band guitar, too? Behold Rock of the Dead!!

There are mindless beasts that take basic three- or four-strum combos to take out, but then there are ones that’ll lob projectiles at you – these knives/bombs only take a couple of fret flicks to get rid of, but unless you take down the guy that’s throwing them out at you, you’ll just be endlessly downing those objects. When the screen fills with a half-dozen beasts at once, you have the ability to discriminate and target specific ones by “typing” out the combo of the one you want – the game’s smart enough to know which beast you’re “aiming” at because it locks in on the enemy as you’re pushing out its fret button code.

Periodically you’ll have to take down larger enemies in rhythm fashion: this is basic Guitar Hero/Rock Band gameplay as the notes must be played to the beat of the background music to take down the threat.

The game has extra geek cred because it features voicework by Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day, too. If you don’t know who those people are, I forgive you.

Unfortunately this game is Wii-only, which means I won’t be able to play it — but it sounds awesome, and I totally support destroying zombies with the power of fake plastic rock!

updated: yay! Rock of the Dead will be available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 this October!

Here’s some recent footage of the game in action courtesy of our friends at RockBandAide:

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/02/rock-of-the-dead/feed/ 0 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/rock-band-jazz-band/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/rock-band-jazz-band/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:02:17 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1191 So the Rock Band Network should launch any day now, and per the always excellent RockBandAide, we can look forward to these announced downloadable tracks and artists on launch day:

• Steve Vai
• Widespread Panic
• Gov’t Mule
• Reverend Horton Heat
• Stroke 9
• Bif Naked

• Evanescence – Going Under
• All That Remains – Days Without
• All That Remains – Forever in Your Hands
• All That Remains – Undone
• Flight of the Concords – Business Time
• Flight of the Concords – Demon Woman
• Flight of the Concords – Most Beautiful Girl in the Room
• Ministry – Let’s Go
• Ministry – Life is Good
• Ministry – Watch Yourself

I am a huge, HUGE Flight of the Conchords fan and I cannot WAIT to bust out some Business Time on the mic.

As originally promised, RBN also opens the doors to more experimental stuff and new genres of fake plastic music, like this full-on Jazz track by Bill Bruford’s Earthworks. Check it out: saxophone as vocals, piano as guitar!

Don’t think a sax could actually play those vocals? I beg to differ! Witness a trombone player scoring a perfect on the vocals to the execrable “I Get By”.

Sorry Honest Bob fans, but that song is a crime against music. A trombone is the best thing that could have ever possibly happened to “I Get By”.

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/rock-band-jazz-band/feed/ 2 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/fret-nice-with-your-guitar-controller/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/fret-nice-with-your-guitar-controller/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:59:01 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1181 Ever wonder why you can’t use your trusty fake plastic guitar in other games than Rock Band and Guitar Hero?

Well, wonder no longer! The game Fret Nice (from Pieces Interactive) will soon be available on the respective Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 stores. In it, you use your guitar controller to navigate a 2D sidescrolling world.

I was a little confused how this all works, but it’s explained in a recent GameSpot preview:

How does it work, exactly? It starts out simply enough. You hit the green fret to move left, you hit the yellow fret to move right, and you tilt the guitar to jump. Those three inputs form the core of your movement. Easy, right? Attacking enemies gets a bit more complicated. The rotund bad guys coming after you–think of them as goombahs covered in fur–all have a random number of facial features. One might have a single eye, another might have three eyes with a mouth, and so on. Your job is to leap into the air and zap the enemies by playing the number of notes that match the number of facial features. So, for example, jumping into the air and playing a single blue note will kill that one-eyed enemy, while playing three blue notes and an orange note will kill the three-eyed, one-mouthed beast. You can improvise whatever color notes you play; all that matters is matching up the numbers.

Sounds like an interesting merger of a traditional button-based 2D scroller controls and dynamic “play some songs” interactivity.

Fret Nice is slated to arrive sometime next month (that’d be February), so keep an eye out for it. Unless all you like to do with your fake guitar controller is play fake songs. Total dullsville, man!

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2010/01/fret-nice-with-your-guitar-controller/feed/ 0 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-knockoffs/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-knockoffs/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:04:28 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1162 Imagine the joy of finding a copy of The Beatles: Rock Band or Guitar Hero 5 under your Christmas tree this year. Now imagine what you’d feel like if, instead, you unwrapped a copy of an ultra-chintzy, bottom dollar Guitar Hero knockoff. Behold.

Guitar Superstar

(picture courtesy of the always-excellent Rock Band Aide)

Featuring, according to the box, 12 “hit” songs:

• Santana – “Stormy”
• Motorhead – “Fight”
• Fall Out Boy – “Dance, Dance”
• Alice Cooper – “Billion Dollar Babies”
• System Of A Down – “Forest”
• The Vines – “Get Free”
• Aerosmith – “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”

There must be multiple versions of this thing, because this one features the song Granite Man. Not Iron Man, mind you, but … Granite Man.

Oh, but wait, there’s more!

Shredmaster Jr.

This one has a similar tracklist, but a totally different gameplay UI.

• Smoke on the Water
• I Love Rock and Roll
• Iron Man
• You Give Love a Bad Name
• Billion Dollar Babies
• Hotel California
• Paradise City
• Smells Like Teen Spirit
• Paranoid
• Master of Puppets

I’m not sure which one is worse. I don’t think there can be a winner when both are so bad. This is gameplay that would have been barely acceptable in the 8-bit NES era, and “songs” that are painful, barely recognizable MIDI deconstructions of the originals.

