An idea to make bass more fun...

[samjjones]

I would suggest the MIDI Pro Adapter is 'off the charts' cool, when you consider the scope of the instruments it enables.

Yes, great suggestion. I intentionally omitted the "pro mode" stuff and stuck to "enhancements to the stock system", but if I was going to add the keys, I probably should have added Squier and Mustang. Squier would be top 3 on the list by itself, BTW...Mustang further down.

Personally never saw the appeal with the Wooden Strats, since you're basically carrying around a lot of excess weight and they don't look very aesthetically different (from a distance) from the stock Strats that Mad Catz produced. But I recognize that they have their fans.

[Sargehalo51]

I enjoyed the wooden strat (and still do from time to time). I do enjoy my Mustang for pro-mode now and again too, though I don't like how different it feels from my real guitars (but I was too cheap to shell out the $$$ for the RB Squier Strat).

But, with the advent of Rocksmith, my real Squier Strat, Epi Les Paul, and Squier Standard Telecaster get much more use than my plastic pro-mode Mustang. Rocksmith is just leaps and bounds better than RB3's guitar pro-mode.

[CloudWolf]

For the 5-button string instruments, I always thought it was strange they left out open strumming, particularly on bass after GH started doing it. Guitars and basses make sound when you strum, whether or not you hold a fret, this is common knowledge.

IMO Guitar Hero provides enough examples for why adding open strumming is a bad idea. Basically, I hate playing bass on GH games because of it. A lot of songs are extremely awkward to play because of the open notes.

[Mr. Tate]

Personally never saw the appeal with the Wooden Strats, since you're basically carrying around a lot of excess weight and they don't look very aesthetically different (from a distance) from the stock Strats that Mad Catz produced. But I recognize that they have their fans.

I don't think the "excess weight" argument is quite correct, because as a matter of fact you're playing with an unrealistically light fake guitar as a standard, the wooden is more or less the correct weight. Also, yeah, if you tend to play the guitar very up close, and very up close the wooden even looks better, let alone the handling. I understand though that for long gaming sessions a lighter peripheral may be best, but IMO there's no comparison between the Telecasters and the wooden replicas.

[Mr. Tate]

Rocksmith is just leaps and bounds better than RB3's guitar pro-mode.

Why is that? I don't even play pro guitar in RB3 so I wouldn't know how to make a comparison but I'm interested in the differences.

[Sargehalo51]

Why is that? I don't even play pro guitar in RB3 so I wouldn't know how to make a comparison but I'm interested in the differences.

1. You can use any guitar
2. The note highway is just like reading guitar tabs, which is much more intuative than the numbers and bumps see in RB3's pro-mode.
3. The game auto adjusts to your skill level in real time as each song is being played.
4. There are fun "games" which teach you and help you to practice (while having fun) various things like chords, how to move quickly and accurately up and down the fret board, etc.
5. The tutorials are extensive and really do make a difference on the various skills needed to play guitar.

My only complaint with Rocksmith thus far is the way the game laid out, kinda a pain to navigate with song selection and such. But that is a minor complaint since I've learned so much from playing the game.

[ricecake]

2. The note highway is just like reading guitar tabs, which is much more intuative than the numbers and bumps see in RB3's pro-mode.

I disagree with this point. If you turn on "chord numbering" on RB3, then it is essentially just guitar tab turned sideways. Rocksmith's note highway, while pretty intuitive, is way different from guitar tab. I still have trouble remembering which color note goes with which string.

All of your other points I agree with, though.