Rocksmith also available in $200 Epiphone guitar bundle

by JC Fletcher on Jun 9th 2011 11:15PM

Rocksmith allows you to use any guitar as a music game controller, and for interactive music lessons. That's so awesome if you have an electric guitar! But what if you don't have a guitar? What then? What do you do? How does that work?

It'll be okay. In addition to the normal $80 bundle (which includes the game and an interface cable), Ubisoft has announced a $200 bundle that throws in an Epiphone Les Paul Junior guitar. It's an "entry level" guitar, but then, if you're buying Rocksmith, you're probably an "entry level" guitar player, and you can buy into the hobby for less than you'd spend at a pawn shop.

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UBISOFT® AND GIBSON GUITAR PARTNER TO BRING ROCKSMITH™ VIDEO GAME BUNDLE TO RETAIL

Epiphone Les Paul Junior Guitar to Be Included in Bundle

SAN FRANCISCO – June 9, 2011 – Today, Ubisoft and the world's leading guitar company Gibson Guitar announced their partnership to bundle Epiphone Les Paul Junior guitars (a part of the Gibson family of brands) along with Rocksmith™ when the video game releases this Fall 2011. Developed by Ubisoft, Rocksmith is the first and only video game where players can plug any real guitar into the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC, and play through an in-depth library of music including everything from the latest hits to classic rock songs.

The bundle will include the video game along with an Epiphone Les Paul Junior guitar and the Rocksmith Real Tone Cable™, a unique 1/4"-to-USB cable; the first of its kind! Developed exclusively for Rocksmith, this revolutionary cable converts the guitar's signal from analog to digital, allowing it to be recognized and played through video game consoles and Windows PC. Available at launch and priced at $199.99, this bundle provides an entry-level opportunity for people that have always wanted to play guitar but don't actually own one. The standard edition of the game also includes the Rocksmith Real Tone Cable and will be available this Fall 2011 for $79.99.

"Partnering with Gibson Guitar on the Rocksmith bundle is a great fit for both companies," said Tony Key, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Ubisoft North America. "Gibson is known for making world-class guitars and we're proud that they stand behind the quality and experience that is Rocksmith."

"We're blown away by the innovation that Ubisoft is offering consumers with Rocksmith, and once we saw the game we knew we had to partner with them," said Henry E. Juszkiewicz, CEO and Chairman of Gibson Guitar Corporation. "With Rocksmith, Gibson sees a whole new audience of music fans that will fall in love with playing the guitar."

Tags: epiphone, gibson, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, rocksmith, ubisoft, xbox

Reader Comments (55)

I hope this is done right. It just might get me back into guitar gaming. I put down Guitar Hero when a friend of mine waxed my ass on his hacked Wii "Fan Edition" of GH3 playing ridiculous hard songs on expert.

I was simultaneously amazed (with him) and disgusted (with myself, for how much time I put into that thing). Particularly after trying for a week solid to play a real guitar, to NO noticeable effect whatsoever, except bloody fingers.

I give your story a C+, sista-friend.

@Deone
1. Learning an instrument takes time. A lot of time. You won't learn much in only a week, even on an "easy" instrument like the guitar.
2. Bloody fingers? What the hell were you doing?

"with myself, after how much time I put into that thing"
"after trying for a week solid"
lol

@Deone

It takes about 2 years before you get a real "feel" for playing guitar and having the ability to just think, "Hey I wanna play that song!" and then you can just go play it.

Note: This depends on what kind of music you practice during those two years.

Looks legit.

@Evin
Of course it's legit, Ubisoft are announcing are announcing it.. duh

Forgive the ignorance, haven't really read up on this, but how deep does this go? Is it going to teach you all the modal scales and all sorts of more in depth stuff like that?

