I always sort of thought Guitar Hero was a stupid concept until I was bored one day in Best Buy and picked it up and realized how fun the game was. When Rock Band came out the drums had me running to buy the game the day it came out. It didn’t take long for me to realize the weakest link in the PS3 Rock Band bundle was the guitar, which broke about 3 days into playing. Now it only strums one way and you can’t activate Star Power/Overdrive to save my sucky friends when they punk out.

Peak Products has announced the Starpex guitar controller for the PS2 and PS3, and it is way sweet. Peak says that the controller is actually built by a leading guitar maker and the thing is made form real wood. Features of the Starpex include full Guitar Hero and Rock Band functionality with a Star Power/Overdrive button and a tilt sensor for the traditionalists.

The whammy bar is optimized for feel and to reduce fatigue—let’s face it rocking out is hard work. The wooden neck has ten fret buttons and has buttons located high up on the neck for solos. The strum bar was enhanced for tactile feel and audible feedback as well. The Starpex can be connected with a wire or wirelessly with a 15-foot cable or a 2.4GHz wireless thingy. The Starpex will be available in August for $179.95.

Peak Products