ghiii
Latest
Zero Punctuation takes on Guitar Hero III
Love him or hate him, Yahtzee always seems to invoke some sort of emotion with his crudely worded, flash animation reviews. This week, he tackles Guitar Hero III, and guess what? He hates it. It seems that Activision just can't get any love today.Watch him bash the game and defend his heterosexuality in the NSFW video after the break.
Activision sued over sound issues in GHIII
We recently reported that Activision would be issuing re-mastered Guitar Hero III discs to fix the lack of stereo and surround sound in the game. For some people, however, this fix is seen as too little, too late, and now the company faces a class-action lawsuit. The complaint, brought about by plaintiff Sam Livingston, states that Activision's conduct has been "deceptive" and "unlawful" because the game is not compatible with Dolby Pro Logic II, thereby counteracting the label on the game's box. Those behind the complaint feel that Activision needs to pay up for misrepresenting their product, and for continuing to sell the Wii version of the game without warning consumers about the sound issues. The aggregate claims of the plaintiff and the members of the class-action suit amount to $5,000,000, to which we can only say, ouch.Activision refused to comment on the lawsuit, but did state that they were actively working to have the re-mastered discs ready by early 2008, which will be available to owners of the game at no cost.[Via Game|Life]
Zero Punctuation smashes Guitar Hero III
Another week, another blistering Zero Punctuation review from our pal Yahtzee*. This week, the Brit expatriate takes on Guitar Hero III. The long and the short of it is that Yahtzee believes the game has simply ceased to be fun. More to the point, he says that anyone claiming to five star final songs on expert are simply "freaks." Yahtzee also shares our confusion as to why Clive Winston (our favorite character) was removed from the character roster. Honestly, it's probably best that you just watch the video rather than have us attempt to summarize it any further. Find it embedded after the break (incredibly NSFW, by the way).*Yahtzee is not our pal. We doubt, in fact, that he is anyone's "pal".
Zero Punctuation wails on Guitar Hero III
Yahtzee puts in plain speak during the latest Zero Punctuation review that Guitar Hero III is when the Guitar Hero series stopped being fun. Because you see, there's this wall that players hit and the game becomes impossible. Yahtzee doesn't want to hear it -- and neither do we -- if you're the only guy in your village who beat everything backward and forward. You aren't average, normal, or in any way a part of the natural order of sheep that make up the population of our little planet. Also, in this very special episode of Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee puts questions about his sexuality to rest.Find your weekly dose of (NSFW) unhinged rage after the break.[Thanks Mromson]
Activision to fix Guitar Hero sound issues with new disc
People who bought the Wii version of Guitar Hero III have been (justifiably) annoyed by the lack of stereo and surround sound in Activision's popular music game. However, Wii owners can at least take some comfort in knowing that the problem will soon be fixed.Activision's customer support has replied to many irate users with an email stating that re-mastered discs should be available by early 2008. This means that customers who buy the game after the re-mastered version is available should get the fixed copies, while those who already own the game can get replacement discs at no charge.The last time we announced a disc swap for a glitched Wii game, many of you expressed your desires to have a simple downloadable patch instead. While we agree that a patch would be more convenient, we're still glad that there will be a fix available in the near future.[Thanks, Langst!]
Guitar Hero controller mod integrates a 7-inch touchscreen LCD
As go the real guitars, so go Guitar Hero controllers, and hot on the heels of that axe with integrated visualizer we just saw, Cyberpyrot over at the AcidMods forums has managed to stuff a seven-inch LCD with touchpanel overlay into a GHIII controller. The LCD shows a mirror of the game itself, but its location means that the strummer had to be replaced with a magnetic switch controlled by a metal "pick." The touch overlay allows players to activate the whammy simply by sweeping across the screen, and Cyberpyrot says the next step is to add optics so the guitar can play itself. That ought to add some fuel to the real-guitar-vs-Guitar-Hero debate, we think. Check a vid of the guitar in action after the jump.