@MarkezJM

Rocksmith is a music game based around the use of a real guitar -- players can plug any real guitar with a standard quarter-inch input jack into their game system and play through an in-depth library of music including everything from the latest hits to classic rock songs. Featuring gameplay that automatically adjusts to the player's skill level and innovative game design that makes reading music visually fun and intuitive, Rocksmith engages experienced musicians and those who are picking up a guitar for the first time. The game includes a sizeable library of music from classic rock bands to current artists, such as The Animals, The Black Keys, David Bowie, Interpol, Nirvana and The Rolling Stones.

Here is a video first look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u_6CY4ntJQ

Um. Thanks anyway.

@MarkezJM
Music Theory aren't really all that important. Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) has never learned music theory, and Paul Allender (Cradle of Filth) tried it out but found it held him back & discarded it.. I'd hope this gave you a better window to hit the notes, unlike Rock Bands robotic timing, as actually playing tracks teaches you more

@MarkezJM
It has supposedly extensive excercises, so hopefully it will cover the rudiments like scales. The scope of it sounded fairly large; so even if you don't like half the songs, you can play single phrases from them to practice, or go into free mode for a jam using all sorts of effects.

Honestly, the way to success for this game is to make it a very deep, intuitive and above all useful 'game'. And I'd imagine putting things like scales and trainers in is cheaper and easier than getting licensed songs. Perhaps there might be a degree of customisation in what you can make it and yourself play.

If they go down the route of 'pay a quid/dollar to get this one song', I think depending on the song I would be less interested than the music theory textbook sort of approach. But on the other hand, they do need to have some rewarding, good sounding payoff; so playing along to Bowie, the Stones, Cream and Skynyrd would make you feel like you were getting somewhere.

That is AWESOME.

If it is indeed a true teaching tool, from basics for a person who has never picked up a guitar, other than a plastic one for RB/GH - and is implemented in any easy to use manner.

Then.... count me in.
I always wanted to play piano, but being a living room rock god will have to do ;)

@DigitalEmporer
+1 for piano; detecting notes from a guitar is ridiculously difficult (so much so I am extremely skeptical that this actually works), but every electronic piano ever support MIDI, including the RB3 keyboard. I think it would have been better for them to start out with a teach-yourself-piano game; I hope they go this way in the future!

I don't think Ubisoft got the memo... Music games are dying. Guitar Hero is dead, Rock Band is the only one left.

@tendoboy1984
True, but this isn't really a 'game' in the traditional sense. If it really does everything that they are claiming it can, you could pick up some valuable talents instead of just being able to press coloured buttons really quickly. I don't think it will be a 'day 1 sale' success, but its the kind of thing that could sell well for a long time as a tool.

This is borderline Edutainment.

If you were planning on using this as a first step to learning guitar that is quite a solid little instrument to start on.

This might be pretty cool as an instructional tool, most DVDs are a little hard to follow for beginners.

However, I'd recommend spending at least $300 on a guitar (and not a jam pack/starter combo) IF you're serious about learning. It is not fun at all to learn on a cheap guitar, and if you manage to stick with it long enough to improve, you'll just come to resent it more and more.

tl;dr: that guitar is crap.

@guitarman I disagree for two reasons. 1. "300" dollar guitars from 10 years ago cost 150 most places now [guitar center] and 2... It depends on how long it takes a person to reach a level where a low-end guitar actually starts to "Sound bad" to them. Some people are slow and can take 10+ years before they reach that point, some can take months , weeks, any time frame really. Obviously if it takes you a 6+months/or a few years the 100-200 dollars isn't really gonna matter much.

@guitarman the hardest part is learning chords. an expensive guitar won't help over a cheap one. that's just plain hard work.

@Kougeru

I've been playing guitar for a long time, and I know even now there is a very noticeable difference between the guitar above ($100-120-ish maybe) and a $300 guitar. A more expensive guitar is generally more comfortable (hardware, neck, fret job), better set-up off the rack (action), and more worthy of upgrading the electronics should the time come (tone).

Learning chords is not the hardest part of learning to play guitar (lol), a more comfortable guitar is better to learn on, bottom line.

@guitarman chords is where the absolute beginner gives up.

