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Post by ΨBarnacleBrainBrantΨ on Apr 15, 2007 17:36:37 GMT 6
Microsoft is eroding Sony's collection of exclusives at an alarming rate, and this week one of the biggest hits arrives on the 360: Guitar Hero II finally reaches the next generation. And while we're sad to be saddled with a wired controller, the other changes are pure gold: better graphics, ten new songs, online leaderboards and the promise of a steady stream of downloadable content. Even as we wait for that online content to materialize, this edition of Guitar Hero II is a chart-topper. Those who've spent the past eighteen months under a rock might need a Guitar Hero primer. Tweaking the basic rhythm game premise, the Harmonix hit lets you play along with famous (and some not so famous) rock and metal songs. The difference is the fantastic guitar controller, fitted with five fret buttons, a strum bar and whammy bar. Hold the fret buttons and strum to correspond with a cascade of onscreen colored prompts; shake the whammy bar to build extra star power, which can help you out when the going gets tough. First off, let's investigate the new guitar. Modeled on Gibson's famous Explorer, this hardware is a generally well-designed piece of kit with a few small flaws. The neck is narrower than any other Red Octane guitar, and the fret buttons noticeably easier to press. It's light and comfortable, despite the odd shape. But the whammy bar isn't optimally placed, and the start buttons and d-pad will be easy for some users to hit accidentally. Even so, the adjustment curve is slight, and as soon as there's a wireless version we'll stop complaining. For many, the ten new songs will be more of a draw than any hardware or graphic alterations. Encompassing some fun ('Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo' by Rick Derringer) and some puzzling (Rancid's lame 'Salvation') there's probably something here for everyone. The Toadies ('Possum Kingdom') and My Chemical Romance ('Dead') offer original master tracks, as do two unsigned bands in the bonus section. The other six offerings are generally solid covers, though we were a bit let down by the vocal attempt on Iron Maiden's 'The Trooper'. Most of the other changes are purely cosmetic, but all are for the better. The graphics are noticeably more smooth and detailed. Every venue has additional lighting effects and additions to the environment that add entertainment for those players able to tear their eyes away from the crawl of notes. Those notes are easier to see than ever before, especially on an HDTV, which is a boon to players (like us) with eyes that water madly when confronted with expert level difficulty. The song order has been reworked, as well, so that tracks once found earlier or later in the career progression have been moved around. There are still a few songs that seem slightly misplaced, but some of the weird difficulty progression from the original GH2 release has been fixed. The Sword's 'Freya' is no less irritating when it breaks into that extended middle riff sequence, however. If the basic career progression and star ratings weren't enough to drive you to perfection, online leaderboards and (of course) achievements have been put into action. We've only seen the leaderboards in action on Microsoft's internal network (where we were ranked #6 overall!) but that's enough to know that the basic functions work just fine. There aren't many frills to the online presentation, but that's to be expected, given the game's generally low-key menus. And the fifty achievements will keep you playing long after you've five-starred every song on expert. The big question mark is downloadable content. Activision has promised loads of it, but what form it will take remains a mystery. We assume that more songs, characters, guitars and skins could appear, but the rate of release and pricing will be revealed later. Suffice to say that with the addition of even a handful of decent songs online, this edition of Guitar Hero II will become the definitive one. Even without a massive collection of exclusive content, this is an improvement (if a slight one) over the five-star PS2 original, which is all 360 owners need to know.
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Post by ΨBarnacleBrainBrantΨ on Apr 17, 2007 14:23:26 GMT 6
Guitar Hero 3 is Real, Controllers to be Wireless Metallica ;d ;d ;d ;d ;d ;d ;d , AC/DC and Led Zeppelin being targeted. When news about Guitar Hero 3 mistakenly appeared on RedOctane's website last week, you couldn't blame anyone for not exactly flipping out -- we already knew Neversoft has been working on the next version for a little while now. GameSpot recently spoke with RedOctane president Kai Huang, however, and he outright confirmed that Guitar Hero 3 is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and Wii by the end of the year. "Guitar Hero III is being developed by Neversoft, which is an internal Activision developer. They're one of the best Activision developers, if not one of the best developers in the world, having had a tremendous amount of success with the Tony Hawk franchise, and they've been working on Guitar Hero III now," he said. Oh, and here's one a little out of left field: there's going to be a Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero, but won't arrive until early 2008. Somehow we doubt they'll be releasing a guitar for that one. 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. Other additions to the series come as not-so-surprising, such as the incorporation of online play, more downloadable content, new and expensive deluxe peripherals for the hardcore gamers and some other features they aren't just yet ready to talk about. What everyone's really concerned about, however, is the music. Huang is tight-lipped about the tracklist, but he does drop a teaser: "We've got a lot of songs and artists still that we would love to have, in particular, we've been trying to get Metallica, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin, so hopefully sometime in the near future, my wish, and everybody's wish, will come true, and we can get some of their music in the game."
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Post by ΨBarnacleBrainBrantΨ on Apr 17, 2007 17:16:54 GMT 6
GH2 Patch Fixes Whammies, Ruins Xbox 360s To address the issue with faulty whammy bars on their Guitar Controllers, Red Octane released a patch for Guitar Hero II on the Xbox LIVE network, that should have resolved the problem. The patch did just that, but not without causing a host of other problems. A lot of Xbox 360 owners who've applied the patch have had their 360 freeze up and at times, not to start up at all after that. There's word that Microsoft might call back the affected consoles to rectify the error; even if this happens, it's sure to leave a bad taste in gamers' mouths. If you take a look at the Xbox.com forum, you'll know exactly how frustrated people are with Red Octane. Let's hope that they get their 360s + Guitar Hero II up and running as soon as possible. www.tech2.com/india/news/xbox360-games/gh2-patch-fixes-whammies-ruins-xbox-360s/5155/0
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Post by <<<{AnMoL}>>> on Apr 19, 2007 18:34:49 GMT 6
Kai Huang, president and founder of RedOctane, has revealed in an interview to GameSpot that Guitar Hero III will have both cooperative and competitive online modes, as well as wireless guitar controllers. He also confirmed that the game will come to the Wii and the PS3 and they are also working on a DS version of Guitar Hero. Kai Huang said, “Guitar Hero III is being developed by Neversoft, which is an internal Activision developer. We are really focusing on features that will make the multiplayer experience, not online, but the offline multiplayer experience a lot more fun. Guitar Hero III will be launching at the end of this year, and it’s going to be launching on all platforms, so that will be Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, and the PS2. We are actually also looking at a DS version, for early next year.” Last week, we did report that Guitar Hero III was on its way. So the rumors were true! Anyway fans will have to wait till the end of the year to lay their hands on one of the best games of the decade www.gameguru.in/sony-playstation-3/2007/18/guitar-hero-iii-will-have-online-multiplayer-and-wireless-says-kai-huang/
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Post by sanjoy on Jun 22, 2007 13:07:18 GMT 6
Mohit will give us an defn answer about its availablity in India on June 27th
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Shicko
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Post by Shicko on Jun 22, 2007 16:00:34 GMT 6
Cant wait =)
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Post by ΨBarnacleBrainBrantΨ on Jun 22, 2007 16:31:15 GMT 6
i bet its going 2 be heavy on price
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Post by arjun™ on Jul 11, 2007 15:10:27 GMT 6
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