Rocksmith 2014 out in October Allegedly! Bass expansion now just $10 on all systems!

acidlacedpenguin

So, Rocksmith 2014 now has a 'session' mode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHqhrLdk3TI
also trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BON56qblcU
and Jerry Cantrell for 5 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hUrKRu4CHA
out in October!


DLC List can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_downloadable_songs_for_Rocksmith

So, we've seen quite a few "real guitar" rhythm games arrive and fail spectacularly at delivering on their basic premise.

is yet another attempt at realizing the dream of playing video games using not multicolored pieces of plastic but the same tools artists use to craft the material that is the source of the multicolored plastic toys' mystical power. It's due out in on the 18th of October, pre-orders get you a couple extra songs (and a strap and a handful of pics if you're in Canada). The game is offered in "just the game and USB dongle" and "Game + dongle + Epiphone Les Paul Jr guitar) at ~$80 and $200 respectively.

The Epiphone LP jr is actually a pretty decent beginner guitar that normally retails for about $150, so it seems like a pretty viable starter combo.
For the same price you could also buy a squier bullet HSS strat and the regular game, so you could be in the game at the same pricepoint with either the Fender or the Gibson family. . . (well, red-headed step-children of the family, but I digress)

That and everybody knows this guy:

secretly wants to be this guy:

or this guy:

Anyway, using some sort of black magic and electro-robotical sorcery, the boys and girls at Ubisoft Montreal have allegedly created a device to plug any one of these:

into two out of the three of these:

and play along with any one of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocksmith#Soundtrack
in a similar interface to that of rockband, guitar hero, etc.

Setlist:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun
Best Coast – When I’m With You
The Black Keys – Next Girl
The Black Keys – I Got Mine
Brian Adam McCune – Ricochet *
Blur – Song 2
The Boxer Rebellion – Step Out The Car
Chris Lee – Boss *
Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
The Cribs – We Share The Same Skies
The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
Dan Auerbach – I Want Some More
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
The Dead Weather – I Can’t Hear You
Disonaur – Space Ostrich *
Eric Clapton – Run Back To Your Side
Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
The Horror – Do You Remember
Incubus – I Miss You
Interpol – Slow Hands
Jarvis Cocker – Angela
Jenny O – Well OK Honey
Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody
Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way
Little Barrie – Surf Hell
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Muse – Unnatural Selection
Muse – Plug In Baby
Nirvana – In Bloom
Nirvana – Breed
The Pixies – Where Is My Mind
Queens of the Stone Age – Go With The Flow
Radiohead – High And Dry
The Rapscallions – California Brain
Red Fang – Number Thirteen
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Higher Ground
The Rolling Stones – The Spider And The Fly
The Rolling Stones – Play With Fire
The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Seth Chapla – Jules *
Sigur Ros – Gobbledigook
Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
Soundgarden – Outshined
Spoon – Me And The Bean
Stone Temple Pilots – Between The Lines
Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline
The Strokes – Under Cover Of Darkness
Taddy Porter – Mean Bitch
Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Good Enough
Velvet Revolver – Slither
White Denim – Burnished
The White Stripes – Icky Thump
The xx – Islands
Yellow Moon Band – Chimney

shamefully stolen from Kyle Gaddo's blogpost. stars are unlocked songs, everything else is unlocked from the get-go.

So what do you guys think? Can Rocksmith succeed where many of its predecessors failed? The answer is fuck yes.

trailers:

E3 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGsQtWvb3sk

some dude who has allegedly never played guitar before learns to play Interpol's "Slow Hands" in a week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYzoavA8B_8

some allegedly novice guitarist chick learns Best Coast's "When I'm with you"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAP-IvVXoHM

studio musician Keaton Simons plays Slow Hands and looks greasy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx0S4FYip-k

finally, the reason this technology was created: (starts at 5:20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nHeo6URjJ0

DUCKS, DAMN IT, DUCKS! GOTY 2011, you heard it from me first!

my apologies, first ever OP and it seems like formatting isn't possible without knowing the right codes.

One of the linked videos does mention that lag was an issue when using HDMI so "RCA cables are the only way to connect", so that's kind of a

Skull2185

I think that Activision killed the "Guitar game" genre (the rythm genre is still kinda kickin)

I'm sure that there are alot of people excited for this, but not enough that the game does well in sales, unfortunately.

cloudeagle

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

SO what do you guys think? Can Rocksmith succeed where many of its predecessors failed?

