i saw a mention of rocksmith on a thread yesterday, and having never heard of it had a look last night. looks interesting, loosely thinking about getting it for a me/son pressie for xmas.

but can/does it really help you improve guitar skills? and i guess for me, who utterly hates video games and thinks they are a total waste of life, will i find it a useful tool to improve my playing (very fundamental, 3 chord basher type player who struggles with motivation/inspiration but would like to play more – classic more time looking for songs on youtube than actually playing)).

Ive got the first one and its pretty good. Im a total guitar newbie so found it helpful for getting used to proper fretting and playing the correct string. Not sure how useful it is once you can play properly but I see it as a halfway house between watching videos and being taught by a person.
Get the first one second hand, see if you like it, if not you can resell for what you paid.

I have the 1st one, overall its great fun, ive played guitar for years, i`m not brilliant but it makes you play a lot more, i played it till my fingers bled, well almost, anyway made it me feel like a rock god.

Quoting Brian Adams has got to be minus 5 rock god points?

As a guitarist, no. Found it really hard to pick up/follow. Just do it properly!