Guitar Rising perfects the "Guitar Hero with real guitars" genre

We've seen more than a few attempts to meld real guitars and Guitar Hero, but most of them involve wonky custom guitars -- or worse, retrofitting your existing guitar with a dorktastic MIDI pickup. Well, it looks like a company called GameTank has answered the bell with a game called Guitar Rising, which allows you to use any guitar to play. The PC game takes audio input basically any way it can get it -- direct audio in, microphone, or 1/4-inch-to-USB adapter -- and allows you to play along with a catalog of tunes at beginner to expert difficulties. GameTank says Guitar Rising will be out late this year -- check a video to whet your appetite after the break.

GuitarRising
by jakeparks

[Sime @ Feb 7th 2008 5:23PM]

sounds like a cool idea. now people can learn how to play guitar and then play it without needing a tv in front of them

[Jose S. Aquino @ Feb 7th 2008 5:31PM]

My prayers have been answered! I'll be rocking with my Schecter Gryphon in no time!

[Jeff L. @ Feb 7th 2008 5:30PM]

do we know what gaming system this will work with?

[Shawn @ Feb 7th 2008 5:36PM]

"This PC game..."

[Toadlet @ Feb 7th 2008 5:36PM]

""""PC game""""

[Rboyett @ Feb 7th 2008 6:49PM]

Though the article doesn't mention it, the company says it will be for Mac too..

[Adam @ Feb 7th 2008 5:31PM]

i'm kind of a fan of plastic guitars, clicking strummers and button "frets". i dont know if a real guitaring and actual skill sounds that appealing to me.

[joe @ Feb 7th 2008 5:41PM]

the only reason i can see to keep or get a PC... (apple fanboy here)

[Elliot @ Feb 7th 2008 6:21PM]

Bootcamp, brother.

[Zorque @ Feb 7th 2008 6:21PM]

Yeah, besides all those PC-only games and applications and devices.

I like my Mac too, but seriously?

[The Angry Intern @ Feb 7th 2008 6:25PM]

if you check out their site, they say it will be out for both Mac and PC

[The Angry Intern @ Feb 7th 2008 6:27PM]

wait, i was wrong. it was on Gizmodo that they said it was for both platforms:

"According to GameTank's CEO Jake Parks, the connection to the guitar would either work "via a guitar-USB adapter, a microphone, or directly to the sound card." He told us that they are planning to release for both Mac and PC."

[Rboyett @ Feb 7th 2008 6:53PM]

The company CEO told Gizmodo that Guitar Rising will be available for both PC and Mac..

[JJ @ Feb 7th 2008 5:34PM]

I'm just trying to figure out from the gameplay video how the game tells you what fret to play on.

[Ray @ Feb 7th 2008 5:38PM]

You can barely tell from the compression, but the dots are numbered.

[Shawn @ Feb 7th 2008 5:41PM]

it looks like the buttons have numbers inside of them and that corresponds to the fret. and it doesnt really look like the guitarist in the video is playing along with the game in the video

[Andrew @ Feb 7th 2008 5:42PM]

The compression makes it hard to see in the video when the dots are moving fast but it appears that there are numbers inside all the dots. When they show you the training feature you can see a single dot moving slowly across the screen with a "0" on it.

[Sean @ Feb 8th 2008 6:30PM]

Looks like there are little numbers inside each bubble which tell you which fret to play. So basically it's just tablature with distracting graphics.

[graham_best @ Feb 7th 2008 5:43PM]

I'd be far more inclined to play this rather than Guitar Hero; but I wonder if the general public might look down on it because it's 'educational'.

[Mike Jenkins @ Feb 7th 2008 5:43PM]

Did anyone notice that "Miss Mary Mack" is one of the "30 Rock Songs!"?

[anonymouspimp @ Feb 7th 2008 5:47PM]

ZOMGWTFBBQ! I don't see why you kids don't just learn to play a real... wait what?

[VQH @ Feb 7th 2008 6:00PM]

Learn to play a real guitar.






(Don't lynch me! Your sarcasm detector is broken)

[HOOPER @ Feb 7th 2008 6:02PM]

Maybe I just missed it, but wasn't the point of Guitar Hero to not have to know how to play guitar and still have fun "playing guitar"? So doesn't this completely defeat the purpose of a guitar game? Somebody?

[nikster @ Feb 7th 2008 7:27PM]

No, it doesn't defeat the purpose. It's a completely different game.

[Asha @ Feb 7th 2008 9:47PM]

I suppose they are trying to fill a niche' for people who like the idea of Guitar Hero, but want to play with a real guitar.
Personally, I agree with you. It just seems like severe overkill to set it up for a real axe.

[REV @ Feb 7th 2008 6:11PM]

A good concept, and I'm all for a game that teaches you how to play a real guitar.

My real concern is the song collection. I can only assume (hope) that that set list on the video is a mock-up, and that they're working on getting somgs that people really want to learn.

Of course, it'd be sweet if the game could import songs from MIDI or Guitar Pro, eh?

[inimitable @ Feb 7th 2008 8:12PM]

I'm sure people will find a way to put their leet haxor skills to use just like they did with Guitar Hero.

[trevor @ Feb 8th 2008 4:25AM]

Better yet, there's libraries of tabs out there... upload an MP3 and a paired tab, then use a sound recognition dealie to figure out the timing.

There might even be software out right now that spits out tabs from MP3s. I'm no programmer, but it seems like the two would mesh seamlessly.

[Flit @ Feb 8th 2008 9:29AM]

If these guys want to really dominate the Genre, they just need to release such a program that lets you "create your own songs for sharing" *wink wink nudge nudge* that lets you turn tabs into songs you can import, along with any mp3.

*eyes glaze over* the possibilities....

Of course, most of the self tabulated songs would be wrong in several places, and parts where "the solo I wrote was better."

[TNP @ Feb 7th 2008 7:19PM]

Zither Rising or forget it!

[debaser19 @ Feb 7th 2008 7:52PM]

Schecter Gryphon : I can already tell you have terrible taste in music.

[eroc @ Feb 7th 2008 8:41PM]

Schecters are badass. I'd own a Hellraiser if I had a job, but I'd rather comment on engadget articles all day.

[Chris @ Feb 7th 2008 8:01PM]

Yamaha makes these midi guitars that have light up fret boards to show you were to position your hands, kind of cool but the midi sound is pretty bad

[steved @ Feb 8th 2008 1:03AM]

Tracking audio from a regular guitar and getting a fret position with any real accuaracy is quite hard; and has a significant delay hence only midi pickups really work well today (the issue is worse if you count bending a string or are tracking multiple stings). So I wonder how this will work - at least they might limit to one string at a time or it simply might not work well.

-steve

[tunafish @ Feb 8th 2008 9:18AM]

Wonder what happens if your guitar is out of tune... :)

I think its a cool idea. I play guitar and I also love guitar hero and rockband, so this would be kind of best-of-both-worlds for me. Definitely will consider purchasing, especially if people can hack their own tabs into it.

[Jimmy89 @ Mar 9th 2008 8:35PM]

so when does this come out? i think its an awesome idea, learn to play guitar w/a guitar hero feel. i can't wait to buy