Anyone play Rocksmith?

[lazypucker]

I am thinking of getting a copy and want to see what you guys think if you already had it and played that for a week.

I know it is much more realistic than your Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands, but I want some input from people who actually had played it, especially the ones who play the actual guitar as well. How does it compare to the real guitar playing (e.g. jamming with a real band)?

Many thanks in advance...

[photon]

+1

[Hammertime]

I got it on Friday, and am using it to learn the guitar. So far so good, it's a fun game with alot of interesting progressions as you learn more and more. I think it has great replay value, as long as you look at it as a learning methodology rather than as a straight up game.. as a game, it would be too frustrating for a newb to play.

My only complaints
a) lag is a bit annoying
b) loading time for each song/segment can get tiresome, especially if you are trying to replay the same song over again.

[MarchHare]

Here's what I posted on another board:

Picked this up on Saturday and have put several hours into it so far.

My first impressions (as an experienced "real" guitarist of ~20 years and an Expert difficulty GH/RB player):

1. This is what I was waiting for the first time I played Guitar Hero. I won't be able to go back to regular 5-button Rock Band again after this. I never tried Pro Guitar mode in RB3 because I didn't want to buy a cheap-o piece of #### Squier, so I hope Harmonix uses this technology (allowing players to use any guitar they own) in future Rock Band games.

2. The dynamic difficulty works well, but I wish there was a way to set the baseline for each new song higher than ultra noob mode. It would be nice if I could set the default difficulty setting halfway and have the game adjust up or down based on my performance accordingly. Since every song and challenge starts at difficulty 1/20, I'm forced to play them 2-3 times until the game matches my appropriate skill level.

3. I haven't noticed any real-time audio lag while I'm playing, but during the automatic replays after each song, my guitar-playing is off by a full second or so. Very strange.

4. Amp mode is neat, but I already have a Stealthplug with Amplitube 3 and a Pod X3, both of which do a much better job of software audio modelling. For a new guitarist without that gear and/or software, though, Amp mode is a passable way to play around with new tones and effects.

5. There are sections of songs where the proper way to play it is to hold down a chord shape and then pick individual notes (sometimes with hammer-ons or other minor modifications). Rocksmith just shows you which notes to play; I wish it would also tell you to fret the entire chord while you're playing those sections.

I'll post additional impressions after I put more time into the game, but for now I'm really enjoying it. This should be a must-have for any "real" musician who is also a fan of rhythm games.

[lazypucker]

MarchHare, that's the kind of review I am looking for. I found most reviews online are by "gamers" rather than "musicians," so they don't really answer my questions.

I am a "real" guitar player myself (only started a few years ago - I am not Van Halen by any stretch of imagination). I am frustrated by GH/RB as well as they are more like pushing buttons to me than playing music. I shall give this Rocksmith thing a try.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

MarchHare, that's the kind of review I am looking for. I found most reviews online are by "gamers" rather than "musicians," so they don't really answer my questions.

I am a "real" guitar player myself (only started a few years ago - I am not Van Halen by any stretch of imagination). I am frustrated by GH/RB as well as they are more like pushing buttons to me than playing music. I shall give this Rocksmith thing a try.

I'm in a pretty good position to review a game like this since I'm both a musician and a gamer. I've been playing real guitar for nearly 20 years, have been in bands and performed gigs, but I'm also pretty good at Guitar Hero and Rock Band (I beat the Endless Setlist on Expert and got gold stars on Highway Star, among other achievements).

If you have any more questions, please ask away. I just played a few more songs after writing that previous post. I still find it really frustrating that it starts me off on ultra noob mode each time I play a song for the first time. It was especially annoying on "High and Dry", since this is actually a song my band plays IRL so I already know how to play it perfectly.

[Hack&Lube]

Isn't Rocksmith pretty expensive? Can you plug in any normal guitar? Can I plug in my strat and expect it to just work?

[photon]

They say you can plug in almost any guitar.

[burnin_vernon]

I don't have an electric guitar but was thinking about the Rock Band one. I heard it was very hard to find. Am I just better buying off buying this game and a guitar?

I really like the song selection in Rock Band though.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Isn't Rocksmith pretty expensive? Can you plug in any normal guitar? Can I plug in my strat and expect it to just work?

