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So far this week, it's all about Guitar Hero

The release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock during last weekend was a bit of an anomaly. Most video games, along with other entertainment media, launch on Tuesdays. For one reason or another, Activision saw fit to give the latest Guitar Hero installment a Sunday release. Weekend releases are popular in Japan for the sake of giving students one less reason to skip school, but such practice isn’t common in North America. There’s no debate that the Guitar Hero franchise is huge, but not even Halo 3 had a unique launch day. A couple days after the release of the latest Guitar Hero, it’s clear that Neversoft understands what it takes to make a great music game. About those new wireless guitars though...

Guitar Hero Players Report Issues with Guitar Hardware
The new Guitar Hero III bundle also promised to bring an improved guitar design with wireless technology. Sadly, the new owners of the latest guitar controllers are reporting on Internet forums and blogs that certain buttons do not work as desired. Early evidence points to the new detachable neck being the culprit for the problem. Activision and Red Octane have yet to officially comment on the issue.

Guitar Hero III to Gain New Offline Co-op Gameplay Mode
While soloists may quickplay any cleared song on any difficulty, those wanting to have a quickplay duet with another player will find such an option to be missing. Thanks to the advent of patches on consoles, however, such a game mode can be added relatively easily. A free download from Xbox Live will enable offline co-op quickplay in the Xbox 360 version, though no plans have been revealed for a similar option for the other systems.

Beware the Wal-Mart Bundle with Old Guitar Hardware
Wal-Mart’s low-cost strategy tends to make consumers happy with low prices. Those looking for Guitar Hero III may be pleased to find that Wal-Mart will be charging less than other retailers for the new game, but buyers should be aware (and beware) that the Wal-Mart versions of the game come with older guitar hardware on the Xbox 360 and PS2 versions. If you’re looking for Guitar Hero III on those systems, be sure you’re buying the one with the guitar you want.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero III Hardware Could be Incompatible
According to preliminary tests conducted by IGN, gamers looking to get into both music rhythm franchises may have to invest in separate hardware for each game. Rock Band guitars don’t appear to work with Guitar Hero III, while both Xbox 360 Guitar Hero guitars work with Rock Band in a limited capacity. Ideally, Guitar Hero III could be patched after release to support the Rock Band hardware, but that would assume that EA and Activision would have to play nice.

Two New Nintendo DS Lite Colors
With Nintendo’s handheld in selling to more people than ever, the next step to attract even more customers is to offer them in a greater variety of colors! According to a flyer scan received by Go Nintendo, the two new colors will be metallic pink and gold. The pink DS appears to share the same color as the new rose color that is currently available only in Japan and will be themed with a paw print logo to match its Nintendogs pack-in game. The gold DS will be bundled with the new Zelda game.

Gears of War Almost Shipped Sans Multiplayer
Before Halo 3 hit, Gears of War was where most Xbox 360 gamers were spending their current-gen online game time. That’s why it is surprising to learn that the president of Epic Games nearly scrapped the multiplayer portion of Gears of War. Remember that “Mad World” commercial? That wasn’t unanimously approved either.

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GH3 rocks.
By therealnickdanger on 10/30/2007 8:42:55 AM , Rating: 5
I picked it up on Sunday and me and four of my friends tore through it and unlocked everything. It doesn't take long to get through 70+ songs...

The first thing we noticed was how exceptional the wireless guitar build quality is. The damn thing feels like a real mini-guitar. Unlike GH2's Xplorer, all the buttons feel more substantial. Everything seems very responsive, but that's what is so strange. The game is very forgiving - almost too forgiving - when you hit a note. In GH2, your timing had to be impeccable, but GH3 is very button-mash friendly. You are given a considerable cushion before and after the note crosses the threshold - much moreso than GH2.

I suppose they had to alter the timing to compensate for online play (lag). Neversoft has adapted for this by obviously increasing the difficulty by simply throwing more notes at you - and in more complicated combinations. On my best day, I struggle my way through Expert on GH2, but two of my buds (in a real band) that play Expert effortlessly on GH2 were caught off guard by even a couple songs on Medium (Dragonforce, Killswitch). So as to keep my sanity, I normally play Medium/Hard on GH2, but I think I'll be strictly Medium on GH3 for a while - but I'm practicing "My Curse" on Expert...

OK, I have to laugh a little. People are talking about how great the new graphics are. In comparison to GH2, yes, they are much better... but they still suck! I mean, it's not important in the least because you only need to see the fret board, but I still find it funny. Havok physics? Are you kidding me? For what? Flowing rocker hair and sparks? Ultimately, the "lip-synched" frontmen look absurd and harken to the days of animitronic Circus!Circus! (Chuck E Cheese?) bands. The drummer is even funnier-looking with his Mr. Roboto-like movements.

In sharp contrast to the "new and improved" graphics, the audio has actually been greatly improved. It may just be that the mix is now fully optimized for Dolby Digital, but we all noticed and agreed how incredibly full and rich the audio is. By comparison, GH2 sounds flat and compressed. Activision's access to more master tracks may be to thank for this, but even the covers have greater depth. We've all heard these songs a thousand times over, so to hear them at this level of clarity is probably why it seems so superb. My REL Q201E is also thankful for what sounds (and feels) like a much cleaner LFE channel. I'd really like to get the technical details regarding GH2's and GH3's audio compression techniques.

OK, I didn't mean to write a mini-review, it just kinda happened. I guess I didn't write at all about the multiplayer... I haven't played it online and probably won't (there's no shortage of people to play with locally). The battle mode is weird and will take some getting used to - I'm not sure if I like the powerup system at this point.

In summation, GH3 rocks.




RE: GH3 rocks.
By Trisagion on 10/30/2007 10:38:27 AM , Rating: 2
quote:


In summation, GH3 rocks.


No, Slash rocks! :)


finally
By inperfectdarkness on 10/30/2007 11:16:02 AM , Rating: 2
so now, at long last, i'll be able to buy a ds-lite in a color i actually WANT. it will fit nicely next to my gold n-64 controller and my gold GBA.

anyone got a date on this?




RE: finally
By Marcus Yam on 10/30/2007 3:49:18 PM , Rating: 2
Should be in time for Black Friday.


By CvP on 10/30/2007 9:18:40 AM , Rating: 2
have to wait till Nov 12...damn!




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