New 10 fret button Guitar Hero controller announced
by Blake Snow 
{ Oct 30th 2006 at 3:25PM }
The Ant Commandos announced a new 10 fret button, flying V Guitar Hero controller for the PS2 over the weekend. The new axe features five additional buttons at the bottom of the neck for rockin' solos in addition to the normal five fret buttons (maybe the extra buttons are meant to distinguish this bad boy from the official controllers, keeping them out of legal hot water ... hmmm). The wired version costs $50 and a wireless version goes for $60 (same as the official wireless guitars); both will be available for purchase at the company's website November 1st. We're guessing this guy is the only rocker good enough to benefit from the added buttons, though. Orange hammer-ons are scary.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
crono141 @ Oct 30th 2006 3:42PM
Why?
ManekiNeko @ Oct 30th 2006 3:36PM
Bah! Legal hot water my butt! Didn't they create a guitar controller for Konami years before Guitar Hero was released?
My guess is that those extra buttons will allow especially skilled players to play both standard and bass guitars at once in Guitar Hero 2. You know, like those crazy guys who play Double mode in Dance Dance Revolution.
JR
Mooch @ Oct 30th 2006 3:38PM
Haven't you ever gotten to the solo of a song, but just not feel nearly as cool playing it so high on the fret board? I think the little buttons at the bottom allow for that true solo feeling!
32_Footsteps @ Oct 30th 2006 3:40PM
Hmm... they're not about to make a 10-button GH game, though, which seems to suggest the 5 extra buttons are just mapped to be duplicates of the original.
I note they're smaller, though - is this for the people who say to themselves, "Man, 'Bark At The Moon' on Expert is way too easy as it is. We need to find some way to make it even harder... I know! Smaller buttons!"
Still, not a bad Flying V. If I was a V man, I'd probably go for it.
You know what GH controller they need to come out with, though? One with an easily-swapped shell, so you can customize it without taking it apart and putting it back together. I know plenty of people who'd be on this so fast you'd think nobody ever had a black controller.
Junior @ Oct 30th 2006 3:42PM
This is something I had envisioned for Guitar Hero 3...You would play power chord/lower notes on the bigger buttons near the headstock and switch to the smaller buttons for solos and other high notes. You wouldn't be switching every note, but it would be rad to play riff 1 up top, then come down to do riff 2. But I assume on this model the 2 sets correspond to the same buttons/notes, but you get to decide what you use...which is cool, if the buttons play nicer than the last 3rd party controllers.
JodyAnthony @ Oct 30th 2006 3:43PM
If they release a rickenbacker shaped controller, I will buy the game.
Junior @ Oct 30th 2006 3:45PM
#6, yea and when they add Beatles songs too, right?
Flit @ Oct 30th 2006 3:47PM
Finger tapping! I dig it, unless that shiny circle around the button is a raised peice of plastic to make pressing the button harder. Too bad this isn't an offical GH guitar.
Breachless @ Oct 30th 2006 3:50PM
If they made those smaller buttons at the top to be more responsive for tapping, I will buy this...
BUT, what they really need to do is make a guitar controller that you can do vibrato on without a whammy bar. Any guitarist will tell you that if you can't do vibrato without a whammy, you shouldn't be playing guitar anymore...
It wouldn't be hard either: just mount the fret buttons on a small curved track that goes MAYBE a half inch in each direction (up and down) and make sure the springs are set strong enough that it takes a little bit of work to get them to move...
I'm telling you, that is the next step to make it more realistic. More fret buttons would be nice too though...
The Intangible Fact @ Oct 30th 2006 3:50PM
Just buy a real guitar damn it! If your that interested.
Babylonian @ Oct 30th 2006 4:07PM
My guess is it occupies both controller ports so the bottom half can be assigned to player 2. This would work a lot better with Guitar Hero 1, though, since in Multiplayer there were little to no simultaneous notes.
JBob @ Oct 30th 2006 4:00PM
My guess would be that the extra buttons are meant to simplify fast solo runs by eliminating the need to strum -- pressing one of the lower buttons selects the fret and performs a strum at the same time. Faster than strumming every note, and less picky than hammer-ons/pull-offs.
