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PSN Tuesday: Halloween sale, Rocksmith 2014 and free Hotline Miami for PS Plus
In addition to the new PlayStation 4 titles up for pre-order, this week's injection of PlayStation Store content brings Rocksmith 2014 Edition, while Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Premium Edition remind us what gaming was like many, many (read: two-ish) years ago. PlayStation Plus subscribers get a free copy of Hotline Miami added to their collection, and further discounts on games included in Sony's ongoing Sale of the Dead, which lasts until November 4. Spooky-ooky games marked down by the sale include The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, Resident Evil 4 HD, Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Dead Island Riptide and a bunch of other festively appropriate software.
Aerosmith, Pixies square off in dueling Rocksmith 2014 launch trailers
Ubisoft's guitar teaching tool Rocksmith: 2014 Edition launches today, and two new trailers force players to make a difficult decision: Pixies, or Aerosmith? The Pixies headline the European trailer above with the Fight Club anthem "Where Is My Mind?", while North America's trailer below features "America's favorite rock band" Aerosmith and their hit 1975 single "Walk This Way." Let's pretend that you get to choose which band lives and which one dies. It might help to weigh their songs against one another. Do you prefer "Monkey Gone to Heaven" or "Love in an Elevator"? "No. 13 Baby" or "Uncle Salty"? "Gigantic" or "Dream On"? (For the record, the correct answers, in order, are A, A, and – just barely – B. Pixies win.)
Holy sales, Batman! Arkham series and Metro lead this week's deals
If you're a PC gamer looking forward to Friday's release of Batman: Arkham Origins and have yet to scoop up the previous two entries in the series, now might be a good time to do so, as they're 75 percent off on Steam until Monday, 10 am Pacific. That makes Batman: Arkham Asylum just $5.00, and Batman: Arkham City just $7.50. Both versions are Game of the Year editions, meaning even more batarang for your buck. Not a bat-fan? Amazon has unearthed savings on Tomb Raider and Metro: Last Light, which are both on sale for $19.99 through the week, while Best Buy is helping aspiring gamer musicians get into the groove by taking $50 off the cost of any electric guitar when you buy Rocksmith 2014. Lots of good things on sale, stranger.
Rocksmith 2014's full tracklist: Arctic Monkeys, Slayer, Nirvana, Queen
Prepare to rock the casbah with Rocksmith 2014's complete, 55-song tracklist, revealed today by Ubisoft. (It should be noted that The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" isn't one of the songs in Rocksmith 2014.) The game will launch with "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith, "R U Mine?" by Arctic Monkeys, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan, "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, "Sixteen Saltines" by Jack White, "Cold Company" by Minus the Bear, "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse, "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana, "We are the Champions" by Queen, "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead, "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones, "War Ensemble" by Slayer, "Stuck on a Wire out on a Fence" by The Dear Hunter and "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, along with more classic and modern rock tunes. Owners of the original Rocksmith will be able to import their current songs, though an extra cost will apply. DLC for the first Rocksmith is compatible with Rocksmith 2014 at no additional cost. Rocksmith 2014 is due out on October 22 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Peep the full tracklist below.
Jam with robots in Rocksmith 2014's 'Session Mode'
In another example of society inching closer to SkyNet, Rocksmith 2014 features a "Session Mode" that features adaptive A.I. In the jam session mode, the customizable band you select will play and react to your riffs helping you create sweet music. Music that will become the soundtrack of your death when the A.I. kill you in your sleep.
Rocksmith 2014 adds colorblind mode to its set list
Rocksmith 2014 expands on the tutorial set established in the inaugural release, but more pertinent to the visually-impaired rockers out there is an optional mode for the colorblind. Producer Taylor Benson, who is colorblind, says players will find adjusted hues and color saturation levels that will span the entire game, from the advanced lessons to the new Guitarcade mini-games, in colorblind mode. The first Rocksmith actually caught some flak for not being so kind to colorblind students. But Benson concludes that those who have the two most common forms of colorblindness – the third is far too uncommon and problematic to account for – should hopefully have no problem laying down some sweet licks in Rocksmith 2014. And with yesterday's news about the Battlefield 4 beta having colorblind options, isn't it nice to see more developers recognizing this fairly common affliction?
