Release Day - Two Guitars if we own nothing yet?

[BodhiWolff]

Okay, so my wife is anxiously awaiting the release of "Rock Band". Getting into a guitar game has been on her mind for about a year now.

Specifically, when a friend brought over "Guitar Hero" a year ago, she got so hooked that she considered picking up a PS2 *just* so she could buy "Guitar Hero" and play. We did some talking, and decided not to invest in an old-style system, hoping that it would come out for the Wii. Sure enough, eventually they announced that Guitar Hero Three would come out for the Wii, but by then Rock Band made the scene, and the vast leap forward is enough for us to consider picking up an XBox 360 and the "Rock Band" bundle on Black Friday. We were crushed that Guitar Hero 2 didn't make it for the Wii, and that even with Guitar Hero 3 there is some doubt as to whether or not the downloadable content will be available, or as plentiful, etc. So, we might just be looking at picking up that expensive new console, *just* so we can play "Rock Band", if you can believe it!

However, the bundle only comes with one guitar (that is correct, right?), and from everything I've read, it seems like the single wireless guitars aren't going to be released until the end of January.

If we're spending this much money to get into a game (i.e. buying a console as well as a bundle), I don't think that we want to wait another two months to start playing the bass line, thank you very much!

Is there any news on the *wired* single "Rock Band" guitar? Can you even purchase one? Since we're not sure if the Guitar Hero 3 controllers are compatible with Rock Band, what does one do on Release Day if they want to actually play the game with two guitars and don't yet own anything?

Advice?

(and believe me, I'm still bummed that we waited a year, didn't buy an Xbox a year ago, and that the Wii releases still aren't coming out, prompting us to have to buy a new console on Black Friday too!)

[Eman311]

To be honest I would just buy GH2 for 360 at some point and use that guitar. Rock Band strats are gonna be tough to come by.

[Keebler]

The preorder listings online for the individual instruments seem to indicate they will be available on the date of release. If they aren't available in-store, you should be able to get them online.

EDIT: Oooooooo...... k. Everything apparently doesn't come out until Jan 2008.

[BodhiWolff]

Hmm ...

It seems that Amazon lists the wireless guitars as not coming out until January. Other sites have them coming out at the *beginning* of November.

Of course, all of this is speculation.

I guess a "wait and see" approach is warranted.

[Oxyplox]

Buy the GH 3 pack that comes with the guitar, then buy the rock band bundle.
I'm pretty sure the guitar hero 3 guitar works with the rock band thing, right?

[BodhiWolff]

Well, there are indeed two points there ...
a) does the Guitar Hero 3 controller work with Rock Band (and vice versa)?
b) is the quality of the controller for Guitar Hero 3 as good as the Rock Band controller?

Not having much exposure to the previous games, and not having got used to a particular type of controller, I am lucky I guess. I notice that the buttons for the Rock Band controller are larger, less obtrusive, are almost the size of the entire fret, etc. There is the infamous 5-way switch to boot. Plus, they *look* more like my real guitars, which sits well with me.

They're different from the GH controllers -- and let us leave it at that. I trust Harmonix to come up with innovations for a reason, and therefore I'm willing to go with them in their changes. Other gamers will probably claim that the new controllers are terrible, compared to what they're used to -- but I'm not used to anything, so I'll be happy.

It would be nice if both controllers had the same look/feel/style/playstyle, so that there wasn't any argument over who got to play on the "bad" one (defined however one wishes to define that). If both controllers are the same design, there is no "bad" one.

[Oxyplox]

They should be compatible.
And, from what I've heard, the Rock Band guitar is very light, feels a bit hollow.
What I'm doing is, I preordered GH 3 and Rock Band, and the bassist'll use the GH3 controller.

Because the guitar comes with the fx switch, which, I think only works for lead anyway? Not sure about that..and the bottom 5 buttons work for solos, which will be essential for guitar solos.

[PsycoCheerio]

Because the guitar comes with the fx switch, which, I think only works for lead anyway? Not sure about that..and the bottom 5 buttons work for solos, which will be essential for guitar solos.

Yea, only works for guitar during the solos...buttons are fun to use too, but difficult to get used to...

