Jam Sessions for DS
Ubi puts guitar in your pocket.
Ubisoft has announced plans to release a guitar-based title for Nintendo DS this summer called Jam Sessions.
However unlike your other rhythm-action or guitar games, which often distance themselves from the real activity, Jam Sessions seeks to entice musicians as well as novices.
With sound digitally remastered from an acoustic guitar, players can strum along on the touch-screen using a simple interface, and as well as playing along to songs you'll also be able to record your performances.
This, Ubi believes, ought to prove indispensable to musicians, who should be able to write, play and record their music anywhere that inspiration hits them.
Of course there will be a collection of existing songs to play along to from "yesterday and today's hottest artists" (details to be announced), as well as a free-play mode, and a tutorial so you can get your head round it all.
Ubisoft's John Parks reckons it has "limitless potential to entertain". "Basically, it's a guitar in your pocket but that's just the beginning," he says.
"It's a chance for people who have never thought of themselves as 'musically inclined' to jump right in and play through entire songs, compose their own music and sing along with friends."
We'll be able to see whether it lives up to that billing in the summer. In the meantime, puzzle over a couple of screenshots.