Rocksmith - 2014 Edition, PlayStation 4

by Ubisoft

• A REIMAGINED EXPERIENCE: Newly redesigned menus and in-game interfaces are now clear, smooth, and blazing fast. It's never been easier to play along and get feedback on your performance as you go.
• LEARN YOUR FAVORITE SONGS: Select from over 50 hit tracks, ranging from alternative rock, to heavy metal, and more. You will learn to play your favorite songs, step-by-step and note-for-note, with tutorials along the way.
• DESIGNED FOR EASE AND SPEED: A new fully-customizable Riff Repeater lets you select your section, difficulty, and speed on-the-fly. Master Mode has been revamped to make learning by memory more approachable.
• GET PLUGGED IN: Rocksmith 2014 Edition is compatible with the original Rocksmith Real Tone Cable that plugs any real guitar** directly into Xbox 360, PS3, PC, or Mac. **Guitar requires standard 1/4" output jack.
• A PROVEN METHOD TO LEARN GUITAR FAST: National research studies have found that Rocksmith is the fastest way to learn guitar*. Over 95% of players have improved their skills. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player, Rocksmith gets you results, fast.*National study by Research Media Group Inc.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00NPG4MUU
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 2.4 x 7.6 inches ; 12.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 4, 2014
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #28 in Video Games > PlayStation 4
Manufacturer’s warranty can be requested from customer service. Click here to make a request to customer service.

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation 4 | Edition: Cable Included

Rocksmith 2014 Edition is the fastest way to learn guitar*. Over 95% of players have improved their skills. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player, Rocksmith gets you results, fast. Plug in any real guitar or bass and join over 2 million people learning with the award-winning Rocksmith method. *National study by Research Media Group Inc.

Rocksmith 2014 Edition is bigger, better, and faster than ever. Rebuilt from the ground-up, you'll experience vastly improved features, a new look, more flexible and deeper practice tools, new techniques and tunings, over 50 new hit songs, and much more.

With the revolutionary Session Mode, Rocksmith 2014 Edition takes guitar-learning to the next level by allowing you to play guitar with a virtual band that follows your every lead. Select from an assortment of backing instruments or styles, and Session Mode reacts to the notes you play. Record your jams so you can review them or share them with the world.

Start your journey with Rocksmith 2014 Edition, now available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 system.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest guitar training tool I have ever encountered. November 22, 2014

By nineismine

Platform for Display:PlayStation 4|Edition:Cable Included

For about 2 years in my twenties I played the guitar every day. I learned a few chords and a couple songs. I loved it but as things go, life moved on and I put it down never to pick it back up. Enter RockBand / guitar hero. Playing those games I could sometimes get close to the feeling that I would get from playing guitar back in my twenties. I played a ton of Rockband over the last 5 years and I love that game dearly.

When Rocksmith one came out, I played it and thought it was pretty neat. After a week or so I was done though. I felt like the gap between starting a song and then playing chords or even lead notes(Something I have really never been able to do) was just too large. When RockSmith 2014 came out I had recently been longing to pick up the guitar again, so I bought it. (Fully expecting to be disappointed)

I have been playing nearly every single day since I got it and I often find myself intending to play for a half an hour but getting stuck for hours. I can't accurately list all of the features that have changed since the last iteration, but it sure seems like they put in a great deal of time to ease you along and help you make constant progress. Its easy to jump into a song, it is easy to manually turn up the difficulty or slow down the speed of a riff, and it is dead simple to just riff repeat a portion of the song until you master it.

It is ABSOLUTELY amazing to me how quickly I have come back up to speed on playing, but even more so how I am effortlessly learning concepts I always wanted to master on the guitar (and struggled with for those two years) in DAYS. I have been going back and fourth in my head trying to understand what has changed. Because I have crushed through barriers in playing that I spent months on back in my twenties.

When I sit and try to consider what the magic is I have to acknowledge my own background as part of what have helped me. Playing so much RockBand defnitely helped to prime me for falling notes type gameplay. Knowing the basic power cords, the standard four finger Barre chords and the handful of standard chords has helped me to pick things up as well. That all being said, I have to give even more credit to the absolutely phenomenal job they did on this "game".

As you play a song on RockSmith they give you a small set of the notes to play, do well, and the next time that riff comes around you might get more notes. You will find yourself quickly advancing through a song and then when you are finished, the game will give you three recommendations for the song based on what you are having trouble with or what is coming. As an example, the game might tell you to go look at a chord that is coming in the chord book, or if you are having trouble with a specific concept it might point you to the tutorial. If you are just doing poorly at a riff, it might suggest that you Riff Repeat it. These recommendations come in the form of direct links to the content so you can go do the exercise and then come right back to the song.

Along with all of this RockSmith is constantly giving you little tasks to do. Go try out a phase or wah pedal, go play the session mode with a specific type of band. These tasks will lead to suggestions and will often lead to little video clips where they explain some musical elements as well as the technical ones. These tasks teach you about the game, how to navigate the interface and even better they teach you things about music and the tools that guitarists use. During these educational portions I never feel like they are going on too long and I often get something out of watching them.

Oh yeah did I mention that in addition to showing you fret numbers, they managed to add in fingering notations too. I learned today that the D Chord I learned fifteen years ago can be played in an easier manner with different fretting.

