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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock


Anakenobi

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How big is each song file going to be though? A few megs each?

 

yeah atleast..I mean a quick look at my I Tunes, my MP3's vary from 4MB-7MB (Bloc Party album is all 7), but then dunno what format or quality these files would be. I mean it depends how much they make available and how much people download as to whether a hard drive would be needed

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Okay, now that starts me wondering what kind of guitar they'll use for the Wii version. PS2 has the SG, X360 has Xplorer. Maybe the Wii will have a Flying V or a Firebird. Makes sense to keep with Gibson guitars. :)

 

Les Paul please :)

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I really hope the controllers are transferable, would be great for me to have an Xplorer and who ever im doing co op with to be using something else! Its possible, the 360 version uses USB, the Wii version will probably use USB too and afaik the PS3 version uses USB for stuff like this too?

 

I doubt this game is going to use the Wiimote tbh, theres not really much it can add to the game without detracting from the core experience.

At the most it will be something added onto the side, like some sort of crowd interaction

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I really hope the controllers are transferable, would be great for me to have an Xplorer and who ever im doing co op with to be using something else! Its possible, the 360 version uses USB, the Wii version will probably use USB too and afaik the PS3 version uses USB for stuff like this too?

 

doubt the wii version will use the USB, more likely it will use the wiimotes bluetooth and more likely the PS3 will use it's bluetooth, the only reason the 360 version uses the USB is because Microsoft wouldn't release the specifics of their propertiary wireless system...

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It seems likely to use USB, wireless electric guitars don't exist (right?) and it would remove the need for batteries and stuff. USB is also much cheaper and easier to program than Bluetooth.

 

ok...

 

Huang also confirmed all the peripherals released for Guitar Hero 3 will be completely wireless. The Xbox 360 axe for Guitar Hero 2 was supposed to be wireless, but Microsoft reportedly stopped that -- apparently that little roadblock will be removed in time for the fall release.

 

taken from: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158758

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hmm, i always prefered the idea of Wired. More authentic and no messing around with batteries.

 

Imagine being half way through an Expert 5 Star run on Free Bird for the batteries to die! I think that would result in much TV/Guitar/Wii/Anything else in the room smash-age

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hmm, i always prefered the idea of Wired. More authentic and no messing around with batteries.

 

Imagine being half way through an Expert 5 Star run on Free Bird for the batteries to die! I think that would result in much TV/Guitar/Wii/Anything else in the room smash-age

 

True, I guess, I'd prefer wireless all the same...wires are so last gen!

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Here's a mock up that IGN have made of the guitar, looks pretty cool.

 

guitar-hero-iii-20070425035312257-000.jpg

 

and here's some of their ideas about it:

 

The Opportunities

The Wii Guitar Hero III is set for release alongside the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 3 builds later this year and it will bring at least one immediate advantage to the home concert stage - at least over previous versions. The Wii guitar shell will almost certainly be wireless due to the very nature of the Wii console. Unless Activision and RedOctane choose to plug the guitar into Wii's GameCube docking port - highly unlikely - it's going to need to utilize the Wii remote's wireless functionality. This truth makes the Wii build immediately attractive for Guitar Hero fans who have for years complained that the peripheral is wired. Theoretically, Activision could cut costs by using all the functionality of the Wii remote, including its accelerometer for the tilt-based "rock out" motions that have become a staple of the franchise. We envision the custom-designed guitar for the Wii iteration of the title as follows, slick-white presentation and all.

 

Notice how the Wii remote fits snugly into the guitar shell. Although the remote would rest in the guitar's indentation, the peripheral itself would need to plug into the bottom of Nintendo's controller in order to utilize its wireless abilities and precise accelerometer. That aside, the shell would be almost indistinguishable from other versions.

 

In a recent interview with IGN, RedOctane's cofounder and president, Kai Huang, revealed that the Wii build of Guitar Hero III would "… have all the features of the other version of Guitar Hero III and some new Wii-specific features." Bearing that in mind, it's possible that Activision may utilize the Wii remote's internal speaker to play sound cues or, if we're really lucky, take advantage of its accelerometer for a style system more complex than Guitar Hero fans have ever experienced before.

