F*CKING AMAZING.GIMME GIMME GIMME.
The geeky place where games and music intersect is where I choose to camp out and live, so you can only imagine how I freaked out when I found the Pianocade. I NEED this thing.
The Pianocade is a musical synthesizer and MIDI controller designed to look and work like an arcade joystick. Instead of piano keys, you’ll bang out tunes with arcade-style fire buttons and a joystick. You can strap this thing on like a keytar and rock out, and its MIDI and USB connectors means that it can be used to play other devices.
On the sound side, the synthesis is based on classic game systems, so you’ll be able to play retro game music live, straight out of the box. It can reproduce NES and Game Boy style sounds, as you’ll hear in the above video. Also be sure to check out a sample tune after the jump.
It’s customizable, open-source, and can easily be updated. That’s good, as they’re already looking at being able to make this instruments usable as a controller for videogames. I could play a geek solo and then beat you at Tekken Tag Tournament 2? Sold!
The creators are taking preorders now for the first shipments. Prices start at $250 CDN for the one-octave version.
