RockSmith 2014

[PaperBagger'14]

I've been playing guitar (poorly) off and on for years now but I've been putting in a lot of time on it recently to get better. The reviews I've read and the demos I've watched make it sound like fun. Has anyone here had success with it?

[The_Penguin]

I like it, it's a fun way to practice and learn a song or 2.
My on and off playing is mostly off, even with Rocksmith, I'll have ling periods of not playing.

[Russic]

I had the first one and enjoyed my time with it. While I eventually strayed away from it, the improvements to 2014 seemed pretty important, so I'm waiting for it to go on sale. This one seems to have some cool mini games for things that are super important but dreadfully boring (I'm looking at you, scales).

Just remember to use optical to plug into your receiver instead of HDMI, as HDMI seems to introduce a slight but noticeable lag.

[Torrie the Whaler]

I just got it for Christmas and it is great and I did not notice any lag from hdmi connection, I have a ps4.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Torrie the Whaler

I just got it for Christmas and it is great and I did not notice any lag from hdmi connection, I have a ps4.

Perhaps they fixed it for the new version. I remember that being the main complaint for the first game, but I was able to play songs while not looking at the screen, so there was clearly no lag for me. It wasn't until a few months later I heard about the HDMI issue and realized it's because my receiver is (embarrassingly) old enough that it doesn't have HDMI inputs.

[Esoteric]

I picked up 2014 from the Steam Sale this year.

I've having a blast. I'm terrible at Guitar, but I'm a pretty good bass player, so it's a great way to learn how to play guitar and to improve at bass.

The ability to download custom songs that the community has made is a huge plus. I've been cranking out some old Death songs on bass and they're fun to play along with.

I don't notice any input lag on the PC.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Russic

I had the first one and enjoyed my time with it. While I eventually strayed away from it, the improvements to 2014 seemed pretty important, so I'm waiting for it to go on sale. This one seems to have some cool mini games for things that are super important but dreadfully boring (I'm looking at you, scales).

Just remember to use optical to plug into your receiver instead of HDMI, as HDMI seems to introduce a slight but noticeable lag.

Optical has the same lag. I have a pre-HDMI Xbox 360 and can only use optical for multi-channel audio, and Rocksmith 2014 still has delay. It bothered me enough that I bought the PC version and just use my Realtone cable with that version now (plus I can use it when I travel, which is nice).

The only way to get lag-free audio I've seen is by using stereo RCA cables. HDMI or optical, they both have some degree of lag. Hopefully this has somehow been remedied for the new version, given that HDMI is what the vast majority of people will be using.

[Hack&Lube]

It's a fun game but you don't memorize/learn any songs in this method, you just learn to screen read things floating by.

I also was frustrated that there's no leeway in improvising or not playing perfectly the notes it wants you to play.

[Zee]

I love it. I had both the original and 2014 it for 360, and there was noticeable lag. However, I recently bought it for PC on the steam sale, and there is no lag whatsoever. Definitely get it for the newer platforms or PC, since the better processor does eliminate the lag.

The positives:
- Motivates you to play more guitar
- You learn to play some cool songs fairly quickly
- Decent way to learn some basics
- Augments other training

The negatives:
- Technique can get sloppy
- Some recognition isn't perfect (chords, palm muted, bends, vibratos etc)
- To properly learn, you should probably still get a teacher


I couple of other negatives for me
It's connected via Uplay... so no Steam family sharing.
None of my DLC from the 360 transfer over (over $100 worth), so I have to buy them again.

[Russic]

If anybody has the cable from Rocksmith 1, 2014 is available on playstation 4 for $40 this week.

God I want to try this jam mode:



Edit: picked it up last night. I see how they're going to get me – there's about $100 in DLC I want. My first impressions are that as a learning tool it's far beyond the first instalment. It's really cool that it tracks how you're doing across the game and flags where you're good, where you suck, and flags potential issues. I picked up the Oasis pack (as one does), and when I went to play one of them it scanned it, then presented a list of suggestions. One was "we noticed you could use some help with your hammer-ons, and this song has a bunch of them. Try this hammer-on lesson before you continue." That's pretty brilliant. Being able to jump into the riff repeater and change up the section, speed and complexity on the fly is very nice as well. I haven't checked out the lessons and mini games yet, but so far as a learning tool it seems much stronger than the first.

[TjRhythmic]

Can you use your own guitar or do you have to use the one from them?

[codynw]

Originally Posted by TjRhythmic

Can you use your own guitar or do you have to use the one from them?

Any guitar should work. You just need their cable adapter.

[Russic]

codynw is correct, you just need the cable, which is a usb --> standard guitar cable. This is why you can't buy the game digitally unless you already have the cable.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by TjRhythmic

Can you use your own guitar or do you have to use the one from them?

That's the main feature. It uses real instruments. Don't use the cheap one packaged in some of their bundles.