Screenshot: Mrta
Guitar nerds who haven’t just pulled out the dough for a weekend getaway to this huge Florida guitar-shaped hotel can now have a lifeline … to the metavers.
Fender, maker of all-time classics such as Stratocaster and Telecaster (as well as whatever) announced that they have teamed up with Meta to create a guitar-inspired virtual word on Meta’s Horizons metaverse platform. Properly, the world takes place a giant island in the shape of a Statocaster floating high in the clouds.
Users can jump on The Fender Stratoverse and climb on their legless avatars. However, they will have to do some work before they can leave. After sliding down the neck of the giant guitar, users engage in a “chariot hunt” where they find hidden guitar chords scattered around the world in the shape of a guitar prong. Once purchased, they are sent back to the “Riff Maker” of the world. Once the chords are picked up, users can manipulate them to create their own tasty jams and looping riffs. The Stratoverse also has spaces for playing the air guitar if the music theory is not yours.
“Collaboration and experimentation are essential ingredients for the musical journey, and we’re looking forward to seeing what creators can do with the unlimited potential of Metaverse and our first Fender Stratoverse experience,” said Evan Jones, director of Fender marketing.
Of course, a luxury guitar center on the metavers really wouldn’t feel right without a powerful rocker drip. Users interested in finding the part may have some options sooner thanks to Meta’s recently announced avatar clothing store.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke on Friday about the new paid virtual clothing store and said the idea behind the project was to create a space for users to design clothes and sell them for real money.
“What we do is get people to express themselves and connect, and a big part of how people express themselves is through what they wear and fashion,” Zuckerberg said.
Balenciaga, Prada and Tom Brown are the top three brands that are starting to sell their products in the Meta avatar store. Zuckerberg went through his own avatar for an awkward “fashion show,” showing how some of the new pieces look.
I wouldn’t necessarily pick any of these aspects for my guitar fantasy, but hey, what happens to the metavers stays in the metavers.