Glen AtwellGuitar Hero 2 problems with Playstation 3
May 12th 2007 10:57
By Glen Atwell
Today Sport Talk drops the balls and whistles and picks up the virtual guitar, for a closer look at one of video gaming's most bizarre anomalies.
Does Guitar Hero 2 work on Playstation 3?
The short answer: No, not yet.
The long answer (you might want to grab something to chew on):
Armed with only a virtual guitar and the best looking investigative hat I could find, I delved into an issue striking chords with gaming fans across the world. Why Guitar Hero 2 (Guitar Hero II) does not function properly on Sony's newest black box - Playstation 3.
Firstly let's clear up the Guitar Hero vs Playstation 3 hysteria. For some unknown reason, Sony was unable to launch the PS3 with full Guitar Hero 1 and 2 compatibility. This totally sucked and rightly pissed off millions of button-pushing, bar-strumming fans.
The first question that must be asked is why and how Sony would neglect the number one selling Playstation 2 peripheral-based game when launching their next-gen console. It’s like the PS3 not being backward compatible with a number of other games…whoops, hang on… that problem still remains an issue for owners of the PAL-version consoles.
Anyway, back to Guitar Hero. The Playstation 3 seemingly centre’s its universe around the humble ‘PS’ button, or ‘PS Home’ button in the centre of the PS3 controller. This button is the console’s heart-starter and enables the user to turn the PS3 on and off, quit games and return to the main menu. But it is this button that is causing Guitar Hero fans – in true rock star style - to smash their beloved guitars all over living room floors (then run to mummy and start hysterically crying).
The PS button is not featured on the Guitar Hero guitar(s); it’s not on the corded or wireless version and no, you can’t scratch off the ‘start’ button and write PS on it (I’ve tried and was left rather cynical about the real definition of ‘next-gen’).
But what about USB adaptors that (claim to) allow you to connect a plethora of peripherals into one of the available ports on the PS3? They work, if you’re a four-year-old wanting to play Lego, because other than simply joining the two accessories together, most of the USB adaptors on the market are as useless as a freezer in the Antarctic.
Dance mats, joysticks, joypads, steering wheels and most importantly, plastic guitars have a tendency to act weird when connected to the PS3 through some of the adaptors currently available. One company has distributed a USB PS2 to PS3 adaptor that claims to work with Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2, well it does work, but the buttons are all jumbled – frets included. Green becomes blue, orange becomes yellow and lime even turns turquoise.
In the short term; steer clear of any PS3 USB accessory that claims to work with Guitar Hero 2. In some remote corners of the gaming universe, a certain adaptor does allow rockers to rock the original Guitar Hero on their Playstation 3. But who wants to play the original, when the kick ass sequel dangles like a carrot in front of our strained eyes?
Anyway, these adaptors don’t work perfectly; menus must be navigated in different ways and hammer-ons are a pleasure of the past.
So if third parties cannot amend the problem, our gaze turns towards the manufacturer (who probably should have been responsible in the first place) to fix this fiasco. Sony, last month, released another firmware update for the Playstation 3, version 1.70, and many strummers pinned their hopes on this download solving the issue. Not only did 1.70 fail to fix the Guitar Hero problem, the update also failed to do much at all.
Still no Guitar Hero support.
To rub sweat into the wound, Xbox 360 users are enjoying the newly released Guitar Hero 2 with updated graphics and some minor game play tweaks, and most importantly, a brand spanking new wireless guitar - complete with Xbox 360 customisation.
So, for the moment anyway, Playstation 3 enthusiasts will have to be content with playing Guitar Hero on the PS2. But let’s be serious, I’m one of the people who shelled out $999 (AUD) for a launch-night PS3 – is it too much to ask for total cross-compatibility? And if it is, why the hell hasn’t Sony stepped and fixed the damn problem?
Surely PS3 owners should have access to one of the Playstation 2’s most popular games. But would the issue be on the top of Sony’s ‘to-do’ list (especially considering most of the firmware updates they release don’t really do anything useful). The devil’s advocate would suggest that Sony won’t fix this problem, and let PS3 owners hang out for the Guitar Hero 3 release due later this year.
The longer this problem goes unresolved, the more likely it will never be fixed.
Guitar Hero is definitely a labour of love, especially for us left-handers.
What do you think? Will you hang out for GH3?
Today Sport Talk drops the balls and whistles and picks up the virtual guitar, for a closer look at one of video gaming's most bizarre anomalies.
