Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Subject says it all...just trying to break the ice here.

I just got it the other day--I'm a newbie to the GH franchise, and decided to jump on the bandwagon to see why so many folks like it so much.

I did research on the wireless vs. wired guitar controller debate and decided to take my chances on the slightly-more expensive wireless bundle--even after reading about the issues that more than a few folks were experiencing w/ the X360 wireless guitar (e.g., sticking/stiff fret buttons, compared to those on the wired X360 guitar; buttons that don't respond every once in a while; intermittent loss of connectivity in the middle of a session). Now I can't be completely sure if my wireless guitar may be experiencing some of these symptoms--after all, I've never done GH before so it could very well be that I just need lots of practice w/ it--but it seems to be working fine for me.

Note--given that it's a wireless guitar, it is battery-powered; however, it does not accept the X360 wireless controller battery pack, nor does it have a built-in charger function (in case you were wondering if you could just stick in two rechargeable AA batteries and then just charge them by connecting the guitar to the X360 console using the Charge-and-Play kit).

I have to admit I'm having a blast w/ GH III even though I am not at all familiar w/ the majority of the songs on it--the only ones I recognize (from hearing them sung on the radio/etc.) are "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" (this seems to be the one most folks try out at BB/CC GH demo kiosks BTW--LOL!), "Rock and Roll All Nite", "School's Out", "Barracuda", "Paint It, Black", "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Welcome to the Jungle", and "Black Magic Woman".

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I love Guitar Hero 3! I have been playing Guitar Hero 2 for about 5 months now and have been extremely addicted to it since getting it. I have a buddy that comes over weekly to play co-op. It's such a blast.

That being said. I absolutely hate the new wireless guitar. I don't think I can be objective about it though, because I am so used to the wired guitar now. It is really hard to get used to a brand new controller. The keys are rounded on the bottom and that makes a huge difference when playing songs. The keys are much harder to press down and I mess up on songs more than often on it.

I love the new songs though. Great playlist. There is probably a total of 3 songs that I absolutely will never play again, but 3 out of 42 isn't bad at all! In fact, I was really looking forward to GH3 because it exposes me to songs I never heard of before and I now I can add a ton of tunes to my iTunes! The graphics look much better this time around and I kind of like the boss battles.

One more thing. My wired guitar broke the other day! Does anyone know where I could get this thing fixed? I have been forced to play with the wireless and it's driving me crazy! If I could get it fixed for well under $40, I would do it. I know a store that sells them used for $40.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Not to hijack but, I have GH3 for Wii and the guitar worked flawlessly for about 2 weeks. Now I can see that I have the correct button pressed but the strum doesn't register causing missed notes. I'm consistently 20,000-40,000 points below my previous averages. I'm lucky to hit a 50 note streak now. Do I call Red Octane or Activision?

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I believe stores usually have 30 day warranties...so if I was you I would try to return it to the store. Or you can check the batteries?

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I have the PS3 version -- there is definitely an issue with buttons sometimes not registering, which I hear is due to the connections on the detachable neck. But it isn't too bad. Also, the Star Power sensor is *extremely* sensitive and tends to activate at random times -- to the point where I generally don't bother thinking about it because when it becomes available it's bound to activate itself within a few seconds. The other thing that I think is throwing people off is that it just has a different feel than the PS2 wired controller, which takes a little getting used to.

I'm more interested in just jamming, so the occasional missed note and inability to really manage my star power aren't a big deal. But if I were trying to "beat" the game on Expert level, I'd probably send the whole thing back.

As for the song list -- I think they should focus on specific genres in future games. They're trying to cover too many bases. I love the classic rock and '80s metal, but most of the newer tracks don't interest me too much (although some of them are fun).

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I just noticed something interesting -- Amazon is no longer offering the X360 or PS3 versions of the GHIII bundle for sale. (They're still offering 'em from third-party sellers.) They are still selling the Wii and PS2 bundles though.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

For the Wii version, if the guitar screws up try disconnecting the Wiimote from the guitar (unplug the cable) after you've started the game up (not in the middle of a song obviously). This has helped me a couple times.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Late to the party -- as usual. I just got a PS3 and GH3, and am having a blast with it, being a wannabe guitarist; OK, I actually can play classical guitar, but never had an electric guitar nor learned to play one properly.

With songs I'm familiar with, I find that timing-wise I don't really 'watch' the screen for the note to hit the line, but just 'play' the note when it seems right according to the song. Which works for me...

