Rocksmith promises what Guitar Hero and Rock Band could only pretend.  That is to play real music on a real instrument.  Rocksmith lets you plug your real electric guitar into the PS3, and use it to play the game.  Just like the previous "instrument" games, notes scroll down the screen at you and you must play the corresponding note on the instrument at the appropriate time.  In this case however, that means playing the right fret on the proper string.

If you don't have a guitar already, Rocksmith does come bundled with an Epiphone Les Paul Jr. guitar for an extra $170.  But any electric, or electric acoustic, guitar will do.  Every copy of the game comes with a 1/4" mono jack that plugs into your guitar and converts the sound to USB (like any headset or USB mic would work).  The game actually "listens" to your playing, and determines the correctness.  This process unfortunately introduces a noticeable lag between when you strum and when the amped sound leaves your speakers.  Within a couple songs though you'll adapt and be hitting the notes on time.

Speaking of sound, each song has its own unique tonal quality.  To reproduce the sound as authentically as possible, Rocksmith implemented numerous amps, pedals, and effects to make your guitar sound like the pros.  In between songs you can even practice any new riffs you've learned as the game lets you free play while loading the next section.

It's not all songs though.  Rocksmith has the "Guitarcade" with little games to perfect your skills.  The only one I've played thus far is "Ducks", in which ducks fly up from the bottom of the screen and you have to hit the right fret to shoot them down before they reach the top.

It's not all games either.  Rocksmith has technical demos and skills training to teach you how to play different aspects.  For example, I had never learned how to correctly play a palm mute, or know what it's supposed to sound like.  Today Rocksmith taught me that, and I love it.  It's perfect for playing James Bond theme.  

I originally wasn't keen on Rocksmith for one reason.  I don't like the way they display the notes.  I would have much preferred scrolling guitar tab, since tablature is freely available all over the internet.  New players could take the skills they learn in the game and immediately put them to use on new songs, and old players wouldn't have to do the mental gymnastics of thinking, "Okay, is the D string Orange or Blue?".  On the plus side, the game DOES allow you to "invert" their display, so at least the on-screen guitar matches normal tablature position.  Also, when you start doing chords, it lists the chord name along with the rectangle of notes.  So if you already know how to play F#m, just play it.  You don't have to figure it out from the notes.

There's a good variety of music in the game.  The majority of the songs have to be unlocked as you progress, rehearsing and doing gigs.  Much like the other instrument games, you have a career landing bigger venues as you play.  Unlike other instrument games, Rocksmith dynamically adjusts to your skill level mid song.  If you're nailing every note, it automatically increases the difficulty.  If you're having trouble, it makes it easier.  For example, when I started playing Queens of the Stone Age's Go With the Flow, I was being offered a note every 8 beats or so.  By the end of the same song, I was strumming sixteenth notes.

Here's the list of songs that come with the game:

• THE ANIMALS House Of The Rising Sun     
  
• BEST COAST When I’m With You
  
• THE BLACK KEYS I Got Mine     
  
• THE BLACK KEYS Next Girl
  
• BLUR Song 2     
  
• THE BOXER REBELLION Step Out Of The Car
  
• DAVID BOWIE Rebel Rebel     
  
• CREAM Sunshine Of Your Love
  
• THE CRIBS We Share The Same Skies     
  
• THE CURE Boys Don't Cry
  
• INTERPOL Slow Hands     
  
• JENNY O Well OK Honey
  
• LYNYRD SKYNYRD Sweet Home Alabama     
  
• NIRVANA In Bloom
  
• NIRVANA Breed     
  
• PIXIES Where Is My Mind?
  
