The Gamer's Quarter

[Lestrade]

[JasonMoses]

Nope!

[Lestrade]

No shit! Hmmm... Looking for footage now...

[ryan]

I got in a copy of GH3 for the PS2 and Wii. With the Wii and the PS2 out, I purchased a pelican adapter to get PS2 controllers to work on PS3. The unit even has a slider for Normal and GH2. A shame the stupid controller is crap. The green button either doesn't work or is synced up with the orange. I checked online and found that it is apparently the neck's fault, due to it not locking in place properly. All systems are having the same problems.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Lestrade]

So how's the Wii version visually in comparison?

I was going to get the Xbox 360 version, but my Xbox just red-ringed yesterday, so I guess I won't be playing guitar-anything on Xbox 360 for a month or so... :-(

[ryan]

My Wii is off for repairs. I was getting weird graphical anomalies - pixels would change to black or a weird red and not move with the rest of the screen - so I was relying on the PS2 version to rock out. There will be no rocking for quite some time though. Unfortunate!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[SuperWes]

[ryan]

While searching for what was going on, it was the adapter recommended because of the setting. The adapter is picking up the guitar, and the base of the guitar actually works, it's the neck that doesn't respond. A quick google search for it confirmed that it's just not a well-made unit.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Lestrade]

I played GHIII for Xbox 360 at a store today. Sweet Christ, it's like a completely different game than the PS2 version. Damn you, broken Xbox! Damn yooouuuuuuuuuu!

[fish]

GH3 is CRASS.
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you cant spell selfish without fish

[Lestrade]

I was going to buy GH3 for Wii today but my local shop is out! Dammit!!

[ryan]

I got in a working guitar yesterday. Yessssssssssss! Now if I only had my memory cards I wouldn't have to play the same 10 songs over and over.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Lestrade]

So, uh, does GH3 Wii have breast physics or what!?

[ryan]

My Wii is still out being repaired! AAHHH!!!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Lestrade]

AAAHHH!

I really want to get this tonight so I can stop thinking about getting it. If I get the Wii version, let's play onlinuuuuuuuuuu~~

[JasonMoses]

Save your money and buy Rock Band? Even if you don't own a 360, you still shouldn't buy this game, I think.

(the online play isn't very good in the Wii version, anyway)

[Lestrade]

I do own a 360, but it's broken right now. I will probably buy Rock Band, somewhere along the lines of when it's not $170.

[extrabastardformula]

[The Great Unwashed]

Has anyone else noticed that the Star Power animations in GH3 are actually really sucky compared to the wicked shit they did in GH2? I mean my favourite character is Lars and he used to breathe fire! Now little glowy stars come out of his hands. What the hell! And nobody throws their guitar up in the air and continues to play anymore. I am OUTRAGED and also ENJOYING IT IMMENSELY. Though I wish there were like less rock songs I have never heard of on there. Perhaps next they will go a GH4: Bluegrass and country edition. Yes, yes.
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[Lestrade]

Yeah, almost all the animation is pretty toned down. I played a bit of GH2 for comparison and Judy Nails really moves around the stage in that game, kicking her heels up and generally looking like she's having a really good time.

So, here's how my saga has ended up. After calling all around town, I realized that the Wii game is completely unobtainable at this time. Nobody has it and nobody is expecting to get it again (if at all) until closer to Christmas.

So, defeated, I booted up my obtained PS2 version and decided to give it a spin once more. I found that the game really grew on me. I played with my TV's settings, and jammed up the sharpness and saturation, which actually makes the game look a lot better (I'll take a photo sometime). I ended up not being able to stop playing, and I beat it on medium.

Certain things still bug me, like how GH2 still has a way, way better lighting engine, whereas all the lighting on the PS2 GH3 is flat and washed out. Still, I'm loving a lot of the songs.

Take, for instance, Metallica's "One." The last time I fake-played this song, I was nine years old and in the only music class I'd ever take in my life. Our whole class was supposed to break off into "bands" and make a music video. All the dipshits around me were planning on making fucking New Kids on the Block videos, but me—oh no. I recruited three friends—Jimmy, Brad and Wilson—and convinced them that our viideo was going to be Metallica.