Rocksmith 2014 adds Green Day, Deftones, Def Leppard to tracklist
Rocksmith 2014 Edition bulks up its playable tracklist with eight newly announced songs, marking the first time Def Leppard, Green Day, and other acts have been featured in Ubisoft's guitar-teaching music simulation series. Today's announced tracks include Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me," Deftones' "My Own Summer," Green Day's "X-Kid," Queen's "We Are The Champions," Ratt's "Round and Round," Rush's "The Spirit Of Radio, and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. "GO FURTHER" from B'z guitarist Tak Matsumoto rounds out today's setlist announcement, joining the game's previously announced B'z track "ultra soul." A full list of songs featured in Rocksmith 2014 Edition is after the break below.
Rocksmith 2014 trailer shows off new Guitarcade games
A new trailer for Rocksmith 2014 shows off a few of the mini-games coming to the game's Guitarcade mode. Introduced in the first Rocksmith, Guitarcade offers players a chance to improve their string-plucking skills while being challenged with retro-inspired micro-games such as the Galaga-like Ducks Redux. Among the other Guitarcade challenges seen in the trailer are Scale Racers and Gone Wailin'. Scale Racers has players mastering scales while avoiding traffic in a police car chase, while Gone Wailin' forces guitarists to play louder or quieter to elevate a characters and collect coins. The last mini-game shown off is Return to Castle Chordead, a first-person shooter in which players strum chords on command to eradicate enemies. Rocksmith 2014 launches in October for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Rocksmith 2014 trailer plucks out its improvements
This Rocksmith 2014 trailer tours the game's improvements over the first title published by Ubisoft in 2011. 2014 sees a wide variety of changes, including a better note highway and lack of load times, Ubi says. Rocksmith 2014 will launch in October.
Rocksmith 2014's lesson trailer takes us to school
The latest trailer for Rocksmith 2014 Edition details the game's enhanced teaching capabilities, which are accurate and specific enough to not just tell us that we're doing it wrong, but specifically how we're doing it wrong. Hey Ubisoft, can you patch this into our Significant Others?
Rocksmith 2014 amps up its game, puts a jam band in your TV
Our review of the original Rocksmith lauded the technology that underpinned the whole experience, namely that you could connect an electric guitar directly to your game console or PC, and it worked. As a game and as a learning tool, however, we raised quite a few criticisms about Rocksmith. The automatically adjusting difficulty was a particular sticking point, as it prevented experienced guitarists from jumping in at a higher level of proficiency while simultaneously muting the thrill of accomplishment for novices. In Rocksmith 2014, automatic difficulty is out the window if you don't want it, and you can even set different difficulties for each section of the song. That's a huge improvement, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. Ubisoft has added a whole new suite of options, features, modes and lessons to Rocksmith 2014. Based on what I was able to see at Gamescom this year, it's shaping up to be a much more powerful tool for beginners and pros alike. Executive producer Nao Higo and creative director Paul Cross referred to the original Rocksmith as the team's own Assassin's Creed, i.e. a game with a solid foundation but notable problems (and financial success despite them, also like Assassin's Creed). Rocksmith 2014, meanwhile, is Assassin's Creed 2, the project that addresses those problems and presents the game they wanted to make all along.
