Not so fast.
The You Rock Guitar looks a lot like the Rock Band and Guitar Hero guitars; however, it’s got six real strings and a real fretboard.
You can play this guitar like any other electric guitar by plugging it into an amp, or you can even plug it into an iPhone or iPod. The folks behind it say that it also works as a Rock Band or Guitar Hero controller “that actually feels and plays like a real guitar.”
I’m cautiously optimistic about that claim as someone who plays guitar and hates the button mashing fest on Rock Band. However, I’m still trying to figure out how that it’s not a button mashing routine with this guitar as well. The data input on the game has to be the same for this guitar and the Rock Band guitars. Unless they’ve figured out a way to incorporate real notes into the color-coded icons on the screen (which the below video appears to confirm has not happened), this may not quite live up to my hopes. It does look promising that you can actually hold a pick in your hand, but I wouldn’t expect to learn how to play guitar from jamming to Rock Band with this guitar.
The You Rock Guitar carries a retail price of $179.95, which is almost enough to score you a real electric guitar like an entry-level Fender SE Strat and small amp.
I’m going to try to get some hands on time at CES and will report back with the results.
