Rocksmith Guitar And Bass

Customer Reviews

Rocksmith Guitar and Bass authentic guitar gamesThis earlier version of Rock Smith! I have seen a lot of teach yourself guitar software, books, etc. . . . . But most are sold for getting your money but do little in teaching you to play guitar, this software has some potential. Rock Smith uses a game type teaching tool, has several games you can use and has several styles of play a long music. The object is to strum the guitar string or strings at the time indicated. The games keep score of the correct string that was strummed, there's string bending and sliding too. The game also has difficulty levels too! The software comes with steam to register the game and to update the software. The main problem I ran into was the game was slow to respond or would just hang. I found that steam is running in the background and was causing the problem. I exited the steam program and the game would run smoothly. I don't know if the newer version has fix this problem but I would assume that it has. This software will make a good addition to learning to play guitar for beginners and with the steam program you can play against other players. Rock Smith for PC requires Windows Vista/Windows 7, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 or 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64x2 3800 + or better, 2GB of Ram (4 GB recommended). Video card 256 MB Direct X 9.0 Compliant with Shader Model 3.0 or higher, Direct x 9.0c-compliant, DVD Rom Drive and 12 GB hard drive space.Software also came with cable to plug guitar into USB port.4Requirements aren't that stiff...Technical Stuff - Integrated Graphics - Audio "Unplugged" issueS:I ordered this, intending to put it on my media center PC connected via HDMI to my living room TV. I had read about some audio latency issues so I connected a subwoofer and speakers to the PC via audio jack to avoid that particular issue. My concern after that was that I am running a sandy bridge core i3, 2120T. Basically a 2.5ghz Sandy with integrated graphics. After reading some of the reviews here I was worried about game performance. I wasn't overly worried because I do have a low profile Geforce 520 I could stick in the machine if the CPU/GPU couldn't handle the game, I just didn't want to do that unless I had to because I want to keep the power consumption, heat, and fan noise to a minimum in my living room pc. The game arrived yesterday and after the lengthy install process, I fired it up, only to find that during the setup, it kept saying the cable was unplugged. I was quite frustrated reading forums and finding that people had been getting bogus cables and had to have new ones sent. I did, however, read on one forum that audio management programs running in the system tray can sometimes interfere. I ended task on my realtek audio manager but this did not resolve the problem. I realized that it might be the audio component of my hauppauge dual tuner, so I disabled that device in device manager. The PC asked for a restart - but I did not restart it - and Rocksmith worked like a champ. After I was done playing I just re-enabled my tuner, and again, declined to restart the PC. A minor annoyance but it definitely is a solid work around and I would encourage others to try this before sending out for a new cable. The next thing that was a pleasant surprise was the graphics, latency, performance, other issues people were talking about - non existent for me. The game plays great. If you can't get it to run on Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge integrated graphics, you better take a look at your machine because you have other problems. The machine I run it on has the i3-2120T, 8GB DDR3, Sandy Bridge HD2000 graphics, and a 7200RPM Platter drive on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit. So mostly I am writing this review to let people know that if they are on the fence about getting this for a machine with lower end graphics, to encourage them to give it a try, and also to let people know that there are work arounds to get the cable to work if you get the dreaded "unplugged" error.Gameplay:The game itself has been really fun. I have been playing for about 3 years, from books and videos, by myself. I wouldn't consider myself anything more than an amateur hobbyist. I am having fun with the events, and with the technique training. Some of it is frustrating - I would much rather have a tab notation than the current format of "guitar-hero-like" colored notes dropping toward the string. Give me a scrolling TAB option - because that's how I'm used to playing. But then, I have maybe 2 hours total playtime on it so far - I'm sure I'll get used to it over time, and hey - I'm already addicted.Enjoy!Update:Played at lunchtime today and didn't bother disabling the hauppauge card. It worked without having to use my workaround. Maybe it only needed that done the first time through? Unsure but everything works smoothly now without having to do anything extra. Happy camper!Update 2:Also