@onlysublime to expand on it, if the beginner gets past the chords, they tend to have the confidence to go forward even though it gets harder... if they can't even finger the chords, they get frustrated and the guitar goes in the closet.

@guitarman

They make cheap guitars better these days. You can get a good Squire that will stay in tune and sound alright. A guitar that stays in tune is the most important thing for a beginner. I had to learn on a guitar that wouldn't stay in tune and it made things harder. Actually spending a lot of money on a vintage guitar would be terrible for a beginner because those things always have tuning problems and beginners have trouble recognizing that the guitar is out of tune.

@guitarman
You could pick up a new Epiphone Casino for near that price range, probably one of many great guitars that are comfortably priced. Luckily, I don't have to splash out *or* use my damn Squier; as my housemate has a pretty neat collection. In many ways, guitar is so much easier to pick up if you have friends that play. For a start, you can use theirs (unless they're the sort to polish it every day), and you can just ask them what you're supposed to be doing - whereas you have no idea if you just get one yourself.

Is there a 59.99 version of the game that only comes with the game? or is the "interface cable" required? I figured it would just require a standard electric guitar with a standard electric guitar audio jack.....

@Kougeru Of course the interface cable is required. How else would your guitar communicate with the game?

@Agies
Get Ben Heck to turn your Xbox into an amp with a quarter-inch jack? Of course, then the game wouldn't work and you're back to square one.

whatever happend to just leaning to play guitar by ear to your fave songs then looking up tabs. i guess its like having a virtual instructor but all this makes me see that the days of making original music is dead.

Learning an instrument (or just about anything really), as an adult with a fully developed brain is a difficult business. Anything to make it easier should be lauded, not looked down upon.

@PR0F3TA I heard this "Game" has a lot of good excerises for fingers and good lessons and such. Some people don't learn well from tabs or ear and something like this [or a more expensive option...a teacher] is the only way for a lot of people to learn. I don't see how LEARNING has anything to do with killing original music...it's just the first step in creating your own. Also, a video game interface is A LOT better than searching a bunch of websites, change browser tabs to get to a different song, ect ect .

@PR0F3TA

"makes me see that the days of making original music is dead." What? I mean, what? That is just ridiculous. Most people who learn an instrument take lessons initially, as did I around 14 years ago when I started playing guitar. I took them for about a year and a half and that was it. I mean, your comment makes so little sense I'm just horrifically confused. What on earth does this/that have anything, anything to do whatsoever with making original music?

@MarkezJM

really bro? guess i'll explain...

because when you learn to play guitar on your own (or w/ instructor) its dramatically different then having notes come at you from a TV with music to play along with.

With that being said, who do you think will actually define their own unique sound or their own unique technique. The guy who learned on this own through trial and error, learning every strum, every note by ear. or the guy who played strum-along on a video game but pressed restart when he messed up to many times? when you play the same song over and over thats what you're gonna pick up, you're gonna end up mimicking the same sound you've been playing or remember playing.

how you learn to play your instrument shapes the music you will end up playing/writing.

i hope you actually THINK about what i just said and not try to just prove me wrong cause i bashed some guitar game.

@PR0F3TA

Yeah, what you've described equally applies as to when you're a beginner learning via an actual instructor or through a tutorial type system as the one in this game. An actual instructor makes you press restart and mimic the way they want you to play something, note for note, same sound. It's still a trial and error process you are learning by, regardless, that you learn from. Developing your own sound is what one does when away from the instructor, whether it be an actual one or a videogame type interface. It is by no means dramatically different.

Has nothing to do whatsoever with how one creates their own unique sound or style, none at all. I only AM proving you wrong because you are wrong, it has nothing to do with bashing some method by which one learns an instrument.

One can self-teach themselves an instrument with no help via any sort of instruction and still have zero creativity or ability to make original music.

