Modder makes turntable controller for Guitar Hero

by Justin McElroy { Jan 8th 2008 at 10:00AM }

The guitar controller and Guitar Hero/Rock Band are such flawless pairings of game and peripheral, we can't really understand the urge to want to play them with something else. That said, we can definitely see the attraction of Aaron Skillman's homemade Scratch Blaster, a portable turntable made for Guitar Hero.

OK Activision and EA/Harmonix/MTV, the race is on. Who will be the first to integrate the controller into a Rock Band-like setting or build a whole game around it? Because if it's half as fun as Skillman's peripheral looks, you can already consider our money in-hand.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: dj, guitar-hero, guitarhero, rock-band, rockband, turntable

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Norm @ Jan 8th 2008 10:14AM

Thats a pretty cool mod. reminds me of a beatmania controller, only better.

FidliousWong @ Jan 8th 2008 10:49AM

Yeah, too bad DJ Dao's table is MUCH, MUCH cooler.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQJMMAYFwM

Clasifyd @ Jan 8th 2008 12:53PM

Beat Mania was a steaming mass of fecal matter. By far the worst rhythm game I've ever played. The allure of it was the scratch pad and my closet desire to be a DJ. Come to find out, you rarely used the scratch pad, and when you did, it didn't sync with the song at all. I've since given up on my ambition of becoming a DJ. Thanks for crushing my dreams, Beat Mania. QQ

FidliousWong @ Jan 8th 2008 4:10PM

I don't know where to start with that, so I guess at the top....

"Beat Mania was a steaming mass of fecal matter. By far the worst rhythm game I've ever played."

Then your exposure to the rhythmn game genre is woefully minimal.

"The allure of it was the scratch pad and my closet desire to be a DJ."

DJing is more about creating a custom mix tape than actual gameplay. Even during scratch methods, it's more about improve which a video game has absolutely no ability to emulate. Closest you'll get is the freestyle tracks on Frequency/Amplitude. If you spent five minutes researching DJs, you'd know this. So apparently it wasn't a closet dream but rather a passing glance.

"Come to find out, you rarely used the scratch pad, and when you did, it didn't sync with the song at all."

You know, you can go beyond lv1 songs where the turntable becomes more prominent. Also a thing to notice, each key cues up a sound effect. Only the turntable sound effect will interrupt it's previous tone. So sequences where you have to rapidly scratch does create a skipping beat. The turntable, in essence, is merely your eighth key. It just works differently than the other seven. Beatmania, as a game, works much better to help people understand how to build beats rather than DJ. And considering a lack of cross fade, etc, it's very apparent.

"I've since given up on my ambition of becoming a DJ. Thanks for crushing my dreams, Beat Mania. QQ"

So let me get this straight, you suck at a rhythm game that has only vague attachment to an actual instrument and this disuaded you from investing the $200 for some starter tables to learn on? This is like me blaming constant deaths during Ninja Gaiden sessions on my giving up Karate lessons. You, sir, phail at life. Enjoy your fast paced career in McDonalds. It may not be glamorous, but at least it's not challenging.

Player1 @ Jan 8th 2008 10:15AM

Turntables don't have keys and whammy bars and you don't dangle them sideways off your body. This is just getting stupid.

merf1350 @ Jan 8th 2008 10:18AM

I call Shenanigans!!!

Um no, wait....I mean Retarded. Or Spastic for those in the UK.

merf1350 @ Jan 8th 2008 10:18AM

I call Shenanigans!!!

Um no, wait....I mean Retarded. Or Spastic for those in the UK.

merf1350 @ Jan 8th 2008 10:22AM

Ok, I guess I was right about shenanigans. Although it appears to be the stupid message boards and not the controller.

monkeymonkeymonkey @ Jan 8th 2008 10:24AM

Gawd. Next thing someone is going to take an Accordion and make it play GH...

kastonie @ Jan 8th 2008 10:27AM

so when is dj hero coming out?

FidliousWong @ Jan 8th 2008 10:30AM

Right here

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-88-77-1-49-en-15-beatmania-70-4rc.html
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8g-77-2-49-en-15-beatmania-70-1zhd.html

FidliousWong @ Jan 8th 2008 10:34AM

Rockband needs a keyboard controller (for synths) and duel vocalists support before a turntable. I mean, even bands who DO have DJs only get small sections to strut.

Player1 @ Jan 8th 2008 10:39AM

Yeah, but djs don't control pitch by holding a key (unless perhaps on a cd turntable with effects). Now what might be impressive is if he made it work how an actually turntable works. The pitch would be determined by how fast you move the disc and the strum would be the mixer crossfader. Then perhaps the whammy is your rpm slider?

The actual working thing is kind of cool, the concept is just totally wrong.

maylon @ Jan 8th 2008 10:35AM

What a terrible waste of energy, like 95% of modding.

Norm @ Jan 8th 2008 4:20PM

Or playing video games at all, for that matter!

http://m-w.com/dictionary/enjoyment

Eddie @ Jan 8th 2008 10:58AM

Konami already made a game around it. It's called beatmania and came out 10 years ago. I love how basically every gaming site either ignores or forgets about Konami's contributions to peripheral-based music gaming (even if it's mostly japan only).

You all play it off like Harmonix and Red-Octane did something completely original with their games. All they did was take an existing,successful formula and modify it in such a way that it appeals to the mass US market.

FidliousWong @ Jan 8th 2008 11:22AM

You know, as much as I want to be all about the "originality, originality, originality" when praising Konami, let's get real here.