So my metal-loving older brother fashioned me an Xplorer out of masonite so I could look like James Fucking Hetfield, and he taught me how to fake-play "One." My band was awesome. We were the headbangiest nine-year-olds you ever saw. Curse the fates for somehow depriving me of the VHS tape of that video.

Anyway, so playing "One" in GH3 was practically biblical for me. I will pony up for the 360 version of this game whenever I get my new machine. Until now, I'll deal with my last-gen wired version (holy shit, do I hate wired controllers all of a sudden).

So sad am I that I might not have an Xbox when Rock Band is released. I have a feeling that though I don't want to pay $170, I will somehow get this sooner than I think. Nine Inch Nails is calling me, and the chance to finally fake-play drums the way Guitar Hero allowed me to fake-play guitar is intoxicating.

I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, I'm all worked up!

(By the way, If anyone gets the Wii version of GH3, I'd still love to see some images.)

[helicopterp]

I found a demo of Rock Band in Best Buy. It was near closing time, so my roommate and I were unimpeded.


He played drums; I played guitar. (I really wanted drums, but he has no experience with music games, and figuring out how to hit drums is way easier than picking up a guitar controller for the first time.)

I adore the presentation of the game. The cheering in the background as you play better, unison points, close-ups of the instruments to highlight their solos in gritty, black-and-white, old-concert-video looking moments--it's all about pumping up your ego. You really feel like you're feeding off of your own success, but more importantly you feed off the success of your bandmates. The songlist (on the demo, at least) does a great job of balancing collaboration and virtuosity.

We played "Should I Stay or Should I Go," "Say It Ain't So," and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[Lestrade]

Um, dudes, SLASH is going to be at a bookstore 20 seconds from my home today to sign his new autobiography. I so, so, SO want to buy GHIII right now and get him to sign it.

[ryan]

Ah! Man, I wish I could teleport money to you to get a signed book.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[Lestrade]

Man, I really regret not making the time to go to that signing last night. :-(

[daphaknee]

wow i really love how bad my friends sound singing, karaoke machine get!

[dhex]

do you guys think in the future there'll be a game like this except you can just run your own music into it?

probably not but hey you never know. processing power goes up, costs go down, etc etc and so forth.
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[Pijaibros]

I will forever enjoy Vib Ribbon because of that feature.

[JasonMoses]

dhex: Harmonix has actually already suggested that might do exactly that, although I'm not too hopeful that the results will be especially great based on the ipod game they released.

[daphaknee]

how is that ipod game i havent played it yet

is it like amplitude tell me about the game deets

[Harveyjames]

[dessgeega]

yo the beat is strong but the night is long
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[silentmatt]

So, word is that Rock Band will be patched soon to improve "guitar compatibility". It is unknown what this really, in essence, refers to but many people are hoping it means that the GH3 guitar will work with RB (in also hoping it will make the RB guitars work with GH but doubt that will happen).

Considering the Rock Band bundle is bass-less (and that they aren't selling additional guitars until February - which, REALLY, is ridiculous), this makes me think I actually should go out and buy the GH3 PS3 bundle in preparation, if nothing else, for the Rock Band bundle.

Being in Canada though, Rock Band hasn't even been released yet (now they are saying it'll hit stores on the 20th) so I don't know what the likelihood of finding a copy of it will be around Christmastime anyways (I'm guessing "not good", considering I'll be leaving on the 15th for Toronto, so I can't preorder it from my local store nor from a Toronto shop).

But yeah, if details on this patch are released and they point to GH3 guitars working with RB... I'll go out that night and pick up the PS3 version of GH3.
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[Lestrade]

Dude, Toronto! We should fight the Combine.

Yeah, the guitar game scenario is all a mess right now! Oddly, I had a dream this morning—don't even ask me why, I have no idea—about Guitar Hero III on the Wii. For some reason, there was an announcement, and suddenly I decided I wanted the Wii version of this game.

Then I woke up, checked some game news, and found out that GHIII for the Wii is getting downloadable songs after all. Really, really freaky.

