Patent ID: 8454418

Claim:
A game controller comprising: a musical instrument having a fingerboard and a plurality of strings extending along the fingerboard; a plurality of frets disposed on the fingerboard and underlying the plurality of strings, at least one of the frets having a plurality of electrically conductive zones that are electrically insulated from each other and each zone corresponds to a different string in the plurality of strings; at least one first sensor adapted to detect fingering of the fingerboard by a user of the game controller, at least in part, by detecting contacts between the strings and the frets; at least one second sensor comprising a polyphonic pickup having a plurality of wire-wound coils coupled to corresponding magnetic returns, each coil and corresponding magnetic return being associated with a particular string in the plurality of strings, the second sensor adapted to detect striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user of the game controller; at least one control module that is coupled to the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor and that provides at least one electrical signal indicating the fingering of the fingerboard by the user and indicating the striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user; and wherein the game controller is a dual mode device that is capable of operating in a first mode as the game controller and in a second mode as a stringed musical instrument, and wherein the game controller is tunable to enable the plurality of strings to play the full range of notes available on a guitar; and at least one user control that is capable of operating volume and tone when the game controller is in the second mode, and capable of operating menu-navigation and other game features when the game controller is in the first mode.