Rock Band 3 is getting re-launched this holiday season. No it isn’t coming with additional features or songs. This re-launch is the result of a new agreement that has been reached between Harmonix and Mad Catz. Rock Band 3 will be bundled with Mad Catz peripherals at retail.

If you thought the days of strumming away on guitars in a videogame were drawing to a close, think again. Activision may have washed its hands of Guitar Hero, but Ubisoft is picking up the slack with Rocksmith. Rocksmith hopes to differentiate itself from Guitar Hero by taking the Rock Band approach to realism.

You’ve seen theThis is an object of seeming conflicting dualities. The You Rock Guitar is a game controller yet not a game controller. It’s a guitar with strings yet not a string guitar. It’s not as much a musical instrument as an instrument for making music.

This device includes a section of strings that you strum yet the strings are about 6 inches long, never need tuning and are not tied t the neck of the guitar. Instead, you press pressure-sensitive frets all along the neck, activating each note much as you would with a real string guitar. You then strum the string to play the note(s)or chord you are fingering.

Guitar manufacturer Peavey is at CES this week to promote their Marvel Universe guitars, which are standard electric guitars painted with a popular Marvel character.

You are a musician bordering on rockstar. In a few years time, you will graduate to rock God. Reaching this level won’t be easy. It requires extensive practice with some of the most popular songs ever created. Such feats are not possible with plastic guitars with numerous buttons. You need to use real instruments, and Rock Band 3 has you covered. Now nearly every MIDI keyboard and drum set you have can be used in Rock Band 3‘s Pro mode.

The biggest mystery surrounding Rock Band 3 has been the price of the real Squier guitar made by Fender. This guitar is 100% real with strings, tuning pegs and everything else you’ll find in a guitar. Fender has finally announced the release date and price for its Rock Band 3 compatible guitar.

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 more »

Mad Catz is one of the first companies that come to mind when talking about videogame peripherals and accessories. With all the information coming out about Rock Band 3, it’s only natural we start seeing some alternatives to the standard equipment. RB3 features redesigned instruments that being an extra level of realism when playing on Pro mode.

A game is finally coming out that will let actual guitar players leave so-called “Guitar Heroes” weeping, and it’s called Power Gig: Rise of the SixString. SixString, as in it’s played with an actual, six-string electric guitar. Those who thought Guitar Hero and Rock Band were difficult should probably turn away.

Seven45′s developed Power Gig: Rise of the SixString to work with a peripheral that isn’t just a peripheral. Yes, you can plug it into your PS3 or Xbox 360 to play the game, but you can also connect it to an amp and play it like you would any other electric guitar. Nice.

As for the game itself, it sounds pretty promising…

Yeah, you read that headline right. A company is finally releasing a string-based, USB guitar game controller.

Named the You Rock Guitar, this is an honest-to-goodness string guitar (OK, a digital string guitar) that plugs into your computer. For $20 more you can get a GameFlex cartridge that adapts the guitar to be used as a controller for consoles games including Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

The You Rock Guitar will be available in February 2010 for $179.95 but will be on display during CES 2010 at Booth 5627 Gaming Showcase, LVCC, North Hall Las Vegas Hilton East Tower Hospitality Suite H2549

The company’s press release also lists the guitar-controller features as (video follows):