Rock Prodigy,, anyone tried the full version?

http://www.rockprodigy.com/

I downloaded it to my daughter's Ipod but you can't do much with it until you buy the "upgrade". Plus we don't have an instrument interface for the Ipod.

First time hearing about this one.

Maybe another product review?? :-)

Interesting. It seems a lot like Guitar Hero, but with a real guitar. Its hard to tell, but it seems like the software keeps the original guitar track recording going as long as it "hears" that you're playing the right requested notes on your guitar. I'm a little skeptical though as to whether or not time spent "playing" with the software would really lead to developing good technique efficiently. Guess someone needs to try it and find out!

On a side note, slick website followed up with crap video.. really? An impromptu interview with a haphazard overview of the software & bad audio is the best they could come up with? Maybe its just me, but I'd like to see a little more effort & clarity in the marketing..

Update: I tried the free version too.. if you've got an acoustic and an i-Phone it works well as far as picking up the guitar notes. It is exactly like Guitar Hero as far as I can tell.. kind of fun in a way, but it also indirectly encourages you to blunder through as best you can, and then try again to "improve your score". I was always taught that the fastest way to learn something on guitar is to practice at a speed where you make few, if any mistakes, and then speed up only when you can do so & still play correctly. Still, I'm curious too.. I tried to check out what the upgrade costs, but it said it was currently unavailable. I certainly wouldn't trade this app for one of Lisa's or Christopher's lessons, but would be really interested to hear from anyone who feels they're getting somewhere with it.

Downloaded the app, but have yet to try the upgraded version. At $14.99 it's quite an investment so will download it tonight when I get home.

But the Pros and Cons of the free version, as I've explored it so far.

Pros:
• It has a strong game feel; probably the closest simulation to Guitar Hero that I've seen that allows you to use a real guitar.
• They do have some cool songs to learn, but I have no idea how quickly they're able to update them, and that's a BIIIG factor to the usability of their app.
• The interface is really dynamic, with lots of cool animation.

Cons:
• You have to have a guitar to play - maybe not a huge con, but I know that a lot of aspiring musicians don't down their own instruments yet.
• No tuner -- if you're going to have an app that relies on note detection I can't see how you wouldn't provide a tuner. If people's guitar's aren't in tune then how can your software work?
• Too many basic features are in the Upgrade only...like the ability to pause the songs, see the note name and see the chord names. Basically the app is useless as a learning tool unless you buy the Upgrade.


okay...super fail. I went into the setting page, and the app froze, and now it keeps crashing at launch. So...yeah...guess the review is done.

Hello,

Thank you for your patience.
We worked with customers that experienced this bug, identified the cause, then fixed it.

You don't need to wait for the update. The bug was associated with several songs. Our sincerest apologies.

Here's what to do:
Write down your username and password.
Then delete the app.
Restart your device.
Then reinstall.
Re-login with your username and password.
That should do it.

Thank you again for the feedback and helping us solve the bug.
Keep the reviews, posts, emails, tweets, & shout outs flowing. We read 'em all.


Original post 2/11/2011:

Hi, I am from the Rock Prodigy dev team, here in Los Angeles.

Sorry to hear that the app has crashed on the Settings screen.
We've not heard of this bug before...
I'd like to help troubleshoot the problem.
I can post suggestions here, or if you prefer, you can contact us via our site:

http://www.rockprodigy.com/contact/

From there, we can interact directly.

Sincere apologies again.
Please let me know how I can help.

Thank you.
Maximum respect,
Rock Prodigy

Hello,

Here are a few things to try, if for some reason, there is a quit-out:

- if you've already signed up for a Rock Prodigy account, remember this information, because you may use it again
- make sure the internet connection that the device is using is reliable
- delete the app, then reinstall
- v1.2 is the latest version and can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store
- restart the device before you launch Rock Prodigy

If there are still problems, please make sure the device is running iOS 3.2+, and is on and iPhone 3GS or later, iPad, or iPod touch 4th generation.

As always, you can give us a shout at
http://www.rockprodigy.com/contact/
for personalized and direct interaction.

Thank you again -
Maximum respect,
Rock Prodigy

Hello,

Thank you for your patience.
We worked with customers that experienced this bug, identified the cause, then fixed it.

You don't need to wait for the update. The bug was associated with several songs. Our sincerest apologies.

Here's what to do:
Write down your username and password.
Then delete the app.
Restart your device.
Then reinstall.
Re-login with your username and password.
That should do it.

Thank you again for the feedback and helping us solve the bug.
Keep the reviews, posts, emails, tweets, & shout outs flowing. We read 'em all.