Drum Symphony

Every so often a new video game hits the market and changes the landscape forever. Guitar Hero did it a few years ago, the first Call of Duty did the same thing about four years ago and just these past few months Rocksmith is in the process of doing it again.

Rocksmith is the evolution of games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Except this time you’re using a real instrument to play rather then just a guitar shaped controller with five buttons.

The basics of Rocksmith are similar to guitar hero. There’s a series of numbers and colors on the screen which correspond to your actual guitar. You must play the proper notes, power chords and chords on your real electric guitar that match what’s happening on the screen.

Of course, what you’re actually doing is learning to play a simple version of the actual song and training your fingers how to play the guitar.

Beyond just a video game Rocksmith has included some musical education aspects as well. You’ll be able to participate in added mini games to learn power chords, regular chords and even scales.

While I don’t think these mini games are as powerful for beginners as online guitar lessons would be, they do teach you the basics rather then just not ever letting you know what you’re doing in the game.

My gut feeling is that Rocksmith will not be as popular as Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Why? Simply put it’s going to be more difficult to play. While thousands of people wish they were able to play guitar and not just rock out with Guitar Hero, they aren’t really willing to put the work in that’s needed to really learn the instrument.

You do need an electric guitar to play the game, but there are bundles available that include a low cost Gibson electric guitar.

The game is available for the PS3 and Xbox consoles right now. No word has been mentioned about a Wii version.