Does Guitar Hero 2 work on Playstation 3?
The short answer: No, not yet.
The long answer (you might want to grab something to chew on):
Armed with only a virtual guitar and the best looking investigative hat I could find, I delved into an issue striking chords with gaming fans across the world. Why Guitar Hero 2 (Guitar Hero II) does not function properly on Sony's newest black box - Playstation 3.
Firstly let's clear up the Guitar Hero vs Playstation 3 hysteria. For some unknown reason, Sony was unable to launch the PS3 with full Guitar Hero 1 and 2 compatibility. This totally sucked and rightly pissed off millions of button-pushing, bar-strumming fans.
The first question that must be asked is why and how Sony would neglect the number one selling Playstation 2 peripheral-based game when launching their next-gen console. It’s like the PS3 not being backward compatible with a number of other games…whoops, hang on… that problem still remains an issue for owners of the PAL-version consoles.
Anyway, back to Guitar Hero. The Playstation 3 seemingly centre’s its universe around the humble ‘PS’ button, or ‘PS Home’ button in the centre of the PS3 controller. This button is the console’s heart-starter and enables the user to turn the PS3 on and off, quit games and return to the main menu. But it is this button that is causing Guitar Hero fans – in true rock star style - to smash their beloved guitars all over living room floors (then run to mummy and start hysterically crying).
The PS button is not featured on the Guitar Hero guitar(s); it’s not on the corded or wireless version and no, you can’t scratch off the ‘start’ button and write PS on it (I’ve tried and was left rather cynical about the real definition of ‘next-gen’).
But what about USB adaptors that (claim to) allow you to connect a plethora of peripherals into one of the available ports on the PS3? They work, if you’re a four-year-old wanting to play Lego, because other than simply joining the two accessories together, most of the USB adaptors on the market are as useless as a freezer in the Antarctic.
Dance mats, joysticks, joypads, steering wheels and most importantly, plastic guitars have a tendency to act weird when connected to the PS3 through some of the adaptors currently available. One company has distributed a USB PS2 to PS3 adaptor that claims to work with Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2, well it does work, but the buttons are all jumbled – frets included. Green becomes blue, orange becomes yellow and lime even turns turquoise.
In the short term; steer clear of any PS3 USB accessory that claims to work with Guitar Hero 2. In some remote corners of the gaming universe, a certain adaptor does allow rockers to rock the original Guitar Hero on their Playstation 3. But who wants to play the original, when the kick ass sequel dangles like a carrot in front of our strained eyes?
Anyway, these adaptors don’t work perfectly; menus must be navigated in different ways and hammer-ons are a pleasure of the past.
So if third parties cannot amend the problem, our gaze turns towards the manufacturer (who probably should have been responsible in the first place) to fix this fiasco. Sony, last month, released another firmware update for the Playstation 3, version 1.70, and many strummers pinned their hopes on this download solving the issue. Not only did 1.70 fail to fix the Guitar Hero problem, the update also failed to do much at all.
Still no Guitar Hero support.
To rub sweat into the wound, Xbox 360 users are enjoying the newly released Guitar Hero 2 with updated graphics and some minor game play tweaks, and most importantly, a brand spanking new wireless guitar - complete with Xbox 360 customisation.
So, for the moment anyway, Playstation 3 enthusiasts will have to be content with playing Guitar Hero on the PS2. But let’s be serious, I’m one of the people who shelled out $999 (AUD) for a launch-night PS3 – is it too much to ask for total cross-compatibility? And if it is, why the hell hasn’t Sony stepped and fixed the damn problem?
Surely PS3 owners should have access to one of the Playstation 2’s most popular games. But would the issue be on the top of Sony’s ‘to-do’ list (especially considering most of the firmware updates they release don’t really do anything useful). The devil’s advocate would suggest that Sony won’t fix this problem, and let PS3 owners hang out for the Guitar Hero 3 release due later this year.
The longer this problem goes unresolved, the more likely it will never be fixed.
Guitar Hero is definitely a labour of love, especially for us left-handers.
What do you think? Will you hang out for GH3?
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Comment by Darkrift
Comment by Glen Atwell
Computer Game
Sport Talk
Gamer Herald
Spare a thought, however, for the xBox 360 owners who have only just had the option of buying a wireless guitar.
Sony still remains adamant that it will fix this problem sooner rather than later.
Glen.