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The Wii Guitar Hero controller: First image!
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo_wii/The_Wii_Guitar_Hero_Controller_First_Image'; Activision and RedOctane have finally unveiled the Wii's Guitar Hero 3 controller. Like the one for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, it's based on the Gibson Les Paul shape, with a removable solid white faceplate. However, unlike the version for the other systems, it's got a big cavity in it for the Wiimote, which a lot of us expected.Does the fact that we have already bought about $40 worth of this controller make the $90 price for game and guitar too high? It's an old argument, but now that we have a little more information, it may be worth thinking about again.[Via GayGamer]
Guitar Hero III gets subtitle, cool guitars
Since the amazing success of its first two games, the Guitar Hero series has gotten a little subtitle happy. First it was the mouthful of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the '80s, now Activision has revealed a new subtitle for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.In addition to the new title, Activision has also released some nice, high-res pictures of the previously announced faux-Gibson guitars that will be used to control the game -- a Les Paul model for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 and a Kramer model for the PS2. Note that the fret buttons are now all black with thin colored outlines to maintain a cleaner, less toy-like look on the neck. The wireless guitars will also have removable faceplates to let you customize your rock experience.The characters in the game will also be rocking out on Gibsons. Check out a list of all the unlockable axes after the jump. %Gallery-4675%
Guitar Hero III rocking European PS3s in October
Do you live in Europe? Ready to rock out with Guitar Hero III? Well you don't have too long to wait. A representitive from Activision has confirmed to InsideGamer.nl that the game will be one shelves, for all consoles, on the 28th of October. It's a good thing it's coming out early. Just in time to keep us busy for a month or so before Rock Band gets released. Then it's "Guitar Hero who?"It is still unknown when the US release is set for, though it will be sometime this autumn. We'll let you know as soon as we find out.[Via N4G]
Battle mode power-ups revealed in new Guitar Hero III videos
When Neversoft took over the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix there were worries that the gameplay would change unrecognisably. While the interface of the game has remained largely the same (surely lumped into the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" category), there seem to be a couple of new features shown in this newest batch of Guitar Hero III vids.The video above, showing Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", gives us some insight into the new additions to the battle mode. It's fairly widely accepted that the multiplayer mode in Guitar Hero I was pretty bad, but Guitar Hero II more than made up for it with its co-op and battle modes. Even then the battle mode could at times feel like little more than comparing scores. With the inclusion of power-ups in Guitar Hero III we will be able to directly affect our opponent's guitar playing abilites by making their markers blink, their fret board tremble or even increasing the difficulty level temporarily. Sounds like a great update to us. Once all the songs are unlocked, multiplayer really is where it's at with the Guitar Hero series, so it's good to see Neversoft are doing their best to improve on it. As for the single player, there's not much there to improve. Unless, maybe, you included a couple of other instruments? Maybe a singer? Oh wait, nevermind. Be sure to watch the rest of the vids after the jump.
Video: Slow Ride intro in GH III
Unfortunately, the videos of Guitar Hero III we showed you at the end of May are no longer available on YouTube. Gametrailers fortunately came to the rescue and put up the first minute or so of Foghat's "Slow Ride" on Expert difficulty. It definitely looks pretty and leaves us only wanting more. Hopefully we're get more details on the song list, possible online multiplayer, or when the wireless Les Paul will be available. Where does this stand on your holiday wishlist?
Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul spotted
Are you ready to rock? I can't hear you... are you ready to RAWK?!If you answered yes to both the above questions, please check out the early sneak peak of the Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul controller IGN's got. It's got an improved button layout, it's wireless, and just generally makes our crappy white X-Plorers look totally ancient and pathetic. Thanks a lot, guys.[Via Wii Fanboy]
Guitar Hero 3 videos unleashed upon the world
We love videos as much as the next person, so when we stumbled upon these Guitar Hero 3 videos (and by stumbled we mean directed towards by a helpful tip), we thought it would be great to share them with you guys. First up is for the song My Name Is Jonas -- it's cool. After the jump, you can check out the video for Slow Ride. We just don't want to overload you unless you really want to see both. Rumors are these are from the Xbox 360 build, but it's kind of moot since we're sure the game will be about the same for every system. Enjoy and get ready to rock. That will be the most over-used line ever regarding these games. Guaranteed.[via Arrogantics]
Rock out to the first vids of Guitar Hero III
Yup, these are videos of Guitar Hero III. Yup, they look pretty much like Guitar Hero II (and Guitar Hero I for that matter). Of course, no one really cares do they? It's Guitar Hero! With that said, there are some small differences worth noting. First of all, the character models look like they've received some new-gen love and are more detailed. The HUD has some slight graphical tweaks as well, though none of them seem to affect gameplay. The star power meter has been replaced with a series of light bulbs. As you fill the meter, more of them light up. They slowly fade out once star power is activated. In addition to displaying your current multiplier, the left side of the HUD now keeps track of how many notes you've hit consecutively. Frankly, we'd like the ability to turn that feature off, as it could add undue stress to achieving those perfect runs. You'll find another video embedded after the break. Check it out and tell us what you think.