Rocksmith sells for $80; this includes the game itself and a 1/4" to USB cable. You can use any electric guitar (or any acoustic guitar with a pickup and a 1/4" output jack). I've played with my Strat and my Les Paul, and both have worked fine.

I didn't buy it, but there's also a bundle that includes the game, the USB cable, and an Epiphone Les Paul Jr. I haven't played either one, but I suspect this is a better quality instrument than the Rock Band Squier Strat since it's just a regular guitar and doesn't have a special pressure-sensitive fretboard.

I don't have an electric guitar but was thinking about the Rock Band one. I heard it was very hard to find. Am I just better buying off buying this game and a guitar?

I'd only consider buying Rocksmith if you were interested in learning how to play guitar anyway. It's less of a game and more of an interactive teaching tool (that tracks your high scores).

I wouldn't really recommend the Rock Band Strat, though. It's a pretty cheap instrument, and if you're serious about learning guitar, you'd be better off buying a decent instrument in the $300-500 range instead.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I didn't buy it, but there's also a bundle that includes the game, the USB cable, and an Epiphone Les Paul Jr. .

How much was it? Is that a half decent starter guitar?

[lazypucker]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

How much was it? Is that a half decent starter guitar?

I don't think the Rocksmith game packaged with the guitar is available in Canada (It is $200 US for the package btw). You can get the same Epiphone LP Junior for $149 at Long & McQuade:

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products...arent_Blue.htm

[troutman]

Will we end up with a million cover bands that know the same 20 songs?

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by troutman

Will we end up with a million cover bands that know the same 20 songs?

That's a good point. I just assumed this would give you the tools to go ahead and learn more songs on your own. It should, right?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I don't think the Rocksmith game packaged with the guitar is available in Canada

It was on the best buy (canada) website for $200.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

That's a good point. I just assumed this would give you the tools to go ahead and learn more songs on your own. It should, right?

I dunno. I haven't played Rocksmith, but it looks like you're learning to play songs by rote, not developing an awareness of things like scales, keys, how to put together chords to bang out something simple like the 12 bar blues, etc.

In my experience, based on using tablature, which is the same idea as Rocksmith at its core, you plateau very quickly - maybe you can learn to play along with CD's or MP3's, but put another musician in the room and try and jam, and you're just hopelessly lost. Once I realized I'd hit the plateau of being a guitar player (or more correctly, a guitar operator) and not a musician, my eyes opened up to how much more there is to know (and how much more sense so much of this music stuff makes).

It's probably a good starting point when all you're looking for is instant gratification, but it doesn't replace learning the theory, practising those scales, etc.

As a graphical tab tool though, its definitely cool!

[MarchHare]

In addition to the songs, there are also mini-games where you practice techniques like scales and modes, bends, slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs, etc.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

In addition to the songs, there are also mini-games where you practice techniques like scales and modes, bends, slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs, etc.

That's pretty neat.

[8sPOT]

Little late to the party but I got this game for Christmas and I think it's a blast! What a creative way to learn how to play guitar. As mentioned there are some things that should be addressed, mainly the fact that each new song you play starts with the basic one note scheme.

Waaaaaaay better than the predecessors though, I could see some kids really honing some skills by playing this game. Teaches you how to play scales, harmonics, tremolo picking all stuff that you need to be a decent guitarist.

Would be cool if you could use a mic to sing though....wait....can you do that already??

[wookster]

Just got this a little while ago as well...great concept for actually learning to play the guitar. I've had a guitar for a few years but its still a good learning tool. I have a few issues with the game however...

First and foremost, I am noticing serious lag issues of almost a second delay from when I play the note to when its played on the screen. I have always been able to fix lag issues in previous games (like rock band etc.) but cannot seem to fix this one. I tried the forum's accociated to the game as well for different ideas and no luck. I am using a PS3 and for those who aren't experiencing any lag, I would be interested in seeing some posts on how you have your setup to your TV.

Second - the music selection to me, really isn't all that great. They are releasing new songs i see, like rock band, that can be downloaded but at $2 per song, that seems a bit pricey as well.

I really do like the learning lessons included with it tho, if I can get the lag issue resolved, I could really put some time into this game.