It could be a well-crafted game, but Guitar Hero scorched the earth of music games but good. Plus, if people didn't really care about Rock Band 3's "holy shit, I'm actually playing guitar" mode, there's no way they'll care about this.

TheKoolEagle

looks interesting, I've never played guitar before but I do play bass and drums, it really irks me that a lot of people believe that if they are good at guitar hero they can play real guitar, the only thing that is somewhat true is drums translating to real drums, but even then its still off a bit, I'm only mediocre at rockband drums but fairly good at the real deal

lionheart_m

The thing that Pro Mode taught was that I'd rather spend my time playing games than learning to play guitar. If I was 15 (with TONS of free time) it would probably be different but with my tight schedule I'd rather just fire up the colored notes. I do pick it up now and then but I'd need to be unemployed (NEVER!) to really get into it.

CowShark

I just just got a Rock Band 3 Squier Strat, and something really cool about it is that while looking at the screen, the midi setup allows the game to show you what your left hand is doing without you looking down at the frets.

It blows my mind (although I haven't played much Pro Guitar mode at all--yet).

This game looks like it could be way cool too. I wonder which interface is easier for my eyes/brain/hands to function with (looks like Rocksmith shows the frets horizontally and puts a number on which string you should strum, and Rock Band shows the strings horizontally and puts a number over which fret your hand should be on when you strum).

acidlacedpenguin

I'm envious CowShark, I wanted to get one of those but I could never find it. I have to admit that the chance to use some of my more expensive equipment to play Rocksmith has alleviated a lot of my GAS for the rock band squier strat.

edit: I agree that Activision scorched the earth on the guitar game business, but I don't think that means guitar games aren't possible in the current market. I mean, sure the bubble has burst but I'm perfectly happy with the genre going back into the niche that it occupied comfortably before the craze. . .

joshofalltrades

Buying a brand new guitar for Rock Band was sort of a bummer when I've already got like 10 of the things laying around. Why would I want to buy a Squier when I've got a real American Fender Fat Strat (my baby) to jam on? Or several knock-off guitars that I've modded into being completely awesome and comparable to a Les Paul or PRS for like 1/10 of what those would cost?

So just the idea of plugging one of my babies into the console instead of playing on some shit Squier is a tantalizing prospect. I'll have to see how it works in execution first, though.

It seems like a Roland Ready strat would be the best thing for these games; instead of combining the output of all strings at once, there's a pickup for each individual string, so it could make sure you're playing the chord the way it wants you to. Those guitars, combined with a Roland synth, can be made to sound like trumpets, pianos, etc., or you can detune a string by itself without actually changing the physical tuning on the guitar. So you can play in nasty, distorted drop D tuning without actually pulling out a tuner, or you can play a 12-string acoustic guitar without ever swapping axes.

fragglefart

cloudeagle wrote:

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

SO what do you guys think? Can Rocksmith succeed where many of its predecessors failed?

It could be a well-crafted game, but Guitar Hero scorched the earth of music games but good. Plus, if people didn't really care about Rock Band 3's "holy shit, I'm actually playing guitar" mode, there's no way they'll care about this.

While I agree with the sentiment generally, I did (and do!) care about RB3 and I do care about this.

I'm pretty excited for it, but doubt it will come close to RB's multiplayer awesomeness.

WANT BASS MODE PLEASE

acidlacedpenguin

I hope this is a success just so they could possibly include bassmode in DLC or in rocksmith 2: rocksmith harder

ALSO DUCKS MODE HYPE!

edit: oh yeah, feel free to let me know if the OP is missing some pertinent info or whatever.

like how awesome DUCKS mode is going to be

fragglefart

Yeah ducks looks awesome.

Also this quick look has some nifty details, especially about how pedals might be used;

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/30/rocksmith-schooled-by-rock/

darkmayo

Since I havent been able to find the Rock Band 3 squire series, this looks like a good bet, whats the cost of a game compared to buying yet another guitar to play RB3 on.

The Wolfman

The more I read about this game, the more I think that they would have more success if they marketed it as an actual guitar teaching aid, and sold it in real music shops. Not as a vidja game in the corner of a Wal-Mart.

SmokeStacks

I've been thinking of giving the guitar a shot for a while, so picking up the game and guitar bundle seems like it would be a lot easier (and, in the long run, cheaper) than picking up a secondhand guitar and paying some bored college student to tutor me twice a week in his off-time.

