Do you remember the first Guitar Hero game? It was a breakout smash hit. There were literally zero games like it on the market. Plus it was addictive, fun multiplayer, and allowed millions of people who didn't have the time or long, delicate fingers to learn to play a real guitar feel like a badass musician. It was an instant classic that spawned an entire generation of games. But, there was a problem. You see, all of that pretending to play guitar resulted in people thinking they could actually play guitar. So, they went out, bought a guitar, started to practice, and quickly realized how ridiculously hard that shit is. The guitar found a new home under the bed, and there it stayed....until last year. Last year, a technologically revolutionary game dropped in the United States. This October, the same game will finally get its European launch. That game, Rocksmith, allowed players to learn how to play the actual guitar from their living room without having to watch some god awful Esteban DVD. The basic principle is really quite similar to Guitar Hero or Rockband, a series of color coded doodads flash across a representation of the guitar on the screen. Play the doodads as instructed, and BAM, you've just played some music. The difference? Well, whereas Rock Band featured a 5 button plastic guitar, Rocksmith functions by plugging your actual electric guitar into your Xbox 360 or Ps3. Yes, the actual electric guitar you don't know how to play can actually be played through your console. What's more, is that the game isn't designed to function as a competitive win/lose activity like previous titles. Instead, Rocksmith is actually designed to help you learn the skills necessary to become a decent guitar player. The game learns as you play it by assessing your skills and presenting appropriately challenging notes for you to play. Additionally, there are multiple tutorial sections, which teach players everything from bending to palm muting techniques. In essence, the single game could replace a few thousand dollars of guitar lessons, and probably be much more helpful as most guitar teachers give exactly this many craps about how much you learn: ----this many. (hint: that's none.) It isn't all great news, though. While American reviewers have generally given the title positive reviews, both from a playing and learning perspective, musicians have not been overly satisfied with it. Many of the musicians brought in to test the product have called it frustrating and inaccurate do to the focus on certain skill sets and ignorance of others. For instance, the game will not teach players anything about theoretical guitar structure, such as how scales can play into one another or why exactly you can play the same note on two different strings. Instead, the game will focus more on the physical act of playing the strings, and the difficult practice necessary to be able to make specific sounds with the guitar. When all is said and done, though, Rocksmith is truly representative of why games exist. The game will be fun, sure. But, more importantly, this type of play has a true and real purpose. People playing this game will be (at least somewhat) learning a lifelong skill. Young kids, whose parents could never have afforded actual lessons will be playing hours on end, creating a whole new generation of musicians.