Rocksmith
A rhythm game using a real electric guitar via USB adapter.
Rocksmith is a music video game released by Ubisoft in October 2011 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America, with later releases on other platforms. Its notable feature is allowing players to use a real electric guitar via a USB adapter, rather than a proprietary controller, to play along with the game. An expansion adding bass guitar compatibility was released in August 2012, and a second release integrating that expansion and further refinements followed in October 2012.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Ubisoft San Francisco
- Publisher
- Ubisoft
- Engine
- Gamebryo
- Genre
- Music
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox 360
- Producer
- Nao Higo
- Director
- Paul Cross
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Rocksmith requires the Real Tone cable, a USB cable that connects to the standard 6.35 mm output jack of most electric guitars. Acoustic guitars may need additional hardware such as a pickup. The game was also sold as a bundle including the game, adapter, an Epiphone Les Paul Junior guitar, strap, and two picks. Players progress along a career (separate for guitar and bass) where more songs, game modes, and challenges unlock as they earn Rocksmith points. In normal mode, the display shows a representation of the guitar's fretboard with numbered frets and colored strings. Notes appear as colored rectangles matching the string color, moving from background to foreground along numbered lanes; they turn 90 degrees at the moment to be strummed, with additional timing markers. The game shows an ideal hand position on the fretboard for the current segment, moving as needed. Lyrics appear karaoke-style under the note pattern but do not affect gameplay. Before each song, the player checks guitar tuning. A core feature is the game's ability to adjust note density—difficulty—based on performance. Each song is split into phases; accuracy in a phase may increase difficulty in the next, while poor accuracy lowers it. Points are earned per note hit, so higher difficulty yields more points, but the player cannot fail a song. If too many notes are missed, the game pauses to let the player readjust hand position. The last completed difficulty level is saved and used at the start of the next playthrough.
Development
Rocksmith originated from a project called Guitar Rising, developed by Game Tank, a small startup. It was showcased at the 2008 Game Developers Conference as a technology demonstration of proprietary hardware—a USB cable connecting to the audio-out jack of nearly any electric guitar—that could determine notes and chords played, rather than using note-matching gameplay like Guitar Hero or Rock Band. The demonstration included gameplay elements later used in Rocksmith: notes colored by string and numbered by fret, and difficulty adjusting based on player performance. Jake Parks of Game Tank stated at the time they aimed for a late 2008 release with about thirty songs, later pushed to 2009. Around the same time, Ubisoft's president of North American operations, Laurent Detoc, challenged its San Francisco development team to create their own game, as the studio had only supported external developers. Detoc was interested in music games, stating he could not believe the waste of time spent with plastic guitars. The studio acquired Game Tank and the Guitar Rising technology, bringing Parks and lead designer Nick Bonardi aboard as Ubisoft employees. The Ubisoft team of about 60, led by Paul Cross and Nao Higo, spent about two years transforming Guitar Rising into a retail product. Developer Jason Schroeder described Guitar Rising as a PC tech demo of note recognition and redesigned the HUD so non-guitarists could understand it. The original horizontal scrolling tablature was too difficult for non-guitarists, so a vertical scrolling note chart was created instead.
Reception
Rocksmith hit store shelves in the United States on October 18, 2011, and critics were largely positive. On Metacritic, the PlayStation 3 version scored 80 out of 100, the PC version got 78, and the Xbox 360 edition earned 77. Curtis Silver from Wired awarded it a 9 out of 10, highlighting the note track’s intuitive design and calling the game a superb tool for learning guitar. Ania Kwak of GamingExcellence gave a 9.8, describing it as a rare teaching tool with almost no downsides that remains fun to play. Adam Dulge at PlayStation Universe rated it 8.5, urging anyone curious about rocking out to buy it. Amy Flower from Gamesblip gave a 9, praising how well the game adapts to a player’s skill level. Not everyone was convinced. Jordan Mallory of Joystiq gave a middling score on launch day, arguing that despite its innovative technology, Rocksmith fails both as an educational tool and a rhythm game. Ben Kuchera from Ars Technica called it “not terrible” but said it doesn’t work for learning guitar because of lag, automatic difficulty changes, and the unlock system.
Legal issues
When Ubisoft applied for a European trademark on the name Rocksmith in March 2011, a band from Southend, England, of the same name filed an official opposition, claiming use of the name for four years and registration for eight. In August 2012, the European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market settled the case in favor of Ubisoft. Ubisoft received U.S. Patent 9,839,852 for an interactive guitar game based on Rocksmith's principles and filed a patent-infringement case against Yousician, a mobile app teaching musical instrument playing using similar principles. In August 2019, a federal district court ruled Ubisoft's patent claims too broad and insufficiently specific, nullifying the patent and dismissing the suit. The decision was confirmed on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in June 2020.
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