Customer Ratings & Reviews

It's a wonderful tool for the beginner. It often keeps you motivated to push on. Where some games, may get old after a while the instructional game really goes over the tools of the guitar. I would say if you have ever wanted to play, this is the game for you.

If your goal is to learn how to play guitar and not just play video games this is a very good tutorial that you can scale to your learning speed.

Love playing this game to help me learn how to play guitar.

Bought for my 9 yr old. So far it's a great learning tool , I hope he stays with it.

My son loves it! I think he will stick with it until he learns all the songs.

Can't beat this game for the value. Good follow-up to GH/RB series.

I love this game. The only reason it is not a 5-star title is the menu system. Getting to a specific song you want to play takes too much effort. Combined with some of the load times, it can take a couple of minutes from start-up to first playing. That said, overall, this game has been key to keeping me interested in practicing guitar. I've tried to learn before and quit after a few weeks. This time, I am about 6 months in and still going strong. The song selection is pretty varied, most of the songs are great. They are consistently adding new DLC songs, which, while you do have to pay for them, are also pretty good. Highly recommended if you want to learn to play guitar.

So I don't rate stuff much...but I went into buying rocksmith with a bunch of questions that I didn't have answers to so maybe this will help someone who was wondering the same stuff as me. I have been playing guitar for a couple of years. Mostly acoustic/campfire type music. I consider myself a solid chord player but an above average finger picker. I never really messed with electrics to much although I own a couple (Road worn strat and a 60's reissue). So I was kind of intrigued to mess around with this game. I've had it a couple of days and so far love it! It has a good mix of songs and the overall set up of the game is pretty good. I only gave 4 stars cause the slight delay, but that was something I figured out the timing for pretty quick and it really doesnt bother me. One question I see all the time is "will it teach me to play guitar?" - for me that answer is yes and no. It can certainly teach you chords and such if you spend some time on the technique portion of the game (which actually impressed me) and it most certainly can teach you to "memorize" a song. So you may walk away from this only knowing the songs that are on the game and nothing else. But I do feel it can really be used as a springboard to not only learning but also advancing your playing if your a semi-novice like me. One thing I found frustrating and fun all at the same time was that songs I currently knew and played (such as Sweet Home Alabama) were a bit different. So even though I am quite versed on my version of the song I found it hard to score big points on it. But that has been fun for me and I'm working on the solo to the point of sore fingers! I do wish there was a setting were you could play the complete song at a alternate speed (if there is a way I haven't found it). The single note settings on songs I found quite boring...reminded me of playing bass tabs which I also dabble with. But I would guess for a first time player I can see where there would be a challenge in this section. I prefer the chord/combo arrangements myself. I did plug in one of my acoustics when messing around with a chord arrangement but with that slight delay it didn't really do it for me. Overall I am enjoying it and it is a nice alternative to my same old playing routine. I've hardly picked up my acoustics since getting it which is a rare event. I do find it funny how many people are out buying epi les pauls because of the game!! Don't get me wrong...good guitar but if I were you I would just pick up a decent little starter electric (under 200 bones) until you find out if you even like playing...and if you do what style you like playing. For me...I'll stick with my strats. Find them much more enjoyable but to each their own. If your considering the game and have a guitar laying around then I say why not. Go grab it and mess around. You won't be bending strings the first week but I imagine that if you pick a song and just beat it to death playing it probably wouldn't take long to be able to rock that out at the local music store or impress your girlfriend/boyfriend.

Prior to buying the game, I read pretty much every review on every website that sold it. The one thing that jumped out right away was that anyone that left a negative review, got "unhelpful" or their own negative reviews in return. After playing the game for about a week, I can see why. Most of the negative reviews focus on either lag issues or complaints from users regarding skill level. I wanted to clear some of this up, because this is a fantastic game and doesn't deserve this bad rep. Audio lag - When you put the game in, one of the first things you are presented with is a screen that advises you to plug your video directly into your TV and your audio directly into an analog system of some sort. This does not mean plug our HDMI cable into your home theater system. HDMI is digital. Because its digital there will be audio processing that makes the sound laggy. The same is true of optical audio (if anyone is actually using that). you need to plug your analog audio (rca, or component) into your external speaker system. This reduces about 95-98% of the lag. there is still a little bit, but its barely noticeable. ***for those complaining about audio lag, you've already spent a significant about of money on the game and a guitar. If you get cheap or lazy here, you will suffer the consequence of a poor laggy audio track Video/note lag - To adjust the on screen notes to the audio track, there is a setting under options that allows you to adjust the display lag. Out of box it comes with a setting of 50 milliseconds. This was a bit latent for me, so I change it to 20 and it works beautifully. Skill level - I have been playing guitar for 11 years. can play just about any tune i hear.. but get bored when trying to practice any kind of theory like scales. the mini games are a great way to warmup and practice for guitarists of any background. For expert users, I think they get frustrated that despite having played for x number of years they cant just open the box and get their achievement points handed to them... its still a game, you still have to level it. if you have trouble with the interface, (color coded system that goes up and down the fretboard).. there is a setting in the options menu that you can switch over to tabliture mode. For beginning guitar players. there is enough content in this game that someone who has never held a guitar before would have plenty to learn from. But.. there will be a learning curve. You have to take the time and really practice. I dont think this game is quite a replacement for an expert sitting with you and giving you 1 on 1 attention.. but it is without a doubt the best automated/virtual guitar training material in existence. the only thing better than this for a beginner would be hiring an actual tutor.. and lets face it.. thats not for everyone.