[Brock_Landers]

Given that I STILL can't get a single x-plorer in NZ for the 360 how many months later, lets just say that I'm very happy that I'll have a GH2 guitar to use with RB along with the Strat.. coz otherwise I can imagine having no option except for buying another full box bundle.

(sounds like hyperbole, but that's just how we roll in slowpoke New Zealand)

[xfMike]

Given that I STILL can't get a single x-plorer in NZ for the 360 how many months later, lets just say that I'm very happy that I'll have a GH2 guitar to use with RB along with the Strat.. coz otherwise I can imagine having no option except for buying another full box bundle.

(sounds like hyperbole, but that's just how we roll in slowpoke New Zealand)

It is funny you bring that up, as it seems in about the last month or so I have seen stand alone X-Plorers popping up at my local GameStop (the box looked like the PS2 bundle, as it has a lot of black on the package)...

it would have been nice to get a second guitar a couple of months ago :P but seeing as Rock band is coming out soon there is no sense in getting another X-Plorer... especially since I'll end up with the 55 model knowing my luck (I picked up a 65 model day of release :D).

[gh2masterwellalmost]

The Strat looks nice en all but you won't get any advantage with it over an xplorer. If ya can hunt one out (ebay?) you'll be just as happy although you'll look less flash.

[Axel32]

I'm not sure if the GH3 controller will work with Rock Band or not. Red Octane is being real anal over their guitars and GH, so it may work, or they may design it not to.

But the GH3 working as well as a Rock Band controller? No. You loss to may game play aspects in the controller, the 5-way switch, and the lower frets for solos. Oh make that 3, an AWESOME fake guitar.

[Feigned]

I doubt that there will be any real issues with these controllers working with different games. When you tear them down they're really just your basic controllers with a few extras. Yes, you'll lose your 5-way switch and the extra buttons on the fretboard, but those aren't needed for gameplay, they just add to it. I'll probably just use my modded X-plorer as my second guitar when the game comes out.

[Bakkster]

I doubt that there will be any real issues with these controllers working with different games. When you tear them down they're really just your basic controllers with a few extras.

True, but GH2 was able to lock-out 3rd party guitars for a while. If RB isn't programmed to recognize the GH3 guitars, or vice-vers-a, then there is no compatibility. Harmonix is playing nice and using the same standard as GH2 used (I believe, it is open-source anyway) so it's up to Activision to: 1) recognize the Strat 2) not make the LP unrecognizable.

[NotorietyH]

True, but GH2 was able to lock-out 3rd party guitars for a while. If RB isn't programmed to recognize the GH3 guitars, or vice-vers-a, then there is no compatibility. Harmonix is playing nice and using the same standard as GH2 used (I believe, it is open-source anyway) so it's up to Activision to: 1) recognize the Strat 2) not make the LP unrecognizable.

I've cancelled my pre-order of GHIII because of this. Because I'm not going to buy a second GHIII controller just to play an inferior multi-player mode on a game I'm not going to play half or even quarter as much as Rock Band.

I don't know what Activision and/or Red Octane think they're going to achieve by making the guitars incompatible with other games and the strats incompatible with GHIII. It's like they're trying to force people to choose between the two, and I'm not sure they'll like the results. All they're doing is making people who were going to buy GHIII to use the Les Paul as the bass controller for Rock Band not bother buying it.

[Bakkster]

I've cancelled my pre-order of GHIII because of this. Because I'm not going to buy a second GHIII controller just to play an inferior multi-player mode on a game I'm not going to play half or even quarter as much as Rock Band.

I've not heard any confirmation either way from RO, but I think their silence speaks for itself. I'm in the same boat: I'll only buy GH3 if I can use two Strats for it.

[Insignificant_Other]

I would not count on any operability between Red Octane controllers and games other than the ones they have specifically stated will be supported. They are pursuing (and apparently always have pursued) an active policy of disabling interoperability as much as possible. The idea, of course, is to force you to buy their new controllers every time a new game comes out, and to shut out third party controllers. It's a pretty stupid policy, IMO - that's the kind of flawed business strategy that resulted in the early Mac losing out big in the war against the PC.

So far, to my knowledge, the only compatibility Red Octane have acknowledged is that the GH II controller on the 360 will work with GH III. Other than that, there are no other compatibilities - there are none at all on the PS platform side (except for the PS2 version of the game), and I don't recall seeing anything indicating that you can use the new GH III controller with the GH II game on 360 (in fact, I'd be very surprised if it turns out to be possible).