The Challenges

Huang's comment also solidifies the fact that the Wii build of Guitar Hero III will feature a robust online mode and the option for gamers to download and play new songs from the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. There are, of course, some inherent hurdles the development studio will need to address if it's going to make the online experience as seamless as it might be. For starters, it needs to bypass the Wii Shop Channel altogether and keep gamers in the Guitar Hero III user interface when they purchase new songs. And on top of that, the company would do well to store entered credit card information in the game so that potential buyers needn't re-enter all of their data with every purchase, as the Shop Channel requires. And, of course, there's the issue of lag - a streamlined online component must facilitate the means to enable online competitive matches: one guitarist against the other. Nintendo's online network is unproven, to say the least, and as a result Activision's development team will need to become a pioneer if it's to deliver a Guitar Hero endeavor worth taking online.

 

Easily the biggest challenge, however, is the issue of space - or in Wii's case, lack there of. The console features 512 megabytes of onboard flash memory (about 312 megabytes is usable), which is there to store saved game data, Virtual Console titles and Channels. When one considers that some N64 titles alone can weight in at 64 megabytes, well, that space doesn't amount for much. Each track in Guitar Hero III can be upward of 15 megabytes since they are multi-layered and there are dozens upon dozens of possible songs. Do you see where we're going with this? There are only two possible solutions: the songs will need to be saved to either an unreleased hard drive attachment or they will alternatively need to go to an SD card - the latter is now available in sizes up to eight gigabytes. But there issues that comes with SD cards on Wii, too. So far, games cannot store data directly to SD cards -- it goes into Wii system memory and then it can be copied over -- so downloading songs could be a troublesome affair at the very least. Depending on what kind of DRM protection the songs included, if any, matters could be made all the more difficult.

 

The Track List

You can have all the functionality or gameplay changes in the world, but it won't matter at all unless the track list in Guitar Hero III rises to the occasion. For Wii, the situation is a little different, as it's the only system that will support GHIII that hasn't already had its fix of metal-shredding goodness. Since the song list will be the same across all platforms (at least for the most part), we can't help but wonder if an extra incentive will be given to Wii gamers that haven't had a chance to experience the true greatness of GH and GHII.

 

After all, how do you expect us to venture up the Stairway to Heaven if we haven't had a chance to rock out to such insane titles from the original Guitar Hero such as "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead, "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzie Osborne, Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell," "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or the legendary rockings of Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn in "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Texas Flood." As for Guitar Hero II, titles such as "YYZ" by Rush, "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold, and the truly classic "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd should in some way be remembered. And while we're at it, let's not forget about the amazing bonus tracks, including "Push Push (Lady Lightening)" by Bang Camaro, and "Jordan" by the always-amazing Buckethead. These titles need to be represented somehow, right? Please?

 

As for all the new songs in Guitar Hero III, Activision is keeping us in the dark thus far, and while we don't have our definitive "Must Have" list created just yet (we won't lie… we're too busy playing the newly-released GHII for 360), there are still some must-have tracks that didn't make it onto GHII that we mentioned a few months ago. Some of those must-have titles include "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, "Eruption" by Van Halen, "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness, and another appearance by the legendary Hendrix in "All Along the Watchtower". To be honest, we could go all day (and if you're interested in seeing our original story about it, you'll find that we did), but it's all speculation at this point. Just know there'll be more face-melting riffs, insane technical chord-based compilations, and remembered classics from decades upon decades of rock music.

 

Will Wii owners have a chance to download tracks from the older games like GHII 360 owners? Could Activision release a "Best Of" title specifically for Nintendo fans that feature the hottest tracks from the original two games? Could Nintendo get on board and actually include rock versions of some of the Big N's best franchises? For now, we just don't know. All we know is that we'd kill for the opportunity to rock out to remixed Metroid and Zelda themes, complete with killer solos composed by the legendary Koji Kondo. DDR Mario Mix, eat your heart out.

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That mock-up guitar controller from IGN... how'd you get the Wiimote in/out of it... wouldn't seem very easy considering how the port on the Wiimote needs something sliding into it a certain amount!

 

Yea...I personally that there will be a fold-out slot in the back of the guitar, the wii plugs in (with the notches on the sides of the remote used for stability), then pushes inside the guitar.

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Yea...I personally that there will be a fold-out slot in the back of the guitar, the wii plugs in (with the notches on the sides of the remote used for stability), then pushes inside the guitar.

 

I blame work for slowly deteriorating my mind to the point where I cannot think of simple solutions such as this! haha

 

Like Henry, I've never played Guitar Hero (even though I own both a PS2 & Xbox) so I think I'll be picking this one up!

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Oh. My. God.

 

I walked into John Lewis in Harrow over the weekend. They had GH2 set up on the PS2. I've never played it before. After I played with the whammy bar for a bit, on Boston's More Than A Feeling, I was smitten.

 

Must. Have.

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