Editor's Note: Jasmine shares her vision of the future of music controllers, which makes sense on some levels but may never hit the popularity of current music games due to accessibility issues -- it's much easier to press buttons than to deform your hand and hold your fingers over some strings.

Also, we may already be part of the way there with technology like Fretlight Studio, which connects learning software with a real guitar with lighted guides. -Shoe

Since I woke up with a selected mix of songs from Repo! The Genetic Opera stuck in my head, I thought it only fitting to write something about music. Of course I am opting yet again for the future of something -- this time the progression of our little plastic space consumers.

The musician I live with indulges his Rock Band habit regularly but does not use it as a replacement for anything he is incapable of doing in real life. He has spoken at length against those suggesting people playing music games should ultimately pick up a guitar because it is more useful in the long run. He treats the game as a game. What I wonder is, as guitars become more like real guitars and the drums have symbols, when will Rock Band and Guitar Hero enter a new phase in development?

I foresee a future that is as much entertaining as it is instructive. Rather than pressing buttons on a keytar, you will be asked to simulate the chord progressions and strum patterns of songs. These games will eventually bridge the gap between fantasy and application, acting as a likely more enjoyable tutoring program for younger, less comitted players.

It seems like a natural progression to me, but I doubt it will come to be any time soon. The advancement of the equipment is not yet there, not if this tutoring system requires the player to press strings and learn the spread of a full drum kit. It would also be ridiculously expensive, but somehow more understandibly expensive, just like funding a child's way through a music program in school is understandibly expensive.

Of course, this trend in music games to harp on exclusivity and issue limited-edition instruments may hamper the advancement I find necessary. Where I can see games being more integrated into life, I can also see the market falling out completely after five- to six-hundred-dollar bundles hit the scene.