I'm pretty pissed at Red Octane at the moment. I had assumed that I would finally be able to play GH I and II on my PS3 with the new controller, but apparently not so. Despite this, I will still be getting GHIII on the PS3 for my son, but only because he loves the game so much and is only interested in challenging guitar parts. We'll be getting one controller for GH III, period. Rock Band is where we will get a second guitar (assuming the GHIII guitar won't work as a bass).

I suppose there is a chance that the PS3 Rock Band guitar will work with the GH I and II games (wouldn't that be ironic) but I'm not couting on it.

[NotorietyH]

and I don't recall seeing anything indicating that you can use the new GH III controller with the GH II game on 360 (in fact, I'd be very surprised if it turns out to be possible).


It'll work with GH II on the 360, it says it on the controller FAQ on the guitar hero forums. Knowing Red Octane, there'll be a little foot that pops out and kicks you in the balls though.

[ThePaska]

I'm hoping the GH III controller works for Rock Band, this way the Les Paul can double as my bass for Rock Band, which would be nice, and it would save a bunch of money.

[BodhiWolff]

Hmm, it is starting to sound as it if wasn't just a stupid newb question to ask after all! I don't feel so bad!

I'd hate to pick up Guitar Hero 3, only to find out that they weren't compatible with each other. I actually respect Harmonix for choosing songs that were less guitar-heavy and more band-centric for Rock-band (after all, it isn't about "shredding" but about the entire band performing as a group, and you "sink or swim" as a whole), but there are some nice tunes in Guitar Hero. But if it isn't cross-compatible, then I'm leaving it alone!

... and Amazon is *still* listing the wireless guitar as not being sold in January 31st , with no listing for a wired version, which means that *somebody* has their information wrong. It would certainly stink to not be able to get a second controller until January 31st!

By the way, if anybody has any Xbox buying advice, feel free to share. We're thinking of going with the Xbox Elite, and finding some sort of Costco "Black Friday" Bundle (for the price-savings, and the return policy), but we're always willing to listen to advice.

[Quastor]

By the way, if anybody has any Xbox buying advice, feel free to share. We're thinking of going with the Xbox Elite, and finding some sort of Costco "Black Friday" Bundle (for the price-savings, and the return policy), but we're always willing to listen to advice.

My suggestion is splurge now, buy a 360 and the GH2-360 bundle (there's that second guitar you wanted for the bass part on RB). Then, when GH3 comes out, you can purchase the non-bundled game, and still use the Xplorer controller.

You'll then have roughly a month to master that before you retire it entirely for RB. :p

[Thrashdragon]

By the way, if anybody has any Xbox buying advice, feel free to share. We're thinking of going with the Xbox Elite, and finding some sort of Costco "Black Friday" Bundle (for the price-savings, and the return policy), but we're always willing to listen to advice.

Didn't Costco amend their return policy to exclude the 360 once the high failure rate became apparent? Maybe it was Sam's, I can't remember. Worth checking with whichever is near you, though.

The new chips are finally out and should hopefully run cooler, I don't know if they're in the regular consoles yet but if so, definitely make sure you get one of these.

From Kotaku:


It's what many have been waiting for. The new 65nm "Falcon" CPUs are found in the Halo 3 console. Besides being smaller, the 65nm chip is fifty percent less expensive to manufacture and apparently are more economic in heat output. Previous consoles featured a 90nm and have an abnormally high failure rate. According to a Halo 3 Special Edition console dissection by Gamertag "JWSpeed," the motherboard features a simplified heatsink. Removal of the heatsink reveals a new CPU with "CANADA" written on it. How to tell if your console has the new chip without ripping it apart? Check the barcode sticker on the side of the box. The 65nm chipped Halo 3 console was built August 24, 2007 from team "FDOU" and part of lot 734. So does that mean these new Falcon consoles won't Red Ring of Death? Stay tuned.

[BodhiWolff]

That is nice news about the Falcon chipset!

Now, if only I can find an Elite with the Falcon chipset. I wonder how one finds the manufacturing date on those things? I'll have to do some research ...