• RADIOHEAD High And Dry     
  
• RED FANG Number Thirteen
  
• THE ROLLING STONES (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction     
  
• THE ROLLING STONES The Spider And The Fly
  
• THE ROLLING STONES Play With Fire     
  
• SILVERSUN PICKUPS Panic Switch
  
• SPOON Me And The Bean     
  
• STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Vasoline
  
• TADDY PORTER Mean b****     
  
• TITUS ANDRONICUS A More Perfect Union
  
• WHITE DENIM Burnished     
  
• THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
  
• YELLOW MOON BAND Chimney     
  
• DAN AUERBACH I Want Some More
  
• ERIC CLAPTON Run Back To Your Side     
  
• FRANZ FERDINAND Take Me Out
  
• INCUBUS I Miss You     
  
• KINGS OF LEON Use Somebody
  
• LENNY KRAVITZ Are You Gonna Go My Way     
  
• LITTLE BARRIE Surf Hell
  
• MUSE Unnatural Selection     
  
• MUSE Plug In Baby
  
• QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Go With The Flow     
  
• RAPSCALLIONS California Brain
  
• SIGUR ROS Gobbledigook     
  
• STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Between The Lines
  
• THE DEAD WEATHER I Can't Hear You     
  
• THE HORRORS Do You Remember
  
• SOUNDGARDEN Outshined     
  
• THE STROKES Under Cover Of Darkness
  
• TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS Good Enough     
  
• VELVET REVOLVER Slither
  

The Good: Learning to play guitar, using a real guitar.  The amp kits.  The lessons.  The mini games.  The songs.  The dynamic difficulty
The Bad: The lag.  Note sensitivity can suffer depending on your guitar's controls.  I SWEAR I was hitting the right fret.  
The Ugly: The note display.  This is personal opinion.  I don't like it.  Perhaps I'll get used to it, but for now it really messes me up.

If you have an electric guitar and a PS3, you owe it to yourself to get RockSmith.  If you wish Guitar Hero or Rock Band had taught you useful playing skills, you should get RockSmith (and a guitar, or the bundle).  You might be able to get a cheap guitar off EBay or Kijiji.  With a sound check before every song, even crappy guitars will stay in tune.

If you have an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) and like the idea of playing a music game with a real guitar, check out Rock Prodigy.  It's free (with in-app song purchases) and a MUCH better note display (in my opinion).  I find it significantly easier to read what I'm supposed to be playing.  I've included pictures from both games to compare.  The first is from Rocksmith.  The second is from Rock Prodigy.

Yesterday Rocksmith released their new bass guitar expansion.  This downloadable addition, about 1.2 GB in size, adds bass tracks to all your songs, even ones you may have downloaded separately, and includes bass specific amps, pedals, and tutorials.

Don't have a bass guitar, but would like to learn how to play one?  No problem, Rocksmith will let you emulate a bass with your regular guitar.  You just have to tell it if you're playing on a real bass or emulating a bass.  This is possible because in standard tuning, the lowest four strings of a regular guitar match the tuning of a bass guitar (just off by a couple octaves).  I assume Rocksmith adjusts the pitch to match what a bass should sound like.

Most of the minigames are there for bass players as well.  I played Ducks for a bit.  My favourite, Dawn of the Chordead, isn't there.  That makes sense though since you don't really play chords on a bass like you would on guitar.

There's a multiplayer mode I don't recall.  Maybe that was added in a recent update.  How cool would that be, to play bass and guitar with a friend in Rocksmith?

Everything else is the same between modes, so if you like Rocksmith and want to play bass, or learn to play bass, then this is a good expansion to get.  I still am not a fan of the way notes are displayed during a song, but it's fun and I learn things about playing.

The Good: Playing with my bass guitar!
The Bad: Rocksmith's scrolling display during a song (personal preference.  Others like it fine)
The Ugly: My throbbing hand after playing this song:  http://youtu.be/vR8mRP5GDoQ

Overall, if you enjoy playing guitar or bass, and you have a PS3, you owe it to yourself to get Rocksmith.

One more cool thing about Rocksmith I just discovered: The cable works with Garage Band on a Mac!  I just spent a couple hours farting around with different amps and sounds, with my different guitars.  Very cool.  Once you change the Garage Band audio input to the Rocksmith cable, you can play guitar without concern for annoying feedback.

I recorded a crunchy tune to attach to this post.  I wanted to show you the quality of the sound through the Rocksmith cable, but I screwed up.  I tried out the Groove Track feature (which synchronizes tracks with a reference beat track) but the guitar lost it's hard edge in the process, and of course, you can't undo the Groove Track feature.  

I suspect this means the Rocksmith cable works with PC software as well.  Something like Reaper could probably handle it.

Yes, I can confirm the Rocksmith cable works with Reaper in Windows.  Here I've attached a little riff recorded tonight.  Yes, I am playing both the drums and guitar simultaneously.  That's why only the bass kick pedal is being used.  

The setup:
Rock Band drums
Rocksmith cable
Peavey T-60 guitar
Windows XP on an old Dell PC
Reaper
Independence Free VST (for drums)
Free Amp 3 Full VST (for guitar)

Using software compressor, flange, and overdrive pedals included in Free Amp

Shabadu, next time we jam, we can record some tracks!  We were rockin' Sweet Dreams last time.