Pre-E3: Harmonix/MTV partner with Fender on guitar/controller hybrid

You think there’s too many buttons on the 102-button Rock Band 3 Pro guitar? What if it had no buttons at all?

Fender, Harmonix, and MTV Games have partnered on an upcoming guitar/controller hybrid that’s exactly what it sounds like — a guitar controller with six real guitar strings that you can also use as a game controller. Modeled after the Fender Stratocaster, the controller features tech built into the neck and fingerboard of the guitar, making it able to read finger positions in real time. The peripheral will also transfer data for each of the guitar’s six strings. Or, just plug the guitar into a standard guitar amplifier.

The concept is not dissimilar to what Seven47 had previously revealed for its own music title, Power Gig. Of course, we’ll have to get extended hands-on time with both guitars before we decide which one, if either, is poised to turn gamers into true rock stars.