Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

[Natoma]

http://wii.ign.com/articles/816/816619p1.html

What the Wii Remote/Guitar combo gets the game is, naturally, the inherent ability to be a wireless controller right out of the box since it's essentially using all the wireless tech in the remote to talk with the Wii system. The motion detection for when you want to trigger the star power in-game (by lifting the controller) is now provided by the accelerometer within the Wii Remote. But this combo also adds a couple of features that won't be in the other versions of Guitar Hero. First: rumble. The Wii version will be the only Guitar Hero game that will feature force-feedback thanks to the rumble in the controller, and believe it or not, in our hands-on, you really could feel the guitar shake to the beat when you rocked out with Star Power, as well as "buzz" when crazy effects are going on in the game.

The second feature? The Wii Remote speaker is used for the game's "squelch" when you miss a note. Hearing it come from your guitar makes two player co-op and two player competition a bit more fun since you can easily tell which player's the one that's screwing up the notes - if player one misses a few notes, the "squelch" will come from his guitar and not player two's. Players can bring the squelching back to the television speaker by turning off the remote's speakers - since the mis-note sound effect is integral to the game, it will recognize if you've kicked off your Wiimote speakers and send the sound back to the main audio output.

The Wii version of Guitar Hero III is essentially the same design as what's being produced for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The same track list on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will apply to the Wii edition, which means more than 70 different songs across the different eras of rock. Metallica, AFI, Guns 'n Roses... even the Beastie Boys. In past versions of Guitar Hero, cover bands handled the track listing, but in Guitar Hero 3, more than 70% of the songs are the actual master recordings. So when you play, say, Paint it Black from the Rolling Stones, it's the actual decades-old master tuned for play in the Guitar Hero engine.

The Wii version will be more in line with the PlayStation 2 game, with visuals running at 480p and widescreen at 60 frames per second. Naturally, during most of the game you're watching the notes come flying at you down the center of the screen, so much of what's going on around that - from the motion captured performers to the animated crowds to the spectacular effects happening on-stage - is more for the observers. And in our demo with a close-to-final version of the game, Guitar Hero III on the Wii never skipped a beat when pushing all those visual effects. One noticeable benefit: loadtimes are damn quick between menus and in-game challenges... you might not have much time to rest those fingers.

........................................

The Nintendo Wii version of the game will support the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and though both Vicarious Visions and Red Octane are remaining tightlipped about the features within, every indication led us to believe that it's safe to assume that at least a few of the modes, both co-op and competitive, will be playable over the Internet. Which features, and whether or not the Wii version will have downloadable content, remains up in the air. Unfortunately, during our playtime with the Wii game, we had to skip over the "Nintendo WFC" option in the menu. Curses.

Nintendo's pushing a lot of attention to the casual gamer with its Wii system, and the Guitar Hero design fits that market like a glove. We wouldn't be surprised to see the Wii version top the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions in sales when they all ship this fall.

We'll have more on the Wii game soon, but we've posted the first-ever three screenshots of the Nintendo version in motion below. We think you'll agree that Guitar Hero on Wii is looking to rock as hard as its competitors.

And some screens. Typical GH fare imo:

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I want it... But there are so many games coming out... But I still want it....

Im wondering what the price will be, I heard some rumors of 100 euro's but no way im paying 40 euro's extra for a empty plastic shell. Still i'll probably get it because you can always play games like this end they dont get boring very quick. Whenever you want to play for a short time you just pick this up. Kinda like Ouendan for the DS only this wont have crazy japanese songs.

Online is what im really looking forward to, must be cool to play against others once you know all the songs.

That said, I still hope there will be a guitar game with a real guitar with stings sometimes so i'll finally be able to learn to play guiter. Now that I think about it, why doesnt nintendo/other company do more with this kind of ''educational'' software? making a real guitar addon cant be expensive if you look at what a real electric guitar costs and im pretty sure there will be alot of interest in this sort of thing because im pretty sure most people learn much faster and better if they are having fun instead of having a boring book infront of them telling them what to do and than figure it out themselves because on a console you could also tell people what they are doing wrong.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I actually contacted Sony about that, modifying the SingStar engine to work with continuous pitch instruments like violins, where you need to learn muscle memory and an ear for the right pitch. Didn't get any reply though

I guess they don't think the market is there for training tools that are more complex than games. People won't be buying ViolinStar for the fun of it, as it were, because progress will be very slow. A real guitar would be better as placement of fingers has a lot of leniency thanks to the frets, and it's easy to get a sound from simple chords. Heck, many top guitar anthems use only three chords! Matching timing up with finger placement would be much better. Cost of the instrument would be high though! That said, if you had perhaps an optical system monitoring finger placement, and a mic to pick up rhythm on the strumming, you wouldn't need to do anything complex to monitor pitch accuracy unlike SingStar. That'd make the required peripheral...well, PSEye seems ideal. As long as you already have a guitar. Otherwise, again, it'll be expensive. Perhaps not much moreso than GH though. Entry level guitar prices are about the same price as a game here in the UK.