I am an adult who has been playing guitar for 20 years, but am mostly self-taught. That being said, I'm not very skilled at the instrument, but have played in bands. More of a rhythm player than lead. As a gamer, I've loved Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I was curious about Rocksmith when I heard about it, but skeptical, because I didn't think the magical cable that connects any electric guitar to the game would work as advertised. Started reading good things about it in the press, so I went ahead and pre-ordered the game (so I could get "Free Bird"). I got it yesterday and have already put quite a few hours into it. I'd still be playing now, but my fingers hurt too much! I'm very impressed by this. The cable does work. No problems there. I was using one of my old Epiphone electrics. I haven't tried it with an electric acoustic yet, but I plan to. The game is fun, but you have to realize that it's not a casual thing like Guitar Hero/Rock Band. You're actually learning real songs on a real instrument, so while it looks very similar to those games, you'll have to do a lot more repetition. You're going to be playing songs over and over again, to get good at them. It's not like there's a story mode that you're trying to "beat." So if you go into it with the wrong expectations, you will probably be disappointed. If you're looking at this as a game, you might not like it. But if you're looking at this as a fun way to learn, you'll dig it. There's so much to do in the game besides just learning the 50+ songs that come with it. There are exercises to master certain techniques, and fun arcade games that build on your skills. The dynamic difficulty is great. It starts out really easy and as you get better it throws more at you. My wife (who owns a guitar, but I've never seen her play it) tried it out for a while last night. Her guitar skills were just about zero going into it. She enjoyed playing it, and will probably play some more once her fingers stop hurting. I mention this only because she HATES video games, but has always wanted to play guitar. And she had a good time, even though as a guitarist she totally sucks. If you're looking to learn guitar, or improve at guitar, I strongly recommend this game.

If you have any desire to play guitar and have plenty of time and patience to practice but can't afford lessons then this is the game for you. The 3D layout of the gameplay is by far better than Rockband, and this is coming from someone who went out and bought the $180 Rockband 6-string fender. The fact that it recognizes that your improving and does real time adjustments to up the difficulty is a major bonus. This game basically turns your game system into an amp so if you play the wrong note you hear the note instead of the annoying "plunck" that Rockband gives. I haven't experienced any delay through HDMI but I have it connected to stereo which has a delay adjustment which then feed the signal through another HDMI to the TV. The mini games are an excellent way to make practicing boring chords and scales fun. This game is for guitar players only for now but they are working on a mod for Bass guitar and hopefully will add other instruments down the road. There is no DLC yet. I never had so much fun trying to learn guitar.

i have played guitar for over 10 years. i have always despised the guitar hero/rock band games mainly because of the fanboy nerds that think their high score on that game somehow correlates to practical musical talent. i have spent less than 5 minutes playing any of those games. besides helping your tempo and rythym, those games have no adapability to a real instrument. enter, rocksmith. i read a tweet from slash last night saying he was trying out this game and that you could plug your real guitar into it. by coincidence, it just came out yesterday. i immediately went out and bought it and played for an hour last night. the game is incredible. it has the typical "journey" mode where you tour and build your skills through different songs. but it also has sub-activities, drills, arcade skill games; all designed to help improve different areas of your playing. sustain, shifts, bends, hammer-ons, scales, phrases etc. etc. on top of that, it intelligently recognizes your skill level and adjusts the difficulty accordingly. the first few songs were just single note and i was like "wtf," but after i aced a few songs, it hit the throttle and increased the amount of notes to hit, making it challenging and fun. i dont normally write reviews, but i felt compelled to do so with this one. since it is such a niche game, i didnt want it to fall into obscurity and no developer ever touch the idea again. i cant wait to play it more, see if the song download library increases, and see how much it improves my lead playing. if you are using HDMI or have a receiver, you may experience i tiny lag or delay between note strikes and sound out of your speakers. but there are several ways to fix this.

I played around with this for about four hours, and as someone who has played guitar on and off for nearly 30 yeras, this is a good way to cut your teeth on playing. The ability to plug an guitar that has a jack is a plus. The abilty to choose left or right handed playstyle is very good. Usually we lefties have been left out in the cold when it comes to music teaching aids. So this is a real plus in my book. The explanation of the various tricks, such as hammer ons, string pulls, etc, is good, as are the exercises. The only thing I could ask would be for a chord chart, and the chords for the somgs in rehersal mode to have the actual song chords displayed at the top of the screen. As the abiltiy to assign the actual string names to the virtual guitar vs the colored strings would be great as well. Overall if you want to learn the basics to playing, this is a fun way to do it. But if you are serious about learning, grab a few theory books so you can fill in what these types of game don't teach.

