RockSmith - Mini review

[MsDG]

Today's update is again quite positive.

I spent today getting back to the position I was in before I started the new profile. I have to say I have had a couple of revelations. 1st off, throughout the game you keep on getting "Rocksmith recommends" in your menu screen. Previously I had been mostly ignoring it. This time round I have actually realised that it is suggesting what you should do to progress. This time round I am following it... and I am better for it!
In fact I did fecking amazing on one song... a score of 66,000. Which considering I was previously doing well if I scored over 10,000, it shows what an achievement that was.
BTW, still playing with the sound off!

Lastly, I was made aware today of the existence coloured guitar strings that match Rocksmith. Again, experienced guitarist will scoff. However, they quite appeal to me... and they are cheap. I might pop to my local music store to see if i can get these locally. If not, it looks like another order abroad.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DR-Strings...item43aaab139e

[Geko]

I really want this game, but also really want to wait until the UK release as I can't be arsed with setting up another PSN account....!


Fuck the band Rocksmith...!

Can't the developer change the name of the game for the UK market?

[MsDG]

I really want this game, but also really want to wait until the UK release as I can't be arsed with setting up another PSN account....!


Fuck the band Rocksmith...!

Can't the developer change the name of the game for the UK market?

To be honest I was avoiding setting up a PSN account... because of the kerfuffle. But when I actually came to do it, it was Piss easy.

Pre arm yourself with the following...
An email address to use with the new psn account.
A valid postal address for the country of origin.

Then make yourself a new local account on your PS3 (e.g. MsDGGuitar)... this takes two seconds to setup and logon to it.

Connect to PSN

Setup new account
Create new psn name
give new password
give fake address... and obviously change to the country you want.

And that's about it, its a 3 min job.




As for the UK release, amazingly I think I might have just made things a lot bloody worse....

As mentioned yesterday (thinking about) Today I went to my local music shop to see if they could do the coloured strings.

"Funny you should say that", the guy said as he whipped out a guitar.
"My new guitar system with coloured guitar strings and a coloured learning book to go with it is coming out at the end of November!".

..."I don't suppose you have a patient for this do you?" I enquire.
"yeah sure have... coloured strings, using coloured notes and a real guitar is fully registered in my name!"

I then tell him all about rocksmith (he knew nothing about it)

As I left the shop (string less) he was actually on the phone to his lawyer!

[WRATH OF BOD]

hope this rename or settle with the band.i realy want this

[_Belial]

Just gone and ordered one after following this thread, thanks MsDG, although also I did end up having to buy a guitar, an amp, a stand and some strings too, so curse you MsDG

[MsDG]

hope this rename or settle with the band.i realy want this

I should just clarify that the 4 day trial video must be either someone very quick to pick things up... or four FULL days of solid playing. If you are a total beginner you are looking at a lot of time investment.

[Geko]

I am tempted to buy this from Canada too.

[MsDG]

Just gone and ordered one after following this thread, thanks MsDG, although also I did end up having to buy a guitar, an amp, a stand and some strings too, so curse you MsDG

Welcome on board... hope you stick at it! What kind of a guitar did you buy? Something cheap or has the credit card taken a real fucking?

[Geko]

Rocksmith promised to be the Guitar Hero we all wanted; awesome rock songs, but with a real guitar replacing the five-key toy that some grew to hate.


It had so much promise, but a damning report on tech blog Ars Technica says the annoyances and ticks on Rocksmith are too much to bear.


What did Rocksmith offer? It lets you use a real guitar which plugs in with special cable, and then the familiar notes-scrolling-down-the-screen show you which notes to play. It seems the ideal and modern way to learn rock songs.




But there are three big ways in which Ars Technica say Rocksmith fails


Lag
Most gamers will have their console connected to a TV with an HDMI cable. Unusually, the manual says this is the worst setup, because it introduces too much lag to the gameplay - and when a game is all about timing and music, that simply isn't good enough.