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Yeah, that's how I do it--just "go with the beat"...

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I love this game and am having a blast with it. I've 5 *ed everything on Easy and Medium, and have about 16 5*s on Hard. I'm on the last tier on Hard and have passed everything except 'It's Raining Blood' and the last battle. On expert I'm on the 5th tier, but am stuck on 'Holiday in Cambodia' and 'Same Old Song and Dance'.

I've gotten comfortable moving my hand back and forth with the transition to the orange fret, but the songs that kill me are the ones that require rapid strumming. I just cannot get that down, and break my combo every time there is a series of rapid notes. I just haven't learned to double strum properly yet....

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

OK I'm finally on the battle with Lou on Hard. Man this is a pain in the a$$!.

You have to play around 2 minutes before you even get a chance for the first power-up. To make things worse, Lou gets his first powerup before you get yours, so he always uses it on you while you're trying to get your first one! I was lucky enough to get a whammy powerup initially one time, and I used it on him, and his meter barely dropped into the yellow. It looks like the only way to beat him is to stack up three powerups and use them all at once on him at the opportune time. Good luck with that though....

I think this one might take a while.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I picked up the game for the first time a week ago or so and made it to Lou on Medium. Strangely, it seemed easier than the other boss battles. I missed a couple of powerups but still beat him. I seem to recall the other boss battles being impossible unless you score every powerup.

You can stack multiple powerups? I thought the one you have goes away if you get another one.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Yeah, you can have up to 3 at one time. This becomes a necessity, since in order to win the battles you have to completely drain their rock meter. Usually, one power-up isn't enough to do that, so if you use one, and don't have another one ready to go right away, by the time you get the next one, the boss has already built their meter all the way back up, so it's like you didn't do anything at all with the first power up.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Dang, no wonder I was having so much trouble!

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I played Lou a bunch more times on Hard last night. Still no go, but I've got a better idea of what it's going to take, and it aint pretty.

In about the first 4 minutes of the song, you get a chance for 3 powerups.

Right after you get your first powerup, he has a section that he is playing that has a bunch of hammer on and pull off notes that are really clumped together. This is the opportune time to hit him with a powerup. On this section alone, I've had him drop into the flashing red on his meter from nailing him with Amp Overload, or Broken String as my first power-up.

However, it's just not enough to finish him. It's like if he missed one more note it would be over, but just not enough. Whammy, Lefty Flip, and Difficulty Up are near useless on him. I've hit him on this section with each of those, and he barely drops into the yellow. I'm still not sure yet what Double will do to him.

So therefore, it seems you have to store up at least two powerups to finish him off. The problem there is that after you get your second powerup, he doesn't really have any sections with a lot of notes close together, so the powerups aren't nearly as effective on him. I have hit him with two powerups in a row here, but it just doesn't drop his meter much, since he isn't playing as many notes.

So now, it seems you really need to get all of the first three powerups if you want to have a chance. That's a problem, because in the first 4 minutes that you have a chance to get all three powerups, he gets about 4-5 powerups to use on you. And if one of them is Double notes, then it's pretty much game over. It's just not physically possible to do chords that close together, and you're better off just not strumming at all through the double section, than trying to play the notes, because not playing the notes all together drops your meter less, than strumming incorrectly, or strumming and missing.

After the 3rd powerup, there is a bit of a breather, and then it goes into a section where he basically has simple sections, while you play hard, and since he doesn't have hard sections, it's harder for your power-ups to do anything to him.

I've only made it to the section after the third powerup a few times, and so far I've never actually nabbed all three powerups in one run, so it looks like this will be more difficult than anything i've played on GH 1 or 2.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

This is why I don't bother playing on Hard.

I play games to have fun, not to frustrate myself! I get enough frustration from real life. . .

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I haven't 'graduated' to Hard yet, still on Medium. But I did figure out in my early boss battles that you need to 'save' the battle powers and fire two in a row, rather than just shooting off one as soon as you earn it.

What really screws me up now are songs where there are many notes not 'on the beat'. It's difficult to get a nice rhythm going on those.

Oh well, slowly does it. After all, I play to have fun too. And I am certainly enjoying it, even if it is hard going at times.

Still haven't managed a 'full combo' (I think that's the term), but then again now that I've cleared Easy I don't go back there (save to become familiar with a song I don't know well before trying to clear it on Medium).

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I'm on the 7th tier on Expert now, but I still can't beat Lou on Hard.....

