** The Official Guitar Hero 2 Thread **

[Draven]

Continued from here (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?p=7420781#post7420781). I think this game deserves it's own thread.

Got the game last night. I only got to play through about 5 songs but I'm already loving it. I plan on getting a lot better than I ever did at the first one (couldn't do many of the Hard songs very well, never really got Expert at all.)

On a side note, I bought the game online at BestBuy.com and went to pick it up in the store. I bought the "game only" version but the girl handed me the full set with the red Gibson and said "here you go!" I said thank you and left. I felt kinda bad at first, but damn that new controller is sweet. :)

[Shagrath]

but damn that new controller is sweet. :)

The new guitar is pretty damned nice. They've definately made it more "lefty-friendly" than the last revision they did.

When I bought an extra SG controller earlier this year so my wife and I could play multiplayer, I gave it a shot, thinking I'd take it and let her use the old one. Man, that tilt sensor was so sensitive when flipped into the lefty position that it would activate star power from just pressing the whammy bar. She never had any problems with it in standard righty positioning, so it must be something with the way the tilt sensor was aligned in those.

This new SG doesn't have these problems and will only accidentally activate star power if I'm playing it at a 45 degree angle or so to begin with. So, I had to change my playing style a little bit and play more level, but it's definately got a nice feel to it.

[SuperBatMan]

She's my cherry piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.....

Sorry. *runs out of topic*

[RichC2]

the new guitar has a better feel to it as well, :up: to that.

[Shagrath]

I dunno, I wouldn't suggest someone try to learn to play on Hard, that'd just be frustration out the ass. I also don't recommend playing through the entirity of Easy, because it gets boring as hell after a few tracks. But still say Easy is a great way to get a feel for the guitar for a few tracks (unless you opt to do the actual training instead... but yeah..), but only maybe the first 5 songs. I had a blast playing through Medium the first time (it's too damn easy now) so I still recommend that play through as well. Gets you more bang for the buck as well.

I personally had a very hard time going from Easy to Medium to Hard because of the speed difference. My work buddies and pretty much everyone I know are die-hard GH fans and always recommend people to start out on at least Hard, even if it is a struggle. Making use of all the buttons and playing at a good pace will help you get better quicker.

As for GH2, I'm going to have to go back and play the other modes anyways, to unlock the guitars and stuff that are only available for completing the different difficulties, and 5-starring everything. I'll definately be able to do that on Easy and Medium, and probably most of Hard as well (5-starring), although I don't think I'll ever 5-star everything on Expert.

[slop101]

Put me down as being VERY disappointed in this.

I'm a huge music snob, and the fact that they used (bad) cover bands for most of the songs in inexcusable, and something I just can't get past. The singers on GH2 sound ever worse than the imitators on GH1, which weren't too bad, but still distracting. What a gyp!

[Vryce]

I wonder why they didn't get the actual song artists. I know there are a lot more songs in the games.

But the companies earlier games Frequency and Amplitude used the actual artists. Granted only a few were bigger names.

But they had Garbage, Bowie, BT and a few others.

They also had some indie/unknowns like GH.

[Wildo1966]

Put me down as being VERY disappointed in this.

I'm a huge music snob, and the fact that they used (bad) cover bands for most of the songs in inexcusable, and something I just can't get past. The singers on GH2 sound ever worse than the imitators on GH1, which weren't too bad, but still distracting. What a gyp!

I have to agree...I too am very disappointed with the song quality in GH2, at least the first game songs sounded like the originals, the new game is not even close! I think Red Octane is getting too big for their own good. Decent game but damn that singer is the worst!

[Xander]

A few of the singers are distracting, but not enough to make me not love this game. Just can't stop playing Carry On Wayward Son and Sweet Child O Mine. Love what they did with the encores. Too cool. :) Beat the game on easy and medium last night. Got 5 stars on all but two that I have to go back and redo tonight. I'm having a blast!

[UncleGramps]

None of the covers have really bothered me so far, but then again I'm not familiar with all of the originals. I also get so focused while playing that I guess I don't pay close attention to the vocals.

In other news, Monkey Wrench has been stuck in my head all day. :lol:

[KurrptSenate]

recommending to start out on hard, even if its beyond is foolishness. Its about getting aclimated to the controller, and knowing where your fretting hand is, even if you don't have time to look at it and make sure

[xVladx]

I wonder why they didn't get the actual song artists. I know there are a lot more songs in the games.

But the companies earlier games Frequency and Amplitude used the actual artists. Granted only a few were bigger names.

But they had Garbage, Bowie, BT and a few others.

They also had some indie/unknowns like GH.

Harmonix developed Frequency and Amplitude with Sony acting as the publisher. Thus, all of the major artists featured in both games are under Sony's record label, which is why they were so easy to get.

Also, as far as some of the originals go, since the game requires that the song be seperated into various parts (guitar, bass, rest of the band) originals that weren't recorded as multi-track recordings would be pretty much impossible to break down just from the recording available. This is the case with most of the older songs.

I have to agree...I too am very disappointed with the song quality in GH2, at least the first game songs sounded like the originals, the new game is not even close! I think Red Octane is getting too big for their own good. Decent game but damn that singer is the worst!

RedOctane doesn't do the covers, they get WaveGroup to do it. One thing to keep in mind is that WaveGroup had ten more covers to do this time around. I've got no idea how long it takes to do an individual cover, but that may have been a factor. It's also possible that since their name was getting tossed around so much after GH came out, they're getting more work than usual, so they didn't have enough resources to spend on the GH2 covers.

These are just theories, though. Heck, I haven't even picked up GH2 yet.

One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad? Even though I heard complaints about some of the covers in GH1, I never thought any of them were bad at all. Sure, not all of them sounded like the originals, but I can't think of any that were badly performed. Compare that with something like Donkey Konga, where some of the songs are just bad sounding closeness to the original or not.

[RichC2]

I don't mind covers, since you are, afterall, pretty much playing a garage band making it big - and it's been a whlie since the last time a garage band had David Bowie singing vocals.

That said, yeah, bad vocals stand out on a few tracks (the ones for Rage are particularly bad.)

[slop101]

One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad?Little bit of both - if it was just one or the other (as in GH1), it wouldn't be too big a deal - but that they sound less and less like the original is worse, as I'm don't want to hear a band's interpretation of a song that I'm playing along to.

For example, when I sing Kareoke to, say, Beatles' She Came In Through the Bathroom Widow, I don't want them playing Joe Cocker's version which is way different and I'm not familiar with.

[Draven]

Since I'm not usually that familiar with the originals, none of the covers have ever bothered me. So this is no big deal to me.

[devilshalo]

One thing that I'm wondering about is if the people who don't like the covers don't like them because they sound different from the originals, or don't like them because they just plain sound bad?
Just from the demo.. I didn't care for SatD. But I didn't expect anyone to sound like exactly like Vince Neil. YRGM is passable. I thought GH was pretty close that I didn't have any problems with being distracted and half the time I try to sing along anyways.

[Fodder1976]

For example, when I sing Kareoke to, say, Beatles' She Came In Through the Bathroom Widow, I don't want them playing Joe Cocker's version which is way different and I'm not familiar with.

While I'll admit a lot of the vocals aren't right on with the originals, the music itself is. They are definitely not creating different versions of the songs.

[KurrptSenate]

the person making fun of the music is entirely focused on the vocals, which is actually the last thing you should be worrying about when its geared towards guitar and bass

[Ghym]

I picked up my copy yesterday. I like it a lot so far. Most of the covers don't bother me too much. I did notice they changed the songs from the demo some on the full game. I played Shout at the Devil and You Really Got Me on Expert and they were both a little harder than they were on the demo. I had fun playing co-op songs with my roommate. I got 100% on everything on easy in Career mode, except one. I got all the way to the last note on Jessica, and fucked it up. Oh well, I'll get it later. ;)

[Shoveler]

I agree that the "start on Hard" advice is bad for just about anyone. I was able to get through just about everything on Expert in GH, but started on Medium in GH2. Sure, I'm 5-Starring everything on my first pass through (with one exception), but I don't know about half of these songs, and I need to become familiar and get my fingers back. I have a friend who is much better than I am, he decided to start on Hard, and he's loving it but says that it sucks balls. I've tried a few on Hard in Quickplay mode (Message in a Bottle, Carry On..., Surrender, Crazy on You, Jessica), and I'm getting 3 or 4 stars on everything first time through. I can't imagine a first-time player starting on Hard under any circumstances.

[KurrptSenate]

PLEASE tell me they improved the hammer-ons/pull-offs in this game

[Vryce]

the person making fun of the music is entirely focused on the vocals, which is actually the last thing you should be worrying about when its geared towards guitar and bass

While the vocals are the background factor in the game, they can be distracting when you expect a certain sound.

For the most part, I find them okay. There are a few that really stand out because they are offkey and I found myself having to pause to continue on.

Just because people are commenting on the vocals doesn't mean they aren't appreciating the game or playing it to it potential. It is all part of the experience. Otherwise, they could have just put in a game with no vocals and just the guitar tracks.

[slop101]

And I did preface it by pointing out that I'm a music snob... :)

[CKMorpheus]

I started on Expert since that's the level I was at on GH. So far I've been getting 3-4 stars on everything but now I'm on Freeya and Bad Reputation and man I can't get half way through without my hands cramping up. I've gotten up to 71 percent on Freeya.

[flashburn]

That said, yeah, bad vocals stand out on a few tracks (the ones for Rage are particularly bad.)
Seriously, I would've been happier with that track if it was an instrumental. I think the vocals for Lamb of God's "Laid To Rest" are probably some of the worst, completely butchered. I was playing that song and doing fantastic right until the vocals started, and caused me to miss like 80% of the next 20 seconds worth of notes just because I was so thrown off by it.

[CKMorpheus]

PLEASE tell me they improved the hammer-ons/pull-offs in this game

They've both been greatly improved.

And the practice mode is a life saver!

[RichC2]

Seriously, I would've been happier with that track if it was an instrumental. I think the vocals for Lamb of God's "Laid To Rest" are probably some of the worst, completely butchered. I was playing that song and doing fantastic right until the vocals started, and caused me to miss like 80% of the next 20 seconds worth of notes just because I was so thrown off by it.

Yeah no joke, they tried to soften it up a bit and failed miserably. Still one of favorite levels though (it's just fun to play).

[NiCK Crush]

i played this at Best Buy today... never once played the first one, so first time ever trying out the controller...

gotta say, it was extremely addicting. might be picking this up eventually...

-NiCK

[xVladx]

i played this at Best Buy today... never once played the first one, so first time ever trying out the controller...

gotta say, it was extremely addicting. might be picking this up eventually...

-NiCK

You don't know the half of it.

Once you start nailing the hard parts on the higher difficulties, it gets damn satisfying. If you liked playing around with it for a few minutes, you're going to LOVE the full experience.

[flashburn]

Yeah no joke, they tried to soften it up a bit and failed miserably. Still one of favorite levels though (it's just fun to play).
Yeah, true, it is a damn fun song. Hopefully they get some better vocalists for the inevitable "Metal Hero".

