Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Guitar Hero!

I just starting playing the first one, and like it so far. I've gotten thru easy and medium, but I am staying on medium level for now until I get some improvements on some of my 3 star performances. Had trouble with Bark at the Moon, but survived with some star power help. I'm having trouble learning HO/PO also, so haven't been using them in songs.

Anyway, I'm sure others on here play. How's everyone doing in it? Most of you are probably onto newer version. Any tips/tricks other than practice? I hear HO/PO are easier in later versions. Other than that are all the versions basically the same, other than having different songs to play?

The tip of my ring finger has been extra sensitive for the past couple of days. I couldn't figure out why, until I played last night and realized the button that finger presses on the guitar has that little part that sticks out so you can tell where your fingers are without looking. It must be from pressing that so many times.

I can't find GHIII/Wii anywhere. Jingle all the way.

I know why it isn't available at normal retail outlets

Link

My (ahem) "kids" are getting a Wii for Christmas. I've got the controllers, add-ons, and a few games for it including GH3. Haven't tried out GH3 yet on it, but it should be good. I like GH and GH2, although I only get to play at video game stores and at Walmart displays.

NOTE: For those people who are looking at Rock Band for their systems, every one that I've tried has an issue with the guitar not being able to strum down after a few days of abuse in the stores. I am sure that there are discussions online about it, as it is way to common to not be an issue, but I thought I would mention it. You can buy the game seperate from the guitar, drums, and mic, and I would say go that route. Use a GH guitar, and you can pick up the other band pieces seperately in February. I would bet that we will get R.B. for the Wii when it comes out next year, but I plan on using the GH3 guitars for with it.

EDIT: There is a quick fix for the Rock Band guitar. Just needs two screws inside tightened up. They were never tightened at the factory. You Tube video ==> Fix your Rock Band guitar.

Cool, Nick, thanks.

Jason, I'm not sure if it is JUST a supply and demand thing or not. I heard somewhere that Activision pulled it shortly after release due to sound problems (output in mono or maybe stereo instead of the advertised surround).

At any rate, unless there is a miracle shipment over the next couple weeks, I'm not going to be as popular as I might have been.

Also, the Rock Band guitars are being repaired by the manufacturer, so you may not have to fix it yourself.

My wife got us GHIII for our Wii but we're not allowed to play it until Christmas... I hope it works!

I really, really wanted to throw out a zinger here, but you're really too nice a guy, Tom!

Tom,
My local target was all out 2 weeks ago so i went to Gamestop and they had plenty. Not sure what your options are but worth a check if you have a Gamestop. Me and my daughter have completed easy (solo & Co-op)and are working on medium.

I picked mine up at GameStop as well If you don't see it on the shelf, ASK... They had one on the shelf when I was there, but had at LEAST 8 more in the back. They kept bringing out 2 at a time while I was playing Super Mario Galaxy. I was there for about 25 minutes, and they sold one to me, plus 7 of the others that they brought out. They just didn't have shelf space to hold a lot of guitars for all of the different systems.

does anyone know what kind of batteries the wireless guitar runs on?

I want to get this for the 360 but I wonder how long the batteries will last with the wireless guitar...

I may get the wired one.

Walmart.com shows the game+wired controller in stock, while the wireless guitar is not

Here's why! (Important parts are underlined, but included the entire article just in case someone was interested)

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Karen Farkas
Plain Dealer Reporter

Westlake -- Forget about that robe and slippers -- Grandma wants a Nintendo Wii for Christmas.

But Grandma, just like her grandchildren, is going to have a nearly impossible time finding the hot-selling game system. Part of the reason is that seniors are snapping it up with as much fervor as teenagers.

The interactive game system has crossed generations -- allowing men and women who bowled in their youth to again feel the thrill of throwing a strike. Except now the 10 pins are knocked down by a ball "thrown" by a controller aimed at a television.

"I bowled three times a week in leagues," recalled Mary Jane Morey, 93, a resident of Brighton Gardens of Westlake, who gathered Tuesday with about 20 seniors around a large-screen television.

"At first this was confusing because of the buttons, but once you get the coordination, it became just as easy to throw a gutter ball as [regular] bowling," Morey said.

Morey, who lost her right leg to an infection, bowls from her wheelchair. Such access is one of the beauties of the game, said Kathi Greco, director of community relations for Brighton.

Greco helped Margaret Sheppard, 86, guide her walker behind the duct-tape line on the carpet, put the controller strap around her wrist so she wouldn't accidentally throw it during her swing and showed her how to hold a button then release it as she swung her arm toward the lane on the screen.

Sheppard received cheers from the screen and those in the room after she threw a strike.

"It's fun," she said.

