There's a new kid in town. By kid, I mean music game and by town I mean store shelves this holiday season... Power Gig: Rise of the Six String.

But, for that matter, there also is a new Kid in town - Kid Rock. He's never been in a music game before, nor has Dave Matthews Band or Eric Clapton. That's all changed, with them signing exclusive agreements to be featured in Power Gig: Rise of the Six String. Master recordings of songs from each of these artists will appear on the Power Gig: Rise of the Six String song list. Power Gig will also feature a list of songs from music superstars and emerging indie artists, many of which are available in a music game for the first time in Power Gig.

Power Gig has some great ideas behind it. For one, the controller doesn't use buttons to click and clack as you play, it features honest-to-rock-god strings that you actually finger and strum to play the game. This is an awesome idea. Unfortunately for Power Gig, this is also being done by Rock Band 3, the 900 pound gorilla that is nearing 2000 songs in its library. I'm just saying.

Another interesting idea is Power Gig's Airstrike Drums, which replace the drum hardware with a motion sensor that sits flat on the floor in front of you and watches for your drumsticks to "hit" in the correct area. This is just like playing "air drums," but you actually are playing the game and earning a score. This is pretty cool, although I didn't get a chance to try it out at E3, so I can't comment on how well it works. In addition to the four drum sensors in the wireless base, it has a bass pedal and a "mojo" pedal.

What I did try at E3 was the guitar controller. It is a functional electric guitar, but it's not a full-sized guitar. The guitar controllers for use with Rock Band Pro mode in RB3 are actual, full-sized controllers.

When I tried out Power Gig: Rise of the Six String, I was only able to play on a lower difficulty (I think it was Medium), as the E3 demo was locked in at this difficulty. I had wanted to try some of the more complex, i.e., more realistic guitar chording of a more difficult part, but alas, I wasn't able to do that on the show floor. What I did notice (and liked quite a bit) was that the notes to be played are connected by a sort of "string of light," if you will. I found this curved line helps to indicate just how quickly you'll need to get from one note to the next. I found it to be a nice feature of the user interface.

Whether Power Gig can be a contender in this season's holiday rock wars will depend on several factors, not the least of which is price. When I checked, the price of Power Gig: Rise of the Six String on Amazon was $179.99 for the game with the guitar and $229.99 for the game, guitar, drums and microphone - the whole deal. That's not a bad price, considering that the Rock Band 3 Squier Fender Stratocaster is around $200.00 on its own, if I remember correctly. Mind you, those who have already bought into Rock Band and have a lot of downloaded songs are less likely to be swayed by the lower price. Families with children who are just starting to take an interest in music games, on the other hand, are likely to prefer Power Gig: Rise of the Six String for its low cost of buy-in combined with the fact that you can use it to learn to play guitar. The fact that it features, essentially, "air drums" that don't require actual impact brings the sound level down (especially if using earphones), another factor likely to make Power Gig more attractive to parents.

As for the music selection, the original artists are a nice touch, but it's hard to argue with thousands of available tracks... unless you don't want to have to explain why Timmy can't purchase a second song this week. (Score one more point with the parents.)

Only time will tell whether Power Gig: Rise of the Six String will find an audience and get the support it needs to get past the one-off game and launch into an honest-to-goodness series. There are things that set Power Gig apart, but only time will tell if it's enough.

Check back for a full-length in-depth review when we receive Power Gig: Rise of the Six String in-house for some hands-on thrashing.