[porieux]

Starting on Hard is good for people who already play guitar, like me. Otherwise it's way too easy.

Only played the initial songs on quick mode so far, but it seems to me they could have done a much better job on those Danzig vocals. Hell, I could have done a better job myself ;)

[xfilekr]

Any good Deals out for the 1st one?

[NiCK Crush]

You don't know the half of it.

Once you start nailing the hard parts on the higher difficulties, it gets damn satisfying. If you liked playing around with it for a few minutes, you're going to LOVE the full experience.

thats good to hear. i pretty much mastered Carry On My Wayward Son on standard... it was was, as you said, very satisfying. i can only imagine how the expert levels must be.

Especially since i dont know the first thing about playing a real guitar... it felt good haha.


-NiCK

[porieux]

Man I really wish I didn't have to play thru songs that suck so hard.

This Wolfmother crap is annoying me to the point of throwing the game down :)

Still a great game tho.

[freshticles]

just killed this thing on expert today...that suicidal tendencies song was rough!...now I've got to go backwards and win everything else/...great game!!!...

[Vryce]

I finished it on Medium last night.

Loved the Encores in each grouping of songs.

That Suicidal Tendencies song was difficult as was YYZ.

Was cool to unlock Freebird as the last song and the message screens asking if you really want to do so.

That song was very deceptive ;)

Sure, it starts of fairly easy. But towards the end, I found my fingers flying all over the place. And that was just medium.

I have a lot of practice if I want to complete Hard and even think of attempting Expert.

I passed all songs on Easy with 5 stars. Most songs on Medium I got 4 stars, a few 5 stars and a handful of 3 stars.

Does it matter how many stars you get in whether you are successful in beating the song or not? I mean, does it consider a song beaten if you get to the end, even if you get 1 star, and consider it failed if you don't get to the end?

[Xander]

I don't believe so. I think completed is just getting to the end. And I've never completely beaten a song and gotten less than 3 stars.

Stars just get you more money and self-gratification. :)

[Draven]

And unlockables - wasn't that part of the first game? I never got all 5 stars in any bracket but I remember reading that unlocked certain guitars or something.

[xVladx]

And unlockables - wasn't that part of the first game? I never got all 5 stars in any bracket but I remember reading that unlocked certain guitars or something.

Nope. The only thing that got unlocked directly from doing something in-game (other than just new regular songs) was the guitar you got for completing the 30 regular songs on Expert. The only thing you got for more stars was more money.

[Shagrath]

Does it matter how many stars you get in whether you are successful in beating the song or not? I mean, does it consider a song beaten if you get to the end, even if you get 1 star, and consider it failed if you don't get to the end?

You can't complete a song with less than 3 stars, so you'll have 3,4 & 5 on everything.

As far as new unlockables, there is a guitar that gets unlocked in the shop for beating all regular songs on any given difficulty, and then also 5-starring all songs on any given difficulty.

If it weren't for these, I probably would never go back to anything lower than Expert. With the addition of practice mode, there's not any reason for me to go to Hard just to learn the timing of the song.

Practice mode rocks!

[Draven]

As far as new unlockables, there is a guitar that gets unlocked in the shop for beating all regular songs on any given difficulty, and then also 5-starring all songs on any given difficulty.


That must be what I was thinking of.

[Ghym]

I just finished getting 5 stars on all the medium songs last night. I got 5 stars on about half the songs on expert in GH1, but I still like starting at easy and working my way up getting 5 stars on everything. I loved the like 5 pages asking me if I really wanted to play Freebird. I went and unlocked all the bonus songs, and I'll work, but I'll work on them later. The only one I've played is Trogdor. Gonna start on hard tonight.

I played co-op with my friends the other night, and that was a blast. I played most things on expert, while they stayed on medium and did pretty good. We didn't get booed off stage. I'm so glad we can each choose our own difficulty now. They never play any harder than medium, while I'll end up playing everything on expert.

Anyone else notice any slowdown when playing in the Rat Celler? I've noticed some slow down on that venue a couple times. I have the game set for progressive widescreen. Don't know if that matters. It hasn't messed me up, but it's kind of weird.

[Suprmallet]

Anyone else waiting for the 360 version? I'm hearing that the guitar will have a port on it for other accessories, such as a foot pedal.

[Shagrath]

Anyone else waiting for the 360 version? I'm hearing that the guitar will have a port on it for other accessories, such as a foot pedal.

Definately didn't wait on GH2, but I did purchase a 360 last month, solely for GH2 with downloadable content :drool:

However, since picking up the 360, I've found quite a few other enjoyable games and am happy with the purchase.

[MWB]

Anyone else waiting for the 360 version? I'm hearing that the guitar will have a port on it for other accessories, such as a foot pedal.

:wave:

I never bought the first game, though. It'd be much harder to hold off on this one if I already had the first one.

And a foot pedal would be crazy fun--hope that's true.

[Vryce]

Hmmm.. I may have progressed as far as I can. Though I'll still keep playing to practice.

I tried the first song on Hard, Shout at the Devil. I failed 1/3 of the way into the song.

So, I went into practice I was hitting about 40% of the notes on slow. 60% on slower and 75% on slowest.
:(

I'm good with Green Red and Yellow. I was even fine with adding Blue as there wasn't too many times when my fingers lost where they were supposed to be.

But with the orange, I constantly found myself strumming a note when I should have, it was just my finger was on the wrong color.

[xVladx]

Hmmm.. I may have progressed as far as I can. Though I'll still keep playing to practice.

I tried the first song on Hard, Shout at the Devil. I failed 1/3 of the way into the song.

So, I went into practice I was hitting about 40% of the notes on slow. 60% on slower and 75% on slowest.
:(

I'm good with Green Red and Yellow. I was even fine with adding Blue as there wasn't too many times when my fingers lost where they were supposed to be.

But with the orange, I constantly found myself strumming a note when I should have, it was just my finger was on the wrong color.

Stick with it... the addition of Orange notes is easily the toughest difficulty hump to get over in the game. I had the exact same problem as you when I first started playing Hard on GH1. I'd reach to hit an Orange note and then my fingers would just get all sorts of confused and I would screw up the next whole section.

The problem I had was that after playing on Medium, I had associated the notes with specific fingers, not buttons. So whenever I saw a yellow note, I would think "oh, that's the note I have to hit with my ring finger", but obviously, that doesn't work when you shift your hand to hit orange notes.

After getting over the initial shock, it just boiled down to lots of practice. I found that I was actually really focused on what "position" my hand was in over the frets, so when my hand was in the position to hit orange notes, I had to really concentrate on the correct fingerings for red, yellow, and blue.

It's definitely worth sticking with it, though. Honestly, I'd say Hard and Expert are the "true" GH experiences, whereas Medium and Easy are just basically like extended training modes.

[pizzamousechips]

I JUST noticed the Freezepop song. I should've known by the title "Less Talk more Rokk" but I realized it at the loading screen when it said "Throw your undies on the stage. No wait, you're underage."

Any Freezepop fans here? Definitely try this song. It's my favorite so far. On Expert, the HO/PO's gradually speed up so it's easy to get into the rhythm, plus they seem extra fluid.

[Vryce]

I first heard of Freezepop on the Frequency game. Great band. Cheesy, catchy and fun songs.

I'm glad they were in GH1 and now in GH2.

[Matt925]

It's definitely worth sticking with it, though. Honestly, I'd say Hard and Expert are the "true" GH experiences, whereas Medium and Easy are just basically like extended training modes.

I agree with that. In a way, medium is a little more difficult because you aren't pressing a button for every note that gets played, so if you are really listening to the music it doesn't sync with what you're seeing. I've noticed when I play on medium at times I'll hit the strummer in perfect rythym with the music, but I'll still miss a note. Hard takes a lot of adjustment, but once you get it down its much more satisfying, because it more closely feels like you're playing the actual song.

Thumbs down to the censored lyrics. Killing in the name of completely loses it's climax. This is Rock n Roll baby! :lol: Still a fun song to play and I guess they had no choice.

With all the talk about the series being very popular with music artists, hopefully on the next release more bands will provide the master track so their songs aren't "butchered." I think the vocals are pretty good for the most part, but then you play John the Fisherman and you realize how much better this game could be.

I was pleasanty surprised with Rock this Town. I looked online and saw this song is from 1980, I thought it was from the 50s. It still has that golden oldie sound and I hope they include a couple more in the next game.

[pizzamousechips]

I was pleasanty surprised with Rock this Town. I looked online and saw this song is from 1980, I thought it was from the 50s. It still has that golden oldie sound and I hope they include a couple more in the next game.
Wow, I thought it was from the 50s too. Thumbs up to continuing the diversity in future installments.

[SuperBatMan]

I was pleasanty surprised with Rock this Town. I looked online and saw this song is from 1980, I thought it was from the 50s. It still has that golden oldie sound and I hope they include a couple more in the next game.

I just can't help but to dance around while playing this song.

[CKMorpheus]

My favorite track has got to be Jessica. Lots of fun!

[pizzamousechips]

My favorite track has got to be Jessica. Lots of fun!
That's in my top three! With Carry on My Wayward Son and Less Talk More Rokk. I prefer fast HO/PO's to fast chords, and those three work best IMO.

[Xander]

Having fun with hard mode right now. About halfway through, I think. Yeah, adding the orange button is definitely a challenge. It's all about practice. I've managed to get 5 stars on everything in medium now, so I'm looking forward to the other two modes. Still can't beat the original on hard, though. BatM and CFH still kick my ass. :(

The only unlockables I've seen were the guitars that were unlocked when I beat the game on medium. Oh, and a couple of new bass guitars have been unlocked while playing co-op mode, but I'm not sure what triggered those.

[Ghym]

That's in my top three! With Carry on My Wayward Son and Less Talk More Rokk. I prefer fast HO/PO's to fast chords, and those three work best IMO.


I agree on Jessica and Wayward Son. Those are a lot of fun. Most of these songs are fun and more challenging than on the first GH. The only ones I really don't care for are the Nirvana and Alice In Chains songs. I like the songs ok, but they aren't very fun to play, imo.

[Wildo1966]

I absolutely love Free Bird in this game, it a long song that starts easy and get's very difficult at the middle and end. I have gotten 4 stars on Medium and I am still trying to get a 5 star on it! My wife is getting to know the song by heart it is playing so often! I am also about 1/2 done the hard level and it ain't getting any easier!

[Hospitaller]

only played a few songs but man the vocals on that cover of Mother are really really cringe worthy in my opinion.

[flair]

I played guitar hero wayyyyy too much so i started off on expert. I was suprised to have my ass handed to me a few times. I'm having a hard time five starring a few songs, others just take a bit of practice. I was pretty happy that the songs on the psm demo were easy (yes, even YYZ when compared to others). Some songs are really really fun, others I just can't stand. My favorite songs to play are probably jessica and miserlou for the regular songs. Least favorite song is probably the heart song, I just can't seem to get the hang of that one.

[NiCK Crush]

Love the game. Beat all songs on Easy and Medium... but am having tremendous amounts of difficulty with Hard. The jump from Medium to Hard is just crazy.

