PowerGig: Rise of the SixString uses a real six-string guitar as the controller, and can also be played as a full band game with a microphone and air drums.

The mantra of Power Gig is that Real Players Use Strings, a clear shot at other popular guitar games such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band.  The game comes as a standalone product, or you can buy it with a guitar included or get the whole band package which includes a guitar and drum set.

Up to three players can play Power Gig: Rise of the SixString at once, with someone taking the role of lead singer and someone able to play the drums along with the music.

We’ve had a chance to test out the six string guitar, and although we are excited about the prospect of actually learning a bit of guitar, it is obviously quite a bit more difficult than just pushing buttons.  The game actually does a great job of making it as simple as possible, using a “Strum Lock” to lock the strings in place.  The lock is right next to where you strum the guitar, and when it’s on, essentially you can strum any string you like, and it’s just like clicking the button in Guitar Hero, and you can also push a string anywhere on the color-coded fret, and again it’s just like a band game you may be used to. 

Because of this functionality, the guitar is compatible with Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, which could be a factor when deciding whether or not picking up a controller like this is worth the price.

The basic gameplay involves strumming along to the onscreen music while pushing the appropriate colored fret at the correct time.  There are quite a few difficulty levels, ranging from only one button needing to be used to very complex techniques that involve lots of intricate finger work.  One of the really cool things was that by pressing the start button while playing, you can switch your difficulty level on the fly, along with other options such as whether or not the guitar is flipped, or using “Power Chords,” which are sort of the game’s first introduction to real guitar playing.

In the tutorial mode, after learning the basics of gameplay, you can begin to learn about chords, and whether or not to activate them in the game.

The music of Power Gig: Rise of the SixString is pretty diverse, with a handful of familiar tunes from artists like John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins , Kid Rock and the Dave Matthews Band, but also a lot of songs that casual music fans may not be familiar with.

We think using a real guitar as a game controller is really neat, and although it may seem obvious, it’s worth stating that playing an actual guitar is definitely more difficult than playing with the “button-only” controllers most of us are used to.  That being said, the real-guitar experience in Power Gig: Rise of the SixString is about as easy as we can imagine learning to play a real guitar can be, even though it is sometimes distracting.  In this case, the T rating of the game is a good guide for who this is appropriate for, as the difficulty level will probably be too much for most kids under 12.