For a game so intensely focussed on music, the Guitar Hero
III: Legends of Rock shipped for Wii with a rather unfortunate, but critical
flaw. Although the first entry of the franchise on Wii advertises that it
supports stereo sound output, with additional provisions made specifically for
Dolby Pro Logic II, gamers quickly discovered that game only sends a monaural
signal.
Dolby Pro Logic II is an evolutionary technology that is
able to decode from a stereo source five separate full frequency channels that
simulates true 5.1 sound output.
The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the title do not
suffer from the same flaw, as the systems are able to output true discrete
surround sound in Dolby Digital 5.1. Guitar Hero III on the PlayStation 2 also
advertises stereo output with Dolby Pro Logic II provisions, but does not
suffer from the monaural audio flaw.
For discerning Wii owners, however, this oversight has many dissatisfied
from the less than ideal aural experience that is Guitar Hero III. After months
of silence, Activision has finally revealed its plans on how to remedy the
situation for those who own the game for Wii. Unfortunately, such a fix will
not be a simple issue of downloading a patch.
"We recently became aware that some consumers have not
been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar
Hero III: Legends of Rock. We are currently working with Nintendo and are
planning to issue an improved audio experience in future versions of the
game," said Activision spokeswoman Rhy-Ming Poon to IGN.
"We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will
be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available.
We thank all of our customers for their support and patience."
While Wii owners may have to deal with the hassle of disc replacements, it's possible that Activision may see fit to incorporate some of the DLC from the other versions into the new Wii revision. Such new features as co-op quickplay and the boss battle track pack may find their way into the new pressings, though Activision hasn't made any comments regarding any such additions.