March 15, 2011 - Today, Ubisoft announced the development of Rocksmith, a new video game franchise that the company says is set to revolutionize the music genre. Although there have been games that have allowed for "real" guitars to be used as controllers, such as last year's Power Gig Rise of The Sixstring and Rock Band 3, those previous games all required guitars that were specially designed.  Rocksmith is the first and only game where players can plug any real guitar with a standard quarter-inch input jack into an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3 or a PC, and play through an in-depth library of music including everything from the latest hits to classic rock songs.

The game is scheduled to be available sometime in the second half of 2011.  Ubisoft is promising that the gameplay will automatically adjust to a player's skill level, and will engage experienced musicians and those who are picking up a guitar for the first time. The game includes a sizeable library of music from classic rock bands to current artists, such as The Animals, The Black Keys, David Bowie, Interpol, Nirvana and The Rolling Stones and more.

We'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one, but for more official information on Rocksmith, you can follow the game on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rocksmithgame, or visit www.rocksmith.com.