Ubisoft Announces New Guitar Game
Guitar Hero is long gone and the latest Rock Band just didn’t have the windfall popularity, despite its obvious advancements in using actual instruments. Rhythm based games just seem to be on their way out, or at least sliding down the popularity meter these days. Ubisoft doesn’t seem to care though.
Rocksmith, due out later this year promises to be the first and only console game to grant players the ability to use any real electric guitar they have lying around. Sure, Rock Band 3 allows you to use a proprietary real electric (sold separately for $$$), but theirs is specially designed to interface with another specially designed peripheral (at a further extra cost) to work with their game. Ubisoft says any electric with the standard quarter-inch jack on it will work. I’m assuming there is still a breakout box of some sort to interface with the console, but this is good news for those that want to use their own personal axes.
Part of the criticisms that the Pro Guitars for RB3 have gotten is price. For a comparably built Fender guitar (that doesn’t play the game), you’ll pay nearly 3 times less. Having a little bit of experience with RB3 guitar, I can tell you that it IS a pretty sophisticated piece of equipment able to detect and communicate the positions of your fingers on each string, even pressure sensitivity. A straight midi (audio) conversion probably won’t have that level of accuracy, but it’s difficult to tell how Rocksmith is handling it. In fact, the only screenshots or video we have show nothing of the actual game or peripherals.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzmEwNmvMO4
As far as the music itself is concerned, the title already has several promising artists included from classic rock to more contemporary bands; The Animals, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and even Nirvana. No actual tracks have been announced yet however.
“Rocksmith is the most authentic and addicting music game ever created,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft U.S.. “Whether a beginner or a seasoned guitar vet, players progress at their own speed and walk away from the game with the ability to play songs by memory. Rocksmith is the only video game that gets players stage ready.”
My personal interest is certainly piqued. I’ve been piddling around with the real thing for several years now. In fact, the whole reason I invested in the real deal was because of Guitar Hero. Trouble is, I’m not very good. I can play a few chords and pluck some holiday carols, but I’m really no closer to playing at open mic night than I was when I first pushed those plastic buttons on a fake guitar connected to my PS2. A chance to learn the real thing, with a guitar I’m comfortable with and avoiding a 300+ dollar credit card change is more than a little tempting.
Rocksmith, from Ubisoft for the Xbox 360 and PS3, is due for release in the second half of the 2011 calendar year