Not only does the Wii provide a change from bingo and crafts, but it improves hand-eye coordination and mental skills, said Dr. Robert Palmer, head of geriatric medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

"I think it has a physical and intellectual component," he said. "It encourages them to take on a new and challenging task. It may be very, very good for keeping seniors active and feeling good about themselves."

The popularity of the Wii in senior centers and retirement communities has taken everyone by surprise, including Nintendo of America, which initially marketed it to the young and middle-aged but quickly adjusted when it realized older people were playing.

The company had booths at the last two AARP national expositions and has partnered with retirement communities.

"The Wii is attractive to seniors because the controller, which looks like a television remote control, is easy to use and movements by the player are translated into action on the screen," said Kelli Horner, Nintendo's director of public relations in an e-mail response to questions.

"Previously, many game companies focused almost exclusively on the young male gamer demographic. Now baby boomers and seniors are realizing that they can get in on the fun," she wrote.

Finding the popular Wii is a game in itself. Most stores are sold out of the system, and they are expected to be hard to come by this holiday season.

Greco got one for Brighton about a month ago through the connections of a employee's son. The Mentor Senior Center got one after a summer intern made numerous calls before snagging one at a Mayfield store.

Greco and Kim Nolan, the Mentor center's recreation director, said seniors initially had to be encouraged to participate. But once they started playing, they began clamoring for more game time and leagues.

"It's not like a lot of the video games and there's not a lot of fast button pushing," said Nolan, 49, who asked her 21-year-old son to show her how to use the system. "It's very cool. If you're 88 and can't hold a 15-pound bowling ball, they can still do it and have the fun and camaraderie of interacting in sports."

Nolan said the best part about Wii is that it opens a new line of communication between seniors and their grandchildren.

"They play the game together," she said. "It brings two generations together."

Greco, who takes her Wii to the Fairview Park Senior Center once a month, said seniors are telling their children they want one for Christmas.

Betty Temesvari, 66, of Fairview Park, said she would love to have one at her home. She visited Brighton Tuesday and bowled as if she was at a local alley, using body language to try to will the virtual ball away from the gutter.

"My family wants to get me a computer, but I can use the ones at the senior center or library," she said. "I'd rather have a Wii."

REVENGE OF THE SENIORS!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Do you have one, Jack?

Yes, do you Jack?

No, I'm much too young.

Maybe off topic but speaking of guitars, did you all see that Gibson is coming out with a self-tuning guitar for the masses?
It's pretty slick ... Gibson Robot Guitar

I bet Jack already has one of these!

That thing is sweet! But for performers in small venues, who don't have their own roadies or 6 guitars, it takes a away a chance for them to chat with their audience as they change tunings between songs.

As one who's struggled with manual tuning all his life, all I can say is, if I had the money, I'd get one of these in a nanosecond. I'm a fan of Les Paul models anyway. But, to have one that tuned itself would be 7th heaven. It will be interesting to see if the autotune system proves to be practical, or if they will they will become impractical collectors items.

Jack, that is an excellent article about accessibility and the Wii. It made me consider seriously getting my Mom a Wii. It might actually be a better solution for her than a PC if the only thing she needs to do is send messages and surf the internet.

We have a console - and they seem readily available here - but I can't find the Guitar Hero game anywhere.

Anything that gets seniors up and moving a little, and using their brains at the same time, is a good thing (I speak from personal experience here )

Is there much of a difference between the various guitar controllers other than they way they look, and if they are wireless or wired? The controller I have is borrowed, but I am thinking about adding a controller and GH2 (might as well play them in order) to my Christmas list, but didn't know which controller to put on there, or if I should just either take the one I like the looks of best, or whatever comes in the bundle.

I've been playing expert on Guitar Hero for about a year now. I can 5 star 3/4 of the songs on expert. It's pretty sad.

College = Guitar Hero bootcamp :-)

I have 4 starred all of the first group of songs on hard, and at least 3 starred up to the group with No One Knows in it. There are a couple songs in that group that I keep failing. My finger slides are getting better, but I usaually fail if I mess up a slide and my fingers are on different buttons than I think they are, or on the fast solos, as I just can't get all the notes. I don't do HO/PO very well, which comes into play here too.

Dan! We've missed you!

Thanks...nothing like picking up forum posting again during finals week :-D

We have?

One more question before this thread dies off...I'm assuming many of you that play have played GH I, II, and III. Once you learn how to play on I, I would expect that the others are a lot easier. You have the skills, it is just learning a new song. I know they made HP/PO easier, but other than that, am I correct that they should be relatively easy since the initial learning curve is over?

Who's Dan?

Dan is danmagicman7, he of the coolest dorm room ever, two years running. He is also speakergrrl's boyfriend.

Come on, he can do better than that.

I am proud about only the first part of your description...:-)



Haha...