plays perfectly fine on my laptop with i5-3317u, 4gb ram, and intel cpu integrated graphics.Also should note that I have gone from 15-20 minutes of practice time a day to 1 or 2 hours thanks to Rocksmith. It makes it so much more fun!4I was skepticalAfter seeing mixed reviews on the pc version and hearing great things about this game from an xbox user i decided to take the plunge. I was worried the game might not include the guitar plug to usb adapter because it was so cheap but i worried for nothing. the cord was included and is of high quality in my opinion. I had no issues with installation onto a windows 8 pro pc. I read alot of reviewers complaining about having to install steam. For those of you not aware, steam is a very popular content delivery system. I also dislike installing additional software before installing games ( I hate origin from EA) , however, i do recognize services like steam and origin are here to stay and these programs don't seem to tie up too many resources on your pc. The game plays smooth and better than expected. PC specs include an amd quad core phenom 2, 16gb ram, nvidia gtx275 vid card, asus m5a97 motherboard. This is not a high end machine. I put it together several years ago. Weakest point is definitely the video card. I've received a fair amount of game crashes due to video card issues. I'm problably due for a replacement but it only crashes every 5 songs or so. I usually need a break by then anyway. Crashes aren't related to game in any way.The guitar i'm using is an old danelectro. after tuning the guitar through the game everything seems to be picking up really well. My first issue was from pushing down too hard on frets. the game would report that my note was off a fret when it was in fact correct. After correcting my technique i no longer have an issue. As you can see i'm definitely an amateur.Gameplay seems pretty good at the moment. I may learn something from this. Hardest part seems to be finger placement. its hard to watch the screen and know where your fingers are on the guitar without looking. I've learned to figure out where my fingers are by feeling for the frets. Its neat to also view your progress and watch yourself improve. Also during a song, if you happen to be doing quite well, the difficulty automatically increases to challenge you even more. All in all its a great concept that I really enjoy.5Learning to play guitar in such a fun way!I've dabbled in playing guitar several years ago but I gave it up because life got in the way. My Dad also played for a little while but has since quit and taken up playing the ukulele. I told him I was thinking about getting back into guitar and he gave me his old one use until I get another one of my own(which is on the way from Amazon)! I don't have time for formal lessons so I loved the idea of software programs.Over the Thanksgiving holiday I bought eMedia Guitar Method. I had a copy of Guitar Method before but I lost the disk so I got another one for a few bucks. It's a very good program but it's like sitting in front of an instructor and learning slowly. A few days later I found out about Rocksmith and I've been rocking every since!Though some consider this a game, it's nothing like Guitar Hero or Rock Band with the plastic guitars. I was able to plug in my dad's Real guitar and be evaluated on my playing. Rocksmith taught me so many techniques in just a few hours. I love the way the game is progressive in how learn. You start off on easy notes and then as you get good with them it throws more notes and chords at you until you're at 100% mastery. If you're that good, this can occur within playing through a song one time!So far I've only played for a few weeks but I'm getting more comfortable sliding up and down the fret board, doing hammer ons and pull offs, bends and more. Rocksmith teaches you the techniques that you will be using during game play. The more you play the harder it gets but the more you play the better you'll get! I haven't tried the many of the mini games yet but these once again reinforce what you've learned.If you're looking for a fun way to learn guitar then this is it. I will still go back to eMedia Guitar Method to learn how to read notes and understand the theory but I'm going to use Rocksmith to solidify techniques and practical practice!5Great inspiration for learning guitar!I was unsure at first of allowing my son to use a video game for help in learning guitar. I am pleasantly happy with what this game has given both of us. I am a past guitar player and he brand new to the instrument. We cannot believe the depth of instruction and variety of artists one can utilize here. There are levels of instruction that are fun and challenging. Games that create very specific practice sessions for chords, chord changes, harmonics and other playing skills. Paired with lessons this game inspires a student to practice far more than most would. My son will obsess on a skill or song until he masters it. After only 3 monthes with this game he is able to sit in on