 

[pipo]

BUMP

With the release of Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock fast approaching, I went hands-on with the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 versions of the title at a recent Activision event to see how the final product turned out.

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=605

 

[liolio]

Lespaul powoa!!! LOL

 

[valioso]

Would you really want a guitar to rumble though?

 

[Arwin]

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=605

The 1up preview diverges a little on the online:

While it won't give you that eye-to-eye satisfaction, net play does finally appear in Guitar Hero III on all three platforms. Live and PSN offer the expected friend and matchmaking options, but the Wii version doesn't cut any corners either. You will have to exchange the unwieldy friend codes, but once you do, you get essentially all the stuff the other consoles do including auto matches, strangers match, create a match, leaderboards, links to the Guitar Hero website and more. In both battle and co-op modes you see both fret boards on the screen. Mostly you'll be too busy to pay much attention, but playing cooperatively, you need to keep an eye on your partner's side of the screen to watch for the sign to trigger your star power.

 

[Arwin]

This game is apparently out in the US on all three platforms. Anyone playing it? It's something I'm interested in picking up, as a rhythm game fan who hasn't yet bought the PS2 versions of this game. I'm not sure yet which version (360 or PS3) I'll pick up. Unfortunately we have to wait another month.

Is there an equivalent in GH3 to 'miss / bad / good / great / perfect' timing that you get in DDR games?

 

[AzBat]

Be careful when buying this at Walmart. The PS2 and 360 versions come with the original non-wireless Classic Red and Xplorer versions respectively. Seems kind of a rip-off since it's only $10 cheaper than the new Les Paul wireless version. Oh well. I did finally get to play Guitar Hero for the first time(albeit via the OXM demo and without a guitar controller). I totally sucked at it since the regular controller button scheme made no sense whatsoever, but I can see the appeal. Wife and kids loved it, but I think we're more interested in getting Guitar Hero 2 since it should be cheaper if bought used and from the reviews not as hard as GH3.

Tommy McClain

 

[valioso]

is a great game, I've been playing at all day I loved GH2 and this is no different, great game, great song selection

 

[rendezvous]

<snip>
Wife and kids loved it, but I think we're more interested in getting Guitar Hero 2 since it should be cheaper if bought used and from the reviews not as hard as GH3.

Tommy McClain

I'd say that the song selection in GH2 isn't all that good. I even prefer GH just becopuse of the song selection. GH3 looks more solid in this regard.

Tatses are different but I suggest that you atleast takes a look at the song selections before making upi your mind.

 

[Arwin]

is a great game, I've been playing at all day I loved GH2 and this is no different, great game, great song selection

Which version are you playing?

I've only tried the 360 demo so far, and I manage to at least pass Medium songs with the controller It's more fun even without the guitar than I thought, although orange kills me, as that's completely different button from the rest (shoulder buttons work quite well)

 

[valioso]

I am playing the 360 version

 

[Arwin]

Is it true that the Wii version of this game currently only outputs Mono??

 

[AlNom]

If true, that's pretty gross... I played the 360 version with surround sound and the audio quality is just super fine.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Activision said they are looking into it, so its probably true. Wonder how something like this can happen though, seems like something like this is kinda hard to miss in a music game. Wonder how they are going to fix this, does nintendo allows games to be patched true online update? otherwise they might have to recall all the games sold. I wonder if the EU version also has this problem. Was planning on getting it next week but if that one is mono too I think i'll wait untill they fix things.

 

[Cyan]

This game is apparently out in the US on all three platforms. Anyone playing it? It's something I'm interested in picking up, as a rhythm game fan who hasn't yet bought the PS2 versions of this game. I'm not sure yet which version (360 or PS3) I'll pick up. Unfortunately we have to wait another month.

Is there an equivalent in GH3 to 'miss / bad / good / great / perfect' timing that you get in DDR games?

One step at a time. If you are interested in Guitar Hero 2 and other Guitar Hero games such as Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PS2, and the PS3 is backwards compatible with those games I'd probably go with the PS3 version. I'm not sure if they are BC or not since I'm not into PS2 games, though.

