Is Guitar Hero 3 for Wii the game?
Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 1:51pm by Jack
There’s a question circulating out there in the ether today asking if Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii will be the most popular version of that software over the PS2, Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions. Apparently, Amazon.com’s rankings (notoriously inaccurate, I know) have the Wii at #6, 360 at #44, PS2 at #86, and the PS3 version bringing up the rear beyond the scope of the Top 100. Boo hoo.
It’s a cool question, and I think there might be a chance the answer is yes, but the 360 version will be tough to beat. Even after the success of Guitar Hero 2 I’d say the franchise is still peaking right now, with version 3.0 being apex of this wildly awesome where all the “friend of a friend’s” who saw the game but didn’t buy it during 2006/2007 finally give in for the holiday 2007 season.
Thing is, I think there’s another question to ask, too: Will Guitar Hero 3 be the game that proves gamers of all types are buying into the Wii? Sure, Wii Fit will sell like hotcakes, but this Guitar Hero thing could be the one that does whatever uncertainties still exist about the Wii’s fanbase in for good. Case in point, I never in a million years thought I’d be shredding it to STP’s Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart with my youngest sister in my lifetime, and yet there I was over the summer doing just that on the PS2 I donated to her so she could play GH2 (and believe me, she’s more Hollister than Hot Topic, so this was really monumental to me).
October 4th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
There are several things to consider here.
1) Previous iterations of Guitar Hero have already been released on PS2 and Xbox 360. People do not need to rebuy the peripheral, and that will lead them (and me) to buy the game on the console which they bought the previous game.
2) Xbox Live and PS Network intend on selling additional songs via downloadable content. To my knowledge, no such content has been announced for Wii, and if it was, storage would quickly become an issue.
Just a few things to think about.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
And yet, the interest is still there. Something to think about.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
[...] You can read the rest of this blog post by going to the original source, here [...]
October 4th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
This game will sell well on all three systems, but I would have a hard time understanding why a consumer should be compelled to buy the Wii version if they have a 360, due to the DLC. Does the Wii version offer any features the other systems do not?
Also, because the game has been released on other platforms in the past, casual consumers may not realize the game is also available on Wii, thinking of it as a Playstation or Xbox brand game.
Just playing devil’s advocate over here, that’s all. The game will be great across the board, and Wii owners will love it. This much we know.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Just like every 3rd party game, this will rely on the developer’s willingness to actually market the game to Wii owners. No one bought Madden on Wii because the advertising featured nothing but Xbox 360 controllers. That’s basically telling Wii owners flat out that the game is not for them. I hope it gets its chance.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I will agree that for all of the extra features the wii is getting downloadable content has not been announced as one of them. I personally have no desire for DL content because I think it cultures a mind set in developers that says if I make half a game I can sell the consumer the “extras” later, but I know there are those who would cry bloody murder without it. I think its availability on the wii will be the deciding factor of whether it sells better.
I don’t think that the controller issue is that big of a deal however because while there are some out there who prefer to keep their old controllers (like Andrew) there will also be those who want the new ones (One of the reasons I’m switching from my PS2 controller is because I want the new les paul)
October 4th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I think we have to consider that Wii owners may be more interested in GHIII because they don’t have a guitaring alternative while EVERYONE else does: Rock Band (widely believed to be superior) is coming to PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360. Note well how EA has failed YET AGAIN to recognise that Nintendo fans exist. Or perhaps they recognise it, and simply HATE and despise us.
(and who made Madden?)
October 4th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Me personally, I hadn’t put much thought into it before now, but now that I am thinking about it, I’m thinking I might sell my PS2 copy of the game + 2 guitars so I can get the new one on 360, and make myself available for the additional content. This way I can get Rock Band on 360 as well, which is supposed to have an absolute avalanche of DLC.
Although, having the game for my PS2 Slim makes it very easy to transport (not even sure my 360 will fit in my trunk) so maybe I’ll just pony up the money for both versions.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
you people don’t keep up with this
they’re interested in downloadable content, but are waiting for a storage source, and RockBand is very likely coming to the Wii, based on some interview awhile back, it’ll probably depend on how well it does on other systems/how well GHIII does on the wii. i’m just hoping i can use my GHIII controller with rockband…
October 4th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
elmer:
“April 2, 2007 – During a conference call to announce its latest music game Rock Band for release on Xbox 360 and PS3, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos hinted strongly that a Wii-specific version of the title would be coming out in the future. When asked if there was any chance Rock Band would arrive on Wii, Rigopulos said without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
“We will, at some time, bring Rock Band to every [important] platform,” Rigopulos said. He added that Harmonix would optimize future versions of Rock Band to fit the strengths of the platform. “I think the Wiimote is something that holds enormous promise.”"