There’s even a drum superstar, though it’s so profoundly bad I couldn’t find any details on it, or videos of it in action.

Any kids who got these crappy knockoffs for Christmas instead of the real thing, you have my condolences. I’m sorry your parents don’t love you!

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-knockoffs/feed/ 1 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-van-halen-released/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-van-halen-released/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:05:31 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1148 With less of a bang than a whimper, tomorrow is the release date for Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

I’ve had this game since the first days it was available as a Guitar Hero 5 pre-order bonus. Although I am kinda-sorta a Van Halen fan, have to admit that it was a bit of a letdown. In all honesty, I had more fun playing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. There’s something about the Van Halen catalog that just isn’t … deep. It’s just sort of basic rock music. Outside of the Eddie guitar virtuoso wankery (aka Eruption) and the top 5 Van Halen hits you’re probably thinking of, there is no “there” there.

It’s also a shame that this disc doesn’t import at all into Guitar Hero 5, like World Tour, Smash Hits and Band Hero do. Well, partially, anyway.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is probably worth getting if you’re a massive fan of the band, though it is nowhere near the intimate fan-centric portrait of a band like Guitar Hero: Metallica, much less The Beatles: Rock Band. If you are a genre enthusiast like myself, I can recommend picking it up once it drops to discounted levels. It’s mostly Van Halen, but there are a handful of other interesting songs on there as well — check out the song list and see if anything appeals to you. I expect it to tumble in price quite rapidly.

Even if you have no interest in the game proper, there is a little bonus for all fake plastic rockers — an official Eddie Van Halen “frankenstrat” faceplate!

The frankenstrat is Eddie’s famous guitar, a combination Gibson / Fender with a very distinctive paintjob.

I’m pretty sure the frankenstrat is probably the single most copied faceplate design in the history of fake plastic rock. So having it as an official faceplate design is a good thing. The faceplate is available as a promo bonus from some sites, or also sold directly for $10.

And here’s my own bonus to you — a video from the Legion of Rock Stars covering Van Halen’s Jump.

They’ve done a ton of these covers, which are available here. Bring your earplugs, and a sense of humor …

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/12/guitar-hero-van-halen-released/feed/ 3 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/11/the-share-your-love-contest/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/11/the-share-your-love-contest/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:56:00 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1140 I am in fact a huge fan of The Beatles: Rock Band. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the recent Abbey Road DLC, so much so that I’d call the 16-minute B-side medley — playable as one continuous song — the high point of my entire fake plastic rock experience to date. It was seriously that good!

So I jumped at the opportunity to run a (very!) small, sponsored contest courtesy of our pals at GameStop.

Up for grabs are two copies of The Beatles: Rock Band for Playstation 3.

Here’s how it works:

1. Leave a comment describing your favorite Beatles song in the game. Just a short paragraph is fine.
2. Be sure to leave a valid email address in the comment so I can contact you.
3. I will select my two favorite comments (you have to convince me — at least a little!) and your copy of The Beatles: Rock Band for the Playstation 3 will be shipped directly to you.

That’s it!

And, if you don’t win in the comments, there’s always the Share Your Love contest which runs until the 16th:

Create lyrics for your own love song using at least ten titles from songs by The Beatles. You could win a VIP trip to Las Vegas, complete with airfare, stay at The Mirage, tickets to The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil along with the chance to perform your winning submission before the show.

Also, if you already own The Beatles: Rock Band, get out there and buy that Abbey Road DLC! Harmonix is taking a “wait and see” approach to future Beatles DLC — meaning, the more Abbey Road sells, the more likely it will be that we’ll get more Beatles tracks.

Do not disappoint me! You guys know what to do, here! :)

]]> http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/11/the-share-your-love-contest/feed/ 24 http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/10/band-hero-track-list/ http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/2009/10/band-hero-track-list/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:18:49 +0000 Jeff Atwood http://www.fakeplasticrock.com/?p=1133 In all the excitement over Lego Rock Band, I almost forgot about Band Hero, which is also launching soon.

The full 65 song list was recently unveiled along with the fantastic news that all but four of the songs will be exportable to Guitar Hero 5! (Oddly, you can also go in the reverse direction, importing 69 Guitar Hero 5 songs into Band Hero.) It’s hardly the access to the nearly 1,000 song Rock Band 2 DLC library that Lego Rock Band offers, but it’s a start.

Now that’s the kind of importing we wanted! Oh, and on the incredibly rare chance any Activision excutives happen to be reading this blog, I’m still waiting for fuller Smash Hits and World Tour importing in Guitar Hero 5.

Click through to see YouTube videos of any song, if you’re not familiar with it.

While I’m much more partial to the Lego Rock band setlist, I can’t deny that Band Hero has a whopping 20 more tracks, and there are some definite gems in there. It also uses the Guitar Hero 5 engine, which is a massive improvement over the Guitar Hero 4 (World Tour) engine, even the tweaked versions of it that appeared in Smash Hits and Metallica. Playing Guitar Hero 5 does not make me want to cut myself with my plastic instruments in quite the way that Guitar Hero World Tour did, so that’s … a plus.

Band Hero is scheduled for release November 3rd, which just so happens to be the date Amazon is telling me I’ll get Lego Rock Band as well. Coincidence? :)

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