Lixie @ Nov 24th 2006 11:37AM
Looks like I wasn't the only one with additional solo buttons idea.
I kept telling people it would be cool to have fret buttons lower on the neck for the solos. TAC, you are great.
Though, will this controller work with GH2? TAC's last wireless edition won't work with GH2.
JodyAnthony @ Oct 30th 2006 4:12PM
#7, Junior, was that supposed to be some attack against me? god forbid I like the way a rickenbacker looks. If I could afford a rickenbacker bass I would, but I dont have the $1200+ to spend on it. I just think it would be cool to have a GH controller shaped like a rickenbacker, what is so bad about that?
I swear, if that was some type of attack on me, that was the most nonsensical attack I have ever seen in my life.
Breachless @ Oct 30th 2006 4:21PM
"Just buy a real guitar damn it! If your that interested."
I have quite a few real guitars actually...
4orty2wo @ Oct 30th 2006 4:21PM
The exra buttons are so Zaphod Beeblebrox can play the 2 player co-op alone.
The Intangible Fact @ Oct 30th 2006 4:27PM
"I have quite a few real guitars actually..."
The what makes you want to play this game? Not being mean or anything but you can do so so so so so much more with a real one. I have a jasmine acoustic and a jackson electric.
Judd @ Oct 30th 2006 4:34PM
This is all meaningless unless Red Octane puts in the use of more frets in the actual game. Though, I would much prefer to have more strum bars. Every new fret button adds one more note, but every strum bar multiplies the amount of notes.
Intellectualdiot @ Oct 30th 2006 4:40PM
Where does this nonsense that Guitar Hero is only appealing to those without musical talent stem from? It seems to be a sentiment that echoes throughout the gaming culture, specifically purported by at least one dedicated group of elitists per site. In short, it's tripe. (Note: Not necessarily aimed at you "The Intangible Fact", your comment merely incited a rant ha... Sorry) Guitar Hero is enjoyable because it is a reasonable facsimile of playing a musicial instrument in that it allows a certain amount of tactile posuering that isn't approachable in any other capacity (certainly a step above air guitar), yet often remains accessible enough to remain a meaningful alternative to playing some of the more daunting songs on the actual guitar. Guitar Hero allows you to jump in and play a song with little to no experience, and this is something is undeniably appealing.
At the same time, it is inferior to playing the actual instrument because it is more restrictive. Because you are essentially mimicking a song exact tempo, voicing, and style each time, the appeal only goes so far. For some this is enough, for others this is where Guitar Hero breaks. I sit somewhere in between. I personally don't see the purpose in spending hours practicing Bark At The Moon on Expert just to get a five star (four star is good enough for me), whereas I could be compelled to do so on the actual guitar. From a personal perspective, the sense of elation afforded from being able to play it on an actual guitar, despite being much harder is a greater incentive.
But enough of this digression. If those extra buttons aren't meant to enable playing a section without strumming, the guitar is useless to me. If they do indeed allow this, then I'm probably about to line up to get one. (Though honestly, the problem in some of the more difficult songs to me isn't the strum, it's deciphering the notes that need to be played ha)
On a side note, I see that the "Guitar Mania Rawk Bawx Bundle" comes with an amp. Good lord.
Streets @ Oct 30th 2006 4:41PM
Hey #13
"#7, Junior, was that supposed to be some attack against me?... if that was some type of attack on me, that was the most nonsensical attack I have ever seen in my life."
Didn't really sound like an attack to me, I'd love it if they added a Rickenbacker and some Beatle's tunes! The Beatles helped make the guitar famous, so he must be a fan to know that!
Joe @ Oct 30th 2006 4:51PM
These aren't going to work with GH2. Red Octane made it certain the only guitars you're playing this game with are their own.
I mean, they re-released Gh1 so now you can only use thier controllers.
seighton @ Oct 30th 2006 4:59PM
The buttons on the guitar correspond to buttons on the controller. Unless it plugs into two controller ports, there aren't that many buttons on one controller. Those are the limitations of the number of frets and the reason there won't be something like a "Keyboard/Piano" Hero.