http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html
October 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
@elmer: http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html
“April 2, 2007 – During a conference call to announce its latest music game Rock Band for release on Xbox 360 and PS3, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos hinted strongly that a Wii-specific version of the title would be coming out in the future. When asked if there was any chance Rock Band would arrive on Wii, Rigopulos said without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
“We will, at some time, bring Rock Band to every [important] platform,” Rigopulos said. He added that Harmonix would optimize future versions of Rock Band to fit the strengths of the platform. “I think the Wiimote is something that holds enormous promise.”
Rock Band comes to Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday. No Wii version has been officially announced.”
I tried to make this comment once already, and it wouldn’t let me. Here’s a second try.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
“April 2, 2007 – During a conference call to announce its latest music game Rock Band for release on Xbox 360 and PS3, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos hinted strongly that a Wii-specific version of the title would be coming out in the future. When asked if there was any chance Rock Band would arrive on Wii, Rigopulos said without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
“We will, at some time, bring Rock Band to every [important] platform,” Rigopulos said. He added that Harmonix would optimize future versions of Rock Band to fit the strengths of the platform. “I think the Wiimote is something that holds enormous promise.”
Rock Band comes to Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday. No Wii version has been officially announced.”
http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html
October 4th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Hmm… I’ve tried to comment now 4 times with the link and quote about Wii Rock Band, but it’s not showing up.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html
Here’s the link. I hope it posts this time.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
“April 2, 2007 – During a conference call to announce its latest music game Rock Band for release on Xbox 360 and PS3, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos hinted strongly that a Wii-specific version of the title would be coming out in the future. When asked if there was any chance Rock Band would arrive on Wii, Rigopulos said without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
“We will, at some time, bring Rock Band to every [important] platform,” Rigopulos said. He added that Harmonix would optimize future versions of Rock Band to fit the strengths of the platform. “I think the Wiimote is something that holds enormous promise.”
Rock Band comes to Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday. No Wii version has been officially announced.”
October 4th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Oh no they haven’t said no DL content just that there will be none in the beginning. I have no doubt that they will eventually include it but it might be out by the time everyone has decided to go towards another version.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Biggest problem why it won’t sell (the reason I’m not buying it), price.
$90? That’s fine and dandy, but the guitar is practically a shell! The Wiimote does the wireless, uses it’s own speaker, and gives you the rumble. The guitar is just buttons. In this respect, I can at least sort of forgive high prices on other systems, but this is unacceptable here. Charging $40 for a plastic guitar with very little actual circuitry inside.
Thanks to Activision and corporate greed, the game’s price has now risen from an initial $70 for the PS2 to now $100 for the 360 PS3 versions (not to mention extra dough releasing old songs and then newer songs later), while we get a measly price point of $90.
I will have to vote with my wallet here and not buy it, even though I want it really bad, I cannot justify $90 for something that should only be $50 or $60 max (since the guitar is feeding off the wiimote for everything). If the guitar was wireless itself and had all those features, then I would be complaining it’s $10 too much, but as it stands, major rip-off.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
I know the quote.
Saying there’s ‘absolutely a chance of it’ (to paraphrase) does not sound positive and is not the response that any sensible company makes. Shortly after that quote guess what EA announced: it’s also coming to PS2. Guess what they didn’t announce. It’s coming out on anything Nintendo. Guess what they still haven’t announced: It’s coming out on anything Nintendo.
I mean after saying how they made platform mistakes and Wii was important, winning and a great opportunity, and after considering how obvious a match a graphics-light peripheral based music game is for Wii, if that’s not a direct insult to us or their uber stupidity, I’m not sure what is.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
And yeah, totally CaptainBoosh. A plastic Guitar with a few digital buttons and a spring costs what to manufacture? About 5 dollars?
October 4th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
And I forgot to mention that now that the game in a phenomenal success, they aren’t paying as much for the music. They are also getting original recordings for the game without the need for a cover, and even having original bands coming in to re-record music that the masters weren’t good enough or had problems with.
Before, they had to beg and plead to get music (since the RIAA is a bunch of ULTRA greedy douche-bags who ask for unbelievably insane prices for music content), and now everyone is coming to them asking to put their music in the game. Free advertising.
Yet, the game still costs more and the whole guitar debacle.
