Disney Star Guitarist a good next step, but not great

Okay, I can definitely see what your saying...

BUT.

A) While I don't think there is anything WRONG with Guitar Hero or Rock Band (they're hella fun!), I can't help playing them without thinking "Wow... I wish there were a way to learn something about ACTUAL guitars with this." That's what DSG is aiming for.

B) I'll tackle the issue of both the limit skill set and the limited song selection at the same time: You're right. It is a good start. Start being the key word. I don't think it will be long before the playlist expands, as well as the skills represented. Because if it doesn't, it won't be very much longer before the hackers and the reverse-engineers take a good idea and run with it.

C) I'm a geek, I freely admit it. Most of my friends are geeks. And a fairly common conversation in our geeky conversations is how great it would be to have an external way to track progress in a given skill or endeavor; to be working out and hear "Ding! Fitness +3! You have gained a level in Upper Body Strength!" Not only because we ARE geeks and that's what we're used to seeing from our entertainment, but because it means you are not working in a vacuum. You have an OBJECTIVE method of tracking your progress and can SEE the improvement, even when you can't necessarily see it day-to-day. I mean, who REALLY remembers how bad you were yesterday? The day before? The year before? When you first started a skill?

D) I play AT guitar, which is like playing guitar but with less talent and skill and more over-zealous enthusiasm. And as much as I enjoy playing, I find it difficult to slot it into my day. Not because there isn't time, but because it's so frustrating to play for 45 minutes, an hour, two hours, banging away at those same simple songs, feeling like I'm not accomplishing anything.That said, and with Point C in mind... YES! I plan to pre-order this thing as soon as it is released. For all the reasons above. If nothing else, it should be a fun diversion while also helping toughen up my fingertips.

Is it GH? No. Is it the next evolution of GH? I don't think so. COMPLETELY different goals for the game. However, it's the fulfillment of an idea that occurred to ALOT of people when GH and RockBand found their popularity. And I hope it SOARS.

Dude take lessons or at least read some online lessons yourself to get some basics. If your fingers need toughening then you arent playing enough to learn anything. you need to learn some musical basics, and it looks like this wont teach you that.

learn how to name every note on your guitar. ("big cat eats fish" is your friend there) then start learning chords. banging on the same old songs is why you are frustrated you need more familiarity 1st. this game will basically be just learning to play tabs you are shown with no understanding of your instrument.

There is already free software that does this called 'LittleBigStar', and with real song tablatures, multiplayer and other instruments as well at http://LittleBigStar.net.

I guess I don’t agree with the premise that there is something wrong with the current GH game — at least anything that needs fixing by a different game.

I think you're inferring something that's not there. No one said there's anything wrong with GH. He's stating facts (it's a more musical experience, and you can utilize it when you're not playing) and trying to sell those facts. If there wasn't a market for people (like me) who have been hoping for something like this precisely because of those facts, he wouldn't being trying to sell it.

And as for Disney Star Guitarist, it looks like it still isn’t teaching you how to read sheet music nor learn chords. Having to play in front a computer is utterly limiting, and perhaps worst of all, it appears the songs are culled from Disney shows (demo is from High School Musical 3).

I think you're wrong on all three points, here. From what I saw on the video, it seems pretty clear that the game requires the player to learn chords.

Obviously you can take what you learn on the game and apply in on a real guitar (that's what makes it so different than GH), which doesn't need to be played in front of the computer.

And, as Misha points out, there's every reason to think that, by the time it's released, there will be a larger variety of songs to choose from, and that more will continue to be created.

If you want to learn to play guitar, buy a guitar and get yourself some lessons. If you want to rock out on a videogame, stick with Guitar Hero.

Why not do both? There's nothing wrong with loving GH as much as you obviously do, it's really cool. But why discourage people from experiencing something potentially creative and positive and fun, just because it doesn't look like something you'd enjoy?

Some of us have long been alienated from Guitar Hero _for the fact_ that we are actual guitarists, and cannot transition from real to those plastic gimps any more than you could transition from driving your car to work to driving your kid's Barbie jeep.

There are a lot of concerns that I have about what this game is offering (like the fact that I play with heavier gauge than they're probably prepared to offer), but at least 1) It's for the PC, and 2) It's being kept within budget.

If American Idol tricked the country into thinking karaoke can produce top singers, I suppose learning the guitar playing "hits" from The Little Mermaid, Mickey Mouse Club and High School Musical will sadly also be widely successful.

I suppose learning the guitar playing “hits” from The Little Mermaid, Mickey Mouse Club and High School Musical will sadly also be widely successful.

So people shouldn't learn to play guitar by playing music you don't like? That doesn't make sense. The point of the product is that, unlike GH, you can learn to play without the game.

Like I said above, there's no reason to think there won't be a lot of non-Disney songs to choose from, and even if a person learns to play Disney songs, they're certainly not limited to those songs, once they learn how to make different chords.

I really don't understand your opposition to this product.

Its made by disney, and it was pointed out the demo uses high school musical 3. On top of which the spokesperson outright said its aimed at 'tweens' which is ages 10-12.

Not going to see any music other than whats on products Disney push's out unless people figure out how to mod it and add their own songs. the official song selection will mostly be a result of product placement and advertising. The chance of anything else being on there is slim to none simply based off how Disney works.

I'm still unclear about the details, like whether track listing _is_ comprised of Disney tunes and whether the only focus+market is on learning.

I've been wanting a Guitar Hero for real guitar. Good selection of songs--even if they're not normally stuff that I would listen to--along with the admittedly addictive gameplay.

I've been playing for about ten years, can play Metallica, Hendrix, Sepultura, you name it. So yeah, if it's just "The Little Mermaid", or even public domain how-to staples like When the Saints... then that's tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot. Guitar Hero has an easy mode using the same songs as expert. You could teach somebody to play the roots with quarter+half+whole notes on Spoonman just as well as accomodating those of us with experience.

So I'm cautious about my enthusiasm for this, but I'm hoping they'll deliver something worth playing. Otherwise I'll just stick with my normal routine of Guitar Pro tabs and the album.

what are you guys talking about. even if it comes out with just Disney songs it for the PC. some one will mod the software to work wit mp2 or somthing so chill out and enjoy.