Guitar Hero fans slam “atrocious” guitar controller showcased in Nintendo Direct

Showcased during the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase in Japan, Guitar Hero fans aren’t happy with the design of a guitar controller for the newly-announced Guitar Life: Lesson 1.

The Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase for February announced an onslaught of brand-new games coming to the Nintendo Switch. From a port of Grounded, to the return of Pocket Card Jockey, there was something for just about everyone.

However, unbeknownst to Nintendo fans outside of Japan, some announcements were exclusive to the Japanese version of the showcase. Among them, was the announcement of Mother 3 landing on the Nintendo Switch Online service.

However, another curious announcement for Guitar Life: Lesson 1 showcased a guitar controller, and the Guitar Hero subreddit was not particularly kind to the new peripheral.

Guitar Hero fans are skeptical about the new peripheral

Posted on the GuitarHero SubReddit, Reddit user jmvillouta shared an image of the upcoming Hori guitar controller, shown off during the Nintendo Direct live stream. The Hori guitar controller was announced alongside the upcoming game, Guitar Life: Lesson 1 but only for Japan.

Seemingly powered by your right Joycon controller, the Hori guitar replicates the fretboard of a real guitar to bring you “easy guitar lessons anytime, anywhere.”

The thread was mixed about the controller’s existence. Fellow Reddit user HOTDAGTAGS stated, “I’m excited for that but the design is absolutely atrocious.”

User HenpeckedLeader added, “Honestly, this looks stupid and doesn’t really make sense?”

While some were turned off by the Hori guitar controller, users like abarrelofmankeys explained that the “game looks powerfully boring but it could probably become a cool midi controller.”

With rhythm game fans already finding unique ways to use the upcoming Riffmaster controller, it’s more than likely there are as-yet-undiscovered ways to utilize the Hori guitar controller, besides playing Guitar Life: Lesson 1 on the Nintendo Switch. We’ll just have to wait and see what modders can do to bring out the true potential of this peripheral.