This was in an interview I think on Gamasutra’s website with the production studio that has the cover band do all the recordings (Wavegroup). It was like 9 pages and I couldn’t find it. But this was where they discuss how much easier it was getting the music this time around.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I totally agree, Cap’n Boosh. I don’t see a whole lot of reason for the higher price for the newer versions of this game except for supply/demand.
They know people will pay it, so they hiked the price $20 or so. An unfortunate side effect of the games popularity.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
How much will guitar hero III be in the UK, because games are alot more expensive here e.g. normal game price here is 34.99 – 39.99 pounds, i think thats equivalent to 70 – 80 dollars
October 4th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
@drewMG,
You are getting too comfortable in the devils advocate seat~!
OK, let me drop this on ya’ll. No one seems to be thinking about this.
Rock Band is coming to 360………..
Keep thinking……..
Ok, I’ll help, many, MANY gamers will be forced to choose between Rock Band and Guitar Hero on the 360. Early word on the street is looking very favorable for Rock Band. There will be no such “splitting” of the target audience on Wii. This holiday season, its Guitar Hero or nothing.
Think about it.
Also, with regard to why someone would buy it on Wii if they have a 360? Well, the DLC songs are a total ripoff, so those have little value for me. But I really want my guitar to rumble and have a built in speaker, 2 features that will be unique to the Wii. I’m also hoping the gyro is more accurate as I often have trouble engaging star power on my cheap ass PS2 packed in controller.
Lastly, I hope beyond all hope that if games like this sell well on the Wii, that nintendo will be compelled to support HDDs for things like DLC.
Not that I want DLC on guitar hero, I don’t, but it would be nice on lots of other games.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I think DLC is potentially a big deal for a game like Guitar Hero. For Rock Band, for instance, they’re releasing entire albums worth of songs to be playable. If your favorite band shows up on XBLA for $25 or $30, I think you’d be pretty interested. I know I would.
Does the Wii version of GH really support rumble and speaker? I’m not sure what the benefit of that is, as the music from the game should drown out the Wii’s remote speaker, and I’ve never held a guitar that actually rumbled before. Maybe the crowd noise could cause a guitar to shake, which could be cool I guess.
As for the split market, you are dead on. This could very well be a big factor. How big of a factor remains to be seen.
And finally, as for the storage issue, I think that once Wii Ware takes off next year, Nintendo will absolutely 100% be forced to re-think their storage issue.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
“Does the Wii version of GH really support rumble and speaker? I’m not sure what the benefit of that is, as the music from the game should drown out the Wii’s remote speaker, and I’ve never held a guitar that actually rumbled before. Maybe the crowd noise could cause a guitar to shake, which could be cool I guess.”
Being a Devil’s Advocate is truly an art form. This, however, is not it. Now it just seems like you’re picking a fight, man, really. Nobody before the Wii said they’d had a controller they could point at the TV with, either. Why can’t guitars rumble? Who has their TV that loud that they still can’t hear a rather robust speaker less than a foot away?
The beauty of the true DA (that’s Devil’s Advocate) is that they make counter arguments based on facts and logic, even if they actually believe in what you’re saying in the first place. This is what it is, obvious trolling.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I always thought the DLC was pretty crappily done on the 360 version, really expensive, and not really that good. $5 for one good song and two My Chemical Romance songs…pass. I also think maybe a full album by an artist is overkill, but then again the whole ‘Rock Band’ game dynamic is different than guitar hero.
I agree with the above posters who said the Wii version will have no competition and inherently do well.
I also think that as far as ‘casual games’ I can think of no better non-Nintendo entity that has ‘non-gamers’ chomping at the bit to play than Guitar Hero… on namesake alone this product will sell. Hell, my Dad doesn’t understand what is going on in 3D games (he just doesn’t see what’s happening) but he is just as pumped for this game as I am.
I personally couldn’t be more excited for the Iron Maiden tune on this game.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Dang… I’m so disappointed to hear about the $90 price point for Wii.
I thought that (because of using the Wii remote in plastic shells) the Wii version would be significantly cheaper and was planning on buying GH3. For $60 or $70, I’m sold… but not for $90!
Looks like I’m sticking to Jam Sessions for now.
Regarding the lack of Wii DLC, I doubt that is a big deal to the average Wii gamer. Remember that most Wii owners are more casual gamers than 360/PS3 owners… so the basic content will probably satisfy most of that audience. However, I certainly do hope that Nintendo admits that the tiny Wii storage space is a problem and does something to correct it.