My favorite songs are: Jessica, Can't You Hear Me Knockin, Sweet Child of Mine, Carry On My Wayward Song, and YYZ.

-NiCK

[Mordred]

Well I'm a total GH nut. I started out on expert on GH2 and managed to beat the game without failing any of the first 40 songs which was my goal (although I did come close a few times). I still haven't passed Jordan on Expert (but I will soon!) and I've only passed Six once, but I'm doing pretty good on most of the rest of the songs.

I think GH2 is far and away more fun than GH. It's got crazier rhythms, three note chords, harder songs, easier pull offs and is just all around more fun to play. I can't even describe how much fun "Less Talk More Rock" is on Expert. I liked the licensed songs better on GH, but the bonus songs on GH2 are way above the ones on GH. I don't see myself playing GH again to be honest. There's just too much good stuff here.

I need to eventually go back and 5* all of Easy, Medium and Hard to unlock the special guitars, but for the moment I'm just having fun on Expert and trying to keep my ranking up on www.scorehero.com (http://www.scorehero.com/scores.php?user=3429&game=2&diff=4).

[porieux]

Wow, you guys must be young if you don't remember the Stray Cats.

Or I guess I'm old :(

[Wick]

I decided to return my copy of Guitar Hero II, because I don't feel like spending $150 CAD on the game. I'm eventually going to buy it for the 360, so it'll be along the lines of $90 for that, without tax. I'll just wait and use the money for Rainbow Six: Vegas.

[Mordred]

I decided to return my copy of Guitar Hero II, because I don't feel like spending $150 CAD on the game. I'm eventually going to buy it for the 360, so it'll be along the lines of $90 for that, without tax. I'll just wait and use the money for Rainbow Six: Vegas.Why would you need to spend $150 on it?

[nodeerforamonth]

And what's "CAD"?

[xfilekr]

Canadian currency?

[RichC2]

I just now realized that Dethklok from Metalocalypse was on the game.

Fun song too.

[nodeerforamonth]

Got it last night. Wow. Great game! Hands are hurting like hell after 5 hours of play last night (solved it on easy) and 30min today on medium. Got to lay off for a day or two.

It is like playing a real guitar! I'm certainly learning timing. Maybe this game will teach me how to solo!

So most everyone plays on "medium"? I can unlock all the songs on that level, right?

[RichC2]

Yeah, Medium is the full game.

I played through Medium on GH1, didn't bother with GH2 though (went straight to Hard)

Sadly, I keep losing on Freebird at 90%.

[Vryce]

So beating each stage in hard and expert doesn't get you any more songs?

[Mordred]

So beating each stage in hard and expert doesn't get you any more songs?
Nope, there are no more songs after beating hard and expert. You do get more money for beating the same songs on higher difficulties which would allow you to unlock more things in the shop. Whether you care about that is debateable though. For me the fun is trying to 5* as many songs as possible on Expert and continuously improve my scores.

[aerobson]

I thought this was worth ressurrecting the Guitar Hero thread. I heard this story on the radio this morning. Apparently, Tigers ace reliever Joel Zumaya couldn't pitch in the ALCS this year because he was sore from playing Guitar Hero. -ohbfrank- True story. I know this probably belongs in the sports forum, but I thought the guys here would get more of a kick out of it. He's lucky the Tigers still won that round.

Link (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061214/SPORTS02/612140388/1050/SPORTS)

The Tigers are satisfied they won't see a recurrence of the right wrist and forearm inflammation that sidelined Joel Zumaya for three games of the American League Championship Series.

Why? Club president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM (1270) on Wednesday the team had concluded Zumaya's injury resulted from playing a video game, not from his powerful throwing motion.

"That was probably what was taking place," Dombrowski later told the Free Press.

Zumaya, 22, was known to play "Guitar Hero," a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.

During the radio interview, Dombrowski said the Tigers' athletic training staff discovered that Zumaya's forearm pain was more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher. The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing the video game, and he did. Zumaya then pitched pain-free during the World Series, and went 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances.

"He felt fine in the World Series, to tell you the truth," said Steve Springer, one of Zumaya's representatives. "I didn't even think twice about it."

[Mordred]

Too funny. I definitely know the pain he was going through though :)

[Josh H]

Got Guitar Hero II for x-mas and picked up the first one today with a gift card to have both and 2 Guitars for multiplayer.

What a blast these games are. I'm starting at Easy and working my way up. Finished all songs in both games on easy, working on 5 staring them now and then moving on to medium.

[Boo]

When, oh when, will this be officially announced for the Xbox 360? Hell, even the Wii now, for that matter.

I play this game every time I go to Best Buy. I'm dying to own it.

[BigDaddy]

A wireless guitar would be cool.

[mkdevo]

A wireless guitar would be cool.

i picked up 2 of the red octane wireless guitars last week. unfortunately, one of them needs to be RMA'd, but the other one is fantastic. SO glad to get rid of the cable plus extension cord, plus it makes the wife happy. :)

[BigDaddy]

i picked up 2 of the red octane wireless guitars last week. unfortunately, one of them needs to be RMA'd, but the other one is fantastic. SO glad to get rid of the cable plus extension cord, plus it makes the wife happy. :)


Nice. Where did you get them?

[BigDaddy]

Got Guitar Hero II for x-mas and picked up the first one today with a gift card to have both and 2 Guitars for multiplayer.

What a blast these games are. I'm starting at Easy and working my way up. Finished all songs in both games on easy, working on 5 staring them now and then moving on to medium.


Where did you find the first one? I would like to pick it up for the guitar.

[Josh H]

Where did you find the first one? I would like to pick it up for the guitar.

Circuit City.

Just look online and do instore pick up if you can find it. Only one of the 4 local ones had it in, and I struck out at 2 best buys, 2 targets and a Toys R Us first.

That or just wait a bit longer until they get them restocked.

[Trevor]

This is one of those games that looked so incredibly cheesy when I first saw it in ads and in the store, that I thought I'd never want to play it.

But after actually playing it at my nephew's, I'm not sure if I can wait for the 360 version.

Would I actually buy my first Playstation just for this game? It is so tempting.

Do we have a firm 360 date yet?

[mkdevo]

Nice. Where did you get them?

i got them straight from redoctane.com. couldn't find them anywhere else..

[Josh-da-man]

My g/f got me Guitar Hero II for Christmas.

I have a question about the guitar. Our guitar that came with GHI activates Star Power with barely a little nudge, just tilting the neck up about fifteen or twenty degrees does it. It will sometimes go off accidently with even minor taps.

The guitar that came with GHII doesn't seem fully consistent with star power activation. Sometimes I just have to push up the neck up about thirty degrees, other times it seems like I have to swing it over my right shoulder to get it to hit.

It's sort of hard to actually test star power. The best I can do is play the game on easy and try different things, but it's still difficult to accurately test since you can only do it once every minute or so.

Should I exchange the set for a new one, or is this just a quirk of the guitar? Or does our GHI guitar just have a hair trigger? (The tutorial for GHII says to activate star power you have to raise the guitar to a vertical position, so that's basically the "over the shoulder" move.)

[xVladx]

My g/f got me Guitar Hero II for Christmas.

I have a question about the guitar. Our guitar that came with GHI activates Star Power with barely a little nudge, just tilting the neck up about fifteen or twenty degrees does it. It will sometimes go off accidently with even minor taps.

The guitar that came with GHII doesn't seem fully consistent with star power activation. Sometimes I just have to push up the neck up about thirty degrees, other times it seems like I have to swing it over my right shoulder to get it to hit.

It's sort of hard to actually test star power. The best I can do is play the game on easy and try different things, but it's still difficult to accurately test since you can only do it once every minute or so.

Should I exchange the set for a new one, or is this just a quirk of the guitar? Or does our GHI guitar just have a hair trigger? (The tutorial for GHII says to activate star power you have to raise the guitar to a vertical position, so that's basically the "over the shoulder" move.)

Funny thing is, my guitars are the exact opposite. The GH1 one was pretty picky about SP. I'd have to swing it to exactly vertical. I could get it done pretty consistently once I got the hang of it though. My GH2 one is like your GH1 one, VERY sensitive, which is nice when you don't have to be so careful, but it stinks when it goes off when you don't want it to.

What's really weird is that it seems that my GH1 guitar is less likely to activate SP while playing GH2 than it was in GH1...

[nodeerforamonth]

Just got Guitar Hero I because I wanted more songs. Man, that is EASY compared to part 2!!! (well, to be fair, I am playing it on "medium").

[BigDaddy]

i got them straight from redoctane.com. couldn't find them anywhere else..


I ended up picking up the game and 2 wireless guitars last night. I found one each at 2 different game stops and they were able to hold them. The game is like crack. :lol: Both game stops I went to last night had PS3's they had been sitting on for a week that had not sold. Both had no wii's to speak of.

[MWB]

Just got Guitar Hero I because I wanted more songs. Man, that is EASY compared to part 2!!! (well, to be fair, I am playing it on "medium").

I borrowed the first one from a friend last Spring and played it for a few weeks before giving it back. At the time, I was having major problems with the last few songs on Hard, and only completed a handful of songs on Expert.

I bought GHII last month and finished Hard, and was halfway through Expert, and a couple of days ago my buddy sold me his copy of the first game, so I went back to tackle the stuff I was having so many problems with the first time around. Wound up blowing through the rest of the songs on Hard, and am currently blazing through Expert, having failed only one song ("Crossroads") so far.

So yeah, I'd agree that GHII is much more difficult than the first--with the exception of the hammer-ons-and-pull-offs. The new game is much more forgiving when it comes to those.

[nodeerforamonth]

Also, is it my imagination, or is Guitar Hero I alot slower on Medium difficulty than Guitar Hero II is on Medium difficulty?

[Pretty Go Pale]

Could someone explain the "hammer-ons" and "hammer-offs?" I am awful at this game -- mucked my way through the "easy" and "medium" sections, but haven't been able to successfully complete even one song in the "hard" section, despite hours of trying. Never tried GH1; got GH2 for Christmas and I really like it. But the frustration level is really creeping up and I'd appreciate any tips that anyone might care to offer.

Spiral out,

@

[Lethal Nemesis]

Hammer-ons are when you strum one note, then you play the next note simply by fretting a higher note on the same string. On the guitar controller, for example, a hammer-on would be if you were to strum the green note, followed by pressing the red note without having to strum the red note.

Unlike Guitar Hero 1, hammer-ons (and pull-offs) are easy to execute in GH2. When you see a series of notes, you'll notice that some of the notes do not have a black outline on the white center. All you have to do is strum the first note, followed by pressing each successive note in sequence -- as long as you hit each note successfully, you can continue hitting the hammer-ons and pull-offs without strumming. If you miss, however, you'll need to strum the next note in order to start it up again.

Pull-offs are the opposite of hammer-ons. For the purpose of Guitar Hero 2, you execute them pretty much the same way as you do hammer-ons: strum the first note in the series, followed by pressing each successive note without strumming.

