What It Is: A music application that converts the portable Nintendo DS system into a pretty excellent Korg synthesizer.
Who It’s For: Timbaland (or anybody else looking to play around with tune building on the go).
Why It’s Worthy: The DS-10 plugs into the Nintendo DS and turns it from a machine that plays Nintendogs into a pretty powerful portable music studio. The tiny package contains two synths, a drum machine and a sequencer that allows you to build farily dynamic little tracks using the smooth, easy DS touch screen. And despite the size and limited scope of the DS’ speakers, it sounds tremendous.
Our Only Complaint: There’s no tutorial and getting into it can be difficult if you don’t already have experience with sequencers.
Cost/Where to Get It: $39.99; more info at the official site.
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What It Is: The latest iteration of the hit Guitar Hero series, which adds drums, vocals and a giant bunch of eclectic jam-ready tunes.
Who It’s For: Anybody who has been jonesing to drum but felt loyal to the Guitar Hero interface and design.
Why It’s Worthy: Let’s start with the hardware: the drum kit that comes with the deluxe edition of Guitar Hero: World Tour is truly awesome, featuring the quietest and most sensitive pads on the fake drums market. Plus, the added cymbals give it a more distinct, natural feel. The song list is impressive and eclectic (Sting and Tool in the same game? Sure!) and Guitar Hero’s visual interface still stands head and shoulders above Rock Band. The depth of options in the customization of your rockers is staggering.
Our Only Complaint: One of the elements that falls short is the new option for guitar solos. The new guitars have a touch pad that facilitates slides, but it’s not as sensitive as it could be and the solos become infinitely more difficult if you’re playing with an older axe.
Cost/Where to Get It: $189.99 for the full bundle, $59.99 for the game only on XBox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Wii; more info at Guitar Hero’s official site.
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