Instead, it says, you should connect your console to a home theater or stereo with a special audio adaptor cable, with the HDMI cable only carrying the video feed to your TV.


There might be a fair few of you music heads already rocking a proper stereo next to your TV, but for many this is a financial indulgence which can't. Why should a gamer tweak their system to make it work?


You Can't Set The Difficulty
Rocksmith had an idea which looks genius on paper, but impractical in person. What it does is read your ability while you play, and adjusts the level difficulty in real time.


The problem is, you can never specify which difficulty you want, leaving you with an ever-evolving level which you can't quite memorize and learn. You might be rocking one song to perfection, playing like it really sounds on record. But fluff one note and it drops to an intermediate level, throwing off your flow.


Most Of The Game Is Locked Up At First
It seemed sensible to the developers to have advanced levels locked off at first. The problem that Ars Technica highlight is that Rocksmith doesn't know how to straddle the line between being an entertainment video game, where you traditionally work through a game from start to finish, and a tuition platform which should teach you what you want. There isn't enough to dive into and start rocking to. Instead, you have to fight through early levels with its fluttering difficulty and lag, before getting new levels in drips and drabs.


Having said that...


Despite the annoyances in the first iteration of Rocksmith, it's still an original and brave concept. The game shows a lot of promise, and a sequel should iron out the issues seen today. For now, Ars Technica say the game isn't worth your time or money, which is a real shame. Looks like you're better off sticking with your trusty UG tabs.






http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/...r_tuition.html

[rIKmAN]

My lead arrived today but I haven't had chance to give it a go yet.

It arrived in 4 days (not including sunday) which is great service, and as per MsDG they marked it as a canadian $20 toy, although I don;t think it was expensive enough to warrant duty anyway.

Will have a rock with it the next day or two and report back here, unless MsDG would prefer me to start my own thread?
I'll be on 360 version btw.

@belial: You won't regret it mate, just find time to have at least a little practice each day and it will grow into you being able to play proper songs pretty soon.

[Geko]

The review above, that I posted, is basically everything that MsDG said... So very good review so far. I would like this thread to keep going. And it has almost pushed me to get the game from Canada. My only issue still is with DLC. I'm worried they will release a patch and shut me out... Possible?

[MsDG]

I think that the review above is a bit harsh. Yeah ok, I have my niggles with RS but I disagree with most that is said above. For a start, using a real guitar on a music game is no easy trick... there must be a slight delay for the analogue guitar signal to get converted to a digital input... then the game must process what exact note has been played and then output the music over laid onto a music track. Now if the only downside to all this, is you have to connect to an audio amp then is that really that much of a downside? FFS, there you are with your HD TV, the console, a real guitar, a £50-£60 game... and yet an amp is a step to far???

As for the game being locked down at the beginning... name me any guitar hero / rock band that you didn't have to unlock songs????

As for the automatic difficulty. As far as I have seen, you have to make a right hash of things for the game to start taking out notes. Its not as if you miss one note and it cuts back, you have to make a good old hash of things for it to strip back the song.

Anyway Geko, as far a the DLC goes. I believe this is common practice for many games (if you purchase it from a different region). I haven't heard of anyone really having any issues with DLC once it is setup.

@rickman... yeah, stick your experiences in this thread (no point starting a new thread).

[_Belial]

That HDMI thing is a bit worrying though, my PS3 connects to my amp via hdmi then from that to the TV for video and the speakers for audio so hoping that's gonna work ok.

Welcome on board... hope you stick at it! What kind of a guitar did you buy? Something cheap or has the credit card taken a real fucking?

haha no, nothing extravagant, just some cheap les paul looking thing, about £200, grabbed myself a spider amp too after a mate said they were pretty good, coupled with a strap, some plectrums, and a stand, it's turning out to be an expensive game this

[Geko]

Belial.... Let us know if there is any delay on your setup.