Guitar Hero 1 is pretty bad to learn on...hammer ons are impossible. Once you get to the expert level, you need to use hammer ons to hit really fast notes...basically you hit the strum bar once and then you can press the fret buttons for many notes after that without having to press the strum bar. In GH1 it's really hard to hit any hammer ons. Start with GH2 and GH3...unless you like GH1 songs.

I'm already up to Crossroads on hard with GH I. Can't get past that song, but that is another story. I was practicing HO last night with Fat Lip, since there are a couple in the beginning. I'm wondering how hard the transition will be to GH2. I assume it will be pretty easy since I already learned on GH1, I should be able to jump right into hard on GH2, correct?

Yep, definitely. The skill level really doesn't change.

My girlfriend got me guitar hero 3 on 360 for Christmas. We played co-op for the last two hours together... what fun!

She was unable to find the wireless controller so I got the wired controller. It is not quite long enough so I kept unplugging my guitar occasionally. She used the regular 360 controller since we didn't have a second guitar.

I am going to buy a usb extension cable for my guitar after christmas.

I would also like to get the wireless guitar for a second guitar when I have company or when she decides to quit using the controller to play.

GH III is crazy fun!

Christmas came a day early at our house, so "the kids" got a Wii, and some games, including Guitar Hero 3. We could only play it for an hour or so due to travelling today as well, and Christmas Eve at the relatives, so my kids are going to be crabby tomorrow after getting not enough sleep from an 11PM-1AM run through several songs. Of course, only 1 guitar, so we had to take turns. Can't wait for them to start selling guitars without the game for like $45 for the Wii...

I got GH II a couple of days ago as an early Christmas gift. I stopped playing becuase my knuckles have been hurting from playing so much. It has been almost two solid days without playing and I am still feeling pain. I am concerned about what this game is going to do to the long term health of my left hand. Am I going to have early arthritis from playing too much? I am not going to play any more until my hand is better.

Be careful playing, and if your hand starts to hurt, stop playing, would be my advice.

Other than that, the game is lots of fun!

Once you get to the hard/expert levels you feel like your right strumming hand is going to fall off...but you keep playing :).

spoken like a true addict

I am still a complete noob and I am working through GH3 on our Wii on the Easy setting. My daughter is working through the Medium setting, although, I just played one of the songs around the 15th unlocked song on Medium and actually beat her. She said that I am doing too good on Easy, but I figure the better I do there, the better I will do moving through the difficulty levels.

My wife tried GH3 for the first time today (she had never played any version on any system prior to today) and after the first try of Hit Me With Your Best Shot and learning how to actually play, she failed at about 48%, but restarted and made it right through on Easy with 91% correct. She will get better, but the best part is that she said how fun that the game was. Now, all three of us will be fighting over it and my poor 8 year old daughter will be fighting all of us so that she can play Super Mario Galaxy (which is also fun, but in a different way)...

I take back all the thoughts I had on Guitar Hero...

It was hanging around (GH2) Christmas eve plugged into an XBox 360 and far be it for me to be a party pooper.

I think I found the game that got me interested enough in this generation of consoles that I'd buy one.

Only trouble is... I find myself wanting to follow the bass line instead of the guitar line in songs I actually know how to play on bass (The Trooper, Institutionalized, War Pigs, Billion Dollar Babies).

Maybe Rock Band will be a better choice, since the GFs family actually has a guitarist, vocalist and drummer as well... hmm...

Bren R.

You need to play in coop mode. The 1st player does the regular guitar, and some of the songs do in fact have a bass or even a rhythm guitar track for the second player.

You don't even know

Strumming up and down instead of just down helps with that. It is 3 full days of not playing now though and my left hand is still not fully healed. I hope I didn't do something serious to it.

Heh, you'll be fine. Yes, strumming up and down is a must for some songs.

I picked up Rock band in Buffalo last week because it is almost impossible to find it in Canada.. My kids loved Guitar hero but after playing Rock Band there is just no comparison.. I'm not sure who has had more fun playing the kids or the adults but as soon as people walk into the house they head straight for the the basement to to play... lol .. Its been on all day every day since I got it and there is no sign of the novelty wearing off anytime soon .. lol ... If your on the fence as to which one to get all the Guitar hero experts( the kids) love Rock Band hands down... You won't be dissapointed.. Merry Christmas all...

Avdude..

I sold a Wii with 3 games... and an extra controller and it went for $530...this was during the summer!

I got tired of waiting for my finger to get better and started playing again today. I think I realized the cause. I jammed it badly in college playing football, and I don't think it ever healed properly. Sometimes it feels like there is a little bit of wiggle in the joint. I think using that finger so much while playing just got it acting up a little bit.

So I have 3 songs left in hard to pass on GHI. About 9 songs left in hard on GHII. I don't like the GHII songs as much though, so I'm not as excited about getting through those.

Anyone tried the PC version of GHIII?

I understand that you have to have A LOT of computer to run it.

