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A $30 Pocket Guitar? Sure, why not?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 26 / 29
Date: September 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm an amateur musician on my good days, but my music has always been synth and electronics-based. Despite all my attempts, I have never really been able to play guitar. I can play a chord here and there or figure out a riff or two, but putting everything together and making an actual song has always been a challenge I've been unable to overcome. I picked up Jam Sessions with the intention of adding a guitar sound to my music that sounds somewhat authentic.

Anyone expecting a Guitar Hero-like experience on their DS should turn away. Jam Sessions features no cover songs or mater recordings that you play along with like you would in Guitar Hero. Instead, Jam Sessions aims to teach you how to actually play the guitar (albeit on your DS) to your favorite songs, while giving you all the tools you need to create your own.

The game controls rather simply. You strum up and down by moving the stylus in the same way. Chord changes are performed by pressing the D-pad in different directions. For a single song, you can program up to 16 different chords, so you're not really limited there. The game is also rich with extras like effects (distortion, delay, low cut, high cut, etc.) and palm muting. Plato have gone to great lengths not to limit your options when creating songs, and it does not go unappreciated.

Included in the game are 17 songs (with 3 bonus songs if you enter up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right in Free Play Mode). Essentially it's a chord chart that tells you when to strum up, down, or palm mute. There are midi demos of the song included, so if you get stuck on a certain part you can actually hear how it's supposed to sound.

Of course, the real meat and potatoes of Jam Sessions is the Free Play mode, in which you are able to write and record your own songs. Granted, you won't be able to record the whole thing unless it's 30 seconds long, but if you came up with a really cool riff that you need to remember, the feature is a blessing! All you have to do is select a few chords from a selection of hundreds and start playing. Microphone support is also added, but don't expect it to sound like anything more than the DS' built-in mic.

Another thing not to expect is miracles. I could never play an instrument and sing at the same time, my brain just doesn't work that way, and it's no different with Jam Sessions. But the fact that I can play an entire song on guitar without messing up is a feat in and of itself! The default acoustic guitar sound that the game presents doesn't sound entirely real, but still more realistic than any other guitar simulator I've ever heard. If you have the time and equipment, I'd recommend buying an adapter to hook your DS into a guitar amp or external effects processor. I've already done so, and I'm impressed with the quality and variety of sounds that can be produced!

In the end, Jam Sessions is a pretty terrible game. There's really no gaming to be found here at all. What it is though, is an incredibly handy tool for musicians and aspiring musicians to have at their disposal. The developers have put a lot of work and thought into Jam Sessions, and I am grateful for that. I can't even begin to list the times that I've had inspiration for a song pop into my head, only to have it evaporate before I could write it out. Jam Sessions gives me everything I need to make sure that never happens again.

8 out of 10 Stars

feels more like a cheap tech demo than an actual game..

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

its sad. this game had a lot of potential, and a lot of potential for sales. a lot more care should have went into making this.

basically you play the ds as if you were playing a guitar. kind of. you can select chords from a huge variety of chords and assign them to the different directional buttons. there is a bar across the touch screen and you strum across that with the stylus as if it were a pick. you can save songs and you can use to mic to record your voice along with the guitar stuff. theres also a few effects that sound awful. its best to leave them alone.

there is no career mode to speak of. theres just a set list of under 20 songs. no difficulty settings either.

theres pretty much nothing to speak of graphically either. you can change the color of the bar in the middle of the screen and you can change the background color.

a career mode, slightly higher quality sound, and more songs just might have been enough to save this title. as it is now, i wouldnt even say its worth renting. just get a real guitar. (dont get me wrong, i love GH and Rock Band)

5/10

"Guitar Sim"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: September 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok, this isn't a game, but rather an acustic guitar simulator. Still it is fun, and there are certain game aspects (unlocking content by playing songs). I picked this up when it was released yesterday, so my time with it is limited, but I'm already satisfied that I will get my moneys worth. You strum the strings using the touch-screen and select chords using the D-pad (or can be configured to use the buttons if you are a leftie). Obviously, you aren't going to learn proper fretting from this simulator, but if (like me) you've never learned to play guitar, this will allow you to get some of the satisfaction of playing your favorite songs. Within an hour, I was playing a recognizable version of the Marley classic "No Woman, No Cry" (at least I recognized it).