You can also check out the in-game tutorial for some hands-on demonstrations. Good luck!

[Josh-da-man]

Could someone explain the "hammer-ons" and "hammer-offs?" I am awful at this game -- mucked my way through the "easy" and "medium" sections, but haven't been able to successfully complete even one song in the "hard" section, despite hours of trying. Never tried GH1; got GH2 for Christmas and I really like it. But the frustration level is really creeping up and I'd appreciate any tips that anyone might care to offer.


The tutorial section of practice mode does a decent job explaining how to use hammer-ons and pull-offs.

One thing that might be tripping you up on Hard is the addition of the orange button. Five buttons, and you only have four fingers. Means that you will have to use one finger for two different buttons, or you'll have to slide your hand up and down the neck. (For some good practice on this technique in the medium mode, when you have a red-blue chord come up, slide your hand down one button and hit the red-blue chord with your index and ring fingers instead of the middle and pinky that would normally correspond to that position. That chord combination is the toughest one for most people in the medium level, so practicing moving your hand up and down the neck there isn't a bad way to warm up to the Hard difficulty.)

The best way to learn how to deal with the hard/expert levels is to play them in practice mode at the slowest speed so you can work out the best way for you to handle the expanded button set-up.

Also, as the speed increases in the upper levels, you'll want to be sure you're strumming up and down, and not just one way. Most people, when they're first starting out, only push the strum bar down. But when the notes start coming faster and faster you'll need to move it both ways to keep up with the speed.

[Novasonic]

Can anybody here beat Jordan on expert?

[Bluelitespecial]

So is this game really as good as everyone says it is.

[mkdevo]

no. everyone is fibbing.

[Mordred]

Can anybody here beat Jordan on expert?
Not yet, but I'm just a decent run away from doing it. It frustrates me so I haven't really tried more than ten times since the game was released. I just need to be able to wait on my star power activation another another second or two and I'll have it.

[Shagrath]

RedOctane released the first picutres of the 360 box and bundle contents yesterday. Looks friggin' hot!

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12517/Guitar-Hero-II-for-Xbox-360-Box-Art-and-Bundle-Picture/

[RichC2]

Wonder what the additional songs are.

[Shagrath]

Wonder what the additional songs are.
The rumor running around is that there will be an optional download for the original Guitar Hero songs, using the GH II engine. I'd totally be down for that and would pay additional for it with no problems.

As far as the additional songs exclusive for the 360 version, I'm not certain.

[Jeremy517]

Can anybody here beat Jordan on expert?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym6sjIzlHTY

[Novasonic]

I've see that already. I meant anybody on dvdtalk, but thanks anyway.

[BigDaddy]

Being able to download songs would make me purchase the game again for the 360. I just wish the guitar was wireless. Oh well.

[Mordred]

I've see that already. I meant anybody on dvdtalk, but thanks anyway.I've given up on trying to beat it the normal way and tried once yesterday using the Hyper Speed mode (press OBOYOBOY at the title screen). I failed about half a second before coming out of the really difficult solo part.

It was very frustrating :)

[Josh H]

Did the game make anyone else pick up a real guitar and start learning how to play?

[joeblow69]

Did the game make anyone else pick up a real guitar and start learning how to play?
As soon as those Hello Kitty guitars at Target get marked down on clearance more, I'm all over that! :D

[Shagrath]

...Hyper Speed mode (press OBOYOBOY at the title screen).
I just tried this for the first time and I'm actually better in some songs in Hyper than I am in regular. I haven't beaten anything on the last tier of expert yet, but I got further in Hangar and Misirlou than I did at normal speed.

[mdc3000]

Wonder what the additional songs are.
from team xbox (and same story at IGN):

10 more that are exclusive to the Xbox 360 game. RedOctane’s announcement is expected to reveal five of them (and the artists that made them famous):

* Billion Dollar Babies (Alice Cooper)
* Dead! (My Chemical Romance)
* Hush (Deep Purple)
* Life Wasted (Pearl Jam)
* Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer)

TeamXbox was also told that three of the remaining five exclusives are Possum Kingdom (Toadies), Salvation (Rancid) and The Trooper (Iron Maiden), all of which will be part of the main gameplay.

MORE DETAILS TOMORROW. A big thumbs up to PEARL JAM and RANCID!!!!! and I frakking love "Dead!" by MCR so I am now beyond pumped for GH2 360.

[Mordred]

I did it. Had to use Hyper Mode but screw it. If that's cheating, I'm a big cheater and I don't feel bad anymore :)

Looks like I missed 5*'s by about 25k. Maybe someday I'll attempt that feat, but for now I'm content.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Mordred2003/Jordan0001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Mordred2003/Jordan0003.jpg

[Draven]

I am so annoyed they didn't make the controller wireless on the 360. I might have rebought the game for that.

It's the perfect opportunity to do it, Microsoft has good technology for it, and the game is screaming for it.

Lame.

[mkdevo]

I am so annoyed they didn't make the controller wireless on the 360. I might have rebought the game for that.

It's the perfect opportunity to do it, Microsoft has good technology for it, and the game is screaming for it.

Lame.

i'm sure they'll come at some point. get everyone to buy into the wired guitars first, wait a bit, then release wireless guitars = more $$$.

i just don't like the fact that my PS2 guitars won't be compatible with the 360 (i don't have a 360 yet, but i'll be getting one soon).

[Vryce]

from team xbox (and same story at IGN):

10 more that are exclusive to the Xbox 360 game. RedOctane’s announcement is expected to reveal five of them (and the artists that made them famous):

* Billion Dollar Babies (Alice Cooper)
* Dead! (My Chemical Romance)
* Hush (Deep Purple)
* Life Wasted (Pearl Jam)
* Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer)

TeamXbox was also told that three of the remaining five exclusives are Possum Kingdom (Toadies), Salvation (Rancid) and The Trooper (Iron Maiden), all of which will be part of the main gameplay.

MORE DETAILS TOMORROW. A big thumbs up to PEARL JAM and RANCID!!!!! and I frakking love "Dead!" by MCR so I am now beyond pumped for GH2 360.

In addition to that info, the release I read had another line after the mention of the Toadies, Rancid and Maiden songs.


Additionally, Dead! and Possum Kingdom will be “master tracks,” meaning that they’ll be the respective bands’ original recordings, rather than the studio remakes that make up the rest of the tunes in the game.

Too bad that all the songs can't be by the original artists.

[cartman]

I'm quite scared to hear how the Pearl Jam track will sound.

[Josh H]

Too bad that all the songs can't be by the original artists.

Yep thats the one flaw of the series.

[edstein]

Yep thats the one flaw of the series.

On the 360 version, what's stopping you from streaming the real songs off of a usb drive while you play?

[RichC2]

You'd have to sync that perfectly, plus it'd be kind of weird gettingi the guitar sounds when you didn't hit the note.

[Josh H]

Yeah, it would be weird for just that reason, and a pain to synch it up right.

And I don't have a 360 nor plans to buy one.

[Josh H]

Did the game make anyone else pick up a real guitar and start learning how to play?

I think starting on real guitar has helped my GH skills.

Hadn't played GH for a week or so, but had practiced a lot on the guitar. Just threw in GHII tonight and blew through the last 20 songs on medium without failing once!

Now need to polish off Medium on GHI and start working on 5 stars on medium and trying out hard mode in both games.

[Josh H]

For all the talk of GHII being harder, for me on medium No One Knows, Cross Roads, Cowboys from Hell and (to a lesser extent) Bark at the Moon in the first game gave me more problems than any tracks in second game.

And I played them all after finishing medium on GHII as well.

[asabase]

Medium is pretty easy in both games. Hard is where it actually gets hard in GHII. I'm almost done with expert in GHI but am still stuck halfway through hard in GHII.

[J-Dubya]

the only song i failed on medium was free bird, took me some practice and 4 tries. i attempted a couple on hard and didnt make it past 35% of wither track. I have the feeling I may have to settle for trying to 5 star the med level as a peak.

[Mordred]

For all the talk of GHII being harder, for me on medium No One Knows, Cross Roads, Cowboys from Hell and (to a lesser extent) Bark at the Moon in the first game gave me more problems than any tracks in second game.

And I played them all after finishing medium on GHII as well.My wife (who has beat both games on medium and hard, but refuses to try expert) felt that medium in GHII was easier than GH1. She felt the jump from medium to hard was much bigger in the second game though.

The one crappy thing about GHII is that the first tier is screwed up for hard and expert. Several of the songs should be in much harder tiers. My wife has 5*'d 3 on the first tier but has barely 4*'d the other two (including Shout at the Devil), while she has 13 of the next 15 5*'d. There are rumors that the tiers will be reorganized for the 360 version and that would be great if that's the case. Otherwise the songs can be very disheartening when starting a new difficulty level.

[Shagrath]

Bad, bad news for the future of Guitar Hero! Activision has taken Guitar Hero away from Red Octane and Harmonix and given it to Neversoft.

http://www.neversoft.com/

Not looking too good for GHIII. Hopefully the 360 version will get enough content to keep us happy for a while.

[Josh H]

As long as they have access to the engine it should be fine. Hopefully they follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix" logic as the game really needs no innovation from GHII. Just needs more songs.

But rumor has it that the next one will be 80s music, so I'll likely be passing anyway.

[Josh H]

The one crappy thing about GHII is that the first tier is screwed up for hard and expert. Several of the songs should be in much harder tiers. My wife has 5*'d 3 on the first tier but has barely 4*'d the other two (including Shout at the Devil), while she has 13 of the next 15 5*'d. There are rumors that the tiers will be reorganized for the 360 version and that would be great if that's the case. Otherwise the songs can be very disheartening when starting a new difficulty level.

That does suck.

I though the tiers were off a bit in GHI as well toward the end as No One Knows and Crossroads were much harder on medium than any of the five songs in the final tier.

Their were a few in GHII that I thought were harder than the last tier songs aside from Freebird as well, but I can't recall which ones of the top of my head.

Of course I suppose it's impossible to rank the songs perfectly as people will have problems with different things and what's hard to one person may be easy to another and vice versa.

[J-Dubya]

80s music would be friggin awesome, i think gh2 is overloaded with heavy/speed/death metal garbage.

[Josh H]

80s music would be friggin awesome, i think gh2 is overloaded with heavy/speed/death metal garbage.

That it is to an extent, but I'll take that over most 80s music.

What I really want is a mid 90s GH. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Live etc. etc.

[RichC2]

80s music would be friggin awesome, i think gh2 is overloaded with heavy/speed/death metal garbage.

2 of my favorite songs on the game fit in that cat (Laid to Rest and Thunderhorse), I honestly can't think of any more than 1 or 2 other ones, dunno how that's 'overloaded'.

[mdc3000]

I'd be up for a 90's version as well but I'd probably skip Retro Hero.

[Draven]

That it is to an extent, but I'll take that over most 80s music.

What I really want is a mid 90s GH. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Live etc. etc.

It would have to come with a plaid shirt as well for me to get excited about mid-90s. I'll take 80's music in a heartbeat.