(Remind me why the SD card can’t be used for stuff like this? SD cards are cheap now, so it would be easy to buy one for each game that supported DLC. And would many Wii games really require more than 1 or 2 GB for extra content?)
October 4th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
You know what would make the Wii version more attractive than the others Drew? A lower effing price. I swear if the Wii version cost $15 to $20 cheaper than the 360 version (thanks to the guitar containing essentially nothing but vacuum formed plastic) and the saving were passed on to the consumer, the series would be even more popular, and the Wii iteration would be the version of choice for most.
Let me ask this:
If there is differential pricing for GHIII on the PS2 version then will the devs follow through on Wii? Or as I imagine will be the case, will they charge us as much as the 360 version with none of the ‘next-gen’ extras, then claim it’s fair thanks to rumble, speaker and motion controls which were things already integrated into a Wiimote that’s actually made it cheaper for them to produce?
October 4th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
@AndrewMG
“I think DLC is potentially a big deal for a game like Guitar Hero.”
Oh, I totally agree. It has HUGE potential. The problem is the execution. The way they’ve done it on xbox pretty much wrings the last drop of value out of it for me. An album by my favorite band? Well that certainly sounds tempting. For $25? Less so.
As for the rumble and speaker, I don’t really care to have the guitar rumble so much as I like the idea of having the guitar “respond” and to that end, I really like the idea of having rumble and audio built in. Like hearing the *pop* of the tennis ball on the Wii-mote, it can really add depth to the aural experience.
@Jack,
Definitions of Devs Advocate aside, I think calling comments “obvious trolling” may be a bit of a stretch. If this was meant tongue-in-cheek, I missed it.
@dlindema,
I tend to agree with you but I would also add that I read somewhere that not as many casuals buy GH as was suspected. Some survey somewhere was saying that GH is most purchased by hardcore gamers and that the casuals “talking it up” have been playing it at other peoples houses or something to that effect.
October 4th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
For the people that only have a Wii, the Wii version is the only option (unless it comes out for the PC, which it never will). How many people out there have multiple consoles? Anyway, $90.00 is too way too high of a price for a game.
October 4th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Yes. Why? because it is the only one that offers more.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I’m just glad its $10 less on the Wii. Considering it has the same number of songs, etc, this is a good thing. We should be glad they are supporting the Wii in the first place, this never would have happened on the gamecube.
October 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
It’s so sad, I love GH so much, but i can’t justify paying $90 for it. They just lost a sale. Hopefully since it’s so inflated in the first place, there’s some chance of a price drop in the future.
By the way, I would totally buy the Wii version just because it’s on a Nintendo console, and i want to encourage 3rd parties to develop for Wii. Vote with your wallets folks.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:14 am
@CaptainBoosh: Using Master recordings would factor into making the game more, not less, expensive. The artists are not volunteering their songs to be used in the game, they are being paid for the composition and the publisher is being paid for the master recording. They used covers before because they were cheaper. Just because a band wants their music in a game doesn’t mean they can convince the publisher to give it up for cheap, unless they’re U2.
October 6th, 2007 at 4:15 am
Guitar Hero will sell well on any system it’s on. Since the Wii has the biggest market share it will sell ok if people are content with no down loadable content or disk space to hold the potential D/L’ed content.
The fact is it is the same game on a different system. Dare I say it, a PORT!
Wii is not gong to make it sell more, people who own a Wii who want to play GH will help sell it. Other than pointing and a shitty bluetooth speaker on the guitar, it is an inferior game in many ways. Much like most wii games.
I,am not trolling…this time.
October 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Wouldn’t it be cool if they incorporated motion tracking?
Not that it would affect the gameplay a lot, but it would be pretty cool if your character held the guitar the same way you hold it in real life. Maybe you could get extra points by doing guitar tricks.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:37 am
“@CaptainBoosh: Using Master recordings would factor into making the game more, not less, expensive. The artists are not volunteering their songs to be used in the game, they are being paid for the composition and the publisher is being paid for the master recording. They used covers before because they were cheaper.”
See, that’s logical thinking, but it’s not the case here. The music studio that does all the recording and track laying for Activision’s developers stated in an interview that they had much more to work with and it also was costing less, because the labels (not publishers), were more concerned with free advertising and making money on DLC. It wasn’t just that they were more willing to let them use their music, they were actually handing it to them and saying, “Use ours and not theirs.” It’s not just the bands getting in on the action, it’s also the record labels. They’ve seen the popularity of the franchise and are trying their best to get their music in the game. And raising the price for entry obviously wouldn’t help that cause.