jams with local musicians somewhat holding his own! They are greatly impressed with his knowledge and ability to play standard blues riffs and classic rock tunes. I wish this technology had been around when I was a young, learning musician.5By far The Best Game Ever!!You think you are playing a game but you are actually learning how to play bass/guitar. It has a techniques section that you can go to and practice different techniques. This game is good for anyone at any different level. It starts out really easy on the songs and slowly increases them according to your level. I got the pc version and it was super easy to install I didn't have any issues with steam. Steam is needed for rocksmith but like I said it installed with the game I didn't have to search for it online. Steam is the program rocksmith needs to run. Its kind of like having a blizzard account or Origin. and its free to sign up with. I don't really have any complaints about this game except that it is really addicting and fun for me. I recommend this game to anyone wanting to learn guitar/bass or for those wanting to get better.5Difficult at first and long installationSo, I just got this game a couple of days ago and I will come back and update this review after I have more time to play it. However, I wanted to note some things about installation and my first impressions before they slipped my mind.INSTALLATIONIn my case, I already had Steam installed on my computer from an Age of Empires game I used to play years ago. I had not used it in a long time, so I opened Steam and updated it before even messing with the Rocksmith installation. After that was done, I installed Rocksmith from the CD. It seemed to install fine, but it only took about 20 minutes, which seemed much shorter than what I had read about in other reviews. I also noted that the desktop icon and the program information in Steam said it was "Rocksmith Demo." It also only had three songs available, no guitarcade, and lots of missing features compared to what I had read in other reviews. As it turns out, the way I did the installation I actually did install a demo version that needed to be activated to get the rest of the features. There is an activation code printed on the insert inside the game case, and you have to go into the Steam program and find the menu option to activate a game. Then, just enter that code and it will download the full version of the game. The download took almost three hours on a hard-wired cable internet connection with a download speed of about 600kbps.GAME PLAYI have a real limited experience here so far, but my first impression is that the game is going to be both fun and educational in time, but right now it is a little overwhelming. I have only rehearsed a couple of songs so far, but I have done them several times and the game automatically makes it more difficult every time you rehearse it. I have to try to figure out a way to turn down the difficulty or turn back the progression because both of those songs have now become completely unplayable at their current difficulty progression. I also messed around with the Ducks game, which just seems like a creative way to exercise scales and fretboard memorization. I think this is going to be a great tool, and it is also fun to play. However, the mini games of it are short and just like the song rehearsals it seems that the difficulty progresses too quickly if you keep playing. It would be nice if you could pick a difficulty limit for that game or select a longer game time to use it as more of a repetitive exercise tool. I still have a lot of work to do to find my way around in the game and figure out all the features, but again I want to mention that it does seem overwhelming at first.UPDATE 5/16I tried playing the game again last night. Once again I was stumbling and getting lost, especially when the notes were moving up the fret board. I decided to just erase my previous progress and start all over with a new profile. Then I discovered a valuable tool: the Riff Repeater. It is in the song menu, and it gives you several different options for playing portions of songs at various speeds. I chose free speed, which means that the song will go full speed until you miss a note, then it stops completely and waits for you to play that note. I also discovered something very important that the game is not entirely clear about. On the noteway (area where notes are coming toward you), there are four highlighted blue tracks. These four tracks correspond to where you should have your fingers stationed above the fretboard, and when the highlighted spot moves to a different area that means you should also move your fingers to the corresponding frets. To play along with the game properly, it seems really important that you should use all four fingers in the correct positions according to which tracks on the noteway are highlighted blue. This made a HUGE difference, and changed the game from impossible to merely challenging. I actually discovered this, along with some good tips about