[flashburn]

2 of my favorite songs on the game fit in that cat (Laid to Rest and Thunderhorse), I honestly can't think of any more than 1 or 2 other ones, dunno how that's 'overloaded'.
Yeah, it is definitely not "overloaded". If anything I wish they would add more heavy metal.

[harrydoyle]

add Smashing Pumpkins to the 90s list!

[Liver&Onions]

It would have to come with a plaid shirt

I'll lend you one of mine.

[Josh H]

It would have to come with a plaid shirt as well for me to get excited about mid-90s. I'll take 80's music in a heartbeat.

Generation gap I guess. :D

I was born in 1978, so I came of age and really got into music in the mid 90s and will always be partial to those songs/bands.

[mh4268]

the only song i failed on medium was free bird, took me some practice and 4 tries. i attempted a couple on hard and didnt make it past 35% of wither track. I have the feeling I may have to settle for trying to 5 star the med level as a peak.
I couldn't beat any songs on hard for a while. I would play a song like 5 times, then stop for a day or too, then try again...eventually I beat one of the songs and then 3/4 songs on hard that same day. Woman took a bit longer again I would just not play for a day or two and eventually beat that. Now I have beat like 13 songs. It took a long time to get over the hump but it is worth it. I go back to medium and it is SO much easier to 5star the songs.

[devilshalo]

Harmonix has zero to do with 'Hero'
Plans unclear for MTV's vidgame developer
By BEN FRITZ

Just five months after MTV bought vidgame developer Harmonix Systems for $175 million, it's becoming less clear what the cable conglom got for its money.
Harmonix rose to fame for its work producing "Guitar Hero," a successful game that lets players simulate being a rock star on a controller made to look like a guitar. Last November's sequel, also developed by Harmonix, was one of the bestselling games of the year.

However, publisher RedOctane -- part of Activision -- recently confirmed that a new developer, NeverSoft, is working on the next sequel. Neversoft, which is owned by Activision, is primarily known for making Tony Hawk brand skateboarding games.

While most observers expected that MTV had a lot in store for Harmonix, given the very high price it paid, few expected it to abandon work on "Guitar Hero."

However, Activision apparently couldn't or didn't want to work with a developer now owned by MTV. That means Harmonix is most likely working entirely on original projects for its new corporate parent, which is trying to expand its presence in the vidgame biz.

An MTV rep declined comment on plans for Harmonix. Asked in several different online interviews why Harmonix is no longer working on "Guitar Hero," RedOctane head of publishing Dusty Welsh gave identical answers: "In looking toward the future, we believe it was a natural and neutral decision for us to look at other opportunities."

[kakihara1]

Activision probably didn't want a GH "Yo MTV Raps" edition which is what it would have ended up becoming. Not a whole lot of geetar in the rap music. ;)

[UncleGramps]

Not a whole lot of geetar in the rap music. ;)
Run-DMC FTW! ;)

[DVDChris]

Activision probably didn't want a GH "Yo MTV Raps" edition which is what it would have ended up becoming. Not a whole lot of geetar in the rap music. ;)

I see you haven't watched MTV in quite a while. Yo MTV Raps has been gone since the early 90s.

[devilshalo]

I see you haven't watched MTV in quite a while. Yo MTV Raps has been gone since the early 90s.
Then I don't see how they're gonna get any guitar songs off of Pimp My Ride, My Sweet 16, or any of the Road Rules/Real World stuff. :p

[DVDChris]

They'd do a TRL Guitar Hero, where in the middle of a solo, a screen pops up with some kid screaming why they voted for the song you're playing....WOOOOOO!

[RichC2]

Yup. It would connect to a central server (brought to you by URGE) and people can make their own Screaming Pop-Ups (TM) using Eye Toy, or the Vision Camera for the 360 version.

[Mad Dawg]

This game is ridiculous. I kept hearing about it, then a co-worker insisted I pick it up. The gf hasn't played a game with me in years, but she's as addicted as I am.

I just got through medium after 5-starring everything, and the orange button on hard is absolutely kicking my ass. The difficulty jump is insane, since I had become accustomed to having my four fingers static over the four fret buttons. I 5-starred Strutter on the second try, but have had to hit star power a lot to complete the other few songs I've played. Solos are pretty much out of the question right now. Hope practice helps. It's a fun ride, though.

[RichC2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY

I can't even beat Freya on Expert :(.

[TheDude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY

I can't even beat Freya on Expert :(.

I can't get over 55% on hard. Goddamn I hate that song.

[BigDaddy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yEjyuw42YY

I can't even beat Freya on Expert :(.


Crazy. I wonder if it is real.

[Draven]

Generation gap I guess. :D

I was born in 1978, so I came of age and really got into music in the mid 90s and will always be partial to those songs/bands.

I'm only two years older than you, but I that means I started high school in 1990. I'd been listening to 80s music throughout my childhood. I'm a complete child of the 80s, and associate most 90s music with bad high school dances :lol:

Different strokes I suppose.

[Josh H]

I'm only two years older than you, but I that means I started high school in 1990. I'd been listening to 80s music throughout my childhood. I'm a complete child of the 80s, and associate most 90s music with bad high school dances :lol:

Different strokes I suppose.

I didn't listen to much music until I was 13 or so, so that could be it too.

Was mainly into sports etc. in elementary and middle school. The little I listened to at home would have been stuff my dad was playing, which was all classic rock--Beatles, Zeppelin, Eagles, and so on so that probably influenced my tastes as well.

[Mordred]

Crazy. I wonder if it is real.That 8-year old does appear to be legit as there was a lot of discussion about it over at Scorehero.com. He's definitely got some skills at the game and he kicks my ass at Psychobilly (Still not close to 5*ing that one). Fortunately on some other songs I'm slightly better than he is. So in your face kid who is 22 years younger than me.

[dvdsteve2000]

Two questions:

Can you play GHII on the PS3? I don't have a PS2.

Is there a release date for the 360 yet?

[RichC2]

No, you can't play GHII on the PS3. At least, not with the guitar.

360 Version will be available (most likely) the last week of march or the first week of april.

[steebo777]

I know I'm way late to the game, but I've been too addicted to the DS and Wii to get away, but... I just picked up GHII this weekend and was blown away. What an amazing and fun game. I'd pause my DVR during the SuperBowl and excuse myself for rocking out for a few minutes. What a wicked good game!!!

[Mordred]

I know I'm way late to the game, but I've been too addicted to the DS and Wii to get away, but... I just picked up GHII this weekend and was blown away. What an amazing and fun game. I'd pause my DVR during the SuperBowl and excuse myself for rocking out for a few minutes. What a wicked good game!!!I have built up some buffer many a time doing exactly that :)

[devilshalo]

I'm still having trouble getting thru the hard and expert levels. My arm wants to fall off after a couple of songs.

[Mordred]

I'm still having trouble getting thru the hard and expert levels. My arm wants to fall off after a couple of songs.Fretting or strumming arm, and do you sit or stand while playing?

[Mordred]

Finally 5*'d Jordan on Expert tonight. I passed it my first try with a 251k which was still a 4* tried it again and easily passed with a 261k for 5*s. I could have easily done about 275k but I missed the second star power so I couldn't activate before the solo.

I then attempted one final solid run through as I've apparently figured out the secret... but I failed 3x as my hands were apparently too tired. Either that or I lost my mojo.

That leaves me with just three songs left to 5*. I will never 5* Six, but I think I've got a chance at Misirlou and MAYBE Psychobilly Freakout if I get lucky.

[flair]

Finally 5*'d Jordan on Expert tonight. I passed it my first try with a 251k which was still a 4* tried it again and easily passed with a 261k for 5*s. I could have easily done about 275k but I missed the second star power so I couldn't activate before the solo.

I then attempted one final solid run through as I've apparently figured out the secret... but I failed 3x as my hands were apparently too tired. Either that or I lost my mojo.

That leaves me with just three songs left to 5*. I will never 5* Six, but I think I've got a chance at Misirlou and MAYBE Psychobilly Freakout if I get lucky.


You've 5*'d jordan but not misirlou? The end part with the 16th note 3 button chords with an 8x multiplier alone gives you 40,000 points at least (god did that sound nerdy or what?). Six seemed a heck of a lot easier than jordan to me as well. Psychobilly...I just can't stand that song enough to bother, even though some of the soloish stuff is fun to play.

[U6C84]

I never really got into Guitar Hero 2 like I did Guitar Hero 1.

I've had it since release day, and I've only played it a few times at parties. I don't know...I just don't think these songs appeal to me much.

[RichC2]

The songs aren't as good in Guitar Hero 2, made worse by the fact that they're largely poor covers.

That said, I enjoy the note placement and challenge of GH2 a little more, I flew through Expert in GH1, GH2 gave me a few problems here and there.

[Jeremy517]

Guitar Hero coming to the Wii (http://www.thegamefeed.com/news-da5ad3aec1f9d209c4488213bafb41ff.html)

:rock:

[Mordred]

You've 5*'d jordan but not misirlou? The end part with the 16th note 3 button chords with an 8x multiplier alone gives you 40,000 points at least (god did that sound nerdy or what?). Six seemed a heck of a lot easier than jordan to me as well. Psychobilly...I just can't stand that song enough to bother, even though some of the soloish stuff is fun to play.I don't think it's all that uncommon. Jordan is nearly impossible to pass, but if you can pass it, it's not a difficult 5*. Misirlou is very easy to pass yet but difficult to sustain a streak (at least for me). The end chords are only worth about 25k though, and I'm rarely at 8x entering them. Still i'm only about 16k away from a 5* so it'll happen eventually.

Six took tons and tons of work for me to 4*, I've only done it once, and my score is just a few hundred over the cutoff. Six is the hardest song in the game to play well. It wouldn't be that bad, but the main riff is killer. I can do the fast strumming parts of the riff but I always miss something in the GR B RY O part. Considering that 4 note sequence only comes up every other measure through the entire song, it just kills my score. Maybe I'll spend tons of time practicing it, but I just don't see a 5* as possible for me.

[Josh-da-man]

How exactly does Guitar Hero calculate stars?

Is it based on the numerical score, or the percentage of notes hit?

[Mordred]

It's strictly based off points, based on the # of notes in the song.

The ratings the game assigns are directly related to your score. This means there exists a score "cutoff" for achieving 4-stars and another cutoff value for 5-stars, such that:

1.) If your score is greater than or equal to the 5-star cutoff, you earn 5-stars.
2.) If your score is greater than or equal to the 4-star cutoff and less than the 5-star cutoff, you earn 4-stars.
3.) Otherwise you get 3-stars.

Now you may wonder, how are these "cutoffs" determined?

After gathering and processing tons of data, we've derived the answer.

It's based on the total number of points that a song contains. If you add up all the points possible from each note/chord and its hold points (if any) assuming a 1x multiplier the entire time, you'll get a total which I'll refer to as the "base_score" for the song.

