Guitar Controller
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A guitar controller is a
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person ...
designed to simulate the playing of the
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, a string
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
. Guitar controllers are often used for music games such as '' UmJammer Lammy: NOW!'', ''
GuitarFreaks is a music video game series produced by Konami. It is a rhythm game where the player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from the rock music, rock and roll and J-pop genres. ...
'', ''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
'', and the ''
Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
'' series. The controllers are played by holding down a colored fret button that matches a colored, on-screen note, while pressing the strum bar as the note passes through the target. The controllers also feature a
whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...
, which is used to bend notes and collect each game's equivalent of bonus energy. Different games and models of controllers have introduced additional features, such as effects switches, additional fret buttons, and fret touch pads. The fret buttons are colored usually in the order of (from lowest to highest pitch) green, red, yellow, blue, and orange. The guitar design for ''
Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xb ...
'' does not use the five colored frets, instead using two rows (one black and one white) with three buttons each.


Implementation as game controllers

A guitar controller is almost always an adaption of existing regular controller technologies for a given
home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...
—all features of the guitar are implemented using features found on a standard game controller. Generally speaking, the following apply: * Fret Buttons are implemented as the standard action buttons on the controller- for example, the buttons on a guitar controller for the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
map to the face buttons and left shoulder buttons on the standard Xbox 360 controller. * The whammy bar is implemented as an axis, used for menu navigation. * The meta buttons (start, select, back) map directly to their standard controller counterparts. A guitar controller for a
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
music game often conveniently has the meta buttons supplied by the
Wii Remote The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...
itself, which is inserted into a conveniently shaped cavity in the controller. Other vendor-specific features can be implemented using standard controls, or combinations of them. For example, the solo bar on a ''Rock Band'' guitar controller is implemented using the same controller buttons as the main fret buttons, plus an additional modifier key, whereas the Slide Bar from recent versions of ''Guitar Hero'' is simply another axis. Guitar controllers also have a "gesture" feature in which the player can tilt or gently shake the guitar neck, which is used in most guitar games to activate a
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
mode, such as Star Power in ''Guitar Hero'' games or Overdrive in ''Rock Band'' games. This function is also usually mapped to an axis, or the Wii Remote's
motion sensors Motion detection is the process of detecting a change in the position of an object relative to its surroundings or a change in the surroundings relative to an object. It can be achieved by either mechanical or electronic methods. When it is done b ...
for Wii-based guitar controllers.


Variations


''Guitar Hero'' (PlayStation 2)

The
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
'' Guitar Controller was a 3/4 scale replica of a
Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...
. The controller has 5 buttons under the tuning pegs, on the neck of the guitar. These buttons are as follows: green, red, yellow, blue, and orange. Then, at the bottom of the guitar are as follows: a Start button, a Select button, a Whammy Bar, and a Strum bar.


''Guitar Hero II'' (PlayStation 2 & Xbox 360)

The Harmonix ''Guitar Hero 2'' Guitar Controller has two different variations. The first being for the PlayStation 2 which has the same layout as the previous model, but the guitar's design is different. This guitar was based on a red
Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...
. Guitar Hero II was also released for Xbox 360 and had a separate design and layout. The design of the guitar resembles a
Gibson X-Plorer The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which ...
with a layout of the head having the default 5 fret buttons, a Strum bar, and a Whammy Bar, but now a button with the Xbox 360 Guide with 4 lights surrounding it (which represents which player your controller is), a
D-Pad A D-pad (short for directional pad or digital pad; officially referred to by Nintendo as a +Control Pad) is a flat, usually thumb-operated, often digital, four-way directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern vid ...
, a Back button, and a Start button.


''Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'' (PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, & Mac OS X)

''Guitar Hero III'' had 3 different types of guitars. 1 of them having 3 color designs. The first guitar was for the PlayStation 2. It resembled Gibson's Kramer model and had the same layout as its predecessor. The guitar for Windows and Mac OS X was the same guitar that came with the Xbox 360's version of Guitar Hero II. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii all had the same design, that resembled a Gibson Les Paul. The difference between the three was the color. The Wii came with a white body and a black head. The Wii's controller, unlike the other models, had a cut out for the Wii remote and would use the remote as its D-Pad, Start, Back, and Guide button. Although it still had a start and back button built into it. The Xbox 360's controller had the same layout as its predecessor, but the design was a black Gibson Les Paul. The PlayStation 3's controller had the same layout as the Xbox 360, but it was a slightly lighter black.


The ''Guitar Hero: On Tour'' trilogy (Nintendo DS) and the Nintendo DS version of ''Band Hero''

Vicarious Visions Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Albany, New York. The studio was acquired by Activision in January 2005. After releasing its last game as part of that company, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Ska ...
developed a special guitar controller accessory for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
handheld A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
, called the Guitar Grip, and it is used for a spin-off ''Guitar Hero'' trilogy subtitled '' On Tour'', released exclusively for that platform, as well as the Nintendo DS version of ''
Band Hero ''Band Hero'' is a spinoff video game as part of the ''Guitar Hero series'' of music rhythm games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is struct ...
''. The Guitar Grip is a special attachment that connects to the DS' backwards compatible
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
Game Pak slot (thus making the ''On Tour'' games incompatible with both
Nintendo DSi The is a dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony In ...
models and the
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
family), allowing the player to hold the system sideways like an open book and use its bottom half as a guitar neck. Four fret buttons on the attachment are positioned below the
touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
, which is used to strum the guitar and play on-screen notes while any fret buttons are pressed. The Guitar Grip concept underwent many changes before Vicarious Visions was able to determine a comfortable design for it with great difficulty.