However, it could be possible if D-pad inputs were mapped to additional fret buttons.
crono141 @ Oct 30th 2006 5:19PM
They need a game for any system, where you can actually plug in your REAL electric guitar, and it will TEACH you how to play, in similar fashion to GH.
They already have such a device for keyboards (for children). Game consoles are the PERFECT place to put training type games like this.
Triforceowner @ Oct 30th 2006 5:25PM
New 114 button Guitar Hero controller! It has six strings and nineteen frets!
-Hey wait, can't I just learn to play a real guitar when it gets this complicated?
Point:
Playing a real guitar is more rewarding than playing a piece of plastic.
beenabadbunny @ Oct 31st 2006 3:49AM
#18: Bark At The Moon's harder in GH than it is on a real guitar. :)
obo @ Oct 30th 2006 7:26PM
I have GH and an Ibanez electric. Not all of my friends can, or should, play guitar, and they love playing GH together. It's fun.
It is physically possible to practice guitar and play GH. People can do it. They are not mutually exclusive.
Besides that, playing Guitar Hero did improve my speed playing scales. It wasn't something I enjoyed practicing on my guitar until I got into GH.
DISCLAIMER: YOU MIGHT HAVE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE FROM ME AND I'M FINE WITH THAT.
Breachless @ Oct 30th 2006 9:18PM
I love to play Guitar Hero and I am a very active musician. I write, I record, I play in a band that plays all originals, and I used to teach guitar lessons.
The most fun I have with Guitar Hero is playing against my other guitarist.
Sure, it's not even close to being as fulfilling as when I step onto an actual stage on the weekend and plug my Les Paul and massive effects pedal board into my 5150 and crank all 125 Watts to the max and play my own music in front of a bunch of drunk screaming fans, but it's damn fun either way, and as another guy mentioned here, it really CAN help with dexterity.
If you have ever played guitar, or any other instrument for that matter, you would know just how easily bad habits can form, and when you form them on your left hand, they are very hard to break. Like many guitarists, I have always had troubles with certain finger patterns during scales, and playing Guitar Hero was a fun way to force my fingers to do exactly as I wanted them too. I can say with 100% confidence that Guitar Hero really DID improve my playing, and you know what? It was fun too...
Some musicians want nothing to do with the game too, and I can understand that. It's just like when Tony Hawk came out: I skateboarded, but I liked to play the game too. It was easy to just jump into it and kill a couple of minutes.
I will say this though, I have seen a lot of bands that would do well with a little Guitar Hero... if nothing else, it would at least help them realize just how bad their rhythm really is... :P
KoolAidMan @ Oct 31st 2006 12:39AM
16. "The what makes you want to play this game? Not being mean or anything but you can do so so so so so much more with a real one. I have a jasmine acoustic and a jackson electric."
Do you own any firearms? If so, why don't you go outside and shoot some real people? If not, go buy one, it's way better than doing it in some silly videogame.
Quoted For Truth @ Jan 17th 2007 8:03AM
"Do you own any firearms? If so, why don't you go outside and shoot some real people? If not, go buy one, it's way better than doing it in some silly videogame."
LawL! That's it. KoolAidMan wins the thread!
AAO @ Nov 7th 2006 1:45AM
who gives a flying f*ck whether im playing a piece of plastic or a real guitar... in college i really have no time to learn to play a real guitar... i like guitar hero just like i like other VIDEO GAMES. i know that the real thing is ALWAYS more exciting... with your logic no one should play racing games but just go and get a car, tweak it, and go to a race track and race it.... no one should be playing "flight simulators" but going out and getting an actual pilots degree and fly a real plane.... Guitar Hero is a Guitar SIMULATOR. who cares if its not the real thing, if it is good enough about giving the illusion that i'm playing a real guitar thats fine by me.
PS. Am i allowed to say "flying f*ck"?
Janet Barber @ Nov 16th 2006 4:28AM
I can imagine Jack Black doing 10-minute guitar solos. Did anyone see "School of Rock"? Those who did know what I'm talking about. I agree beatle songs would be cool. I like "I saw her standing there". :) Does anyone have guitar solos suggestions?