'Most' on-disc Rocksmith songs will work with Rocksmith 2014
Ubisoft's FAQ for Rocksmith 2014 notes that the game will support all DLC from the original Rocksmith as well as its on-disc tracks. Speaking to executive producer Nao Higo at Gamescom, we've learned that there will likely be a few tracks that don't transfer. Higo told us that Rocksmith 2014 will support "most" of the original game's songs, though licensing issues may prevent some tracks from making the jump. "We're still working out the licensing on a couple of stragglers," said Higo. "We want to get to the point where we can say [all the original tracks will transfer], but we don't want to lie to you, so right now we're saying most of them." Rocksmith 2014 will launch this October on PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Rocksmith 2014 will work with your electric ukuleles and violins
One of the big features in Ubisoft's Rocksmith 2014 is Session Mode. In essence, it turns your gaming console or computer into a virtual jam band that listens to and adapts to how you play. It's pretty amazing, and we'll be posting a more detailed preview as soon as we can. In the meantime, here's a little sneak peek: Session Mode can work with electric stringed instruments other than a guitar, even if it wasn't intentionally designed to. Jokingly, I asked executive producer Nao Higo (pictured right) if I'd be able to plug in my electric ukulele. Imagine my surprise when he told me it would work. The interface on the screen would still reflect the frets and strings of a guitar (which are very different from a ukulele's), but Higo said the virtual band would still listen to my notes and play along appropriately. Creative director Paul Cross (pictured left) added that a member of the dev team has even managed to successfully test Session Mode with an electric violin. Of course, you can't play the main game with instruments other than a guitar or bass – there go my hopes of becoming an electric sitar virtuoso – but the fact that other instruments work at all is remarkable. Now I just have to find out if I can outfit my virtual jam band with a trumpet and I'll be in business.
Ubisoft details Rocksmith 2014's advanced training features
Ubisoft has rolled out a new trailer for its upcoming rhythm game and guitar teaching tool Rocksmith 2014 Edition, explaining how many of Rocksmith's core mechanics have been significantly overhauled for the series' follow-up release. During gameplay, note and chord prompts are now clearly labeled, with fret numbers listed underneath upcoming strums. Rocksmith 2014 Edition also informs the player of proper finger positioning for every note, and an on-screen guide demonstrates proper technique for transitioning between chords. Rocksmith's dynamic approach to difficulty has also been overhauled. Players can now set a difficulty for an entire song or individual sections, overriding the game's default "level-up" approach to song mastery. In addition, the new "Learn a Song" mode suggests tutorials, chord lessons, and practice sessions for players struggling with specific song segments. Master Mode has also seen a number of improvements since the original Rocksmith, where it simply eliminated all notation for the entire length of a song. Master Mode now gradually introduces itself dynamically throughout individual song sections, removing note prompts and rewarding large point bonuses for full mastery. Rocksmith 2014 Edition will launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms on October 22.
Rocksmith 2014 will be a 'fully responsive personal teacher'
Rocksmith 2014's lesson mode will explain the causes for a player's mistakes and offer advice on how to fix them, an update to Ubisoft's blog announced this week. While the original Rocksmith told players when they were making mistakes, Rocksmith 2014 will explain exactly what's going wrong. If a player is struggling with a concept, the game will "pull you out of the interactive portion of the lesson and give you further instructions - this time with additional camera angles and tips." Ubisoft's update states that Rocksmith 2014 will triple the amount of lessons offered in the original game, covering everything from tuning a guitar to advanced playing techniques like tapping notes. Rocksmith 2014 will strap up for the 360, PS3 and PC this October. The game's soundtrack will include Jake White, Bob Dylan, Alice In Chains and more artists to be revealed at a later date. Pre-orders will include The Smashing Pumpkins' Cherub Rock as a bonus track.
Rocksmith 2014 announced [Update: Now with trailer]
Ubisoft has just announced Rocksmith 2014 during its pre-E3 press conference in Los Angeles, a follow-up to 2011's rhythm game/educational suite Rocksmith. The game was introduced by Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell, who demonstrated the game's Session Mode, wherein he used voice commands to alter the song's tempo as he played along. The game is expected in October. %Gallery-190965%