The ONLY reason why Guitar Freaks never launched in the US is in the simple fact that Konami couldn't manage dick all when it comes to their arcade business. Are you aware that Konami's first reaction to DDR showing up in US arcades was cease & desist letters? DDR became a hit despite Konami's every attempt to stop it from doing so. Evidence is only as far as realizing Japanese PSX owners had access to five main mixes, 10+ appends before american PSX owners could buy their first ones.

Guitar Freaks was launched in America. Well, Launch seems to give them too much credit. The game, on PSX, shipped only 1000 units. And since their $400 bundle (marked up due to rarity at the few shops that could GET one) wasn't selling out, they assumed this meant failure for a proper launch. And what of Beatmania? A half-assed sixth mix port that couldn't decide if it wanted to be Beatmania or Beatmania IIXD? And when they FINALLY did a test location for arcades in the US, it was for the 14th mix.

I mean, I'm all about giving Konami proper props for the whole thing but let's be honest about something. If the music game industry was solely dependant upon Konami to bring things over, Parappa the Rapper would be a PS4 exclusive.

All you hardcore Konami defenders need to realize one thing about Konami's current position in this field. They needed to either show up, or shut up. And since Konami isn't raising the "we did it first" protests, wonder which one they chose?

PS Guitar Freaks music mostly sucks.

Eddie @ Jan 8th 2008 1:52PM

I'm not arguing the whole originality thing as much as I am the point that the writer said "someone should make this a game" as if Konami didn't do it 10 years ago.

The problem with Konami's handling of the US market is because KOJ doesn't understand America at all and refuses to hand over any kind of control to the US branch. They're starting to make more of an attempt to kick it up a bit here in the US, but only on the arcade end. They've hired quite a few people in the past year and a half to act as consultants (to a degree) for the US market. Hence the recent location tests. Alot more should be coming from them for North America by the end of 2008. I'm calling it now.

Also, GuitarFreaks was never released in the US on any home platform. That 1000 units shipped version you mentioned was canceled 6 months before release. And the bundle was slated to cost $125, not $400. The Arcade release shipped closed to 500 units in the US, but it didn't cost $400.

unosturgis @ Jan 8th 2008 10:29PM

I was wondering what happened with guitar freaks and how konami let that opportunity slip through their fingers. Damn that must suck for them...losing out on millions of dollars that activision and harmonix are racking in. lol Shoulda, woulda, coulda!

Dave Silva @ Jan 9th 2008 1:56AM

@unosturgis:
Except Guitar Hero uses some of Konami's patents, so they're still getting money off of 'em. I'm sure Rock Band makes them money too - DrumMania came first.

Cybergig1 @ Jan 8th 2008 11:09AM

haha no no no the beatmania controller is way better. Not to mention takes way more skill with its 7 button layout for Beatmania IIDX. Granted he's just playing guitar hero so it wont look as hard. But this definitely isn't anything groundbreaking since beatmania has been around over a decade

ill trooper @ Jan 8th 2008 11:25AM

Nice mod! (Although totally unnecessary; it's simply a short, stubby guitar if you think too hard about it.) Quality job and of course that MF Doom shirt is a good look!

Somebody should maybe 'mod' the length of the video however...

Ian Murray @ Jan 8th 2008 11:36AM

To me, it just looks like a funky guitar.

Only instead of flicking the strum bar, you flick a disc.

Kind of a "disappointmod".

James @ Jan 8th 2008 11:54AM

Seriously? What a useless mod.

KiraXD @ Jan 8th 2008 12:05PM

imma jump on the "Konami did it first" train.

I have beatmania dxII and the controller is better that that looks.

Although ive always envisioned a game that is akin to DJ'ing instead of trying to match beats with different keys... how about a game game that actually lets you try and beatmatch 2 tracks and mix the 2, all the while using actual effects with different buttons (reverb, flange.. etc..) now that would be a cool game (more realistic as well)

Player1 @ Jan 8th 2008 12:29PM

That would be called djing. Just buy some turntables, or you can get an app like Tracktor and mix whatever mp3s you want.

KiraXD @ Jan 8th 2008 3:22PM

lol i know, i actually dj, im saying it would make a fun game as well, hell you can even just get final scratch and pretend its a game on the PC. use vinyl AND mp3.

P @ Jan 8th 2008 1:09PM

I'm a Bemani fanboy and I'm glad to see some comments about IIDX (Eddie).

Clasifyd - Try playing a Japenese mix. Oh, and the game is synced. It's just that unlike GH, IIDX requires accurate timing, something you probably aren't used to.

Cryptomayhem @ Jan 8th 2008 2:28PM

Amen... I just got destroyed trying to clear The Dirty of Loudness on Hyper. XD

LlamaFarmer @ Jan 8th 2008 1:28PM

Holy Spinderella, Batman!!!

ThornedVenom @ Jan 8th 2008 1:49PM

Is it just me or is that turntable STILL played like a guitar?

Left hand on buttons/frets, right hand for scratching/strumming.

Just a different layout. It's not the modder's fault, but I'm just stating that it's not as impressive as it could have demonstrated to be.

FM @ Jan 8th 2008 1:50PM

Wonder if we get a REAL IIDX game...

Shaterri @ Jan 8th 2008 2:00PM

I have to buck the trend here and agree with Clasifyd -- well, not about how bad Beatmania was (I sucked at it, but it's still a fine game), but that it's nothing like a 'DJ game' -- really, it's Keyboard Mania Lite. There actually was a one-off turntable-based rhythm game, Crackin' DJ, that went pretty much nowhere -- I remember playing a couple of machines in the LA area half a decade ago, but I've never seen it since and I'd be surprised if there are more than a dozen in the US. Five years ago, I would've said it was a ripe target for a game, but the (musical) genre has really died down in the last few years...