Seven45 Studios is a sister company to music instrument manufacturing giant First Act, making it uniquely positioned to introduce the first major band game for which the guitar peripheral is a functioning six-string electric guitar. The guitar features Seven45’s proprietary technology that can distinguish and recognize gamers’ input all along the guitar, making the guitars as easy to pick up and play as any other band game button controllers. They also include all the guts of an electric guitar so players can plug their SixString guitars into any standard amp to jam with their friends.

Power Gig: Rise of the SixString will transport players to an entirely new universe, with its own mythology, politics, settings, heroes and villains, where music rules all. On the gameplay front, Power Gig uses new technology that represents the next evolution of music performance games to provide all players — from casual gamers to the hardcore, from those who have never before picked up a guitar to those who play guitar on a regular basis — with a more authentic and fun experience. The game offers two overarching modes of play. In addition to traditional beat-matching that will be familiar to fans of the band game genre, Power Gig also introduces the option to switch on chording, or chord play. Chording presents the added challenge of playing the game using chords that require specific finger placement on the strings. As players progress through the game, becoming more comfortable with a genuine guitar and potentially choosing to play real power chords, they will find that the byproduct of playing the game is coming away from it with an understanding of some real-life guitar fundamentals.

Formerly of Sega of America, Gilbert joins Seven45 Studios in the newly created role of Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing and will head up retail sales and marketing for all of Seven45’s games.

With this new hire, Seven45 Studios continues to add experience in the business side of gaming to complement its substantial development talent, whose collective experience includes time at Vivendi, LucasArts, Atari, StormFront Studios, Foundation 9, Pandemic, Capcom, and Backbone Entertainment and many others. Gilbert recently held the position of CEO and President for Adscape Media Inc., an in-game advertising company. He has also held the position of General Manager for HIP Interactive’s U.S. division.

In his new role at Seven45 Studios, Gilbert will be responsible for leading the retail sales and marketing efforts for all games, including Power Gig: Rise of the SixString.

“Chris’ wealth of experience brings with it an intimate understanding of the video game space and we look forward to adding his talents to our already strong executive team,” said Seven45 Studios' Chairman and CEO, Bernard Chiu. “He is a video gaming industry veteran, having served as Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Operations at Sega of America for over five years, and is uniquely qualified to launch all of the ambitious games we have planned.”

Newly announced songs:

• The Academy Is… - “His Girl Friday”
• Bad Religion - “I Want to Conquer the World”
• Dave Matthews Band - “Tripping Billies
• Eric Clapton - “Layla"
• Black Sabbath – “The Devil Cried”
• Jet - “She’s a Genius”
• Kid Rock - “All Summer Long.”
• Living Colours - “Cult of Personality”
• Mastodon – “Crack The Skye”
• Mutemath – “Chaos”
• New Found Glory – “Listen To Your Friends”
• Paramore – “Ignorance”
• Queens of the Stone Age – “You Think I’m Not Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire”
• Superdrag – “Aspartame”
• Surfer Blood – “Swim”
• The Black Keys – “Strange Times”
• The Donna - “Fall Behind Me”
• The Get Up Kids – “Martyr Me”
• Three Days Grace – “Break”

The AirStrike drums give gamers the most immersive drum experience available for a game by providing for complete freedom to drum with truly realistic movement, and without the distracting sounds of peripherals already on the market.

The AirStrike drum controller consists of two drumsticks and a small unit that rests by the player’s feet that features unique technology that can differentiate the right drumstick from the left. It is this recognition that allows gamers to play the drums with much more true-to-life movement than the drum game peripherals already on the market. This new, engaging style of drum gameplay offers opportunity both for more creativity and more challenge. An added benefit to the design is that the AirStrike is more portable and convenient for gamers who don’t want to clutter their homes with large toy drum units.