Music games basically died in 2010. You remember it, right? The plastic instrument craze that fueled every college dorm party and family Thanksgiving for five years just... vanished. Activision killed Guitar Hero. Harmonix moved on from Rock Band to dance games. But right in the middle of that collapse, a weird, ambitious project called Gig: Rise of the Six String tried to save the genre by doing the one thing everyone said was impossible: using a real guitar.
It wasn't a peripheral. It wasn't a toy with clicky buttons. It was a literal, wooden, strings-and-frets guitar that happened to communicate with a game console.
Looking back, the ambition was staggering. Most people have forgotten this blip in gaming history, but for those of us who track the intersection of tech and music, it's a fascinating case study in "right idea, wrong time." It arrived at a moment when the market was exhausted, yet it paved the intellectual way for things like Rocksmith. It's a story of a company called Seven45 Studios—owned by a musical instrument giant—trying to disrupt a fading industry with hardware that was actually built to last.
The Hardware Gamble of Seven45 Studios
Seven45 Studios wasn't your typical indie dev. They were a subsidiary of First Act. If you’ve ever walked through a Target or a Walmart music section, you know First Act. They make those entry-level acoustic guitars that kids get for Christmas. This gave them an edge nobody else had: a massive supply chain for actual instruments.
While Guitar Hero was asking you to pay $100 for a plastic hunk of junk, Gig: Rise of the Six String bundled a fully functional electric guitar with the game.
How did it work? Honestly, it was clever for the time. The guitar used patented "string sensing" technology. Instead of optical sensors or MIDI, the frets themselves acted as sensors. When you pressed a string down, it completed a circuit. This told the game exactly which note you were playing without the lag that plagued earlier attempts at "real" guitar games.
The problem was that the guitar, while "real," was still a First Act. It was a 3/4 size body. It felt a bit like a toy to seasoned players, yet it was infinitely more intimidating to the casual Guitar Hero fans who just wanted to mash five colored buttons. It occupied this awkward middle ground. It was too "real" for the gamers and too "gamer" for the musicians.
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Why the Gameplay Felt So Different
If you boot up the game today—assuming you can find a working dongle, which is a nightmare—the first thing you notice is the "lane."
In Rock Band, you have five lanes. In Gig: Rise of the Six String, you have six. Obviously. But the game didn't just ask you to play single notes. It wanted chords. It wanted power chords, open strings, and barre chords. It was trying to teach you the muscle memory of an actual musician.
But here is where the friction started.
- The note highway was vertical, just like the competitors.
- However, because you had to track six strings and dozens of frets, the screen got cluttered fast.
- The difficulty spike was a vertical wall.
Imagine going from "Press Green" to "Play a G-Major chord in time with a blink-182 song." It was a lot. The game included a "Basic" mode where you could use the guitar like a standard five-button controller, but that felt like buying a Ferrari to drive to the mailbox. If you weren't using the strings, why were you even playing?
The tracklist was actually decent, though. You had some heavy hitters like Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, and even some Rare Earth. But because the game didn't have the licensing muscle of Activision, it lacked that "blockbuster" feel. It felt like an underdog. An underdog that required you to tune your strings before you could play "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
The Lawsuit That Haunted the Launch
You can't talk about Gig: Rise of the Six String without mentioning the legal drama. Activision, the 800-pound gorilla of the era, went after Seven45 Studios.
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Activision claimed that Seven45 was infringing on patents related to guitar-based gaming. It was a messy, public spat. Seven45 fired back, basically calling Activision a bully that was trying to monopolize the "real guitar" space. While the lawsuits didn't technically kill the game—low sales did that—they cast a shadow over the marketing. Retailers were hesitant. Consumers were confused.
By the time the game hit shelves in late 2010, the "Great Plastic Instrument Depression" was in full swing. People were literally throwing their plastic guitars into dumpsters. The idea of buying another one, especially one that required actual practice, was a tough sell.
Where It All Went Wrong (And What It Got Right)
The lag was the silent killer.
Even with the "string sensing" tech, there was a disconnect. In a game like Rocksmith, which came out a year later, the game actually processes the audio signal from the guitar. In Gig: Rise of the Six String, the game was just checking if you were touching the right fret. It didn't care how you picked or the tone you had. It was a digital "yes/no" check.
This made the experience feel a bit sterile. It lacked the soul of playing an amp.
But we have to give them credit for the "Six String" philosophy. They were the first to ship a retail product that tried to bridge the gap between "Pressing buttons" and "Creating music." They proved that you could build a controller that was also a tool.
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If you find a copy of the game at a thrift store today, the guitar itself is actually a fun little modding project. People take the First Act bodies, swap out the pickups, and turn them into "travel guitars" that still have the internal sensors for legacy gaming. It's a niche hobby, but it's a testament to the hardware's durability compared to the hollow plastic shells of its rivals.
The Lasting Legacy in 2026
Wait, why does this matter now? Because we're seeing a massive resurgence in physical music hardware. Look at the prices of vintage synths or the explosion of "smart" guitars like the HyVibe or Lava Me. We are back in an era where people want tactile, tech-integrated instruments.
Gig: Rise of the Six String was the awkward teenager phase of this movement.
It taught the industry that if you’re going to ask a gamer to learn a real skill, the "gamification" has to be perfect. You can't just slap a guitar on a screen and hope for the best. You need a curriculum. Rocksmith+ and Yousician eventually figured this out by focusing on the learning path, but Seven45 was the first to take the leap into the living room.
How to Experience This Today
If you’re a collector or a music nerd wanting to dive into this weird piece of history, here’s the reality check.
- Hardware is King: Do not buy the disc without the guitar. The game is basically unplayable without the specific Seven45 controller.
- The Dongle Trap: Like the old Guitar Hero kits, the USB dongles are the first thing to get lost. If the eBay listing doesn't show the dongle, walk away.
- Maintenance: The "string sensing" frets can get dirty. A bit of isopropyl alcohol on the frets can often fix "dropped notes" that make the game feel broken.
- Tuning: Use an external tuner. The in-game tuner was notoriously finicky. If the guitar is even slightly out of tune, the string tension won't feel right, even if the digital sensors are working.
The "Rise" in the title might have been a bit optimistic. It didn't so much rise as it did flicker briefly before the wind changed. But in the grand museum of gaming failures, this one stands out as a brave, loud, and strangely honorable attempt to make us all a little more musical. It wasn't just a game; it was a 3/4 scale electric guitar that dared to ask if we were tired of faking it.
Actionable Steps for Music Gaming Enthusiasts
If you’re looking to bridge the gap between gaming and real guitar today, don't start with a defunct 2010 title unless you're a hardcore collector. Instead, take these steps to get the experience Seven45 was trying to provide:
- Check out Rocksmith+: This is the spiritual successor. It uses a "Real Tone" cable that plugs any guitar into your PC or console. It’s the refined version of the "Gig" dream.
- Look for "Pro" Controllers: If you still play Rock Band 3, seek out the Fender Mustang Pro-Controller. It uses buttons instead of strings but maps out every fret, offering a similar bridge to real theory.
- Don't Toss the Gig Guitar: If you own one, it’s a standard electric guitar with a 1/4" jack. Plug it into a real amp like an Orange Crush or a Boss Katana. You might be surprised—it actually sounds decent for a "gaming" peripheral.