E3 2010: Hands-on with Power Gig: Rise of the SixString

I got the chance to try out developer Seven45′s music rhythm game Power Gig: Rise of the SixString at E3 2010. I chose to try out their guitar controller, which is essentially a real six-string guitar on which you can actually play music if you wanted to.

The guitar does look and feel like a real guitar, with real steel strings. It’s a bit heavier than a typical plastic guitar controller, which is cool since it adds to the feeling that you’re playing a real instrument. On the side of the neck are the five familiar colored bars you’ve seen in similar music games.

Power Gig offers two modes of play. One is your standard play mode for non-musicians, in which you match the colored bars on your guitar with the colored dots on the screen at the right moment. Just like any other rhythm music game. The other mode is for more musically inclined folks, who can use the strings as they would on a real guitar.

Since I’m not a musician, I happily tested out the regular mode. The Seven45 rep told me that all I had to do was press down on the location of the appropriate colored bar. It didn’t matter which string I pressed on. With my other hand, I would then pluck the strings with my guitar pick to play the “note”.

I started playing on a demo song (I didn’t catch the name) that was already playing, and it took a while to get used to the controller. You have to press down pretty hard on the strings for it to register, which means that your fingers are best located closer to the thin strings.

After bumbling through the last half of that song (18%, yuck!), I wanted to redeem myself and played another song. This time it was Eric Clapton’s “Layla”. Clapton is one of three artists who recently announced their involvement with Power Gig. I did much better this time around (84%, yay!).

I didn’t get to try out the AirStrike drum kit, but I watched another journalist playing on it. So far, I’m not impressed. I don’t get the point of simply striking the air, rather than hitting an actual surface. It’s rather strange that Seven45 would go for realism with their guitar, but go in the complete opposite direction with their drums.

With Power Gig’s main appeal being the use of a real guitar, I naturally had to ask Seven45 about their concerns regarding Rock Band 3‘s recent announcement of having a real guitar AND keyboard. A rep I spoke to could not to go on the record with a comment, but essentially Seven45 has no comment on the matter.

Power Gig: Rise of the Six-String is due to be released October, 2010.

Site [Power Gig]