''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, & Mac OS X)

The Guitar for ''
Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...
'' was a new design that was the same across all consoles, except Wii which had a cut out for the Wii Remote. The new guitar though had some new features and improvements. First off, the guitar was 25% larger, making it closer to the size of a real guitar. Secondly, the guitar now has a longer whammy bar and a new Star Power button. Third, under the standard fret buttons, a touchpad was implemented letting players execute notes via tapping or also known as tap strumming. Connectivity issues were resolved. The design of the guitar was an original design created by the developers of Guitar Hero, but they took ideas from the Fender Stratocaster.


''Guitar Hero 5'' (PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii, & Xbox 360)

The Guitar for ''
Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internat ...
'' was an adaptation of the ''
Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...
'' Guitar. The only changes to this one was a rubberized strum bar, the nuts on the head of the guitar were replaced with chrome instead of the plastic design, and the “Solo section” of the neck had a different mold and was converted from its analog design to digital.


''Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, & Wii)

The guitar for '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' was developed by
Neversoft Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the st ...
, the developers of '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''. It was a huge redesign for the series as it looked like an ax rather than the classic design of electric guitars. The “Solo section” on the guitar was removed. The d-pad and guide button were merged into one.


''Rock Band'' (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, & Wii)

The guitar for ''Rock Band'' is used for the lead guitar and bass gameplay. The guitar resembles a
Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
. It is similar to the guitars from ''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
'' as it pertains fret on the neck, a strum bar, and a whammy bar. Unlike its adversary,
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
, there were fret buttons at the bottom of the neck for tapping (A technique where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion).


''Rock Band 2'' (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, & Wii)

The guitar for '' Rock Band 2'' is nearly identical to its predecessor except for the fact that the coloring of the new guitar had a sunburst paint job. Minor improvements to the fret buttons (which made them quieter) and durability improvements to the strum bar. The '' Rock Band 2'' guitar is backward compatible with Rock Band.


''Rock Band 3'' (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & Wii)

''
Rock Band 3 ''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on N ...
'' was the beginning of merging professional instruments and the classic guitar design for rhythm games.
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
developed a pro-styled guitar, a guitar bass, and Premium/Limited Edition replica 5-button fret guitars. As well as an improved version of their Stratocaster guitar. The Pro-style guitar came in two different colors, black and red, and resembled a
Fender Mustang The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced ...
. Instead of the original 5 fret button and strum bar setup that the previous models had. The Pro-style guitar would have 6 rows and 17 different frets, totaling in 102 buttons, and a string box, which had 6 stainless steel strings. The player would have to play this guitar as if it was a real one, requiring them to press a button and strum the correct string at the same time. The bass guitar which was designed like a normal bass guitar, with a legacy design of having 5 fret buttons and a strum bar, had 2 strum bars since many bass guitar players would play with two fingers when they strum. Also, there is no whammy bar since bass players don't use a whammy. The bass guitar would also be offered in 3 different colors. Those being a seafoam green, candy apple red, and white. The Premium/Limited Edition guitars would still resemble a
Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
, but would not be a scale replica of it with a Wooden design and the original design as well. The guitars also got a durability improvement to the fret buttons and strum bar.


''Rock Band 4'' (Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

As stated by
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
, they did not want to “reinvent the wheel”. The guitar for Rock Band 4 would still be the same original Fender Stratocaster design, but with improvements to the fret buttons and strum bar. In 2016,
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
switched their hardware developers and since
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
was coming out with a new DLC for ''
Rock Band 4 ''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...
'', rivals, they made a new guitar controller. This one would resemble a Fender Jaguar. It also featured an optional rechargeable battery pack as well as a charging stand.


''The Beatles: Rock Band'' (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)

'' The Beatles: Rock Band'' would have the same layout as the guitar from '' Rock Band 2'', but the design is different.
Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
had developed three different guitars. Each console had the guitars. One of the guitars would resemble a Rickenbacker 325. Another would resemble a
Gretsch Duo Jet The Gretsch 6128 (Duo Jet) is a Semi-acoustic guitar, chambered solid body electric guitar manufactured by Gretsch since the mid-1950s. Origins The Duo Jet was first introduced in 1953, after the success of the Gibson Les Paul Goldtop. A key di ...
. The last one would resemble a Höfner Bass.


Use as a musical instrument

Numerous attempts have been made to adapt Guitar Controllers for use as legitimate musical instruments. These attempts range from simple solutions that output a single note or sound for each button on the controller, to more complicated applications, such as MIDItar Hero and Armchair Guitarist that attempt to fully adapt the controller to use as an instrument, with a wide range of notes and playing styles.


Use as a controller for other games

Guitar controllers are not just used for playing ''
Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...
'' and ''
Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
''. Video game streamer Benjamin "Bearzly" Gwin used a ''Rock Band'' guitar to complete ''
Dark Souls is a series of action role-playing games created by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series began with the release of ''Dark Souls'' (2011) and has seen two sequels, ''Dark Souls II'' (2014) a ...
''. Gwin stated on his Reddit Post "This was done on PC using x360ce to remap the guitar controller" and a picture was posted of how he converted his controls.


References

{{reflist Game controllers Guitar Hero Rock Band series