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The YouRock guitar has nearly all the bases covered when it comes to guitar. From a real instrument to a game controller. It will rock your world for a price that won’t break the bank.

First off, the YouRock guitar is a game controller.  It works with both Rock Band and Guitar Hero.  The colored buttons that you’re familiar with on the standard game controllers are represented by a single fret location spanning all six “strings.”  But what’s cool is that the guitar has a port specifically designed to let it adapt for future games or technology that is required of it.  So all you need to do is by the right cartridge, and it will work with most anything.  When launched, they’ll have the specific cartridges for each system and game config needed.  If you have a Wii, the carts are different for Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but if you have a PS3, you’re in luck, you only need one.

The YouRock guitar is also a real instrument.  Not in the same sense as an acoustic guitar, but it works in a similar and familiar fashion to an electric guitar.  It has a wooden neck topped with simulated strings and frets.  Best of all, it never needs to be tuned (though you can change the tuning) and you never need to buy strings, unless you’re a monster and you break the thing.  Basically, it’s a multitouch surface that senses where your fingers are pressing, and I’m happy to say that I played with it and it actually works.  You strum what I’m calling simulated strings; basically metal cable just like strings suspended between the end of the fretboard and where the bridge would normally be.  You also have access to a whammy bar You can select from 130 of different patches that vary how the guitar sounds.  Think electric, acoustic, bass, synth, pretty much any sound you’d want.  There are also 25 backing tracks to play along with if you don’t have a full band, or just want to jam now.

But just in case they don’t have the sound you want, it also triples as a MIDI controller.  This happens either over standard MIDI, or the USB port to your Mac and Garageband. There, you can trigger any software instrument that you have access t.  This means you can drum with a guitar, craziness.

So really, the YouRock Guitar is an excellent choice for gamer-musicians, electronic guitarists, college students and musicians on the go. It’s even great for guitar beginners or gamers who want to cross over to the real music world thanks to the YouRock mode that doesn’t let you plat bad notes. The possibilities of this instrument/controller really blow my mind, and I’m imagining yours too.  I have even heard that there’s an iPhone app coming, so I guess there will be an app for this sometime soon too.  You can expect this thing to ship around summer time for $179 and the game carts for $20 each.

You should definitely check out the YouRock guitar