WowWee's Paper Jamz: fake guitars make the jump to 2D, gain some musicality
By Paul Miller 
posted February 18th 2010 6:22PM
posted February 18th 2010 6:22PM
Surprisingly, it all works. Each $25 guitar is packed with three different songs, and pretend rock stars can strum along in three different modes: a fail-safe mode where all you have to do is keep strumming and you'll jam out the appropriate guitar part, a rhythm mode where you have to strum at the right intervals, and a freestyle mode. The last of these is where things actually get interesting, since there's a usable fret board in so-called open E tuning, letting you select actual cords by placing a finger on its respective fret up or down the printed-on fret board. One finger does major, two fingers does minor, and three fingers does a 7th. It's an approximation, sure, but it actually could teach a kid a lot more about how to play a real guitar than Guitar Hero ever will. Prepare to hear more 12-year-olds playing "Smoke on the Water" than you ever supposed the universe was capable of containing. The modes on drums are similar, and you can pair up drums and guitar to play the same song simultaneously. The $15 amp uses a sonic transducer to vibrate its entire, cheap cardboard mass, and is actually rather loud. The "Series 1" selection of guitars and drums will be out in early July, and you can check out a video of this stuff in action after the break.
Cool.
cool idea, but needs more songs.
When did Ron Jeremy learn to play guitar?
Well, another way to jump on to the bandwagon I guess! How about some $25 guitar lessons instead?
That's not Ron Jeremy, That's Paul Blart, Mall Cop!
No version for lefty's?
This product line is insulting...
@New Reformation
+1
I could make a paper guitar and add a pressure sensor to it and a little code. Does this even detect individual strings?
This actually reminds me of Air Guitar Pro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zz9c6dpMS0 - I picked one up for my friend's birthday for around $45
@Gamecheater "Does this even detect individual strings?"
He says right in the video that it is opening tuning with one finger, two fingers plays the minor, while 3 fingers plays the major 7th.
I got sick of all the Guitar Hero stuff pretty quickly but this is different as the user can actually create their own sounds and play along with any song on the radio. So kudos to WowWee on marketing this creative product for a reasonable price.
@DrVan
Thanks for the hyperlink I found this from youtube surfing, this guy beats the paper drum machine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZsML4uWoiw
...eeeyikes!
I like the drums, but not the guitar..
Looks terrible and the audio sounds so artificial... Instruments are one thing that really don't need to made paper thin.
Why don't kids just learn to play real guitar?
I mean, it's a pretty cool concept to mess around with, but once a kid picks this thing up and can play the rhythm guitar to half of his favorite songs he won't really have much reason to play an instrument or learn any actual music theory