Seems kinda silly, that. I'm sorely tempted, though.

Here are the specs for PC:

PC MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Operating System: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista
CPU Processor: Intel Pentium D (Dual Core) 2.8GHZ or AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Memory: XP - 1 GB RAM, Vista – 2GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 5.1 GB + 1GB Swap File
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Video Card: 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required – 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 128 MB Video Memory
Video Card (ATI): Radeon X800
Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 7600
Media Required: 4X DVD-ROM drive
Windows XP/Vista compatible mouse and keyboard with latest drivers
Guitar Hero 3 Official PC Guitar Controller

This product does not support Windows 98/ME/2000/NT/XP x64/Vista x64.

MULTIPLAYER REQUIREMENTS:

Internet(TCP/IP) play supported
Internet play requires a broadband connection
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ or AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+
256 MB 3D Hardware Accelerator Card
Video Card (ATI): Radeon HD 2600
Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 8800 GT
2 GB RAM
Notice: Some Mobile and Desktop 3D accelerator cards with the chipset listed here may not be compatible with the 3D acceleration features utilized by Guitar Hero 3. Please refer to your hardware manufacturer for 100% DirectX compatibility.

Notice: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disk and virtual disk drives.

SUPPORTED DESKTOP CHIPSETS:

ATI RADEON X800
ATI RADEON X1600
ATI RADEON X1800
ATI RADEON X1900
ATI RADEON X1950
ATI RADEON HD 2400
ATI RADEON HD 2600
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7600
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7800
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7900
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8400
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8500
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800

Notice: The Nvidia Geforce 8400 and 8500 cards have known issues on Vista machines with AMD CPUs.

SUPPORTED MOBILE CHIPSETS:

NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 7600 (XP Only)
NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 7800
NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 7900
NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 8400
NVIDIA GEFORCE GO 8700

I love how it's a generation old midrange ATi card listed and a new top range NVidia card, in the recommended.

I read some posts (by child geeks) that the game runs unacceptably slowly on "minimum" hardware.

child geeks = cheeks

I am denied again!

Hey, that's my old midrange ATI card! Except I've got the x800 GTO. I wouldn't even try to run it on my PC. I'll stick with the PS2.

Speaking of which, I've got hard beat except for Cowboys from Hell. Got up to 98% and lost it! There are two times in the song, one of them towards the end, where you need blue, yellow, red in quick succession. I keep messing that part up. I normally star power the first time, but I can quite make it past the second time so I die at the end.

Oh, I meant the 2600.

On that note Ken what is your preference for Video Cards as I am looking for a new card.

Current system specs:
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H Mobo
AMD 6400+ AM2
using on board video right now.
2gig PC6400 ram dual channel mode.
500gig WD SATAII
LG DVD writer / lightscribe
Antec Phantom 500 Power supply

All in a small form factor/microATX case
LanBOX Lite by Thermaltake

Anyone else have preferences?

I am torn between Nvidia 8800 series or ATI latest HD.

The system is mostly for gaming(more my 7 yr old son than me) and minor playing around, I can't see myself using it as a HTPC but you never know.

After all I can get this for much cheaper than any stand alone

8800GT. Or the HD 3870. Depending on how much you want to spend or how long you want to wait.

If mostly gaming I would go with a Nvidia 8800GT

Other than the fact I don't want to pay a $50-70 premium on what should be a $250 card, sure.

Now to hijack yet another thread, why are the Nvidia cards better for gaming or it at least seems that way? The specs between ATI and Nvidia are very similar. Is it because the Nvidia's OC better?

Ken I don't disagree, Nvidia cards are overpriced. But in the case of the 8800GT can't you actually find it for $250? I'd have to check but I think it's sold for around that.

Why Nvidia over ATI, well it's subjective really, most benchmarks are close to a tie, and when it comes to overclocking I can't say that Nvidia's better than ATI. One thing they've been doing better than ATI for games is driver optimization. That could change though.

NVidia's better for gaming at the moment because their current crop of cards simply worked better. ATi's catching back up with the 38xx series, but the 2x00 series didn't work so well. If you look at the previous generation, they were evenly matched, and going back a little farther, ATi was king of the hill (the 9700/9800 series). It goes back and forth. It also seems that way because NVidia spends a lot of money with game studios to put their logo on the games and in the splash screens.

All true! They also tend to make sure programmers optimize their games for NVIDIA, at least that used to be the case a few years ago. As Ken said it goes back and forth between ATI and them.

I guess that would be why I ended up with a ATI 9600 pro(9800 was just too much money for me back then) a number of years back as the reviews and specs showed it to be better than NVidia cards. I haven't had much time lately to research who's been doing what, so thanks guys.

I think I might just a wait a bit and see if the 38xx will force Nvidia to drop their prices a bit more. Luckily my small box will take the 8800 series.