I'm giving the game 5 stars, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. The main downsides I see so far is that they only included 17 songs (plus 3 more you can unlock with a simple code). Not all of the songs will be recognized by most people, but everyone should know at least some of them. I can't imagine that they songs take up much space on the game card (just the lyrics, chords, and strumming patterns), so it is dissapointing that they didn't include more, but I guess they were constrained by licensing costs. It would also be great if they would let you download or enter your own lyrics and chords, but those features don't appear to be present either. Maybe version 2 :)

Update: After playing with the game a little more, I would probably change my score to 4 stars if I could. For some reason, they only included a playback mode on less than half the songs. The playback mode is useful when trying to learn an unfamiliar song. Again, I can't see that this would add tremendous amounts of data so it seems to me that this product was rushed out the door a little bit. Still, it's fun for what it is.

Interesting idea, but not much meat here

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: September 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My wife and I picked up this game on a whim thinking it would be a fun musical game. What we ended up instead was a good guitar simulator, and not much game. The guitar simulator is quite flexible, but only remains fun for about fifteen minutes. The song collection amounts to an anemic guitar songbook. There's no scoring, and little reason to keep playing once you've seen all of the tricks this one-trick pony is capable of providing. If you don't have access to a guitar, this is likely to be a bit more fun for you, but if you have musical experience, this isn't going to be that impressive.

That said, if you have young kids who are learning, this might be a good reinforcement tool for them. The chords are properly labeled, and there is a metronome included.

An audio sketchbook for songwriters

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was pretty skeptical when I first caught wind of this, expecting it to be more toy than tool. This "un-game" is an interesting way for songwriters to capture ideas when away from their instruments and/or in noisy public places. You can plug your headphones in and strum through every chord on the fretboard, recording your progressions on the fly so you can take it back to your home/studio to work them into a polished product. Think of it as a sort of audio sketchbook.

Controlling the chord changes with the + pad or the right-side buttons takes a little practice. Playing it reminds a little of playing an autoharp. Sort of. That shouldn't dissuade anyone, though. The customizability of the chord masks and the ability to select from all the variations of each chord make it worth climbing the not-so-steep learning curve. It's not really much like playing a real guitar, but it can help you train your ear to chords, and, at a minimum, it's a fun, portable tool to shake up your way of thinking about composition.

Cool idea, but nor much to do.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is an excellent idea by Ubisoft, don't get me wrong, but it is horribly implemented. The songs that are included in this "game" are more like sheet music, and after you play them there is nothing left to do.

Jam Sessions, isn't as much a game as it is a pocket guitar, and I would say that it is worth about half as much as retail (15$).

Best Non-Game I've Ever Played!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Before I start, I just want to say one thing: IF YOU HAVE LITTLE INTEREST IN MUSIC/GUITAR THIS ISN'T FOR YOU. This isn't really a game and isn't for hardcore gamers. But its still an awesome piece software, and for those who like music like me, this may be a favorite.
The rundown:

Pros:
Sounds just like a real guitar.
You can record up to about 10 min. of music.
You can choose from over a hundred of chords to play.
Play nearly any song (I play Beatles)
Tons of customations
Great Special Effects
Save 30 Chord Palettes
Use microphone for voice

Cons:
No voice recording.
No ratings on song mode.
Not enough record slots.

Summary: Jam Sessions is a dream come true for music lovers everywhere. Those looking for a hardcore "game" will be dissapointed.

JAM SESSIONS IS OKAYY...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I BOUGHT JAM SESSIONS LAST WEEK AND I WAS SO EXITED BECAUSE IVE BEEN WANTING TO PLAY GUITAR!!! SO I RUSHED TO TARGET AFTER READING AMAZON REVIEWS AND I WAS FUN FOR ABOUT A DAY. AFTER THAT IT REALLY DOESNT DO ANYTHING FOR YOU UNLESS YOU JUST WANT TO SING ALONG TO GUITAR CHORDS. YOU CAN GET COOL CHORDS ONLINE AND PLAY ALONG! BUT THATS ABOUT IT. SO ITS SO SO FOR ME..BUT NOT BAD ILL HAVE A GUITAR HANDY FROM NOW ON. OH YEA AND IF CONECTED TO A SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM IT SOUNDS REEEALLY GOOD!

where are all the songs?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game just to kick back and have some fun with no agenda, it does that just fine, but my ONE complaint is that there arnt enough songs and no link for more songs to play on free play.

Great for what it is

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Don't expect Guitar Hero out of this software. It is not a "game" It is a guitar software piece. The D-pad acts as a chord selector and your strum to play that chord. It is open ended and you can play any song you can think of that uses straight chords, sorry no picking individual strings. I would love to see someone take full advantage of the software by hooking their DS up to an amp and playing a little show with it.

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