Real musicians won't mind those piddly guitar games much longer. Guitar Hero and Rock Band used to come with pint-sized, lightweight plastic guitars that looked and felt like the toys they really are. But all of that is changing, to investors' unbridled delight.
The left hand ...
Viacom's
It makes sense that more realistic gear is finding its way into these games. Logitech
... and the right hand ...
While the toys are starting to look and feel like the real thing, actual guitars are moving into cyberspace, too. Gibson put a truckload of digital features in its Dark Fire, which otherwise is a pretty classic Les Paul. This one comes with a FireWire port so you can hook it up to your Dell
"Real" guitar players occasionally sneer at the gamers, telling them to "learn to play a real instrument." But it won't be long until you can simply plug your new six-string into your Sony
... make beautiful music together
This convergence will do two important things: expand the marketable audience for those silly games to hardcore rockers way too cool for plastic guitars, and get little gamers taking their first stabs at musicianship. That's a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle that will make billions of dollars for the game makers, guitar shops, and forward-thinking investors alike.
Let there be rock:
- Kicking Axe and Taking Names
- Activision Is Music to My Ears
- This is all a part of the Music Industry 2.0.