Problem is, I'm left handed.

Any chance of a niche left handed guitar bundle special release of your already niche product, Ubisoft? Come on, 10% of a market that is 10% of the market surely deserves a release.

You could call it the Jimi Hendrix Edition, or the Curt Cobain Edition, or the Dick Dale Edition, or the Joe Perry Edition, or the...

wakaranai

joshofalltrades wrote:

Buying a brand new guitar for Rock Band was sort of a bummer when I've already got like 10 of the things laying around. Why would I want to buy a Squier when I've got a real American Fender Fat Strat (my baby) to jam on? Or several knock-off guitars that I've modded into being completely awesome and comparable to a Les Paul or PRS for like 1/10 of what those would cost?

So just the idea of plugging one of my babies into the console instead of playing on some shit Squier is a tantalizing prospect. I'll have to see how it works in execution first, though.

It seems like a Roland Ready strat would be the best thing for these games; instead of combining the output of all strings at once, there's a pickup for each individual string, so it could make sure you're playing the chord the way it wants you to. Those guitars, combined with a Roland synth, can be made to sound like trumpets, pianos, etc., or you can detune a string by itself without actually changing the physical tuning on the guitar. So you can play in nasty, distorted drop D tuning without actually pulling out a tuner, or you can play a 12-string acoustic guitar without ever swapping axes.

Someone actually deconstructed the MIDI signal of the Rock Band 3 Strat and has instructions on using your equipment to play RB3. (Assuming you have the right equipment anyway)
http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213267

I think Rocksmith is a neat concept, and I hope it does well! I don't know how the latency would affect gameplay on that a Dragonforce-like song though. I'll have to try it out if/when I see it.

acidlacedpenguin

SmokeStacks wrote:

I've been thinking of giving the guitar a shot for a while, so picking up the game and guitar bundle seems like it would be a lot easier (and, in the long run, cheaper) than picking up a secondhand guitar and paying some bored college student to tutor me twice a week in his off-time.

Problem is, I'm left handed.

Any chance of a niche left handed guitar bundle special release of your already niche product, Ubisoft? Come on, 10% of a market that is 10% of the market surely deserves a release.

You could call it the Jimi Hendrix Edition, or the Curt Cobain Edition, or the Dick Dale Edition, or the Joe Perry Edition, or the...

I'm a lefty too, but I learned to play the more common way. That said, Hendrix actually played righty guitars strung backwards and held upside down, so that's an option (don't forget to flip the nut around too) Unfortunately you're always going to have a price premium for lefty guitars, the cheapest combo for a "lefty pack" I could come up with at long & mcquade is like $280 for an epiphone LP special lefty and the base game.

Unfortunately, it looks like the "fix" for latency is using analog cables only, I hope there's some way of them mitigating the frame lag caused by most TVs or else it will be tough for the game to succeed.

damn it, this thread is giving me G.A.S. already trying to justify buying myself an epiphone eb-3 or a godin 5th avenue, even though I've already got 2 good basses and three great guitars. . .

fragglefart

There is no such thing as too many guitars.

Bartholamue

Yup. My friend's dad has over 50 (real guitars) of them in his basement.

joshofalltrades

You know what would be super cool? An option for guitarists to just shred their own solo when in super-hyper mode or whatever it's going to be called in this game instead of having to do what the original guitarist did. They could even just have a sign saying "SOLO IN E MINOR PENTATONIC" and you'd get extra points for playing a certain number of notes that fit the scale. Or something. I haven't thought it through.

acidlacedpenguin

that would be totally hardass, and it would force me to actually really learn scales.

In the videos the dude did say they did not punish you for extra notes, so you could sort of modify the solos a little as long as you happen to hit the "real" notes at the right time.

joshofalltrades

Well, it'd ideally just be an option. For people who want to learn scales.

For those of us who are already musically inclined, it'd be basically a way to work on your improv chops while playing a game. Which would be sweet.

cloudeagle

Guess what? This game is being endorsed by Fatalonety! Woooooo!!

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/rocksmith-as-demonstrated-by-john-fatal1ty-wendel/

I had no idea people still gave a shit about Fatalonety, but there it is.

Bartholamue

This is neat, but will it teach you theory?

acidlacedpenguin

probably not, but does it need to? Or should it simply be a practicing aid and/or a catalyst for getting people interested in learning the guitar?