Similarly, there is an improved version of GH2 for the X360 which features new songs and stuff, so you might get the game in the future at a better prize, with or without the Guitar (I have Guitar Hero 2 + the X-plorer guitar and I actually think the GH3 guitar looks much more beautiful).

Also, for whatever reason the X360's guitar is the more compatible one with Rock Band. I did read that it works fine although it cannot activate any of Rock Band's special effects. In this case, I'd probably choose the X360 version.

Other than that, from my experience with GH2, if you liked GH3's demo then get ready for a treat, especially with the new features such as online coop, career mode coop -SP or MP-, etc. It's a lot of fun to play this game with your friends, wife, kids....

Furthermore, it features a better song selection (especially), imho, graphics and the guitar is a factor, too.

I'm eagerly awaiting for this game to come out.

If true, that's pretty gross... I played the 360 version with surround sound and the audio quality is just super fine.

Activision said they are looking into it, so its probably true. Wonder how something like this can happen though, seems like something like this is kinda hard to miss in a music game. Wonder how they are going to fix this, does nintendo allows games to be patched true online update? otherwise they might have to recall all the games sold. I wonder if the EU version also has this problem. Was planning on getting it next week but if that one is mono too I think i'll wait untill they fix things.

If my memory serves me well -I did read it in passing-, the sound varies depending on which option that was choosen:

mono outputs mono
stereo outputs stereo
dolby pro logic outputs mono

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

That sounds logical, but than why would people complain? they could just change it in the options menu right?

offtopic: We need to find someone with a Hammond quote in his sig, I got a clarkson one, you a may one, we need one more.

 

[Cyan]

As you've stated before, Guitar Hero 3 for Wii has only mono sound no matter what. I don't know if they are going to use the flash memory to patch the game, it doesn't seem easy.

http://www.gamepro.com.au/index.php/id;2010283859;fp;16;fpid;0

Guitar Hero III on Wii doesn't support surround sound, nor stereo as advertised on the game box -- publisher not talking.

As we first reported in our review last week, Guitar Hero III for Wii suffers from mono-only audio output, with exception to certain menu items and crowd noises being in stereo.

Sound emits from multiple speakers, but it comes from a single monaural source.
On Oct. 28, a post on the official Guitar Hero forums revealed the problem may only be with surround sound to which Activision said the issue could be temporally solved by switching to "stereo" output in the Wii settings menu. It was later confirmed that audio was in fact mono-only.

"We are still looking into issue," an Activision representative told us on Monday, providing no further details on when or how a fix would be distributed.

With mono sound the value of this game drops a lot for Wii users in a game where the sound is a very important aspect, if not the most important. Hope they fix this soon, they are still looking into it....

Btw, there's a new song pack (3 songs) available in Xbox Live, for free;

http://www.destructoid.com/guitar-hero-iii-boss-battle-songs-unleashed-as-free-dlc-54380.phtml

Tired of only being able to play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" in the stressful boss battle against Lou? I don't blame you -- the dude is a huge prick after all.

Everything is going to be just fine though, as a new song pack is now available for Guitar Hero III (Xbox 360 only so far) which includes all 3 boss battle songs from the single-player campaign mode. Best of all, it's free!

It's a good thing Activision opted to release these songs as free DLC, because everyone is already throwing a huge fit at the sight of the normal 500 Microsoft Point song packs that contain new music. Just imagine how many people would have to permanently leave their caps lock on if Activision had charged points for songs that were already on the Guitar Hero III game disc.

As for the quote, it's a bit random. I like this one because I was watching a Top Gear episode and there was a moment when James May was exuding an air of class while smoking a cigar, in an ironic way (great, because I dislike snobbish attitudes) and then he said this quote.

I'm pretty sure Hammond has some great quotes also, but Jeremy Clarkson is the
star, I'm conscious of that.

See you, tongue of calibab.

p.s. There's a dutch guy in the forum with a Top Gear quote too, from J. Clarkson though, in reference to the TVR Sagaris.

edited -- this video is one of the most impressive GH2 videos I've seen to date. This 8 years old kid "only missed 3 notes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgIP7XW1lXM

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

p.s. There's a dutch guy in the forum with a Top Gear quote too, from J. Clarkson though, in reference to the TVR Sagaris.

That was me ^^

OT: It couldnt be that activision only included mono audio files in the wii disk right? they wouldnt make such a big mistake? I find it strange that this ''bug'' didnt got noticed at quality check.