From the looks of the video clip below, it’s not the most practical way to play a combo-based fighter, and they have to play in “Simple” mode just to have any chance of playing, but for some reason, it never dawned on me that you could play other non-music games with your music peripherals. I don’t know why, but I just never thought about it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It just makes me want to see if I can get through the entirety of Ninja Gaiden II on hard mode using only my Rock Band drum kit and a couple of drum sticks.

The NEXiLUX wireless guitar controller breaks down into a couple of pieces and fits neatly inside a carrying bag that you can easily fit into your backpack. It’s compatible with the PS3 or PS2 out of the box, but you can also slide your Wii-mote inside of it and use it with your Wii too. The makers of the NEXiLUX guitar claim it also has more responsive fret buttons than the cheap controllers that ship with the games, and there’s also a set of five touch-sensitive fret buttons if you prefer touch vs. buttons.

There’s a full review of the NEXiLUX over on DCEmu, who also put together this brief video clip of the guitar:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The NEXiLUX guitar is supposed to retail for $49.99 (USD), but we’re not sure exactly where you can one at the moment – Amazon has them listed as “currently unavailable”.

[ via OhGizmo! via CoolThings]

By moving all of the electronics out the body of the guitar and into the neck,  you’ll be able to swap outthe bodies to personalize your guitar to your own liking. While the new designs don’t change the functionality of the controllers in any way, they sure look purty.

I can also imagine that with a standard neck design that 3rd parties will start making all sorts of guitar bodies you can swap out too. Or better yet, I’m hoping for some cool homebrew mods that really take the guitars to the next level.

The game and controllers ship September 21, 2010, and you can pre-order Guitar Hero: Warrior of Rock over on Amazon.

These fancy Guitar Hero World Tour drums are velocity sensitive and have a pair of cymbal pads, which made the kit the perfect controller for realistic drumming. With the help of OSCulator, Andy managed to map the pads to work as a MIDI controller for GarageBand on his Mac. The results of his efforts can be seen in the video below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The cool thing about this hack is that all you need is the GHWT Wii wireless drum kit, a Wiimote, a copy of OSCulator, and a Mac with GarageBand installed to do this yourself. You can check out Andy’s complete tutorial over at Vultrix.

If you’ve got a Windows PC, you might be able to pull off something similar using this Wiimote-to-MIDI hack and a copy of an audio sequencer of your choosing.

[via lifehacker]

The Mega Drive 4 Guitar Idol edition will include not only a Mega Drive/Genesis gaming system, and a pair of old-school controllers, but bundles a guitar that would make current-gen console players happy too.

The system comes pre-loaded with a whopping 87 classic SEGA 16-bit games, including titles such as Altered Beast, Rainbow Island, Golden Axe III, along with the brand-spanking-new Guitar Idol and 50 music tracks from a number of popular artists. Everyone from The Ramones to Panic at the Disco to Billy Squier is represented on the diverse the track list.

No word on if or when you’ll be able to grab this system outside of Brazil, but for now, you can find out more over on TecToy’s website.

[Interama and Sega Nerds via GameSetWatch]

That last piece of Guitar Hero gear is only seven bucks at Leilabean’s Etsy shopfront, and there are other games available, too… just in case your version of “that guy” happens to be into, say, Call of Duty.

If “that guy” happens to be you, it’s okay. We’re not judging. And that t-shirt looks mighty good on you.

Now you can plaster your love of little plastic instruments all over your walls. It’s just what you’ve been waiting for! Well, probably not, but as wall decals go, it’s pretty okay.

If you are a true rock star, you can pick this up on Etsy for $18.

[via GeekSugar]

The genius of this particular mod (beyond the fact that it’s a guitar) lies in the way the guitar is utilized. Not only does the conversion not affect (much) the guitar’s primary use–you can still play it–but when used as a controller, it operates in much the same way as the actual controller. Press the frets on one, press the frets on the other.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There are plans to expand the project further, as though this isn’t cool enough.

[OpenChord via hackaday]

Logitech’s Guitar Controller is officially for Guitar Hero games on the PS 3 and Guitar Hero: World Tour on the PS 2, but there’s a good chance it’ll work on Rock Band for the PS 3 as well. It has a solid body and its neck is made of wood, while the shiny frets and tuning peg handles are real metal. It also has a Star Power button and a touch-sensitive neck slider for Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Logitech’s axe isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. No, I’m not saying you need to have mad skills to be worthy of it. because what you need is $200 USD. At this point may I just say that you can get a real guitar – a no frills, basic electric guitar, but still – for less than that. But if you must have this controller, you can pre-order it now at Logitech’s website.

[via Obsessable]

Washboard Hero puts you in the role of the lead musician of a good old country jug band. With classics like Home, Home on the Homestead, O Me O My O Me, and my personal favorite Possum Pie, the game will surely be a knee slapping good time. The game ships with a special wireless washboard controller that works with all of today’s popular consoles.

While the initial version of the game will only support the washboard controller, a whole set of instruments is planned, including a jug that you can blow into, a two-string wash tub bass, a mouth harp, and get this – a set of electronic spoons you can clack around on you kneecaps.

I just can’t wait for Spring to arrive.

GEEKitty makes these soft and lumpy cat toy versions of controllers that are guaranteed not to electrocute your feline pals.

Each toy is handmade from felt, thread, squishy stuffing and some tasty catnip.

Whether your cat prefers the Xbox 360, the Wii, a classic Nintendo or rocking out a session of Guitar Hero, there’s a toy for your cat. Sorry, PS3 cats seem to have been left out in the cold for the moment.

You can find the GEEKitty’s entire collection of plush gadgets and game controllers over on their Etsy shop.