I mean, I've used Guitar Pro ever since I started playing music. I'm self-taught, and I used playing along to my favorite songs to learn how to play. I've never gotten lessons in music theory from a guitar teacher, I took the theory I learned on the accordion over to the guitar, but I'd still be nowhere near as good at guitar now if I didn't use Guitar Pro as a supplement. With that said, I figure Rocksmith should be just as good an aid as guitar pro provided people want to play the songs in it.

that and sometimes you just need to shoot some motherfucking ducks by shredding a motherfucking guitar.

Brainiac 8

cloudeagle wrote:

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

SO what do you guys think? Can Rocksmith succeed where many of its predecessors failed?

It could be a well-crafted game, but Guitar Hero (and Rock Band) scorched the earth of music games but good. Plus, if people didn't really care about Rock Band 3's "holy shit, I'm actually playing guitar" mode, there's no way they'll care about this.

This is true, all of it, every single line.

cloudeagle

Brainiac 8 wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

SO what do you guys think? Can Rocksmith succeed where many of its predecessors failed?

It could be a well-crafted game, but Guitar Hero (and Rock Band) scorched the earth of music games but good. Plus, if people didn't really care about Rock Band 3's "holy shit, I'm actually playing guitar" mode, there's no way they'll care about this.

This is true, all of it, every single line.

Hey, you added something. :P

Brainiac 8

What are you trying to say, why would I do something like that? 8->

acidlacedpenguin

less than a week until DUCKSMITH!

Orthoji

This is not coming out in Europe bc of a trademark issue. It's probably against the rules to link to other sites but I just saw a news article about it.

cloudeagle

Orthoji wrote:

This is not coming out in Europe bc of a trademark issue. It's probably against the rules to link to other sites but I just saw a news article about it.

What? No, unless it's NSFW or piracy-related, go ahead and link it.

Orthoji

Oh. I'm always worried about linking to other sites.

http://www.trueachievements.com/n5908/rocksmith-delayed-in-europe.htm

acidlacedpenguin

god damn that's terrible. Why couldn't Ubi just take the easy resolution. . . and just re-name the game to it's obviously rightful title Ducksmith?

cloudeagle

acidlacedpenguin wrote:

god damn that's terrible. Why couldn't Ubi just take the easy resolution. . . and just re-name the game to it's obviously rightful title Ducksmith?

Or at least perform a basic Google search to see if the name's taken.

cooljammer00

Or, you know, use their money to hire some lawyers, as companies are supposed to be wont to do.

Squid56

I've been cautiously optimistic about this game and getting more excited by the day, but I find it odd that on the eve of release, the full track list hasn't even been revealed.

acidlacedpenguin

we already know "A More Perfect Union" is on the track-list, what more do you want?

*DUCKS hype

edit:

but seriously, I think it's neat that I don't know everything there is to know about this game before release. Like, over in the MW3 thread people are already positing their potential class builds because they already have pretty much 100% of the knowledge for it a month before it hits shelves.

back in the day, we purchased games almost solely on boxart/blurb and word of mouth. Now that I think about it, that's pretty much not possible now because of the internet (which is a good thing as a whole)

Tommatt

Have there been any Previews or reviews yet? I'm really curious how this is.

acidlacedpenguin

not that I can find. I've got it pre-ordered and shipping to my door at some point this week, I'll be the guinea-pig if no reviews come between now and then.

Badwrong

I'm really curious how well it works on a technical level. I wouldn't mind plugging in my guitar that I don't play that much anymore, if the game performs as well as all the previews show.

All these interviews with new guitar players and experienced musicians seem great... but I get the same feeling I saw when all the pro skaters were saying how great that tony hawk motion controller junk was.

Bolthorn

I'm interested in hearing your first impressions as well. I'm going back and forth as to weather I should go ahead and pick this up for the PS3 as soon as possible, or wait for the PC version later this year.

Monoxide

I've preordered it also, but I'm not sure what to expect. All of the videos and impressions ubisoft is putting out themselves seem really positive, but it can't be a good sign that it's being released tomorrow and not a single publication has reviewed it yet.

Either way, as someone who's been playing the guitar as a hobby on and off for going on 15 years now, anything that inspires me to actually pick up and play on a regular basis is worth trying, so I'm looking forward to it. At the very least, it might teach me a few new songs and encourage practicing through the mini-games. Unfortunately, I'm sure sales will be abysmal, because the niche they're aiming for is probably not that big, especially with an $80 (plus instrument) price tag.