Play GHIII with a MIDI drum kit, cuz you can
One of the principle precepts in science (at least, according to the film industry), is that once you figure out how to do something, you must do it. Why? Because you can. It brought dinosaurs back to life, and it made a neat gun for the people who are still alive. And now, science has brought us the ability to play Guitar Hero III with a MIDI drum kit. But why, you ask? Well, actually it's because the creator injured a finger by rocking too hard with the guitar, so he devised this method so he wouldn't have stop playing altogether. You can read the technical stuff by hitting the "read" link. You can actually watch it work in the video above.[Via Joystiq]
Johnny Rotten loves GHIII for the wrong reasons
They call him Johnny Rotten for a reason folks, and it's not because he's all sweet and cuddly. Far from it actually, as he recently took the opportunity to bite the hand that feeds him at a UK Guitar Hero III launch event ... in a manner of speaking. During the event, Rotten went on record saying that he received the offer to be featured in Guitar Hero III, took it home and played it, and "loved" it. The intriguing part is why he loved it: "it weren't teaching you how to be a rock star, it was teaching you how not to be a rock star." He elaborated that the game taught gamers, "how not to be an asshole in your life, and how not to seek fame and fortune, because the whole f*cking thing's a joke." He then expressed his disappointment that Virgin records was unable to recover the Sex Pistols' master recordings, requiring the group to spend their advance payment to re-record the tracks. Rotten spent the rest of the event rambling back and forth about England, soccer, politics, and even his theological beliefs. It really was a bizarre moment in gaming history, one that the UK Official Xbox Magazine blessedly caught on video (taking care to censor Rotten's rotten language while they were at it). Watch the whole thing if you so desire (warning: it's long). If nothing else, you can amuse yourself with the swear counter placed at the bottom by the cheeky folks at OXM.[Via Xboxic. Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
Guitar Hero driving interest in the real thing?
Any Guitar Hero comment thread is bound to draw out at least one person claiming that gamers should forget the game and try the real thing. It looks like all the cranky musicians have something to be thankful for, as it appears many Guitar Hero fans are doing just that. CNET reports that guitar teachers are seeing guitar students apply because of the game, even if they don't admit it directly. According to San Fran guitar teacher Jay Skler, "My adult students, they don't want to cop to it, but they're all, 'Have you played the game?'" Not every teacher agrees, some say that Guitar Hero will "kill music." Still, others like Skyler believe that at the very least the game gets young people interested in music they may not have been exposed to otherwise, rock and roll in particular.So, has Guitar Hero or Rock Band given you a new interest in music? Have they driven you to learn the real thing? Of course, you know our answer.
Guitar Hero III guitars available individually from early 2008
Activision has announced that the wireless controllers for Guitar Hero III will finally be made available separately in early 2008. Ultimately, this means that if you want to play 2 player this Christmas then you'll need to buy two copies of the game or know somebody else who has one too. Bit of a shame, really, when you consider that this is the time of the year when families are getting together to celebrate stuff. Rock Band is currently suffering from the same problem, especially on the PS3 - the controllers for GHIII and Rock Band are incompatible. At least Rock Band has two other controllers of various types included in the box, making it the perfect holiday party game.
Pachter predicts 7.5 million Guitar Hero units sold by year's end
And as Atreyu mourned the loss of Artax, the great Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter emerged from the Swamps of Sadness to dispense some relatively happy predictions for Activision stock holders. Pachter believes Guitar Hero will sell 7.5 million units this year and will begin to see declining sales next year due to Rock Band competition. He guesstimates the Guitar Hero franchise will generate $550 million for Activision this fiscal year.Pachter expects decent revenues from Spider-Man and Shrek sequels for Activision's fiscal year '09 and sees their new James Bond game generating between $100 -150 million in sales. But Guitar Hero is Activision's great source of revenue and imperative in keeping them in the #1 US publisher spot.
Activision strums up Q3 financial forecast
Activision is loving modern warfare and plastic guitars as it increased quarterly revenue expectations by $180 million. The company was originally expecting revenues at $1.05 billion this quarter, but its revision is now set for $1.23 billion. The company's full year outlook went from $2.07 billion to $2.30 billion. The change was made due to higher than expected sales of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and a little title known as Guitar Hero III.Activision continues to hold the top US publisher spot, which it took from EA earlier this year. Activision's CEO says the publisher's had 16 years of growth and that this will be its most profitable quarter ever. It's good to own the Guitar Hero -- really good.