That I'm dreaming about a Wii game is really sad, but that those dreams are becoming prophetic is frightening.

I'm almost hesitant to get this game for Xbox now (as if I can fucking find it) because of all the bullshit I'm having to deal with regarding my replacement 360.

[silentmatt]

[Lestrade]

Awesome. Yeah, there are copies of the PS3 game lining the roads here. Well, there were; I was half-considering just buying a goddamn PS3 and the game so I could stop hunting for the thing. Dammit, maybe tomorrow I'll check again for the Xbox version.

But! Rock Band comes out next Thursday; I anticipate a midnight line-up (sigh). I will absolutely do it, too.

[silentmatt]

Serious? It is a total rarity out here. My local EB said that, since launch, they have received less than 25 copies in TOTAL. Which is absurd.

I had previously checked, on a whim, 5 different stores (ranging from indie game shop to FutureShop and Toys 'R Us) and none of them had any console version of GH3. Although, there were hundreds of the PC version strewn about.

I'm looking forward to Rock Band. In actuality, I only decided to buy GH3 when I heard that the Rock Band guys were making a patch to make the GH3 guitar work with their game. Legal crap notwithstanding, my goal is to have a full Rock Band set-up at some point this winter - although, definitely not at launch. A ridiculously hot title, day of release, right before Christmas? That is a whole world of hell.
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[Lestrade]

Whoa, have you seen the recently-shown PS2 version of Rock Band? It's quite impressive. Despite the scaled-back functionality (i.e. a simplified World Tour mode, no character creation and no online play), the game looks amazing; I can't believe how close the PS2 version looks in comparison to the next-gen releases.

It makes you wonder how the PS2 and Wii versions of Guitar Hero III got so butchered, visually speaking.

Errrgh. It's 6:00 am and I'm nursing a hangover. :-/

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[Lestrade]

True.

I just checked some retailer sites and they're listing Rock Band (both the next-gen and PS2 versions) at $199.99 CAD. Goddammit, haven't they figured this out yet? I am not paying $30 over the US price for this. I wish I knew someone who was crossing the border who could bring me a copy back.

EDIT: I just double-checked with my local game shop and man, is this whole situation completely fucked. Apparently most Canadian stores are only getting the game next week, not the bundle. That isn't coming until the 28th, and it is going to cost two hundred dollars.

"What the fuck!?" I said to my retailer. It's $160 in the States. "We know," they said. "They know they can charge that and people will buy it."

I told them that, in fact, I wouldn't! God, you couldn't get me to pay $200 for a game if it came with a free blowjob.

So the point of this poorly-written account is that I am going to acquire (I leave the interpretation of that up to you) the PS2 version and play the guitar parts until you can walk into a store and buy the game for a reasonable price.

Oh yeah, and there isn't a copy of GH3 for Xbox anywhere in sight. Fucking game companies.

SECOND EDIT: There's a reason the PS2 version of Rock Band looks so good; it's pre-rendered!

[silentmatt]

Your serious? The bundle isn't coming on the 18th?

That is nonsensical. How can anyone play the game without the instruments? (I'm mainly referring to the PS3 version which doesn't work with the GH3 instruments nor the PS2 guitars)

Just the game is worthless as an initial purchase...
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PSN: Twitch_City ||| Wii: 8083 5371 5767 6700
"Jadis, si je me souviens bien, ma vie était un festin où s'ouvraient tous les coeurs, où tous les vins coulaient."

[Lestrade]

Yeah, I know. I also asked some douche at an HMV and he had the same info listed on his system. I asked about the bundle and he said it was listed for $249—at which point, I told him he was fucking crazy and ripping people off.

Are you (or is anyone) bothered by the PS2 pre-rendering? Would you rather have dynamic-yet-ugly visuals (GH3 for PS2) or gorgeous-but-never-changing visuals (Rock Band)? I mean, if your only choice was the PS2 version of either game. I'm just curious.

[Max Cola]

I just got done with playing Rock Band at a friend's house for probably eight or nine hours!

