Three Months Later, Did Rocksmith Really Teach Me How to Play Guitar?

Just over 3 months ago, I got Rocksmith as a Christmas present from Steff. My initial impressions of it were generally positive, though something like this really takes time to pass judgment. Have I made any progress since?

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Check Out Vault Play: Rocksmith Now on Splitkick.com!

The best girlfriend ever got me the Rocksmith guitar bundle for Christmas. Since then, I’ve been shredding the six string in hopes of someday not sucking at guitar. If you have ambitions of learning, this might be worth looking into. Head over to Splitkick to read the full post!

Check out Vault Play: Rocksmith on Splitkick!

Eyes-On – Rhythm Heaven Fever

I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more…Rhythm Heaven? To my surprise, the Rhythm Heaven franchise is back on North American shores; this time on the Wii. While the DS original was wildly popular in Japan, the game’s inherent craziness in a way that only Japan can provide pretty much sealed its fate as a cult hit at best everywhere else in the world.

My brother, who was a huge fan of the original, recently picked up a copy of Rhythm Heaven Fever. I took some time out to watch him play. Did watching the game win me over like it won my brother over? Or did I find it as culturally inpenetrable as the Mr. Sparkle commercial?

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Coming Soon: Dance Central 2 Review

Are you ready to bust a move? The sequel to last year’s breakout Kinect hit is out now, and my brother picked up a copy of it late last week. At this point, I have not shaken my booty enough to write a full review but rest assured it’s on the way.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to prove to the haters why this Jett is so Fly Like A G6. Yes, that was a terrible pun and yes, I’m sorry.

Dance Central Review

I was sold on Dance Central the moment I saw the first E3 live demo of it in action. I always trust in Harmonix to make a quality game, but watching this girl break it down to one of my favourite songs took it over the top for me. Video games based on real dancing aren’t necessarily new, but up until this point, no one had made a dancing game where every body movement mattered. I’ve been waiting for this type of game for quite some time, and I was ready to pay anything for it.

Well, almost anything. I wasn’t ready to buy a Kinect at $150 just for this game, and I anxiously awaited for the day when I could get a Kinect for less than full price. That day happened, and I’ve since cranked that Soulja Boy and contorted my body in ways I never thought were possible. Is this the new dancing queen? Or nothing but two left feet?

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Viacom to Sell Harmonix

😦

While I’m by no means a life-long Harmonix fan, I’ve loved them ever since they rocked my world with Guitar Hero II. They’ve consistently made quality music games and supported them with great downloadable content, which puts them head and shoulders above anybody else in the music/rhythm genre. As far as downloadable content goes, no game ever has had better support than the Rock Band franchise. I have easily spent hundreds of hours (and dollars) on their products, and don’t regret any of it.

It looks like my money wasn’t enough to keep their operation going. Viacom, parent company of MTV and Harmonix, has announced that they’re going to sell off the creators of Rock Band and Dance Central.
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Cool Moment From Rock Band 3

Over the weekend, I watched my brother playing “Rock Lobster” on hard pro keys. He took piano lessons many years ago, but hasn’t played piano seriously in a very long time. Part of his desire to get Rock Band 3 was to use it to get back into piano and as a means of extending his learning.

Before he finished the song, I left. A few minutes later though, I heard (and then saw) something very cool that probably wouldn’t have happened without Rock Band 3.

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Game Design Talk: Rock Band 3 Career Mode

Since I wrote up my initial impressions of Rock Band 3, I’ve had the opportunity to play a few more sessions, including one family party where this and Just Dance 2 were big hits. Harmonix did an amazing job revamping the game on all levels, though I’m of two minds about one major change to the game.

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Just Dance 2 Review

When Just Dance first came out, I did not expect it to be the smash-hit that it ended up becoming. It won millions of people over with its great concept, song list and it was fun to play. Even though I had some problems with the game’s design as far as how it reads inputs, most people were too busy doing the MC Hammer dance.

Though I didn’t purchase the first game, I played enough of it with my girlfriend to know that I would probably have fun with the sequel. On launch day, we both went to her local Best Buy and bought our own copies. Does Just Dance 2 serve up the goods, or does it just get served?

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Pick Up Post: Just Dance 2

The first Just Dance was nothing short of a smash hit. It was a game that did a great job catering to the Wii audience, in spite of the gripes I had from a hardcore gamer perspective; which wouldn’t matter to the vast majority of people who would play or buy this game in the first place. To be fair, once I stopped thinking about the game as a hardcore game reviewer and started thinking about it as just someone wanting to play a dance game with others, the original was a lot of fun.

Yesterday evening, my girlfriend went to pick up her copy of Just Dance 2, which might be her most anticipated game of the year. After a long weekend of Just Dance 1 madness with her, my brother, my cousins and I, my brother and I decided to go half on our own copy as well.

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