strumming and hand positioning from a Youtube Guitarsmith tutorial. So, if you just get the feeling that your hands are not in the right position or it seems impossible to keep up with the position changes, I highly recommend going over to Youtube and watching the Guitarsmith tutorial by Andy Schiller.By the way, just to warn others, if you buy songs from the store it seems that sometimes they will not have the same single note and chord playing options that the stock songs come with. I downloaded the Santana song pack, and from what I can tell it seems that chord playing is the only option for those songs. If I just looked at it wrong or missed the single note mode somehow, someone please let me know.For now, I am leaving my review at four stars because I still think the game is lacking in that it doesn't give adequate instructions about finger positioning.UPDATE 5/22After a week playing this game, I have noticed a HUGE difference in my guitar skill, both in and out of the game. The game successfully challenged me and took me out of my comfort zone. It forced me to learn things that I had just assumed were too advanced for my skill level (slides, bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs, double stops). This game was less than the cost of one private lesson at the local guitar shop and it was money well spent. I am upgrading my review to five stars.5(I CAN Get) Satisfaction... finally!(Edit update: Steam is required for this game to run. If you don't already have Steam installed on your computer I recommend you INSTALL Steam FIRST. Get your account setup and working. THEN install this game.) Also, in the folder where Rocksmith installs in Steam is a PDF, RocksmithConfiguration. This goes into great detail on how to tell if the cable and everything is setup properly. Highly recommended reading. Installation does take a while.I have taught myself many things over the decades so I know it takes time and dedication to start out slow and build skill over time. But for whatever reason I find traditional methods (buying a lesson book or DVD) of learning the guitar too boring for me.With Rocksmith I don't feel that way. The very first song we start with is "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Stones. I was playing with a band from the get go and I feel that's important for me to maintain interest. It started me off with very simple notes too. I haven't noticed any lag or have had any problems so far.Rocksmith also has drills called Guitarcade that are unlocked by playing the game. The first Guitarcade unlock is Ducks. Shoot ducks by playing notes. It takes something that could be potentially boring (it would be for me, lol) and makes it fun. There is also a section called Techniques. The first suggested technique is called shifting. Teaching the player how to move up and down the neck. Associated Techniques are the techniques used in the song selected. So with this you can practice the techniques specifically for that song.If you have had lessons in the past and was bored by it or lost interest in it this could be really great for you too.Update: The Riff Repeater, allows practicing selected sections of the songs. You can choose from three different ways to practice the section. The sections are shown as a graphic at the top of the page plus the audio is played for each section.10/31/2012: As songs are becoming harder to play I find myself going to the Riff Repeater much more often. The thing is when you practice the song itself it plays from start to finish., no pausing. Sometimes its easy to get lost. I can use the Riff Repeater to practice the section(s) I'm having trouble with. The cool thing about the Riff Repeater is I'm still playing with the band. I also use Guitarcade and Techniques much more now too.11/12/2012: When I first started playing Ducks, a Guitarcade game, I played the wrong notes a lot of the time. But as time has went on I have noticed Ducks telling me I'm playing the wrong note, when in fact I'm playing the right note. Its always on the twelfth fret or higher and game shows me as playing one fret higher than I actually am. So I checked my intonation with my TU-15 meter and sure enough the guitar was sharp.One minor criticism is the interface. I don't know if it was designed this way to accommodate consoles or what, but its a little clunky. For instance, from the Main Menu / Songs. Click on the left arrow next to first album and there are three options. Events, Filter, and Sort. Now I don't know if I'd call finding them an Easter Egg but it sure wasn't readily apparent that there was anything to the left, I just happened to click it (I thought it would just wrap around and I'd go to the last song). What else is hidden I haven't found yet?01/11/2013: I was having problems with a song that has power cords. I wasn't playing them correctly but I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. When you play something correctly it (the note or chord) lights up on the games fretboard. If you don't play it correctly it doesn't