Using this "base_score", the cutoffs are a result of a very simple calculation:

Guitar Hero:
2 * base_score = the 4-star cutoff
3 * base_score = the 5-star cutoff

Guitar Hero II:
Single Player
2 * base_score = the 4-star cutoff
2.8 * base_score = the 5-star cutoff

Cooperative Mode
2 * combined_medium_base_score = the 4-star cutoff
2 * combined_expert_base_score = the 5-star cutoff
www.scorehero.com has exact cut offs for many of the songs as well so there's no guess work.

[xVladx]

How exactly does Guitar Hero calculate stars?

Is it based on the numerical score, or the percentage of notes hit?

I believe it's based off score. I've heard that scorehero.com has a list of the star cutoffs for all the songs.

[dtcarson]

I thought the songs in GHII sounded pretty good, and for the most part close to the original [at least the ones I'm familiar with]. I played GH but didn't own it.
I just got 5 * on everything on Easy last night, yay. I've finished Medium but definitely not 5stars. Yes I suck.

[steebo777]

I thought the songs in GHII sounded pretty good, and for the most part close to the original [at least the ones I'm familiar with]. I played GH but didn't own it.
I just got 5 * on everything on Easy last night, yay. I've finished Medium but definitely not 5stars. Yes I suck.
Not as bad as I suck. Reading this thread has made me realize how not good I am at this game. I got mostly 4 stars on Easy on all fo the songs with a couple 5 stars and a few 2 stars. I started Medium a couple days ago and have gotten my ass kicked on every song. I've completed about 7 songs now, but all in 3 stars. I need some more practice.

[Mordred]

Well I had a pretty good night last night. I passed Jordan twice more (although I didn't improve my score) then sat down to try Misirlou since flair made me feel bad about not 5*ing that one yet. My first three runs I improved my score, and then bang, I scored a 201,164... which just so happens to be the highest score recorded on scorehero.com that isn't a 5* :( The lowest 5* is 51 points higher, so basically if I'd hit one stinking note more I would have done it. This hurts even more because I missed two star powers that I get 90% of the time. I tried for another half hour and started going down hill until I finally gave up.

I then tried Psychobilly Freakout and it must have been all the fast Misirlou strumming but I finally felt like I had the rhythm. Third try was the charm and I 5*'d that one. I couldn't believe it.

[RichC2]

I still can't 5* anything in Expert, ah well, it just wasn't meant to be.

[Mordred]

Not as bad as I suck. Reading this thread has made me realize how not good I am at this game. I got mostly 4 stars on Easy on all fo the songs with a couple 5 stars and a few 2 stars. I started Medium a couple days ago and have gotten my ass kicked on every song. I've completed about 7 songs now, but all in 3 stars. I need some more practice.The game doesn't come naturally to most people so don't feel bad. My wife had a rough time with Medium on GH1 at first, then passed and 5*'d most of Hard. She breezed through Medium on GHII and passed Hard without much work. She basically won't play with me because I make her "feel bad" but she's actually gotten pretty good. Since she has no rhythm and has never played an instrument I think it's quite the accomplishment.

I'm very good at the game, but compared to the elite on scorehero.com, I'm an amatuer. I only come here to share my accomplishments because over there, no one cares. When guys are Full Comboing Psychobilly and Misirlou on Expert, some guy getting 5*s doesn't really measure up :)

[Ghym]

Funny video of Scott Ian, from Anthrax, trying to play Madhouse on GH2.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/clip-anthrax-guitarist--sucks-at-guitar-hero-version-of-his-song-232068.php

[devilshalo]

Fretting or strumming arm, and do you sit or stand while playing?
Strumming. And I always stand while playing. I just haven't found a good rhythm for stumming up and down and I play it more like a base than anything.

As for fretting, I always take a break and stretch my fingers between songs. I still haven't gotten a hang of HO/PO. I've been hitting all notes and 4-5 starring without HO/POs.

[devilshalo]

I've had it since release day, and I've only played it a few times at parties. I don't know...I just don't think these songs appeal to me much.
It's funny, I like them equally, but I think there's more songs that I have fun on in GH2. I guess it's because I like singing along, too. :D

[Vryce]

I had no problems at all getting 5 * on easy on both GH I & II.

I was able to get mostly 5* on Medium on both.

I failed miserably the few times I tried hard. The Orange button is just really awkward and I find myself constantly with my hand out of position after I try to hit the orange. My finger will be over the blue, but I'll think its over yellow and hit the blue button instead of the yellow note on the screen.

I did a bit better with Hard in multiplayer because you aren't playing every single note yourself and there are short bursts of a break during the songs.

[Mordred]

Strumming. And I always stand while playing. I just haven't found a good rhythm for stumming up and down and I play it more like a base than anything.

As for fretting, I always take a break and stretch my fingers between songs. I still haven't gotten a hang of HO/PO. I've been hitting all notes and 4-5 starring without HO/POs.If you're down strumming and just using your thumb to play (which is extremely common) will cause your forearm to tighten up considerably on fast sections, unless you know a secret I don't. I've tried playing like this (and some songs it honestly seems easier) but I get REALLY tired doing it very quickly. Since I alternate strum a lot in my real guitar playing I was alternating strumming in guitar hero from day one. For most people it is NOT a natural motion and takes getting used to.

My advice is to start with slow songs that don't require alternate strumming at all, and just force yourself to do it. Grabbing the strumbar with thumb and index finger allows you to use just your wrist for movement which will cut down on pain and fatigue considerably because you aren't turning your forearm to strum with your thumb (which is at least how it do it).

Alternate strumming can cause problems of its own though. On certain passages that require good precision, I will down strum to avoid double strums or the accidental return strum (caused by the strum bar popping up to quick). Also it's easy to get into a rhythm and then screw up because of a rest when your arm keeps strumming. Sudden change in tempo are also a problem and as Beats Per Minute can vary wildly in the GH2 songs (sometimes as much as 10BPM in a song which sounds like it has a steady rhythm) this can be bad. I switch a good deal now between down strum and alternate as the passage suits which has definitely helped my performance.

One last idea is to lengthen the strap so the guitar hangs a little lower. If your elbow is bent at a 135 degree angle you'll probably find playing more comforatble than if it's at 90 degrees.

[flair]

Well I had a pretty good night last night. I passed Jordan twice more (although I didn't improve my score) then sat down to try Misirlou since flair made me feel bad about not 5*ing that one yet. My first three runs I improved my score, and then bang, I scored a 201,164... which just so happens to be the highest score recorded on scorehero.com that isn't a 5* :( The lowest 5* is 51 points higher, so basically if I'd hit one stinking note more I would have done it. This hurts even more because I missed two star powers that I get 90% of the time. I tried for another half hour and started going down hill until I finally gave up.

I then tried Psychobilly Freakout and it must have been all the fast Misirlou strumming but I finally felt like I had the rhythm. Third try was the charm and I 5*'d that one. I couldn't believe it.


Haha, glad to see I gave you a reason to sit down and play it. I havent really picked up guitar hero in awhile, the wii has been killing most of my spare time. I turned it on last night to play some, and my memory card corrupted. I guess that is as good of an excuse as any to start over. I'm pretty rusty, thats for sure. I tried jordan for awhile last night to see if I could still get through it, and I could see myself 5*'ing it if I really practiced it. I still have a ton of other songs that I never 5*'d, even some easier ones like free bird which I've only played once all the way through.

[devilshalo]

If you're down strumming and just using your thumb to play (which is extremely common) will cause your forearm to tighten up considerably on fast sections, unless you know a secret I don't. I've tried playing like this (and some songs it honestly seems easier) but I get REALLY tired doing it very quickly. Since I alternate strum a lot in my real guitar playing I was alternating strumming in guitar hero from day one. For most people it is NOT a natural motion and takes getting used to.

My advice is to start with slow songs that don't require alternate strumming at all, and just force yourself to do it. Grabbing the strumbar with thumb and index finger allows you to use just your wrist for movement which will cut down on pain and fatigue considerably because you aren't turning your forearm to strum with your thumb (which is at least how it do it).

Alternate strumming can cause problems of its own though. On certain passages that require good precision, I will down strum to avoid double strums or the accidental return strum (caused by the strum bar popping up to quick). Also it's easy to get into a rhythm and then screw up because of a rest when your arm keeps strumming. Sudden change in tempo are also a problem and as Beats Per Minute can vary wildly in the GH2 songs (sometimes as much as 10BPM in a song which sounds like it has a steady rhythm) this can be bad. I switch a good deal now between down strum and alternate as the passage suits which has definitely helped my performance.

One last idea is to lengthen the strap so the guitar hangs a little lower. If your elbow is bent at a 135 degree angle you'll probably find playing more comforatble than if it's at 90 degrees.
Thanks for the advice. I have tried strumming up and down on some passages just to get used to it, but I still need to get into a good rhythm on long passages (I'm usually too fast or too slow). And I usually catch a stray note because of the bar flipping back so fast.

I have the strap at its longest (I'm at full Nikki Sixx mode when playing). I have also had to learn to shift my weight as I've been putting most of it on my left leg.

[Mordred]

Thanks for the advice. I have tried strumming up and down on some passages just to get used to it, but I still need to get into a good rhythm on long passages (I'm usually too fast or too slow). And I usually catch a stray note because of the bar flipping back so fast.For most people they tendency is to strum too fast when alternate strumming. It's so much easier than down strumming you often want to put in the same effort required. Of course that's just a general rule and not always true as I strum too fast or too slow all the time. Plus my trick for passing Jordan on Expert now is to strum faster than I think I should so YMMV :)

[Mordred]

Haha, glad to see I gave you a reason to sit down and play it. I havent really picked up guitar hero in awhile, the wii has been killing most of my spare time. I turned it on last night to play some, and my memory card corrupted. I guess that is as good of an excuse as any to start over. I'm pretty rusty, thats for sure. I tried jordan for awhile last night to see if I could still get through it, and I could see myself 5*'ing it if I really practiced it. I still have a ton of other songs that I never 5*'d, even some easier ones like free bird which I've only played once all the way through.Do you input your scores at scorehero? I wouldn't mind a friendly DVDTalk rivalry over there.

[flair]

Nope, but I will now. I just got through a quick go of expert. I havent had a chance to go over that many songs, so most of my scores are pretty bad right now :lol:

[flair]

I have them up under pepsican. Wow, I know I had a lot better scores than this, but I'm barely in the top 1000 for most songs :(


Winning: 1 song by 742 points (742 pts/song)
Losing: 39 songs by 2,855,145 points (73,209 pts/song)
Tied: 0 songs

:lol:

[RichC2]

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/857/857449/vids_1.html

Videos of some of the new 360 songs.

[TheDude]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: FUCK YOU FREYA! (on hard)

[RichC2]

I finally beat Freya on Expert, and it's one song I will never play again.

[Jeremy517]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: FUCK YOU FREYA! (on hard)

Here's a guy from another board that I post on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydYLXW9KoJk

[Mordred]

I have them up under pepsican. Wow, I know I had a lot better scores than this, but I'm barely in the top 1000 for most songs :(


Winning: 1 song by 742 points (742 pts/song)
Losing: 39 songs by 2,855,145 points (73,209 pts/song)
Tied: 0 songs

:lol:I'll have to beat you on that one song! :lol: When I first uploaded all my GH1 scores into Scorehero I was in the 500s on most things. They tought me so good tricks and have pretty good SP paths and I was able to move up to the top 150 before I switched to GH2. It's amazing what competition will do to your scores :)

[Mordred]

Here's a guy from another board that I post on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydYLXW9KoJkVery impressive. Freya and YYZ are the two songs I suck at the most. Freya makes my wrist want to cry.

