A couple of weeks ago I was over at a friend's house and they introduced me to the joy that is Guitar Hero. I immediately got my own copy of the original game and a cordless control to go with it. (At the same time, I used my Blockbuster coupon on Lego Star Wars which sucked me in for a week, but with that digression out of the way, I'm back on track)
Of course, I immediately had to sticker-up the controller:
On the back is a sticker from the Wii instruction guide with the image instructing users not to smack their friends in the face.
Anyway, I powered through the Easy mode like it was nothing, but I didn't really feel ready to perform at my best in higher levels. So, I did some focused exercises. Sunday I spent the day playing I Love Rock n Roll over and over and over. First the easy level once through with each finger of my left hand individually (yes, even my pinky) running the fret keys. Then medium for each combination of two fingers (index & middle, index & ring, etc) and again with each finger all alone. Then the same for hard and expert. The only one I couldn't do without getting boo'd off stage was pinky-only on the expert stage. But the skills learned are excellent: I'm getting good at moving around on the fret keys without getting lost, and I'm getting pretty good at using one finger for two buttons reliably. I still don't use my pinky much in regular play, but now I don't really need to.
Today I did the same progressions for I Wanna Be Sedated (although I couldn't complete any one-finger versions of expert, sadly, nor pinky-solo for hard). And now my fingers hurt. A lot. So here I am typing about it. I'm not that bright.
Anyway, I'm really enjoying it. Guitar Hero is awesome.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
WSGrundy wrote:Is your cordless guitar a third party controller? Can you use it on different systems on just the PS2?
Yes to the first, no to the second. I'm sure they'll make third-party controllers for the Xbox, too. Maybe they'll work otu a way to make them dual-system, but they aren't yet that I've seen.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
WSGrundy wrote:Is your cordless guitar a third party controller? Can you use it on different systems on just the PS2?
Yes to the first, no to the second. I'm sure they'll make third-party controllers for the Xbox, too. Maybe they'll work otu a way to make them dual-system, but they aren't yet that I've seen.
I see.
I have regular controllers that would work on any system so maybe they will come out with a guitar since it is going multi-platform.
I've been curious about this game forever. Does it play like an actual guitar?
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
Leisher wrote:I've been curious about this game forever. Does it play like an actual guitar?
From what little experience I have had with real guitars I will say kind of. As much as hitting and holding a red and yellow button and hitting the strum button to play Ace of Spades can be.
You get the feeling because your hands are moving on the neck and strumming and if your timing is off then the song doesn't play and the music will suck. It is a pretty good illusion but after I get done playing I'm not expecting a call from the Rolling Stones.
I actually think it is a better drum game because if you can keep a beat which I can't then you will do well.
Also if it is only going to be you then you may want to borrow it from someone but if you are going to be sitting around with others these games can stay fun.
The hand coordination is similar to the requirements of the real thing, but it's not the same. Although I keep consistently seeing references from real musicians claiming that playing Bark at the Moon on guitar is easier than Guitar Hero on expert, which is nearly impossibly difficult.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I got GHII and it's totally broken. The game sputters and freezes every ten seconds or so on every song. It's a disaster. My system has no problems with other games, just that one.
So of course I'll be picking up a replacement PS2 on the way home today, just so I can play GHII.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Well, my console was old and couldn't keep up with the task. So I went and picked up a used one from Gamestop on the way home. It's marginally better, but not nearly enough to get all the way through a song.
Tomorrow I'll trade up to a refurbished unit and try again.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Maybe, but unlikely based on internet research. Seems there are a LOT of people with these problems with GHII out there, and the common thread seems to be that systems in near-perfect condition play it fine while systems that are less than cherry have issues with it. Red Octane claims that the widespread problems are all the fault of many "abused" PS2s being unable to keep up with the demands of their powerful game, and that the game is not at fault.
All I can say from personal experience so far is that the disk I have is spotless, and was 90% crappy on an old well-used system, was about 50% crappy on a less old less-used system ... and today I'll know how it goes on a refurb. If that fails, then I'll send back my disk and get another copy instead, and go through the whole progression of systems again with that one.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
So, it turns out I had an iffy system AND an iffy copy of GHII. I now have an excellent used system and another copy of GHII, and can rock the house without problems.
Red Octane still made a bit of a mess of things. The guy at EB Games was very familiar with the problem, and they've had lots of warranty returns of bad copies of GHII.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
TPRJones wrote:So, it turns out I had an iffy system AND an iffy copy of GHII. I now have an excellent used system and another copy of GHII, and can rock the house without problems.
I'm picturing that scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin when he's all alone and entertaining himself, including when he was singing karaoke by himself.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Guitar Hero 3 entered my house today, as a gift from my wife.
I spent a while going back and forth as to whether I ever wanted to play this game. Decided I didn't want it, and so didn't buy it. My wife bought it for me anyway, since friends of hers had been talking it up.
It's a lot of fun. I'm only OK at it (I've yet to get more than 4 stars/96% accuracy on easy), but I've played it til my fingers can't play no more. The song selection is really good, and I like how you get aural feedback on the notes you hit and miss.