light up. At the end of the song the game recommended I go to Techniques and practice power chords. When practicing a technique it plays through and doesn't allow for pausing, just like when playing a song. So when having a problem trying to figure out whats going on it's easy to get lost. That's when I switch to my trusty Riff Repeater.To get to the Riff Repeater its, main menu/songs. Select the song that you want to practice. Choose whether it's single note, combo, or chords and then go across to the Riff Repeater. Then choose the section of the song to practice. After that there are three choices: free speed, leveler, or accelerator. Choosing free speed will stop the song when making a mistake. This has been really great for me. It wont move on until I play the note or chord correctly. It would be very nice if in Techniques there was a free speed choice as well.01/20/2013: A cool feature is you can adjust the Riff Repeater (Click Pause opens the adjustments menu. Click after tuning up). When selecting accelerator, for instance, you can set mastery and set speed. Set Mastery at 100% and you get all the notes, as you slide the scale back notes are removed to make song easier to play. Set Speed, 100% for songs normal speed and that can be reduced all the way down to 25% speed. So you can really customize how you want to practice the riff.5Learning to jamHave been playing an acoustic informally off and on for about 10 years. Finally got an electric (shoulda done that sooner) and needed a teaching aid for learning how to take advantage of the features specific to an electric guitar. Saw this on the web, and despite the less than superlative review went ahead and ordered it.The product is as advertised! It starts simply enough, and if your skill allows, will amp up the difficulty by inserting more notes or chords into the songs in real-time. It can also downshift in real-time, as during some passages I saw chords disappear when I was having difficulty remembering string position.The skill builder games (guitarcade) are a creative idea. Ideally, this would be playing on a unit plugged into the wall mounted TV! One suggestion would be for a layout of the chords of each song accessed outside of the performance setting in order to learn the necessary notes. When the AI ramps up the difficulty, its hard not to revert to game mode instead of learning mode. I find myself going back and playing the songs from past performances just because it's enjoyable to hear, and because I want to play them outside of game mode.Love the programming though. Just wait till you hit a complete string without missing a beat!5Great concept, needs fine tuning but other than that, a great direction for a PC concept.I was very excited to hear that this was coming to PC! Who wants to play guitar in the livingroom on the tv while everyone is trying to watch their daily shows? Something seemed a bit too childish about playing the guitar on a PS3 or Xbox anyway.I won't make this long and drawn out -here are my quirks:- It learns you "too fast" meaning that it puts you into more advanced stages quicker than it should. You can start out a song in very basic mode and end up full blazing shreds with power chords and barre chords flying at you and you're like what????- It also doesn't do very well with drop d tuning. It can never pick up the notes during game play. I'm playing a brand new Fender blacktop HSH that is professionally setup and sounds fantastic! But when I play a song that requires me to drop the string to a different note, I almost have to play one fret above where it says to in order for the game to recognize it. So therefore I get confused and it's hard to play.- There's not much in the way of teaching you with this game. It's pretty much just play and hit or miss the notes and chords. If it taught you the song first, and THEN played it, then that would be a different story. For instance it should say ok these are the notes, chords and riffs in this song, this is how to play them correctly and here are some tips. But it doesn't do that, you just jump straight into the song. - There are some practice runs for things such as power chords, slides, bends etc. But they only appear as you are further into the game. There's no learning section that you can go to first.- My biggest complaint is song selection. These songs suck. If they put modern, current or more popular classic rock songs into the game, it'd be more enjoyable. But they want you to spend $7.99 and up for tracks to add to the game - which still aren't all that great of songs to choose fromMy final plea: Introduce different genres of music for this game rather than just classic rock. Mayne some country, blues, jazz, and other forms - yes I know this is ROCKsmith....but why not COUNTRYsmith BluesSmith, JazzSmith etc?IDK to me it was more like a game than a learning experience.4

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Rocksmith Guitar And Bass

Rocksmith Guitar And Bass

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