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

YES!! I finally beat that bastard on Hard last night! I got lucky on the powerup selection, got a whammy and an amp overload on the initial run of three, and didn't get hit by the real nasty ones from him. After you get to your solo, I nailed him with both of those one after the other, and then I can't remember if I used 1 or two more on him after that, but the last one that finished him off was a difficulty up.

What's wierd is that I think when he failed the difficulty up had already worn off. It's like he kept missing notes even after the powerup ended. I guess I demoralized him...

I had a moment of panic as you still have to play out the end of the song after you beat him, and I was in the red when that bit started, but luckily it wasn't too hard.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Another late one to the party. I'd resisted the urge to pick up Guitar Hero... until recently. I borrowed GH3, and after a little practice, I can't stop playing! I've since picked up GH2, and after a night of co-op at a friends, I caved and bought Rock Band as well. (Drumming is HARD!)

Total addict. Just started medium difficulty on all the above games.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I picked up GH3 last week. So far I've beaten the career on Easy but jumping to Medium screwed me up big time. I have to get used to using the orange button now.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I've played 5 times now. I'm about half-way thru medium. (I've beaten slash, but have yet to be tom morello.)

Have 5s on most of easy, and a couple medium.

Lots of fun.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Sorry I'm late to the party here. But if any one wants to play send me a freind request.

Gamercard= Drunkenmaster85

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

i got this game over the the weekend and im really enjoying it. i breezed thru easy (by that i mean i beat lou). i did manage to get 100% on two songs.

now medium is killing me. the blue notes just take my by surprise. i dont think i have enough brain power to flex my pinky instead of my ring finger.

what finger layout do you all use? i put index on green, middle on red, ring on yellow and pinky on blue.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

That's pretty much the way to go. Just wait'll you try Hard and have to move your hand around to reach all five buttons!

If it makes you feel any better, Tony Iommi doesn't use his pinky either (due to a lawnmower accident, IIRC).

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

For me, I've played enough where I'm just used to where the buttons are and can move my hand around in some pretty weird ways to hit all 5 buttons. Many of the "better" players use the strategy (for hard/expert) of putting your index finger on the red button and then stretching it to hit the green one. It's easier to just move your index finger than your pinky (to hit the orange button) or your entire hand.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

Hmmm, some interesting finger positions. (wow, that sounds dirty)

I shift positions once I know a song. If the song has a lot of orange coming up I shift my hand so that my index is on the red and keep it there once I start getting a lot of green I shift my hand over to where my index is on the green. If I am just getting sporatic orange notes I just make the reach with my pinky.

I have heard that starting with your index on red is the way to go, as the the reach for your index is easier to the green, rather than the pinky to the orange. However a fight with a table saw many years ago did not leave me with 100% of my index intract.

I need to play some more GH III and try to finally finish off Lou on Hard, but Rock Band and Ninja Gaiden II have busy at the moment.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

I don't have any GH games and only played it for about an hour. I have a Wii and a PS2. Can anyone recommend me the best game to buy and the best guitar?

~T

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

If you buy Guitar Hero III, is it worth going back and buying 1 and 2? I assume Sweet Child is on the original, since I heard people playing that when GH was new. I see GH2 in stores, but not the original. I hope it's not hard to get now.

I don't know about the debate between wired and wireless, but I love the wireless controller and can't imagine settling for being tied down.

Re: Any Guitar Hero III for X360 folks?

If you guys think his finger got the worst of it, you should see the table saw. Thing's still on a respirator.

The latest issue of Game Informer (GameStop's mag) has a huge GH4 preview. One of the guys from one of the companies involved was quoted as follows (I paraphrase from memory):
Very nice. Although the only included bands verified so far are Van Halen (I remember when they were working on GH2 one of the developers said that Panama was the one song they most wanted to include, so that might be the one), the Eagles, Sublime, and Linkin Park.

(No word yet on whether they'll include a Syringe Hero controller for the Sublime track. . . )

As for whether you should buy the older games -- look at the track lists on Wikipedia. The gameplay is essentially the same (although only GH3 has those goofy battles). If you want the songs, buy the games. It doesn't look like they're putting many of those tracks up for GH3 download any time soon.

One final note -- I was able to play the PS2 edition of GH1 using my PS2 GH1 controller on my PS3 using that new $20 adapter from The Ant Commandos (I just had to change the PS3 controller to a number other than 1 after starting up the game). I haven't had a chance to test it on PS3 Rock Band yet, since I got stiffed by an Amazon seller when I tried to order it. I'll probably pick it up soon, though.