[WRATH OF BOD]

i think i will get the PC version of this.
pc is out 13th december
region free
around £70
some of the songs
The Animals – House of the Rising Sun
Best Coast – When I'm With You The Black Keys – I Got Mine
The Black Keys – Next Girl
Blur – Song 2
The Boxer Rebellion – Step Out Of The Car
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
The Cribs – We Share The Same Skies
The Cure – Boys Don't Cry
Interpol – Slow Hands
Jenny O – Well OK Honey
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Nirvana – Breed
Nirvana – In Bloom
Pixies – Where Is My Mind?
Radiohead – High and Dry
Red Fang – Number Thirteen
The Rolling Stones – (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones – The Spider and the Fly
Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
Soundgarden - Outshined
Spoon – Me And The Bean
Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline
Taddy Porter – Mean Bitch
Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
White Denim – Burnished
The White Stripes – Icky Thump
Yellow Moon Band - Chimney
And many more!

[rIKmAN]

I onlt had time for the first few songs last night, and as I can play guitar I found it really boring doing the "one note at a time", but I guess I need to play some more to get the game to realise I (a) can play and (b) unlock the harder / better songs.

Will play some more later on and probably write my experiences here tomorrow, but first impressions of the actual system is that it responds really well - better than I thought for sure.

However, I really wish you could switch off the auto-difficulty and choose a level yourself, very silly (and frustrating) omission.

[MsDG]

i think i will get the PC version of this.
pc is out 13th december
region free
around £70
some of the songs
The Animals – House of the Rising Sun
Best Coast – When I'm With You The Black Keys – I Got Mine
The Black Keys – Next Girl
Blur – Song 2
The Boxer Rebellion – Step Out Of The Car
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
The Cribs – We Share The Same Skies
The Cure – Boys Don't Cry
Interpol – Slow Hands
Jenny O – Well OK Honey
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Nirvana – Breed
Nirvana – In Bloom
Pixies – Where Is My Mind?
Radiohead – High and Dry
Red Fang – Number Thirteen
The Rolling Stones – (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones – The Spider and the Fly
Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
Soundgarden - Outshined
Spoon – Me And The Bean
Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline
Taddy Porter – Mean Bitch
Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
White Denim – Burnished
The White Stripes – Icky Thump
Yellow Moon Band - Chimney
And many more!

I don't know if you ever played the Rockband / Guitar Hero on your PC but it is worth mentioning (for anyone considering the PC version) that despite its "simple" look, you still need a good spec PC to get it running silky smooth. I remember trying to run GH3 on my desktop PC... epic fail. On top of this there is a lot of speculation about the PC version because no specifications have been mentioned yet... which seems to back up the big spec needed.

Back in 2007, this was the spec needed for GH3

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

* Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ or AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+
* 256 MB 3D Hardware Accelerator Card
* Video Card (ATI): Radeon HD 2600
* Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 8800 GT
* 2 GB RAM

I suspect RS will far exceed this.

As for the song tracks... they are exactly the same as the 360 / PS3 version.

[WRATH OF BOD]

my pc spec will be fine

6 core am3
16 gb ddr3 1600
460gt 1024
win 7 home prem 64 bit.

so lets just sit and wait.bugger.lol

[MsDG]

I onlt had time for the first few songs last night, and as I can play guitar I found it really boring doing the "one note at a time", but I guess I need to play some more to get the game to realise I (a) can play and (b) unlock the harder / better songs.

Will play some more later on and probably write my experiences here tomorrow, but first impressions of the actual system is that it responds really well - better than I thought for sure.

However, I really wish you could switch off the auto-difficulty and choose a level yourself, very silly (and frustrating) omission.

LOL, don't get too ahead of yourself. I look forward to seeing your video uploaded soon. Nothing too difficult, no chords, just single notes...

[rIKmAN]

Now THAT I would like to be able to have a go on from the start!
Gonna watch the footy then have a blast - can you record videos in the game and upload or is it a capture card / camera jobby?