Wireless GHIII guitars to be sold separately at some point in the future
You know what's better than rocking out in Guitar Hero? Rocking out wirelessly. Those of you who've purchased Guitar Hero III for the Wii, though, have sadly been forced to rock without wires by you lonesome (in person), unless you know someone (or know a guy who knows a guy) that also has a GHIII Wii bundle.But, depending on how you interpret the vague term of "early 2008," you won't have to wait too long before being able to buy an official standalone wireless guitar in the U.S. We weren't given any more details on the matter, but we suppose that's better than being told nothing.[Via press release]
Get another wireless GHIII Les Paul in early 2008
If your other corded Xplorer guitar just isn't cutting it and are in desperate need of another wireless Gibson Les Paul to rock out with in Guitar Hero III, then your wait is almost over.Today, Activision announced that the not so white Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul guitar controller will be available separately at retail stores starting in early 2008. No price or exact date were revealed in the press release, but you can bet your left leg that they'll try to get it onto store shelves rather quickly and at a price that will be semi-hefty compared to the bundle. But it's a small investment to be rockin' wireless and rockin' with a friend, because that's how real rockstars roll.[Via Joystiq]
The X3F Rock Band challenge: learn to play for real first
So, if you listen to the Xbox 360 Fancast, you may have heard this blogger mention that he wasn't picking up Rock Band until he learned to play a real song. While our resident achievement whore figured it was merely an excuse not to buy Rock Band, I'm here to tell you I was serious. Yes, it's not exactly earth-shattering news, but it's something that seems worth discussing. It seems like almost all stories about Rock Band and Guitar Hero are haunted by that guy. You know the one. He's the one that says: "Why the hell would I want to pretend to play guitar? I'd rather do the real thing." At this point, that guy may resort to calling the other posters "nerds," all the while failing to realize the irony that he is making this comment on an internet forum catering exclusively to video game discussion.Double standards aside, the point is that I've decided to put his creed into practice (the "too close to home" nature of the Guitar Hero episode of South Park didn't hurt either). The larger cultural question here is whether or not Guitar Hero or Rock Band has inspired other like-minded folk to learn how to play as well. So, has the recent spate of musical games inspired you? Whether they have or not, feel free to share your opinion in the comments.Oh, and wish me luck, my fingers already hurt like hell.
GHIII gets the Halo theme tomorrow (free)
Not a hacked version either. No, this is the real thing. Starting tomorrow, Halo fans can download the Mjolnir mix of their favorite theme song, as originally played by Steve Vai. As if that news weren't good enough, we can also confirm that the track will be free. That's 0 MS Points, no money required, zip, zilch, naught, etc. So there you have it, folks, a free Halo treat on Thanksgiving day. Pass the gravy.Now all we need is Master Chief as an unlockable rocker.
Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero difficulty
Games Radar recently went to the trouble of comparing the guitar track difficulty in both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. We've mentioned the fear that Rock Band would have simpler guitar than Guitar Hero III, and according to Games Radar, that fear is not unfounded at all. After directly comparing some of the songs available on both titles, Games Radar has come to the conclusion that Guitar Hero III on Hard is equivalent to Guitar Hero II on Expert. Rock Band, on Expert, on the other hand, is equivalent to Guitar Hero II on Hard. But don't take our word for it, check out the video comparisons for yourself. Part one is embedded above, and part two is embedded after the break.[Via Joystiq]
Comparing Rock Band to Guitar Hero in difficulty
Games Radar has put together a little piece comparing the difficulty of Guitar Hero to Rock Band. Their basic conclusion is that "Guitar Hero III hard = Guitar Hero II expert" and "Rock Band Expert = Guitar Hero II hard." They say that Guitar Hero is tough to jump into and Rock Band may be too easy at the medium level for seasoned vets.Having had significant time with Rock Band on a visit to Harmonix on Tuesday, we can say that when comparing the guitar portion of the game, Rock Band on hard feels close to Guitar Hero II on medium -- except you do have to deal with that pesky orange button, so in essence it feels the same. That doesn't mean that there isn't a challenge in there for the average player, it's just a point of reference for jumping in. Now that's just the guitar, we're not even talking about the beasts of drumming and singing, nor the extreme joy the social interaction of the game provides.
Free GHIII Boss Battle Pack on XBLM
Available on the XBLM this very moment is the promised Guitar Hero III Boss Battle Pack and it's 100% free with no (guitar) strings attached. Zing! The Boss Battle Pack includes GHIII's three boss songs that are technically included in the retail game, but now as a normal playable tunes. And for the uninitiated, the boss tracks included in the pack are "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and two custom songs written by Tom Morello and the top hat wearing Slash. This may be the only time Activision releases free GHIII content of any sort, so we advise taking advantage of it.
GHIII bands see album sales increase
Guitar Hero III has seen rather stellar sales since launch and the game's musical talent is seeing the financial benefits too. According to various record labels who have music featured in GHIII, they're saying album sales have seen a dramatic spike for the better in the US which can be attributed to their inclusion in the video game. Roadrunner Records has even revealed that DragonForce's album "Inhuman Rampage" has seen a 126% week-on-week sales increase and Slipknot's albums have seen similar sales spikes too. How about them apples?And to all the record execs who keep an iron grip on their artists' music and think video games aren't a viable marketing tool for their content, then we say "ha, ha dummies, you're wrong! So very, very wrong! Ha!"
