Wiitar air guitar: has it gone too far?

The general consensus on the PS3 is that everybody is selling theirs on eBay, and now we're starting to wonder how anyone has time to put a Wiimote through a window or somebody's eye with all this hacking going on. On the musical front, it turns out the Wiimotes make for a great pair of drumsticks, and now after a couple weeks we learn that they make for a horrible guitar substitute. The Wiitar hack comes from an industrious J5892 on the WiiLi forums, and involves two Wiimotes, complicated angles and button pushes and some lame sounding MIDI noises to create amazingly bad music. We've gotta give this guy props for effort and all that crap, but seriously dude, ever think of giving up this whole hacking gig for a bit of Zelda? Peep the sexy music video after the break.

[Via Joystiq]

[mitch @ Dec 18th 2006 10:29PM]

Dude. I read about this like, a week ago. Totally old news.

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Dec 18th 2006 10:30PM]

Wiitarded.
No stairway to heaven, no respect.

[Julian Bennett Holmes @ Dec 18th 2006 10:37PM]

Yeah that's not cool at all.

[Eddie @ Dec 18th 2006 10:41PM]

lol @ the emo kid playing Jingle Bells

[RijilV @ Dec 18th 2006 10:42PM]

What has gone too far is Engadget's coverage of every Wii news blurb that a google search will return. Seriously, is this site sponsored by Nintendo?

Lets get on with reporting some cool vaporware or some rad new abstract research project.

[Will @ Dec 18th 2006 10:50PM]

I love Cheez-Its

[Keaton @ Dec 18th 2006 10:54PM]

Hmm...
Maybe the emo kid's Wii remote strap will break thus killing him and saving us the agony of our eardrums bleeding... Sounds good to me!

[Kevin @ Dec 18th 2006 11:03PM]

I'm in that situation... Walked in Target on Saturday morning, and they had a bunch of PS3 60GB... I didn't want a PS3, nor do I want it now, but I guessed I could sell it and make enough to buy a wii.

Now it turns out that they're selling on eBay for like a dollar over what I paid. I may end up just returning it to the store.

[sean fogarty @ Dec 18th 2006 11:11PM]

give me some cheezits

[oo7ev @ Dec 18th 2006 11:13PM]

Hey, any new Wiimote hack is great, and shows the versatility of the controller. Just have to wait for the pros to develop these concepts further.

Heck, Rayman already has a pretty cool "Drum Hero"

I don't see too many people making a bunch of 360 or PS3 controller hacks like this.

[Verity @ Dec 18th 2006 11:17PM]

...Maybe that's because the people who own 360's and PS3's are too busy PLAYING their consoles to WASTE their time developing POINTLESS hacks for it. Just a thought.

[J5892 @ Dec 18th 2006 11:22PM]

Well, I would have been playing zelda, but unfortunately I was stricken by the 110213 error and had to replace my wii. I made this in the meantime.

The point was not to make an easy to use interface. It was to make something that real guitarists can have fun with. And the music in the video was a simple demonstration.

Also, I didn't do any hacking. I simply wrote a quick script, which took, at most, an hour, for GlovePIE, the program written by Carl Kenner, whom deserves all the real credit.

[Austin @ Dec 18th 2006 11:29PM]

+1 for defending your work. I think people have a tendency to be way to rough on people on the net. But i suppose thats what blogs and comments are for.

[netdroid9 @ Dec 18th 2006 11:24PM]

That's nifty IMO. If they got a decent Wiitar player and fixed the crummy MIDI sounds, we could almost start a Wii band!

[J5892 @ Dec 18th 2006 11:24PM]

Also, I agree with RijilV. This isn't real news. It's just a guy (me) messing around with his (my) computer.

[Luis @ Dec 18th 2006 11:35PM]

someone should make a hack where you can use the wii remote to mimmic that instrument that was used in the Star Trek intro that sounds like a vibrating/ or humming. That would be awesome!!

[WT @ Dec 18th 2006 11:43PM]

Someone just needs to make a Wii-theremin and the world will be right once again.

[chenry @ Dec 19th 2006 12:01AM]

get a haircut you emo putz

[Taylor @ Dec 19th 2006 12:15AM]

Any musician (from a pianist like me to a real guitarist or an accordion guy) will know that Jingle Bells is a really simple song. This guy screwed it up. He played the wrong notes many times.

Is it worth the effort when you can do it easier and look like you have more skill on a REAL instrument?

[J5892 @ Dec 19th 2006 12:24AM]

Taylor, that's not exactly the point. Of course Jingle Bells is easier to play on a real guitar, but my video is just a proof of concept. With a bit more work, it will become an actually useful instrument. Like if I don't have a guitar around, but think of a new song, I can just pick up the wiimotes and play a little, just to see how it sounds.
Also, it's just fun to use. Kind of like how Guitar Hero is fun, even though it's nothing like playing a real guitar.

[Nick C. @ Dec 19th 2006 12:30AM]

that guy is wiitarded

[Mr.Ortiz @ Dec 19th 2006 12:36AM]

Taylor, he played it exactly as well as you would expect someone to play any song on an unfamiliar interface (I hesitate to call the wiitar an instrument). Instead of comparing his performace to your l33t p1an0 5killz, try to imagine how you would do on a saxaphone (assuming you've never played one before). Yeah, he could have practiced more and only put up a perfect take, but it doesn't sound like he expected this much attention.

Shorter version: don't be such an arrogant prick.

[miguelon918 @ Dec 19th 2006 3:41AM]

He thinks that he is an emo but emo sucks anyway

[URK @ Dec 19th 2006 3:44AM]

Now see, this is aother example of what can happen when the Wiimote straps are not put to proper use!

[URK @ Dec 19th 2006 3:46AM]

...and another example of bad typing from urklvt....

[sean @ Dec 19th 2006 8:58AM]

i guess it's easier to criticize others than to actually make something of their own. just start typing away senselessly...

[Noah J @ Dec 19th 2006 8:04PM]

I love how some people didn't have sense enough for a genuine criticism, observation or idea to convey, so they attack the lad's hairstyle and (assumed) taste in music. People like that shouldn't have computers through which to comment on stories like this, and YES - I realize how ironic it is to be responding to that in the same way.
With regard to the Wiitar, thats a really neat little script. I think it a better disposition to be active and involved in not only the gaming, but the strings behind the curtain as well. Better to be known for something like that than not known for mediocraties sake (merely playing the game - never making an impact on your shiny new toys)