Confirmed: no Xbox Live multiplayer in Guitar Hero II, update possible
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 23rd 2007 at 12:25AM }
GamePro has crushed our dream of thrashing some Xbox Live upstart in a Guitar Hero face-off come March (and we do emphasize "dream"). After a recent hands-on, the site confirms that the Xbox 360 port of Guitar Hero II will lack an online multiplayer component (despite a built-in headset jack on the game's X-Plorer controller). As in the PlayStation 2 version, Co-op, Face-off, and Pro Face-off modes will be limited to offline play.Elsewhere, RedOctane has suggested that a multiplayer update (via Xbox Live) is possible. Apparently, iffy co-op play prevented online multiplayer from being a launch feature.
Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360 will feature leaderboards and downloadable songs (or 'jam packs').
[Thanks, Jonah]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
v1cious @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:35AM
there's a rumor the 360 version's gonna be 89 bucks. no joke.
Imadogg @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:46AM
I thought all of this was confirmed a while back? Either way, I'm glad they're leaving it out if it helps the game come out on time... and I'm very glad they can add online multiplayer with a patch... go XBL!
Veras Gunn @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:55AM
Old news is old
Pibb @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:02AM
Leaderboards?! HELL YEA!
Paying for a completely separate controller.... aw rats!
new songs in "jam packs?" HELL YEA!
FSK405K @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:23AM
Think of playing at a 300 ms delay.
Judd @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:38AM
Say what you will about high next-gen development costs but considering this game is arriving about half a year after the PS2 version there is no reason to justify an $89 price point. Is $10 extra for ten more songs justifyable?
As far as he downloadable songs it isn't really something special that they are doing for the game the consumer is purchasing, but rather Red Octane having the opportunity to nickel and dime us through Marketplace."Prices have not been set, but a Red Octane spokesperson told us that songs shouldn't cost much more than what you'd expect to pay for actual songs on downloadable music services." What does not MUCH more mean? Considering the weird 100 Microsoft points $1.25 USD coversion rate, that probably means that a set will be something like 500 points or $6.25.
I don't own a PS2, but I managed to borrow Guitar Hero 2 and a system over break because I couldn't wait for it to come out on the 360. I thouroughly enjoyed it. And I think if Red Octane came out with a special edition Guitar Hero 2 which comes with the original game, I'd pick it up for a cool 100. But if they expect gamers to spend an another $90, for 10 more songs than I played last month on a better quality guitar, they've "Got Another Thing Comin".
Pete @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:49AM
So they could do this with DDR on Xbox but not Guitar Hero for 360...?
8dot3 @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:49AM
Would anyone actually play over the internet or are we just saying we want it cause its not there? I can't imagine it being much fun. The extra $10 doesn't bother me, and I love the downloadable song packs as long as they are priced reasonably.
jchensor @ Jan 23rd 2007 3:40AM
Actually, Pete, if you think about it, it's pretty apparent why. Playing correct and incorrect notes on Guitar Hero changes the music.
In DDR, stepping on arrows does nothing. So all that needs to be relayed is if the steps were hit correctly or not on the opponent's screen. It has no real-time effect on the sound like it does in Guitar Hero.
In order to properly convey if the opponents hit the notes correctly and play the notes or the "missed" sound at the right time, they would be forced to put in a slight lag, which would make the game impossible to play.
Cole @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:23AM
Well, for whoever has the PS2 version, why would you buy the 360 version now? I mean, if you can't versus on live the only real incentive is updated graphics, which really don't matter in a game like guitar hero.
Antec @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:13AM
No Guitar Hero multiplayer on live? This is almost unforgivable. Lets hope that update comes sooner than later.
I can't help but think that if this was on the ps3 with no online support instead of the 360, there would be alot of hate going on in this news article. Instead we get the apologetic "but it might get an update!". :/
Nick James @ Jan 23rd 2007 8:47AM
Or you could've paid attention and never bought the PS2 version to begin with like I did...
Hooray for friends who are suckers!
Mat Schwartz @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:16AM
QFMFT @ #9. If your giving us a ps2 port some new songs are appreciated but, please, give us something worth paying the price of admission all over again. For those new to the series it'll be a good introduction, but for the rest of us this is OFN.
Saneless @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:52AM
I don't get the point of online multiplayer in a game like this. I'll play against my own score if I want a challenge, I can't see the game improving that much from online multi. Offline? Hell yeah, it's fun.
karmaghost @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:26AM
I agree with #5; you would have to have a 100% lagless connection to be able to play the game with no problems at all. It's hard enough to play FPSes and racers when the lag kicks in, imagine a game that requires precise musical timing.
tcc3 @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:31AM
The people moaning about "having to buy it twice" are amusing. If its not worth $90 for 10 more songs, and you already played the ps2 version, you know what? Dont buy it. There are plenty of folks itching to play GH who until now have had to play it on the demo unit in the Walmart.
Yuccadude @ Jan 23rd 2007 12:04PM
The Live-aware part of GH2 and the headset jack on the controller are for sending messages and Private Chatting with your friends, so even if the game isn't co-op over live, you can still talk to your friends, so be glad they put the mic port in. And if I was any good at rhythm-based games, I would totally get this...
KR @ Jan 23rd 2007 1:00PM
Who the hell expected this to have Live co-op play? Are you nuts? There's a reason games like this and Virtua Fighter 5 don't include online play: BECAUSE IT WOULD RUIN THE GAMEPLAY.
Jesus. I know it sucks that we can't play online, but that's hardly the fault of the developers. People's cable/DSL setups just isn't fast enough to guarantee flawless gameplay, which this game requires to be played properly.
Glenn @ Jan 23rd 2007 3:27PM
I don't think this game needs to worry about lag. It's not a fighting game. Both games should just play independently and assume the other player made the next note until the network says otherwise.
An opponents screwup might show up 300ms late, but that doesn't affect you.
If they wanted to make it better, they could throw in some predictive algorithm to predict the odds of the player making the next note and if it's overwhelmingly unlikely, just assume they missed it until it learns otherwise.
BIGGEN @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:01PM
well, that does suck, but i'd rather have the game sooner than later. an update is fine with me. give me a chance to learn the songs. just wonder how much an extra guitar will be if the price is already $90. and yes, an extra 10 songs does justify a $10 increase. why? why wouldn't it?
Mr. Khan @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:13PM
I don't see why this game would suffer from lag
Get to the core of the mechanics, its pressing buttons (not bashing GH, but thus it is at the core) so not difficult for the Bandwidth
If DDR could do it, so can Guitar Hero
makesevenupyours @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:36PM
i hope they add it in, but it is definitly not essential to the game.
and im happy, i never bought the ps2 version. :D
Snog Canavi @ Apr 13th 2007 12:18PM
What's the point to limit the xbox 360 game play cause of the ps can't have this feature... this is actualy very lame... as each consol has their own feature... so yeah 1 more point for microsoft here cause ps sucks!
Snog Canavi @ Apr 13th 2007 3:06PM
@ post 18
Actualy this is not a "fighter" game where your game can be affected by the other players game acoording to halo 2 which require a constant "good" ping to experiment smooth game especially that some game have 16 player in it and no lag...
I hardly beleive that lag is the reason of "not online co-op" cause here their consol will just tell yours if the other player got the note or not even with a 1min ping delay this wouldn't ruin your game nor their game.
As said in the post, the devloper just can't put Live co-op cause sony can't do that.