With the help of electrical tape, PVC pipe, and a little rubber tubing, Ben Heck set up a breath-controlled workaround for the drum set’s kick pedal. The better to keep your hands free for what’s important: playing the drums.

The entire process has been documented–even down to tips for dealing with cuts sustained in the process–so that you can try this one at home. And Rock Band fans have a reason to rejoice: it’s apparently easier to pull this off with the Rock Band kit.

[BenHeck.com via hackaday]

So why is this particular scarf head and shoulders (and, uh, necks) above the rest? Not only does it put the iconic Guitar Hero look on perfect display, but that note highway actually corresponds to a song from Guitar Hero 3: “Knights of Cydonia” by Muse. Creator meekssandygirl crocheted the scarf for her husband, and wanted it to be accurate and unique, so she chose one of his favorite songs. The result? Made of pure Star Power.

[Craftster via Geek Central Station]

DJ Hero has been on the radar for quite some time, ever since the trademark turned up last year. And while the title has yet to be officially announced, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick recently confirmed not only the game’s existence, but that it was due this year.

Gameplay in DJ Hero is said to be similar to that in Guitar Hero, and the game may even include sections in which players can use a guitar controller. That way, if you don’t already have one, you’ve got a reason to buy one. It’s brilliant!

[CNBC via Joystiq]

Yes 1975, it’s your old friend, text adventure! Bill Meltsner ripped off all the fancy, useless graphics that kids nowadays just can’t live without and revealed that *gasp* Guitar Hero is as repetitive as your 9 to 5 job.

Okay so there are no songs. And even if you had the reflexes of a dying turtle you’d still ace the game, as long as you typed the right response. Thankfully it’s a short game. The game’s response when you beat the game is one of the funniest, but also one of the most depressing things I have ever read. I’m glad I’m not good at Guitar Hero.

Here’s the link if you want to play the game. You can also download the game, but you’ll have to find something that reads .z5 to play it.

Go ahead, print that last screenshot. Whip it out the next time your friend showers your face with his saliva while bragging about how he’s beaten Through the Fire and Flames 1 billion times on Sadomasochistic Mode.

[via Neatorama]

The faceplates, which are available from CodingHorror’s Etsy shopfront, work with either PS3 or Xbox 360 wireless Les Paul controllers, but not with the Wii set, alas. Only the “real manly awesome consoles,” as he puts it. For shame.

But all system snobbery aside, if you need to rock out with extra shine, these faceplates might be just what you need to stand out at the next fake band get-together.

dreamGEAR’s new WarBeast controller for the Playstation 3 has the looks of a serious heavy metal guitar. Designed by rock guitar maker B.C. Rich, the WarBeast is a full-size guitar controller with some serious edge. As a matter of fact, it’s actually based on a real guitar that Rich created. I’d be surprised if somebody doesn’t poke out an eye or stab someone in the kidney with those pointy edges.

The WarBeast is completely wireless, and is backwards compatible with the PS2 if you happen to still be living in the dark ages. The guitar features an oversize glowing strumbar, detatchable faceplates, and even little inlaid skulls between the fret bars. Sweet!

So if you’re ready to unleash your inner Derek Smalls, you can get your hands on the WarBeast controller now for just $89.99 over on Amazon.

[via SlipperyBrick]

At this point I’m thinking, “I can’t think yet, I’ve just fallen off my chair LOLing my ass off”. Then I got up and thought, “Wait a sec. This could easily be Photoshopped.” The logical step was to head on to Blockhead’s site and see if I could secure a copy of the manual, so head on I did. Looking at Blockhead’s website hope filled my heart; the manual was a possibility. How so? Let’s just say that when your kid’s Max V’s whammy bar isn’t whammying like it’s supposed to, don’t let them search for help on the net, lest you find yourself trying to not define certain acronyms for them:

I clicked on the fourth question and it led me to a link where I could get a copy of the manual. I downloaded it and promptly fell off my chair again. There it was, asking me not to insult the guitar. You can go see it for yourself if you still don’t believe me, it’s just a 2 page pdf file anyway.

And to those of you who do own a Max – V: Try insulting it. Please. Just once. Then tell us what happens.

[via engrishfunny]

Just plug your old Atari 2600 cartridges into the body of this heavily customized Guitar Hero Gibson Les Paul, and you can play all of your favorite 8-bit classics.

The console is wrapped up in a custom cut circuite board motif, and in place of the strum bar, there’s a tiny LCD screen. And so he could actually play the games while holding it like a guitar, Conner embedded the fire button into the neck of the guitar and a small joystick and paddle controller right into the body of the guitar. And since it runs on AA batteries, it’s totally portable.

I’m pretty sure just about any 2600 game out there would be more fun on this thing than E.T., but that’s the only screenshot that I managed to get. Maybe some Pitfall or Kaboom would be better?

It took Conner about 2 months to put together this Frankenstein’s monster of gaming goodness, and it was certainly worth the wait from the look of things. Now all he needs to do is figure out a way get a version of Guitar Hero to run on the Atari 2600.

[via SlipperyBrick]

There is a detailed and often hilarious tutorial on I’m Not Charming that tells you exactly how to make it, with pictures of each step of the process. Note that several of the steps include marveling at one’s own mastery, drinking wine, and taking naps.

She made the cake for her boyfriend’s birthday, and upon seeing it, he proposed. Ladies, take note. Spending 2 days making a game controller cake could pay off in unexpected ways!

It turns out a lot of people have attempted this feat with varying degrees of success, but this one takes the cake. (Ha! Takes the cake. I’m so clever.) And may I also suggest that if you’re making this cake for a special birthday, then you should definitely pick up one of these Guitar Hero neckties for the gift.

[via Craft:]