It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Guitar Hero phenomenon. To recap for you if you’ve just tuned in, I’m a big fan. OF THE GUITAR HERO PHENOMENON.
I have Guitar Hero 1, 2, 3 and the 80’s version, all for the Playstation 2 (PS2), with two guitars. The whole family loves the game and we all play it often.
When Guitar Hero 3 (GH3) came out, I had an important decision to make - do I buy the game for my existing PS2, or do I buy the game plus a guitar for the Wii?
For all intents and purposes, the GH3 game for Wii is a clone of the GH3 game for PS2, XBOX and PS3 platforms. I had done some research ahead of time on the differences between playing GH3 on PS2 vs playing GH3 on the Wii. My primary concern was, of course, cost. Moula. Dinero. Money is not something of which I am made, and the idea of paying more for a game AND buying new guitars wasn’t very appealing to me.
If you read the extended entry (below), I go more into the differences between the two, how I chose and the mistake I ultimately made.
From what I could tell, there wasn’t anything the PS2 version had that the Wii version didn’t have, but I had understood the Wii’s advantages to include the following:
- Wireless guitar
The Wii remote pops into the remote guitar, and since the Wii controller is wireless, the guitar becomes wireless. This seems way cool for a couple of reasons, one of which is that we got the little Wii remote add-on that uses rechargable batteries. The idea of a wireless guitar that used a rechargable battery was very attractive to me. - Online Play
Online scores. Online submission. Playing against other addicts. Awesome. - Better sound and graphics
This is more of an assumption than something I read. The Wii seems to be a better platform with better sound processing, high quality graphics, etc. I had no idea if it was true; it was just what I figured would be the case. - “Chink-chink” sounds from the guitar, not the console
When you miss a note, or strum a note that doesn’t exist, the game makes a “chink” sound. It gets pretty embarassing when trying out songs that are out of one’s repertoire. Since the Wii remote has a speaker on it, the embarassing sounds now come out of the guitar, where you’re picking, which is way more accurate.
Even with all of the above, we still chose to go with PS2. Another ancillary benefit (or maybe it’s just encouraging news) of choosing the PS2 was that Rock Band can re-use PS2 Guitar Hero controllers, so if we went that route, we’d have some extra equipment.
I was happy. I saved money. I got the game. Seemed like such a most excellent choice.
That is, until recently, when a friend brought over the Wii version of Guitar Hero 3 (GH3).
(insert dramatic suspenseful music here)
Boy was I wrong. The Wii version is WAY AWESOMER THAN THE OTHER VERSION. It has all the above stuff PLUS the guitar feels better. The fret buttons are smoother. The strummer is easier to play. The guitar is heavier, feeling a little more “real”. The chinkchink sounds coming from your strumming area is very cool.
And then I went online to “link my account” to my Wii, and it is just so plain wicked.
I’m in the top 400,000, baby! And that’s only after four (4) songs. I think I just developed a distinct swagger when I walk.
The whole online community is impressive. It tracks your career scores, ranking, status, awards, favorite characters and EVERYTHING. It even links to iTunes so you can buy songs you like. They really seemed to have done a great job.
They even show you other rockers nearby, if you chose to share that information with the community.
Now the only things I lament are A) I still don’t have the Wii version, so I’m dependent upon this friend coming over more often to play and B) the Wii version doesn’t support two guitars (yet).
So now I need to go donate some blood so I can get the Wii version.
And the quote is...