[Mordred]

Managed to improve my Misirlou score by a whopping 85 points which was enough for 5* and unlocked the Log! (really lame unlock btw)

Maybe I will try to improve my Six score, but I just don't see it happening.

[asabase]

I strum just flicking up with my middle finger and switch fingers if one gets tired. Usually I can make it through a whole song with just my 1st finger though.

[flair]

Coming from a musical background, I started GH 1 holding the strum bar just like a pick. I never had to really adapt to it, it was just natural. I actually use a real pick with it sometimes when I have quite a few people over, just as a joke.

Mordred, I will make sure to look up some of the SP hints and actually get some decent runs down. I was actually surprised I 5*'d 1/2 of the songs 1st try with how rusty I am. Maybe I will be some real competition for you in a few weeks.

[Mordred]

Coming from a musical background, I started GH 1 holding the strum bar just like a pick. I never had to really adapt to it, it was just natural. I actually use a real pick with it sometimes when I have quite a few people over, just as a joke.

Mordred, I will make sure to look up some of the SP hints and actually get some decent runs down. I was actually surprised I 5*'d 1/2 of the songs 1st try with how rusty I am. Maybe I will be some real competition for you in a few weeks.There's a guy on Scorehero who's a top 100 player who always plays with a pick. I figured I'd try it and it was horrible. Could be because I use Medium picks or something but I had trouble with easy parts, not to mention alternate picked sequences. I gave that up quickly.

As for the competition, it's all cool. It definitely takes some time to get back into the game.

[TheDude]

Finally beat Freya on hard today, an then just pushed through the whole next section (currently stuck on Laid to Rest). Rock This Town was a blast to play!

[aerobson]

So, I was reading my March Game Informer magazine this evening when I came across a half-page review of Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox360. I WAS interested in this game up until I got to the point in the review that states...GUITAR HERO 2 WILL NOT SUPPORT ONLINE MULTIPLAYER! Is this new information? I don't remember hearing this and I would think it would have been a bigger deal. That is nearly a deal breaker for me, at least initially. I was willing to sell just about anything if I had to in order to have this game as soon as it was released. Now, I'm thinking I'll just wait until it's on sale or I have some event worth having the game. That just seems like too big of information. Is this new?

[Josh H]

Yeah, we knew that. The developers said online won't work because of lag. Since timing is so crucial and the songs are so fast and have so many notes on higher levels any minute amount of lag throws it off.

An honestly, I don't think online multiplayer would be any fun. It's only fun with your buddy right beside you IMO as half the fun is watching each other makes asses out of yourselves.

[Shagrath]

The song list for the 360 version has been released, and they totally reordered the songs, since some were definately in the wrong tiers, and they added one song to each tier to make room for the 10 bonus songs (8 regular and 2 store-bought).

1. Opening Licks
Surrender - Cheap Trick
Possum Kingdom - The Toadies
Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
Salvation - Rancid
Strutter - Kiss
Encore: Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue

2. Amp-Warmers
Mother - Danzig
Life Wasted - Pearl Jam
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Woman - Wolfmother
You Really Got Me - Van Halen
Encore: Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap

3. String-Snappers
Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas
Search and Destroy - Iggy Pop and the Stooges
Message in a Bottle - The Police
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper
Them Bones - Alice in Chains
Encore: War Pigs - Black Sabbath

4. Thrash and Burn
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
Hush - Deep Purple
Girlfriend - Mathew Sweet
Who Was in My Room Last Night? - The Butthole Surfers
Can't You Hear Me Knockin' - The Rolling Stones
Encore: Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses

5. Return of the Shred
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer
Tattooed Love Boys - The Pretenders
John the Fisherman - Primus
Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band
Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy
Encore: Last Child - Aerosmith

6. Relentless Riffs
Crazy on You - Heart
Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart - Stone Temple Pilots
Dead! - My Chemical Romance
Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
Freya - The Sword
Encore: Stop - Jane's Addiction

7. Furious Fretwork
Madhouse - Anthrax
The Trooper - Iron Maiden
Rock This Town - Stray Cats
Laid to Rest - Lamb of God
Psychobilly Freakout - The Reverend Horton Heat
Encore: YYZ - Rush

8. Face-Melters
Beast and the Harlot - Avenged Sevenfold
Carry Me Home - The Living End
Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
Misirlou - Dick Dale
Hangar 18 - Megadeth
Final Encore: Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

[RichC2]

nice, I like the re-ordering, it makes a wee bit more sense.

[mkdevo]

well, i guess that explains why Strutter is the only song i've been able to get more than 3 (5, in fact) stars on on hard. :(

[pinata242]

Apologies in advance is this is a dupe as I'm not a regular around these parts, but I saw this last night on Joystiq and thought it seemed obvious in hindsight.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/26/halo-theme-could-join-guitar-hero-ii-set-list/

[JasonF]

With Guitar Hero II coming for XBox 360, I started looking into the game, and ... well, hopefully, nobody will take this as a threadcrap, but what's the point. Why would I want to play a game with a goofy plastic controller shaped like a guitar when I could spend that time picking up an actual guitar?

Here's what I mean. Right now, I'm playing Crackdown a lot. There's no way I could, in real life, run around the city leaping from rooftop to rooftop and lobbing grenades at gang members. I'm also playing a lot of Oblivion, and again -- I can't wander around with a sword and magic spells sealing portals to hell. Every game I can think of is like that -- letting you do things that are impossible in real life -- except Guitar Hero.

In guitar hero, I grab a plastic guitar and play the riff from "Sweet Child of Mine" or "Rock and Roll High School" or whatever. But I could grab a real guitar and do the same thing. And true, I can't play like Eric Clapton in real life, but I could in the game. Is that the appeal? Is it simply so you can rock out without having to spend the time practicing? Or is there more to it than I'm missing.

Like I said -- not trying to threadcrap, and if you like the game, more power to you. I'm just trying to figure out what the appeal is.

[KurrptSenate]

honestly, I found some songs easier to play in real life, like Bark at the Moon by ozzy osbourne.

The thing about real guitar is, its takes a LONG time to be able to effectively cover a song, and have it sound similar to the real recording.

That being said, theres enough similiarities between the game and the real thing for me to enjoy guitar hero.

[Josh H]

Just play it man.

I thought the same thing until I played it. It's just insanely fun. It's nothing like playing a real guitar, it's just damn fun to play and try to get better, and very satisfying when you see yourself getting better.

As for the other point, it actually motivated me to finally pick up a real guitar. :D So its the best of both worlds.

But I think that's kind of silly anyway, as by that logic no one should play any sports games etc. as they could just go out and join a league and play for real.

[DJ_Longfellow]

Well, I never played Guitar Hero...I always thought it was kinda hokey. BUT, I actually pre-ordered it for the 360. Not sure if I will like it, but I had credit to burn. Everyone seems to love it, so I'll give it a whirl. Next month, eh?

[tbird2340]

With Guitar Hero II coming for XBox 360, I started looking into the game, and ... well, hopefully, nobody will take this as a threadcrap, but what's the point. Why would I want to play a game with a goofy plastic controller shaped like a guitar when I could spend that time picking up an actual guitar?

Here's what I mean. Right now, I'm playing Crackdown a lot. There's no way I could, in real life, run around the city leaping from rooftop to rooftop and lobbing grenades at gang members. I'm also playing a lot of Oblivion, and again -- I can't wander around with a sword and magic spells sealing portals to hell. Every game I can think of is like that -- letting you do things that are impossible in real life -- except Guitar Hero.

In guitar hero, I grab a plastic guitar and play the riff from "Sweet Child of Mine" or "Rock and Roll High School" or whatever. But I could grab a real guitar and do the same thing. And true, I can't play like Eric Clapton in real life, but I could in the game. Is that the appeal? Is it simply so you can rock out without having to spend the time practicing? Or is there more to it than I'm missing.

Like I said -- not trying to threadcrap, and if you like the game, more power to you. I'm just trying to figure out what the appeal is.

Why play Madden when you can go outside and get a game of football together with your friends.

Why play NBA 2K7 when you can go shoot hoops with your boys...

Etc.. Etc..

I play video games because they are fun and entertaining. Trying to learn how to play the guitar to me would be real work.. This is a game and whilst it may have a learning curve I highly doubt it has the same one as real guitar playing...

[Suprmallet]

Every day I have to wait for GHII on 360 I die a little on the inside. I know it's ready now, just give it to me already!

[Josh H]

This is a game and whilst it may have a learning curve I highly doubt it has the same one as real guitar playing...

Not even close. Learning real guitar is about a million times harder than learning Guitar Hero.

[tbird2340]

Not even close. Learning real guitar is about a million times harder than learning Guitar Hero.

:lol: Great!! I guess I will have fun sucking royally for a long time then..

[Josh H]

:lol: Great!! I guess I will have fun sucking royally for a long time then..

Totally. It's a slow process. I started on New Years Day and it's been slow going....but fun.

To compare, the GH controller is basically 1 string and 5 frets. A real guitar his 6 strings and 19 frets (some guitars have more). :lol:

Not to mention the GH controller doesn't kill your fingers like guitar strings do until you build up some callouses.

[Shagrath]

:lol: Great!! I guess I will have fun sucking royally for a long time then..
Even if you suck, you'll have fun doing it! It's such a great game, and almost everyone I've ever shown it to has fallen in love with it (and we're talking 50+ people). If you play it for a while, you will definately improve, and it'll feel great when you pull off a complicated solo, or beat a song you've been having problems with for a while.

[Josh H]

He was talking about learning real guitar rather than the game.

[tbird2340]

He was talking about learning real guitar rather than the game.

Actually, no, I was talking about the game. You had said the game is harder then playing the real guitar so I said that I guess I would suck for a long time at it then..

[KurrptSenate]

the game is definitely NOT harder than real guitar, considering SO many techniques are involved in getting an actual note to ring out clean/clear, where as in guitar hero, its merely a question of pushing the button "in time"

[tbird2340]

:lol: Man I'm all messed up. I totally read Hinkle's post backwards...

Learning Guitar > Learning GH which is what I would think....

I read it that GH was harder.. Anywho.. I will suck at GH and have no interest in learning real guitar..

Hope that clears things up. Sorry for misreading.

