One day after playing guitar for the first time in months, Michelle tells me about a new Xbox 360 game called Rocksmith that utilizes real guitars as controllers. It’s not like Guitar Hero or Rock Band where players just pound on big colored buttons. This game actually requires a real guitar to play – and it’s FUN. It’s exactly what I have said should exist since Guitar Hero first became popular. As a guitar player, I find Guitar Hero to be horribly dull, reducing a real musical instrument to a child’s play toy. But within minutes, Rocksmith had me really playing along with familiar songs as well as songs I had never even heard before with no practice needed.

The game says it varies skill level on the fly, adjusting itself down for those who don’t know how to play guitar and up for those who do. I’ve only tried playing to the best of my ability and it keeps challenging me. But I imagine it would be an incredible way to learn to play guitar too. After all, that’s exactly how I learned years ago – just by repeatedly trying to play along with CDs. Rocksmith facilitates that interaction with fun visuals, including a “guitarcade” that turns guitar playing into an arcade game, like shooting at ducks.

It’s pretty amazing and I look forward to playing guitar more often as a result of buying it. It’s not a cheap game ($80 on Amazon) but it’s worth every penny if it gets me to pick up my instrument more.