First ever bass guitar controller debuts this fall
Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games have been selling millions of copies while introducing classic rock songs to new fans. Now the bass guitar is getting some love with its own dedicated controller available this fall.
Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band allow you to play bass guitar parts along to songs from Metallica, AC/DC and Aerosmith (to name a few), but until now you had to play your virtual bass guitar parts with a guitar controller – oh the shame of it! Thanks to Mad Catz, you can now reach for a Fender Precision Bass to deliver the low end rumble.
The Fender P bass controller is true to life in two ways; it’s larger than the guitar controller and it also has a double strum button allowing you to play it finger-style like a real bass guitar! Mad Catz went to great lengths to make the controller look like an authentic Fender P bass; they got rid of the whammy bar from the guitar controller and went with the traditional two knob layout of the Fender Precision bass – looks pretty cool if you ask me!
The bass guitar controller received great reviews from IGN.com for the build quality; the buttons are sturdier and more responsive than previously released first party guitar controllers. IGN gave the bass controller 8.7 out of 10 in its review, citing the cost and lack of wireless functionality as reasons for not rating higher (the bass guitar controller retails for approximately $70). IGN.com summed up their review with, “Despite its somewhat steep pricing, the Mad Catz Fender Precision Bass controller is a quality peripheral that presents a new reason for players to leap for the bass playing position.”
While $70 is nothing to sneeze at for a video game peripheral, it’s worth the price if you’re a fan of these games and can’t stand the embarrassment of playing bass lines on a pseudo-guitar. Besides, some of us spend more than that on bass guitar strings anyway!
Thanks to Mad Catz, you can now play virtual bass guitar in style, rock on!