@MarkezJM

"One can self-teach themselves an instrument with no help via any sort of instruction and still have zero creativity or ability to make original music."

true true i'll give you that... but you assume that people will stop playing the game and start playing on their own, i bet you they wont, it will be boring for them not to have music to play along to, because thats what they have been conditioned to do.

hope you realize that the person who learns on his own or through a live instructor will actually more predisposed to making music on his own. Thats just the truth.

@PR0F3TA

Now you're just speaking out of your ass. Considering this is the first game to ever use a real guitar as input you can't say what people are going to be predisposed to do. A learning environment doesn't predispose people to think one way or another

And FYI, nothing you have said has any basis in fact; you are merely stating your opinion without any proof to support your conclusions.

@theBrayn

Sorry, I forgot about Power Gig. This is the second game using a real guitar.

@theBrayn

And Rock Band 3. Man, you're really bad at this!

@PR0F3TA

"hope you realize that the person who learns on his own or through a live instructor will actually more predisposed to making music on his own. Thats just the truth. "

Nobody is really unique. Good music builds on existing music. Try just hitting random notes and it won't sound good. Even just learning music theory won't give you the tools to make something people will want to listen to. You learn a lot by playing other people's songs.

@theBrayn / Baby Sea Tuna

Actually, technically, this is the first mainstream game to use a real guitar for input as far as I know. Power-Gig used a real guitar, but all you played with were GH/RB-like buttons built into the neck. Rock Band 3 used a real guitar, but it only processed a MIDI signal.

with Fender discontinuing the Rock Band 3 Squier, looks like Rocksmith will be taking the mantle...

@onlysublime
I'm sure Harmonix will find another guitar company to continue the Pro Guitar support, but it will probably take a long while. Hopefully they will be able to gesture at Rocksmith as evidence that the market is growing when they shop it around.

@onlysublime
WHAT?!?! i have heard nothing of this is it true?

@onlysublime That's cool by me, never really liked Fenders for their glassy sound.. give me a BC Rich or Dean anyday

@Protege420 people have contacted Fender and they confirmed it.

@Protege420
http://www.rockbandaide.com/12544/fender-discontinuing-the-rock-band-3-squier/

i understand why it can't be a true Gibson included (price), but damn I haven't seen a Les Paul Junior in YEARS. I love this make of guitar. I'll be hooking my American Strat up, but damn I thought Les Paul Jr's were out of production. I haven't seen one in my area in close to 9 years.

@FakeJamaican
Well it's not actually a LP Junior. It's just a LP body with a humbucker & a Jr. pickguard instead of the Gibson's P90 pickup and wraparound tailpiece.

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Rocksmith

Rocksmith also available in $200 Epiphone guitar bundle

Reader Comments (55)

Posted: Jun 9th 2011 11:22PM Deone said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:50AM Epoque said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 2:21AM Epsilon said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 9:33AM BlueRajasmyk said

Posted: Jun 11th 2011 2:17AM Tiptup300 said

Posted: Jun 9th 2011 11:39PM Evin said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:29PM Mazrael said

Posted: Jun 9th 2011 11:43PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:05AM DigitalEmporer said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:16AM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:43PM Mazrael said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 2:27PM Haggard said

Posted: Jun 9th 2011 11:45PM The Only Girl said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:04AM DigitalEmporer said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 9:37AM BlueRajasmyk said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:23AM tendoboy1984 said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:32AM Snide Jackal said

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Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:28AM Snide Jackal said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:46AM guitarman said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:56AM Kougeru said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:05AM onlysublime said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:22AM guitarman said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 4:31AM onlysublime said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 4:35AM onlysublime said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 9:28AM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 2:40PM Haggard said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:54AM Kougeru said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 8:11AM Agies said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 2:34PM Haggard said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:56AM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:58AM Epoque said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 12:59AM Kougeru said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:03AM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:34AM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:52AM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 2:14AM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 8:35AM theBrayn said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 8:37AM theBrayn said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 8:50AM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 9:35AM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 11:33AM Epoque said

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Posted: Jun 10th 2011 1:52AM LGscoundrel said

Posted: Jun 10th 2011 11:29AM Protege420 said

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