The post-peripheral music game evolution implies a bright future for the genre

We're long past the days of Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and their plastic instruments. I've still got a whole band's worth knocking around somewhere gathering dust, relics of a very specific era. Going into a Game store and nailing one of the hardest Guitar Hero tracks in front of a crowd is one of my favourite gaming memories - and my proud dad, funnily enough.

But those games have fallen out of favour, be it for cost, environmental reasons, or fashion. Just this week, Guitar Hero creator Harmonix announced its latest game Fuser would be going offline - not played with a plastic instrument, but in-line with the same philosophy of approachable music-making.

Besides, we have Ubisoft's Rocksmith now as the next logical step: a game that teaches you how to play guitar, using an actual guitar. Its latest edition, Rocksmith+, released back in September and promises to teach technique with over 5,000 songs. Perhaps after all that, you might consider writing your own.

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