RedOctane promises new Guitar Hero every year
Tina Turner be damned, you're getting a new Guitar Hero game every year. In a Eurogamer interview, RedOctane co-founder and president, Kai Huang, reveals that every guitar freak's favorite franchise will soon have something in common with large men tossing balls and slamming into each other. "I think that fans can definitely expect that we're going to have one major release a year," says Kai. Following that, the peripheral manufacturer plans to "release update packs and content packs so there's more songs." And what about the controversial pricing of already released song packs? The pricing's "competitive," says Huang, though his comment may have been slightly garbled due to the degradation of interplanetary transmissions. "We've done a lot of evaluation on the pricing and the costs for each of the songs and how they work for each of the packs, and we think that they're priced competitively, but certainly we listen to the fans and we take that feedback, and if that's something we'll need to evaluate we'll do that."An annual release of Guitar Hero is hardly something we'd consider to be terrible news, but one caveat certainly needs to be heard -- not many franchises keep their sparkle on a yearly release schedule. Even fellow music maniac, Dance Dance Revolution, has taken a few bad steps in its rapid-fire career. We cringe at the thought of seeing a great franchise doing a power slide... down a set of stairs.
Guitar Hero 3 = online multiplayer
Red Octane's boss Kai Huang had an interview with Pro-G recently that hasn't yet been released. Whoop-de-doo, right? Wrong. In the interview, it seems Huang went ahead and confirmed the dream of many rockers who were too embarassed to take their show on the road... or in front of friends: online multiplayer with Guitar Hero 3. Yes, you can now show off your mad skillz without showing off your crazy drooling problem you get whilst playing that Black Sabbath solo.We don't know exactly what the online multiplayer feature offers, but if it's more than just a leaderboard, we'd be pumped. Sure, lag would seem to be a problem unless the whole song is pre-loaded before the multiplayer gets underway or something (thank you, PS3 hard drive?), but it could just be a score comparison between two players. This is sort of a test run for the inevitable multiplayer bound for the gigantic ambition known as Rock Band. What do you think this multiplayer will consist of?[via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero 3 due out this fall?
Seems like Red Octane wants to make this a yearly franchise, a la sports titles. Not really. That would be shameful! Anyway, this is coming straight from the Red Octane support center. Someone asked when Guitar Hero 2 would make its way to the PS3, Wii, etc. Red Octane responded:"Guitar Hero 2 for Playstation 2 launched 11/7/2006, Xbox 360 launched 4/3/2007 and both items are shipping now. Please check www.guitarherogame.com and www.redoctane.com for the most current information. Guitar Hero 3 for the Playstation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007."There you have it. Expect either a retraction or confirmation from Red Octane soon. Our thoughts? It's probably true. Everyone wants to rock out.
Guitar Hero III60 encore this fall
RedOctane's Support Center has an interesting tidbit of information regarding the next installment of Guitar Hero, and it's release schedule. The PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 can expect to be rocking out to a new set of songs to unlock in Guitar Hero III this Fall (for North America). This also will be Neversoft's first shot at the game, so it will interesting to see what direction they take the series, and if the pedal jack will be used or not. Do you think that this is too soon for the next game? Or is it justified as the PS2 release was back in November?[Via QJ.net]
RedOctane site: Guitar Hero 3 coming in Fall '07
It's not quite an official announcement, but a posting on the Harmonix Suport Center site seems to point to a Fall 2007 multiplatform release for the inevitable third entry into the best-selling Guitar Hero franchise. Responding to a question about platform support for Guitar Hero 2, the RedOctane knowledgebase robot reveals that "Guitar Hero 3 for the Playstation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007." [Update: As of this afternoon, this text has been taken off the site. But it was there. Trust us.]We've long known that the new game was being planned for "every significant new platform," and more recently got all-but-explcit confirmation of a Wii version, but we're still kind of surprised to see the PS2 on that release list? Wasn't that system supposed to shrivel up and die in the light of all this fancy new competition? Then again, it would be a shame to let all those original guitar controllers and potential customers to go to waste. Speaking of which, how are Red Octane and new developer Neversoft going to handle the controllers needed for a four-platform release. Will each system get its own specially designed guitar, or could the somewhat touchy Xbox 360 USB controller be modified to be a universal axe? You'll know when we do.[Image modified from ahjteam.com. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.][Update: Fixed a stray reference to Harmonix instead of Red Octane]
