Clapton, Dave Matthews, Kid Rock On Board With Upcoming Guitar Game

Music icons Eric Clapton, The Dave Matthews Band and Kid Rock have all signed exclusive agreements with Boston-based Seven45 Studios’ Power Gig, a video game that uses a six-string, fretted guitar as a controller. While established music-based games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have large lists of famous artists populating their track lists, Clapton, Matthews and Kid Rock have yet to bring their work to a music video game. Statements attributed to Kid Rock and Matthews indicated that they preferred to be associated with a video game that goes beyond the flipper and five buttons used to emulate guitar playing on competing games' controllers. "I was never interested in pressing buttons on a guitar to entertain myself or anyone else," Kid Rock said in a statement. Matthews added, "[The Dave Matthews Band] think[s] Power Gig is a much needed and much welcomed game because, unlike any others before it, it puts a real guitar into the hands of aspiring musicians, and we hope it inspires our fans and others to start playing even when they’re not playing the game." The game, whose whole name is Power Gig: Rise of the SixString, is due in October 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Seven45 said that there will be a "robust" song list for the game the includes music from major labels as well as indie artists, in addition to the work of the three high-profile musicians. The Power Gig controller doubles as a real guitar, with the ability to plug it into any standard guitar amplifier. The game and controller also can sense multi-string chords on the neck. Seven45 said gamers will understand real-world guitar fundamentals from playing Power Gig. While Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s gameplay won’t teach a player to play guitar, Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Rock Band developer Harmonix said last year on The New York Times Freakonomics blog that his games are "[not] an educational tool for guitar so much as an inspirational tool" to get people to pick up the real thing. Seven45 also said that Power Gig will support a drum set called the AirStrike Drum peripheral, which promises to reduce the sound of the stick hitting the drum head. The peripheral can also differentiate the left and right drum sticks for more realistic movement, the studio said.