It was awesome. Really fun. Basically it's guitar hero with drums and vocals added. The GH2 guitar is compatible, which is good as the packaged RB guitar fucking sucks. I sang vocals (like a lot) and it's pretty tough if you don't know the melody! I played it on easy most of the time because it was more fun that way. Star Power is the best part - just yell something into the mic at the right moment and your voice EXPLODES out of the screen with an awesome reverb effect.

Drums I didn't play much, but even on easy they're really damn hard. You mess up once and you're pretty much finished.

We played almost the whole song list. My friend sang "Say It Ain't So" in the "Creed voice" and I damn near had a heart attack, I was laughing so hard.
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The only girl I've ever loved was born with roses in her eyes. But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone...

[Lestrade]

My god that's great.

[boojiboy7]

Yeah, singing songs in odd styles is a lot of fun. Lounge singer Maps is a good time, guaranteed.

[Lestrade]

Well. FINALLY. Here I was after work today, suddenly sick with something like my fourth cold this year (seriously, what is going on?). After labourously finding a Secret Santa gift for tomorrow's company dinner, I wandered into the Future Shop at Dundas Square on a whim.

Walking through the door, I saw a picked-through stack of Guitar Hero boxes sitting on what looked like a carpeted pallet. Only PC copies remained. I almost rolled my eyes at the banality of the sight. I headed, sniffling, to the Xbox section of the store, where I knew the store had kept displays of the game, encircling a concrete pillar. I saw the usual—PS2, PS2, PC—huh? Suddenly I spied a whitish box propped up against the pillar, behind one of the stacks. It looked like someone had made a half-assed attempt to hide it.

I checked its face: Guitar Hero... Guitar Hero Three! I looked for the whitish band... yes, it was for the Xbox! I kind of latched on to it in surprise, confused like a mistreated animal. I made myself re-read the box a few times: yes, it's Guitar Hero III... yes, it's the Xbox version... yes, it's the wireless bundle.

I stood there in near shock. What, seriously? Just like that? I looked around to see if there were any strings or traps, and I half-guiltily crept over to the cash line, carrying the box and thinking I was going to get hit by lightening. I kept looking at people to see if they were looking at me as if to say, "Oh, another guy thought that was actually a real copy of the game and didn't realize it was an empty display box," or something. (It's funny what goes through one's head sometimes.)

So I paid for the thing, and took it home. I walked, desperate for fresh air. I almost expected to get mugged, because, hey, that was just way too easy!

When I got home, I set it all up and booted the game; to my utter surprise, everything worked perfectly! I didn't wake up and find myself in a foreign prison somewhere, delusional.

And that is the story of how I miraculously found a copy of Guitar Hero after all this time.

Man, the Les Paul is nice.

Does anyone have any idea how much the separate instruments will cost for Rock Band? If the drums are coming separately for a reasonable price, I don't mind picking up the game within the next couple of weeks to at least play the guitar parts. I can live without the Fender if I can counter the ridiculous $200 Canadian price tag.

[SuperWes]

Hey so I'm confused about how Rock Band can be pre-rendered. I heard they got rid of online play, the downloadable songs, and the World Tour mode on the PS2, but can you still create your own character? How do they do that if it's pre-rendered?

The answer to your question though is that I'd rather play a dynamically rendered version simply because it would allow the developers more versatility to do things like downloadable songs and custom characters. These things matter more to me than graphics.

-Wes
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[JasonMoses]

No no no - they got rid of everything you mentioned including the ability to create-a-character in order to do pre-rendered.

[Lestrade]

So the whole Rock Band situation here in Canada is completely fucked. The only version of the game you can get right is the standalone version; no bundles yet—perhaps not for weeks.

I think I'm going to buy/rent the game and just enjoy the guitar parts for now. When the drum kits are released separately in February, I can probably just get one of those. Don't the Rock Band Fenders kind of suck, anyway?

[purplechair]

Hooray! Rock Band finally has a release date and stuff.


Oh wait! They want to charge about $300 for the game and a set of instruments.

[Cycle]

Yeah, I could buy another xbox for the price of the full set down in australia. i might just get a ps3 instead!
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