By Roger Gude

With the myriad of music games out there. Guitar Hero, EBA, Drummania, DDR, etc. it’s hard to think of a music game in any other way. Gilligames plans to change that formula with an RPG/Music simulation game.

[i]Shady Grady Rising Star[/i] plans to flip everything you know about music games. The game starts you out as a young, no name musician who has the ambition to strive to the top. Various starting options include choosing a starting city out of 120 total cities, choosing a style of music that range from folk, to pop and hiring band members along the way

With so many options to start off, you have to be wondering, “How does it play?” It plays more like an RPG than a music game. You have a total of six assignable skills, from songwriting to stage presence, as well as a wide variety of smaller tasks other than performing.

With 800 different types of equipment, 120 cities, as well as the ability to craft your very own virtual band, [i]Shady Grady Rising Star[/i] has the potential to spawn a whole new type of game.

[i]Shady Grady Rising Star[/i] will be available in early March 2007 for $29 (download) or $36 (CD-ROM). A downloadable demo will be available in February 2007 at www.gilligames.com.