Hello Rocksmith fans!
Over the years of Rocksmith, there have been some questionable moments when it comes to content offered, here’s a few of the instances that stick out.
Song 2’s lyrics
One of the first things people noticed with Rocksmith (2011) was the lyrical discrepancy between what Ubisoft SF used for the lyrics on Blur’s Song 2, and what Lego Rock Band had.
And I’m pins and I’m needles
Well I lie and I’m easy
All of the time but I’m never sure why I need you
Pleased to meet you
…
I got my head done
When I was young
it’s not my problem
it’s not my problem
And a piece that I’m made of
When I lie and I’m easy
All of the time that I never show why I need you
Yes I need you
…
I got my head dumb
When I was young
It’s not my problem
it’s not my problem
Where did these lyrics come from? We are told it’s from the label but how is it that no lyric websites remotely reflect the lyrics Ubisoft used…
Ziggy Stardust
A large majority of us enjoy the work of David Bowie, so you can imagine our excitement when it was confirmed that Ziggy Stardust would be included in Hit Singles II (2015). However when the track arrived to play we were remiss to see that the iconic arpeggio that anchors the song was not tracked on Lead nor Rhythm.
There is space to fill in the blanks via the chords on rhythm but why was it not tracked? Was it a readability issue? Or just an oversight?
U2 Pack releasing DLC after New Years without “New Years Day”
Licensing is hard, we know… You’d have to think they were anticipating comments about this though
A Very Rocksmith Christmas
Back when Rocksmith first came out there was a FREE DLC pack, the first appearance of The Notetrackers doing three festive arrangements called A Very Rocksmith Christmas.
This pack vanished shortly after Rocksmith came to Steam and when Rocksmith 2014 came out for PS4/XB1 it didn’t show up.
To date this pack is the only truly de-listed content from Rocksmith…
Was this a matter of dispute with Seth Chapla going to BandFuse, despite Brian McCune and Matt Montgomery both having songs of their own in the three song pack?
Or was this simply as Dan puts it “a limited time early adopter gift”
Pitch Shifting
The data has shown over the years that the Rocksmith customer base mostly just wants to play songs in E Standard or at the most Drop D. The library certainly reflects this and if you’ve noticed there hasn’t been a true tuned song in the library since 2015!
Because of a general unwillingness to tune off a few cents many songs after this were pitch shifted to A440, and some of them you can really hear the difference…
Also, one song did get updated from a true tuning to A440 years after it’s release
Still no Bowie Pack
Does anyone find it strange we never got a David Bowie pack yet we have Eight singles?
What’s the deal with that?
Album versions of songs that should definitely be live
Live versions are a funny thing in music games, in some cases you hate to get the live version, but in other instances the live version is in fact the one that you are most familiar with.
The earliest instance of this in music games (that I can think of) is the cover of Rock and Roll All Nite by KISS in Guitar Hero III
Cool solo right? However, this cover is based off the live version of the song!
Sorry, no solo for you!
BREAKING THE WUT?
Now that we have that example, how did Rocksmith disappoint purchasers when it came to Studio vs. Live…
VS
This one was quite jarring, but probably the biggest offender was when Peter Frampton finally showed up…
VS
Even Guitar Hero 5 had the full live track…
Hopefully in the future Ubisoft SF can consider live versions for possible licenses…
Microphone Mode on PS4
Did you know that microphone mode on Playstation 4 just simply isn’t a thing that works?
If you're on PS4, it's a known bug that the team is working on. If you're on any other platform, drop a note to @UbisoftSupport and they can suggest some steps.
— Rocksmith+ (@rocksmithplus) February 11, 2018
It's been more than a year since the version was released, but Rocksmith still doesn't work with Microphone mode on PS4! @Ubisoft @UbisoftSupport @Rocksmithgame
and yes, my console recognizes the mic!— grothfuss (@daakusaxena) August 26, 2018
@Rocksmithgame My microphone isn’t recognised in microphone mode on my PS4, any ideas?
— Joe (@JPrice__) January 1, 2020
Even though Sony’s history with music games is mostly terrible this is quite a bad look for that Remastered patch, when every other platform has it work since 2016 but Playstation 4…
Rocksmith Exercises
Last year’s DLC was supplemented by six weeks of Rocksmith Exercises at $4.99 USD per release.
The community reaction was mostly not good however many people have since shown up to say how much the exercises have become a welcome part of their musical journey with Rocksmith. Some even putting the content in a setlist to warm up before they delve into the the other 1500 songs that aren’t from Greg Studley 😁
Could it have been differently priced? Yeah, maybe- but most people seemed to see the value in what they provided to Easy, Intermediate, and Advanced players.
Right Song, Wrong Version
This is sort of like a live/re-record situation but nobody was more angry than Breaking Benjamin fans when they found out Blow Me Away was not the version from Halo 2 but in fact one featuring a guest vocalist (Valora)
Another instance of Right song, wrong version would be back in Rocksmith 1 days when we received Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
Receiving the radio cut (3:05) of a 17 minute masterpiece was definitely something to complain about… Originally we figured it should go under the column of Licensing is Hard but of course, @Harmonix showed up to make us all look really dumb…
However those two songs do not compare to the disconnect people felt when Smoke on the Water had a guitar solo that nobody had ever heard before, or cared about.
Somehow Ubisoft SF had to license the 1997 remix, something no other video game had to do…
What tuning did Dimebag actually play in?
A hot topic with the amount of Pantera songs in the DLC library, is why is only one song in D Standard?
In fact, Walk by Pantera is literally called Walk (Drop D)…
When asked on livestream why Walk is in Drop D, QA Supervisor David Stevens simply stated “Because it’s in Drop D”
Free Bird
Nothing is more controversial in Rocksmith then the first DLC week containing a chart that has not been updated (by any real measure) since November of 2011…
There’s no slide guitar, there’s no arpeggios, there’s a single tone change and of course it ends on a fade out!
This is by far one of the worst examples of early Rocksmith DLC… Sure it’s fun to play Free Bird, but as a purchase you’d be better off grabbing literally any other Lynyrd Skynrd DLC single or just mangling your hands for good with Green Grass and High Tides.
It does say a lot about Rocksmith’s DLC library and their level of charting precision that we started with this and ended up on an Opeth song pack!
How do you feel about how far Rocksmith has come from 2011 to 2020? Does the bad mostly outweigh the good? Or were these controversial moments definitely instances that rubbed you the wrong way for good? Let us know!
