games  anime  |  toys
Destructoid is gaming news, community, videos, and sometimes love. Take the tour or jump in with Facebook:

 




David Hindman has created a new way to play videogames. They use their (real) guitars to control the fighters from Mortal Kombat and Mario Kart as if the guitars were actual buttoned controllers. Modal Kombat (the mod of Mortal Kombat), is controlled by different pitches, volumes and their sequences that tell the fighter what to do:

The result, Modal Kombat, is a modern-day "dueling banjos". It has raised the bar for performers, composers, interface designers, and competitive gamers. Modal Kombat delivers an engaging combination of music, choreography and good old-fashioned fantasy street fighting.

I'm not too keen on how a guitar actually works, but David had very informative interview with UrbanGuitar a couple years back giving a detailed explanation on how the guitar controls the fighters. David talks about some of his other experiments such as playing Rampage using a keyboard and trumpet (among other instruments). The interview also goes into what could happen in the future such as a band playing together to play a game of GoldenEye or Doom.

If this has perked your interest, David and his partner, Evan Drummond, play lives shows in the New York area. The next show is February third. Until then, check out ModalKombat's Web site for more details and hit the jump for another video called Guitarkart.


Now if they only would play the actual songs from the games to control the characters ...


Continue: More Mortal Kombat stories





prev next

14 comments | showing # 1 to 14

A Ton of Berries's Avatar
A Ton of Berries at 12/03/2007 01:39
Nifty, now to play ninja gaiden w/ a real drum kit. Yeah baby!

also, 0th!
Spykron's Avatar
Spykron at 12/03/2007 01:44
well that was cool but why no fatality? that would have obviously made the ending better.
Coonskin05's Avatar
Coonskin05 at 12/03/2007 01:54
"I'm not too keen on how a guitar actually works,"

Well CTZ, you see, you put your left hand on the top part of the strings in different places, then you strum the bottom part of one or multiple strings with your right hand near the bottom of your guitar. :)
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 12/03/2007 02:07
That is one of the coolest music-related things I've ever seen. I can't wait until stuff like this is further developed.
s0lesurviv0r's Avatar
s0lesurviv0r at 12/03/2007 02:09
I'd love to see them do a deadly rave-type super with that setup, such as Geese Howard or Order-Sol.
Boolean's Avatar
Boolean at 12/03/2007 02:22
The mario kart one was shit
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 12/03/2007 03:20
Academically, this is actually really cool. I could imagine somebody getting a Master's degree in music theory and/or game theory with this as his thesis.
chronicus_prime's Avatar
chronicus_prime at 12/03/2007 04:35
I play guitar and honestly----if i didnt play video games i would be worth a damn on guitar. How the hell you transform pitch into a coomand? I would've done mass effect with muse. Try it.
Barcode's Avatar
Barcode at 12/03/2007 08:59
It looks pretty cool, but certainly needs more work to be done it. It looked like they had a hard time trying to do some smooth moves on the game through their guitars.
Variable Gear's Avatar
Variable Gear at 12/03/2007 09:36
Don't forget Fret Nice either...

Variable Gear's Avatar
Variable Gear at 12/03/2007 09:39
Also, Ragnarawk!

king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 12/03/2007 10:35
That was epic win
Fading Star's Avatar
Fading Star at 12/03/2007 12:33
Hell yeah.
grrza's Avatar
grrza at 12/03/2007 18:31
sw33t!

Man, I bet it's hard thinking of the notes as commands. So much is automatic when playing guitar, depending on what i'm playing, my fingers will automatically move into the next position. Breaking out of that must be hard.

Unless, I bet you could come up with different combos that would essentially be different melodies when playing with a guitar... Dex is right. There could be alot to explore with an idea like this.
prev next

Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

 
New on Destructoid.TV play all videos

Loading
Loading Destructoid Videos




    Win this!
    Reminder: We're giving away six copies of Magnacarta 2!



    Dtoid Twitter    Got news?   tips@destructoid.com

    Reviews & Previews
    Mahjongg Artifacts 2 review
    Dragon Age: Origins review
    Lost Winds: The Winter of the Melodias review
    Osmos review
    Space Invaders Extreme 2 review
    Half-Minute Hero review
    JU-ON: The Grudge review
    Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble review
    Thexder Neo review
    Domino Rally review
    more reviews
    PS3's 256-player MAG
    Rooms The Main Building
    Skate 3
    Hudson's bringing back the Bonk
    James Cameron's Avatar
    Bomberman Battlefest
    Calling
    Bad Company 2's multiplayer
    Partying like it's 1959 in BioShock 2's multiplayer
    BioShock 2 through the eyes of Big Daddy
    more previews


    - The Dtoid Army is 49590 strong -

    Showing Cblogs with 3+ faps   show all

    Call for entries: do the wrong thing

    New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide




     Originals
    Jim Sterling: How to respond to a videogame review





















    More Destructoid Originals




     Popular now more
























    Destructoid's editorial lovefest is:
    Nick Chester
    Editor-in-Chief
    Jim Sterling
    Reviews Editor
    Dale North
    News Editor
    Hamza Aziz
    Community Manager
    Anthony Burch
    Features Editor
    Rey Gutierrez
    Video editor & director
    Niero
    Founder, publisher
    Letters to the editors
    tips@destructoid.com
    Associate Editors
    Ashley Davis Jonathan Holmes
    Brad Nicholson Jonathan Ross
    Brad Rice Jordan Devore
    Chad Concelmo Matthew Razak
    Colette Bennett Tom Fronczak
    Conrad Zimmerman Topher Cantler
    Dyson Samit Sarkar
    Contributors
    Adam Dork
    Ben Perlee
    Daniel Lingen
    Joseph Leray
    Joe Burling
    Mikey
    Will Maddock
    Stella Wong





     

     
      get involved

    register or login
    post a blog
    post a forum
    enter a contest
    contribute a news tip
    suggest a feature
    be a guest editor
    support

    new member's guide
    login assistance
    tech support
    report abuse
    email our editors
    read our dev blog
    nuclear crisis?
    keep in touch

    RSS feed
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Myspace
    Flickr
    Game nights
    Meetup+play online
    seriously

    about Destructoid
    advertising
    terms of use
    privacy policy
    jobs at MM
    buy our crap
    our network

    Tomopop
    Japanator
    Despingation?




    Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
    living the dream since March 16, 2006