Guitar gaming gets real

Remember 2006? It was the year that saw Paul McCartney turn 64, a Wayne Rooney stamp help lead to England’s World Cup exit (never mind, he’ll grow out of it soon, we thought) and the Guitar Hero franchise take the UK by storm.

Still, as popular as Harmonix’s Guitar Hero and Rock Band series were, the idea of strumming plastic instruments with five colour-coded buttons has since gone the same way as cargo trousers and turn-ups on your jeans (it’s over – stop doing it).

Rocksmith, enter stage left. It’s the same principle – you, a guitar and the chance to live out your latent rock god fantasies over a setlist of hits, including Song 2, Satisfaction and Rebel Rebel.

The difference is, instead of a toy-looking piece of plastic, you hold a real guitar. And, if you don’t play already, it means you’re learning the guitar, too.

Daunting? Initially, yes. But soon your fingers will be dancing over the strings like the ghost of, well, probably not Hendrix – let’s say Bonehead from Oasis. What? He’s not dead yet? Pedants. OK – insert your own dead, mediocre guitarist here.

Rocksmith will be released on 12 October for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360