[KurrptSenate]

completely understandable

[Mordred]

Not even close. Learning real guitar is about a million times harder than learning Guitar Hero.Here's the best part for me:

I've been playing guitar off and on for about 14 years now. At the peak of my abilities (:lol: ) I could rip off some pretty cool solos, and play a few of the songs from Guitar Hero reasonably well, but for real. Around the time I got Guitar Hero 1, we left our church where I was playing lead in the band. I got addicted to GH, and basically stopped practicing guitar because I wasn't having to play every week, etc. Fast forward over a year later, after becoming even more addicted to GH2, and only picking up the real guitar a few times in the interim. I now suck as I have no chops at real guitar, but I'm an extremely good (though not world class sadly) GH1/2 player. I'd like to get back to practicing, but it's more fun to play Guitar Hero, and it's depressing to go back to having to work at EVERYTHING to even sound bad, when I can pull out GH2 and nail solos in Jessica and feel like a badass. :lol:

[Maxflier]

Man...
I've had this game for a while now but hadn't had the time to try it out until now.
I made the mistake of trying it out late last night and am suffering at work today as a result. Talk about an addicting game! It took a tremendous act of willpower to quit. If it hadn't been a weeknight, I honestly think I would have just played it all night long, sleep be damned. Can't remember the last time I have had so much fun with a video game.
Definately going to double dip on the 360 version when it comes out. Although I wish the 360 version had the same style guitar as the PS2 one because I don't care for the look of the white guitar.

[Draven]

I still cannot believe the 360 version doesn't come with a wireless guitar. That's the number one problem I have with Guitar Hero on the PS2 - I have to get out extra chairs because my couch is a good 15 feet away from my television 50-inch RPTV (and no, I don't like standing. Looking down at the TV from close-up makes it hard to play).

It's a no-brainer that they will eventually release a 1st party wireless version (maybe GH3?) and I have an extra guitar controller right now so I've thought about doing one of the mods to make it wireless but they missed a golden opportunity to do it right the first time.

[mkdevo]

I still cannot believe the 360 version doesn't come with a wireless guitar. That's the number one problem I have with Guitar Hero on the PS2 - I have to get out extra chairs because my couch is a good 15 feet away from my television 50-inch RPTV (and no, I don't like standing. Looking down at the TV from close-up makes it hard to play).

It's a no-brainer that they will eventually release a 1st party wireless version (maybe GH3?) and I have an extra guitar controller right now so I've thought about doing one of the mods to make it wireless but they missed a golden opportunity to do it right the first time.

there IS a first party wireless guitar for the PS2.

[steebo777]

there IS a first party wireless guitar for the PS2.
And there are a ton of different 6ft controller cord extenders. I got mine from EB Games for $2.29.

[Draven]

The React (sp?) controller? I meant one straight from Harmonix (or whoever makes the "official" controller.

As for extensions, I've had them for controllers in the past, but haven't gotten them for my PS2 yet. I can't believe I still have to connect a controller via a cable in this day and age.

[keys88]

The React (sp?) controller? I meant one straight from Harmonix (or whoever makes the "official" controller.

The official wireless guitar from Harmonix(Red Octane) is sold for $59.99 at WalMart, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. It is in a blue box. The wireless guitar is white. They are everywhere.
This is not the 3rd party guitars.

[Suprmallet]

http://www.redoctane.com/gh-sgwireless.html

The official Red Octane wireless guitar for PS2.

[Decker]

I still cannot believe the 360 version doesn't come with a wireless guitar. That's the number one problem I have with Guitar Hero on the PS2 - I have to get out extra chairs because my couch is a good 15 feet away from my television 50-inch RPTV (and no, I don't like standing. Looking down at the TV from close-up makes it hard to play).

It's a no-brainer that they will eventually release a 1st party wireless version (maybe GH3?) and I have an extra guitar controller right now so I've thought about doing one of the mods to make it wireless but they missed a golden opportunity to do it right the first time.
While it IS disappointing that the controller isn't wireless, I have a few USB extention cords at home already, so the length isn't a big deal to me. Looking forward to getting this game. Preorded it from Red Octane for the free guitar bag and free shipping. Never thought I'd drop 90 bones on a game, but this one almost seems worth it.

[Shagrath]

I dropped by Best Buy today and they had the 360 demo, but it wasn't on. I took a look at the guitar though, and I don't like it at all.

1. It's smaller
2. The frets are smaller and seem closer together
3. Since I'm a lefty, it feels really odd, since it's asymetrical
4. Also since I'm a lefty, the cord is on the top of the guitar, rather than on the side like the SG

I'll still be picking it up because of the DLC, but I'll definately be double-dipping when they release a wireless guitar or a 3rd party one that's decent.

[BigDaddy]

http://www.redoctane.com/gh-sgwireless.html



The official Red Octane wireless guitar for PS2.



I have two of these they work great.

[Mordred]

I have two of these they work great.How long is the battery life on them?

[lordzeppelin]

Although I wish the 360 version had the same style guitar as the PS2 one because I don't care for the look of the white guitar.

I'm sure there will be skin kits within a week of release...personally, I'm going for the Eddie Van Halen Style 5150 skin, as there have been skins made of it for the other guitar hero guitars...

[KurrptSenate]

I'm sure there will be skin kits within a week of release...personally, I'm going for the Eddie Van Halen Style 5150 skin, as there have been skins made of it for the other guitar hero guitars...

technically, that graphic is not from a 5150. Its from his signature model charvel, which was later applied to his rig when he gravitated towards peavey

[Draven]

http://www.redoctane.com/gh-sgwireless.html

The official Red Octane wireless guitar for PS2.

Huh - I stand corrected! I thought they only had 3rd party ones that were not reviewed well. If I didn't already have three wired guitars I would jump on these in a heartbeat.

I still stand by my statement that it's ridiculous the 360 version didn't come with a wireless guitar.

[Shagrath]

I still stand by my statement that it's ridiculous the 360 version didn't come with a wireless guitar.
It's not any fault of RedOctane's. It's the fact that Microsoft is being stingy with their wireless protocol, and won't allow anyone else to make wireless devices. This is why the only wireless controller on the 360 is the official Microsoft one.

[Draven]

I don't blame RedOctane - I place it solely on Microsoft.

Of all the controllers to make wireless, this one absolutely screams for it. And it is the only way I would have rebought the game for the 360.

[DJ_Longfellow]

Yeah, the 360 is your AMP....plug it in ;)

I'll be playing Guitar Hero 2 for the first time come April :)

Hopefully I like it.

[lordzeppelin]

technically, that graphic is not from a 5150. Its from his signature model charvel, which was later applied to his rig when he gravitated towards peavey

Well, Technically, the original was a custom home-made Kramer, but it was known as the 5150...then later on they had that Peavey model that was actually model #5150...The Charvel came in between and was black and yellow.

[xVladx]

Yeah, the 360 is your AMP....plug it in ;)

I'll be playing Guitar Hero 2 for the first time come April :)

Hopefully I like it.

Everybody likes Guitar Hero. Seriously, I don't think I've ever heard of anybody who's picked up the game and not immediately fallen in love. Sure, there are preferences between GH1 and GH2 (I prefer 2, myself), but the game is simply 100% awesome.

[KurrptSenate]

if the hammer on/pull offs are really that much improved over the first one, I'm sure I would prefer that as well

[rocketsauce]

i too will be playing for the first time in april. I was having problems getting over the fact that playing a guitar videogame was a little much for me, but some friends said it was really fun and addicting. I think im still going to have some issues explaining why i have a video game guitar in my house, but hopefully it'll be fun enough to counteract the "nerd" factor.

[CKMorpheus]

My Best Buy set up the 360 display with Guitar Hero 2 yesterday.

Looks and plays great. The guitar is going to take a bit getting used to. It's tough to explain. You'll see.

[KurrptSenate]

i assume its not an SG then....

is it an explorer type?

[rocketsauce]

i assume its not an SG then....

is it an explorer type?

http://www.gamersgizmos.org/images/guitar-hero-ii_51.jpg

[xVladx]

if the hammer on/pull offs are really that much improved over the first one, I'm sure I would prefer that as well

I don't know how the 360 one plays, but the ho/pos were definitely "looser" feeling in GH2 on the PS2. There's a bigger window to hit them in (definitely noticable on slower songs), and you don't need to hold down the lower buttons to do them any more (great for sliding ho/pos, but it's actually harder to do it that way on the average ho/po section).

IMO, they work just fine in GH2. Of course, I'm one of the few people on the planet that thought that the HO/POs were just fine in the original.

[abrg923]

So when does this come out, and how much is it? I may have to try this out.

EDIT: The 360 version.

[SuperBatMan]

So when does this come out, and how much is it? I may have to try this out.

EDIT: The 360 version.

April 3.

[Decker]

http://www.gamersgizmos.org/images/guitar-hero-ii_51.jpg
Man, that guitar is so freakin' sweet I want to mount it on the wall.

Deals so far :
Red Octane : Free Shipping, Free guitar bag, no tax (except CA)
Best Buy : Printable coupon for $10 off $75 game (available at CAG)
Circuit City : 1600 marketplace points free

I've gone with the Red Octane deal, but that 1600 points is nice. The lucky and industrious could probably get it from BB for $80 a/c and then PM the free points later. Of course that's a YMMV thing.

[Maxflier]

Do you have a link to the Best Buy $10 off coupon?

[KurrptSenate]

so, yes, it is an explorer type

[Decker]

Do you have a link to the Best Buy $10 off coupon? Credit to CAG.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/AskMyselfWhy/10Off75.jpg

[cartman]

Anyone have any experience ordering from Red Octane direct before? I'm curious to know if they'll ship to get it to you on release day or if they ship on release day. I know I won't really be able to wait on this, and would like it on release day :lol:.

[Decker]

Anyone have any experience ordering from Red Octane direct before? I'm curious to know if they'll ship to get it to you on release day or if they ship on release day. I know I won't really be able to wait on this, and would like it on release day :lol:.
According to both their website and those who had experience in the past at CAG, it'll ship prior to release so you'll have it by release date! I'm hoping to get it a few days early :fc:

Oh, by the way if you're in the market for the CRAPPIEST deal available, Game Stop has a "deal" where if you pre-order it, they'll give you a whopping 20% off the guitar bag you can get for free from Red Octane. Total cost for me with tax & shipping (they charge separately for each item and charge a surcharge for GH2 bundle) = $138.39. Jump on that one, apparently limited quantities ;)

[BigDaddy]

How long is the battery life on them?


I have had them for a few months still on the original battery.

[DVDChris]

Anyone have any experience ordering from Red Octane direct before? I'm curious to know if they'll ship to get it to you on release day or if they ship on release day. I know I won't really be able to wait on this, and would like it on release day :lol:.

I ordered GHII on PS2 from Red Octane. They shipped it a day or two before release date and I received it on a weds the week of release.

[Shagrath]

Just a heads-up to everyone. Some Circuit City's have this available for order online with in-store pickup. Almost all of the ones in Orlando say they have it in stock, and I placed an order this morning and have been rocking out ever since.

[amped]

Yep, just placed an order and it's ready for pick up. Hopefully i can get it later tonight.

[JackBurton]

Looks like I'll be heading to CC for the free Live points. Then next week I'll be picking up Phantasm w/ free poster there too.

[thelwig14]

Just a heads-up to everyone. Some Circuit City's have this available for order online with in-store pickup. Almost all of the ones in Orlando say they have it in stock, and I placed an order this morning and have been rocking out ever since.

Just got it. Big ups to you. I really, really appreciate it.