RockSmith has found a way to tap into that guitar hero vibe but at the same time has packed in TONS of games and lessons. All of the little things they have you doing are incrementally helping you to build a bridge to not just knowing how to play a couple songs but REALLY knowing how to play the guitar.

My personal success may have a little to do with having some exposure to the guitar (No lessons or anything formal though) in my earlier years. Whatever portion that is of my success, I can not say enough great things about this game. I firmly believe that it is the best guitar trainer you can POSSIBLY find and in the few short weeks I have had it I am not just parroting portions of songs, I am playing full songs but I'm also making music and improvising over them. This game is fun, informative and awesome on so many levels. If you know someone who wants to play the guitar or used to but wants to get back into it, just go get it for them now.

All of this is due to what I have learned in the last couple weeks. I cannot wait to spent another six months with this thing. Read more ›

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Game! Review from a Beginner. December 3, 2014

By JWichern

Platform for Display:PlayStation 4| Edition:Cable Included|Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I have never held a guitar, let alone played one, until yesterday afternoon when Rocksmith 2014 and my new guitar arrived. The extent of my guitar knowledge came from games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I had read some pretty amazing reviews about this game but, honestly, I was still skeptical that a tone-deaf individual, like myself, could benefit from this. My skepticism quickly dissipated once I began the lessons.

I was amused when I saw the first option on the menu screen was play a song. Yeah right! I was willing to accept that it would be months before I got to that point. I saw an option for Lessons and figured that would be a good place to start. The very first lessons were how to hold a guitar, connect and adjust the strap and how to hold a pick. Once I grasped that concept I was able to progress to actually playing some notes and was amazed at how intuitive and dynamic the game was as I was playing.

I ended up going through about 5 lessons total, just a small portion of the total lessons available. I found myself repeating the practice sessions until I hit full difficulty level and achieved 100%. Even though I was repeating the practice potion over and over it didn't feel repetitive since the notes varied each time. Not only that, but I could feel myself improving. By the end of the lesson I was able to play without looking at my hands. Now I realize there may be some expert players reading this review saying "just wait" but for me to achieve as much as I did in a relatively short time made me feel good.

After a couple hours doing lessons I thought I'd try playing a song. This was really more to see how it would look and not so much to do well. The first thing I noticed on the song selection screen was the massive amount of songs available to choose from. I ended up selecting Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. I was prepared to see lots of error messages, like in Rock Band, and fail the song after 20 seconds. Once I selected the song it brought me to another screen where it listed challenges but also acknowledged where I was within the lessons. When the song started I found my worries were unfounded as it adjusted the notes to match what I had learned so far. I also got to experience the Rift Repeater option which was very useful although I didn't even come close to utilizing its full potential.

While my gameplay time was short and fairly limited I thought it would be beneficial to share my early experiences with other beginners who doubt the potential of the game. Bottom-line is the game is fun, dynamic and very much worth it if you are interested in learning to play guitar. I can't wait to get home this afternoon and play some more.

A few afterthoughts: A lot of reviewers commented on the potential for audio lag when playing this game on the PS4 or Xbox One. This was a major concern for me because I remember how frustrating this was in Rock Band. Before the game arrived I had already hooked an optical cable from my PS4 directly to my receiver. Even though my HDMI already went from the PS4 to the receiver I had read that the optical cable would be better. I didn't notice any lag whatsoever.

I also wanted to comment on the ridiculous number of songs available for download. Not only does this game come with a large variety of songs but you can greatly increase your song content through the market place. The prices seem reasonable and the selection seems limitless.

Finally, I want to add a special thanks to Amazon. I ordered this game and my guitar on Monday and I received them the next day without doing special delivery. Your service has always been top notch and I just wanted to say thanks. Read more ›

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Learning Tool, But Use Common Sense December 6, 2014

By goldsbar

Platform for Display:PlayStation 4| Edition:Cable Included|Verified Purchase

A little background: Mid-40s, attempted to self-teach myself for 2-3 years around 10 years ago. Had kids, gave it up. Never got very far. I was fairly awful for the amount of time invested. Fast forward to a couple of months ago. My son wanted a ukulele and that got me interested in playing again. The free lessons out on YouTube now are awesome and I highly recommend using them in conjunction with this program.

As for Rocksmith, after a few days I felt like I was at my highest level of playing ever. I love the way you can customize how to learn a song with Riff Repeater, the greatest tool ever invented. Sure, there have been ways to slow down music for decades, but this is just so easy to use and gives you proper hand position along with the notes and timing. You can even play easier version of songs, where you skip some notes or only use parts of chords. There's a large selection of songs that come with the program and tons more available for a fee.

Other parts of the program are also really strong. The session mode lets you play with one of a huge selection of band types (also custom types). From what I've seen so far in 10 days, the game tries hard to get you to learn scales and the fretboard. The arcade games are a great diversion; sort of practicing without realizing you're "practicing."

So why did I take away a star? First, the accuracy could be better. It goes both ways. Sometimes I'll totally miss notes and it won't realize it. Other times it will ding me for nothing. The most important point is that you really need to use common sense. The game will credit you for playing the right notes even if your phrasing is totally off. Use your ears.

The other reason for removing a star is I'd be sick of playing already if I followed the game suggestions. Except for the first time I played, it always suggests Session Mode. Nothing wrong with Session Mode, but I really prefer mixing it up with learning "The Trooper." Good news is that you can do whatever you want. Read more ›