Finally, a guitar game that makes sense. Rocksmith builds upon the success of the Guitar Hero and Rockband franchises and one-ups them by allowing you to plug in a real guitar and actually play the songs yourself. Anyone who plays guitar can relate to how frustrating the aforementioned games can be, most of the "notes" played on the little plastic guitar replicas go against a guitarist's instinct. In Rocksmith, the interface allows you to tune your guitar and it reads what you play based on each string's unique pitch and tone, letting you, the guitarist, play a wide selection of songs as they were written: on strings, not buttons. To make things easier, there are no difficulty settings in Rocksmith; the game adds and subtracts notes, techniques, and chords based upon your level of experience and ability to learn. Play well, and Rocksmith increases the difficulty of the song until you're playing it note for note just as the artist that wrote it did. Gone also, are the booing crowds and misplayed "twangs" from the other games; Rocksmith just takes out a few notes from what you play if you can't hit everything until you've gained the experience to be a real guitar hero. Plug in a second Rocksmith tone cable and you can play splitscreen with another guitarist. Just buy this game, you won't regret it!

I don't review products very often, but in this case I am compelled. I have been playing in bands most of my life... as a drummer. I have had a guitar for 20 yrs. I have tried to commit to playing many, many times. I could never get myself to stick with it. It is frustrating to me especially because percussion comes to me with such ease. That being said, this game has changed all of that! I am actually REALLY playing guitar!!! Not just playing power chords and trying to struggle through books. Not to mention how much FUN it is! The game works at your pace and will change the level of difficulty as you play! I wish I had this 20yrs ago! If you have always wanted to play guitar, but couldn't commit the time or effort to make it happen, your time is NOW!!! Buy this "game"!

I started playing Rockband 3 Pro about 6 months ago. I was a complete noob on the guitar (the fender strat made for RB3) but I was motivated and even started some real life guitar lessons after work while I was at it. I didn't think that there was any way to make a music game and more "real." RockSmith just blew my mind. In RB3 you have to "mute" the strings so that the game doesn't double/triple register strums. It feels like you are going to break the strings when strumming the harder songs. With RS the game captures the tone perfectly. The notation is a little odd at first but you catch on pretty quickly. They also have quirky mini-games that take the edge off mundane exercise drills. The only downside to the game is that it doesn't give you the ability to play bass :\ It would have given me a great excuse to purchase a bass guitar. I am no pro but this game is very impressive and fun to play!

I've had my guitar for a couple of years and never really devoted much time to it. I knew the basics and could pluck out a couple of songs, off the sheet music. Rocksmith has set a fire in my belly, and all I want to do now is play. The way it adapts to your individual skill level, on the fly, is truly amazing. If you're doing good, you can see the new notes being added for you, but if you're not doing so great, you can see the game remove some of the notes to let you get more familiar with it, and then, when you're ready, it starts adding a few notes at a time. I simply love it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in playing. it's like having a guitar teacher living with you.

This game is amazing if you appreciate what it technically achieves. This game probably is only suited to those who want a little more out of the rock games than flashing lights super ultra bonuses. This game WILL NOT teach you how to play the guitar. I did not venture to the basic menus, but I think if you have never held or strummed a guitar, you will be dissapointed in the lessons. If this is you I recommend picking up cheap guitar and goofing arround online or with friends before going to this program. It has a more chilled out approach. If you have ever goofed around with an axe as a teen/tween you won't have a problem goofing off here either. The game seems to me (not explicitly defined in the game# to change dynamically how you are playing. There is no easy, medium, hard, levels to choose from. Litterally if I am having trouble and stop playing for 5 seconds, it seems that when I jump in, there are less notes untill i get back into the groove. Brilliant. I don't believe it but I really think it is so. I pulled out an Epiphone guitar I paid a few hundred dollars for 10 years only to play this game. I was supprised at how well it acknowleged my strokes even with the old strings. There was for sure a delay, 1/8 second ish. But the fact that the game encouraged mutes #Red Hot Chili Pepers - Higher Ground# inspired me to write this review. I admit, I was never took guitar lessons but knew what mutes were. Once I figured out the notation, it was a revelation. Really. The only game I have ever played where mutes score points #and I haven't advanced far eneough to know in this game but harmonics are plausible, maybe if only for future release). If you are a musician, invest in the posibilities. You might actually have a decent time with this game too. Either way, you get a USB cable/adaper with this combo. Supposedly it is comptible with the PC if you have the correct software.

I played guitar in the past and what better way to get back to it by learning on rock songs I enjoy.

If it wasnt for this game I would have never picked up a real guitar. But, this game made learning a new instrument fun and turned it into a ...... Game. A real guitar acts as your controller and you have to play along and hit the right notes. Also many, many challenging mini games are fun, helps with chords, hammer ons/offs, sustains, etc. Before this game, I didnt even know what those were. Definitly worth it. Must try. You need to own a guitar to play this game!!!!!! you can also buy one with it.