Rocksmith

[buxfan4life]

http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocksmith/en-US/home/

Looks pretty cool if you want to get away from the fake guitar playing on video game systems and learn to really play the insturment. Any electric or acoustic-electric guitar can be used.

There is also a package deal on Amazon that comes with an Epiphone Les Paul model guitar if you don't have one.

 

[scott91575]

I am going to get this game. I have been screwing around with a guitar for a little bit, but it gets rather boring to do the drills and just general practice. I'll see how this game does. The plus is it not only has songs but mini games that are drills. I think this kind of thing could really help make practice more fun.

The worst thing I have heard about this game is it's not very challenging for good guitar players. So it has very limited appeal. It's mostly for intermediate and beginner guitar players, so the market is rather limited. The cost of getting a guitar on top of the game will keep many newcomers to guitar playing away, and the ease of play for good guitar players will limit the main market.

Yet with all that said, I have heard great things about it. Hopefully I like it and it continues to be supported with new songs.

BTW...from all the reviews I have read, the guitar packaged with it is really low end. It is an Epiphone Les Paul, so not some knockoff, but it's their lowest end model. Probably better to get a used higher end model. Plus guitars hold their value fairly well. If you don't like the game, you can pretty much turn around and sell the guitar for a similar price.

 

[3074326]

I guess this is a good idea, but this is literally how I learned how to play guitar. Look at a guitar tab, get used to playing it, then play it at full speed. That's what the game is!

 

[powerlifter]

I guess this is a good idea, but this is literally how I learned how to play guitar. Look at a guitar tab, get used to playing it, then play it at full speed. That's what the game is!

Honestly if this would have came out around the guitar hero/rockband period I would have loved it. I'm not sure if it's too late to capitalize on something like this or not though.

 

[3074326]

Honestly if this would have came out around the guitar hero/rockband period I would have loved it. I'm not sure if it's too late to capitalize on something like this or not though.

I'm sure people will eat it up, but it's how people have been learning to play guitar for a long, long time. I don't really get the point in getting a game to force you to learn specific songs when you could just learn whatever you wanted from tabs. Same thing, essentially, it's just not bright and colorful. :p

 

[buxfan4life]

I'm sure people will eat it up, but it's how people have been learning to play guitar for a long, long time. I don't really get the point in getting a game to force you to learn specific songs when you could just learn whatever you wanted from tabs. Same thing, essentially, it's just not bright and colorful. :p

I have been trying to learn guitar off and on now for about 2 years. Have some basics down, but not nearly as good as I should. What you are describing works for some (and is the way I have been trying to learn) but as Scott said, it gets very boring doing it that way when first learning. This game will definitely spice up the learning for myself as well as others.

And to your point about the game forcing you to learn specific songs, um, that is pretty much what you do going the old route as well, only in black and white, no? :p

 

[scott91575]

I'm sure people will eat it up, but it's how people have been learning to play guitar for a long, long time. I don't really get the point in getting a game to force you to learn specific songs when you could just learn whatever you wanted from tabs. Same thing, essentially, it's just not bright and colorful. :p

It has mini game drills that help you get better at playing. So it's not just songs. Plus, the game changes it's difficulty on the fly. So it starts out really easy and ramps up as you get better. That is something guitar tabs don't do.

 

[Dryden]

Spoke to a guy at work that has it, he's a performing musician and guitar teacher that's played for decades, and he is absolutely raving about this game. His reasoning for why the game works is that the tabs are dynamic. If the game detects you suck it'll drop notes and give you only whole or quarter notes. Once you get up to speed it backs up and plays the track again with additional notes added. Everytime you "level up" there are more notes and techniques introduced. You also can learn rhythm or leads.

Another element about this game that will appeal to people versus practicing on their own is that there is a 'game score' and a percentage correct when you play a tune, so you have a numeric measure of your progress, even if you can't hear yourself getting better. The tabs are accurate and complete too, so you're learning the songs as they sound on the album, and in the correct tuning.

My prediction: Lots of bloody fingers and broken guitar strings when people with $200 Korean shread guitars with double locking Floyd Roses break strings, then break more strings while restringing the broken strings, or break strings because they didn't unlock the tuning locks on the neck before going to drop-D.

N00bs are going to screw up a lot of guitars with this.

 

[powerlifter]

I finally got a chance to play this game while visiting a friend of mine down south. He has a LP custom that he let me fiddle with. The game is awesome. I was stunned by the accuracy of it. I really want to pick this game up now. I gotta say that his LP absolutely shits all over any guitar i've owned. I guess that's why they aren't cheap.

 

[buxfan4life]

I finally got a chance to play this game while visiting a friend of mine down south. He has a LP custom that he let me fiddle with. The game is awesome. I was stunned by the accuracy of it. I really want to pick this game up now. I gotta say that his LP absolutely shits all over any guitar i've owned. I guess that's why they aren't cheap.

Have had it for awhile and it is really fun. The thing I like about it is that it adds more and more notes/chords the better you get at each song, and the mini-games that help you work on different techniques (hammer-ons, pull-offs, palm muting, etc). I have progressed more in the past month on this game than I had over the past year "book learning" with notes/tabs.

I just recently bought an Epiphone LP Traditional Pro (couldn't bring myself to drop a grand or two on a Gibson) and it has really good feel and tone. Buddy of mine went with me when I was looking to buy, and him being a guitar nut for 30+ years told me that it is as close to his Gibson LP Custom as he has ever heard/played in a guitar that costs less than a grand ($500). It has made a huge difference in the game play as well since the thing stays in tune like a champ.

What I do now is play the song on the game a few times through to get the fingering and beat down, then take it to the amp and try to recreate what I just learned. I've gone from hitting every other note correctly and murdering the music to actually sounding like I know what I am doing.

 

[GomerBucks]

I have been curious about this game since hearing about it... I won an American Strat a few years back at a charity event and I do not know how to play at all. It has just been sitting on its stand collecting dust... If this game is solid, I may have to pick it and my guitar up to start learning.

 

[Buckeneye]

Bought it for my room-mate as an early xmas gift. Dude loves it. I'd say at least 2 hours a night playing.

 

[Buckeye Maniac]

Does anyone else have problems sometimes with the cable that connects the guitar to the system cutting out? It's happened to me twice now where it just stops recognizing that I'm playing anything.

 

[Buckeye Maniac]

Well, no longer having issues with the above problem. Now I've got a problem with actual play. On ''Gone Away'', at the part where you have to play the bottom two strings. I have been playing the section perfectly, but it will not recognize me playing it. The guitar is in tune. I have no idea what the problem is. Any suggestions?