Red Octane's new wireless guitars, but what's Xbox 360's extra cost?
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jul 14th 2007 at 6:28PM }
Red Octane showed us their new wireless controllers coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii with the release of Guitar Hero III this fall. The Wii version (seen above), allows you to put your Wiimote into it via a flap in the back. There is no word yet on why you would need to do this, if it's only to activate "star power" it just seems a little superfluous. The rest of the controllers look fine and the buttons are in the perfect place so you don't "pull a Peter Moore" in GH III like you would in Rock Band. In all fairness, Harmonix is already planning a software fix so gamers don't do the same thing as Moore.
The best part about the new guitars is that you can take the guitar's neck off of the body by toggling a switch in the back and pulling. They wouldn't let us take pictures of this and they had none available. The new separation feature makes storage and travel easier, it also opens up the option for different types of necks. Also, there were an assortment of quality plastic faceplates which snap onto the guitar and come off easily by pressing an eject button on the back. Because all the faceplates were "prototypes" we couldn't take pictures of those either. Anyway, the new Red Octane guitars look and feel really good. Oh, and they moved the Xbox's guide button and d-pad higher up the guitar's body to get it out of your wrist's way. They also put the select (back) button within pinky length of the fret to activate star power by easily moving a finger instead of jarring the guitar. The redesign really looks great.
The weird news was Red Octane's cagey attitude towards pricing between systems, the same thing we experienced with Harmonix about Rock Band. Following Rock Band's unconfirmed price difference between Xbox 360 and PS3 wireless guitars, it looks like Red Octane hasn't made a decision regarding their pricing of the Xbox 360 controller either. Will they charge more for the licensing fee attached to using Microsoft's proprietary wireless? And what is the extra cost? They will supposedly get back to us as soon an answer can be authorized. Yeah, this Microsoft wireless drama is just ridiculous, especially if it forces the peripheral manufacturers to punish the consumers for Microsoft's greed.
The best part about the new guitars is that you can take the guitar's neck off of the body by toggling a switch in the back and pulling. They wouldn't let us take pictures of this and they had none available. The new separation feature makes storage and travel easier, it also opens up the option for different types of necks. Also, there were an assortment of quality plastic faceplates which snap onto the guitar and come off easily by pressing an eject button on the back. Because all the faceplates were "prototypes" we couldn't take pictures of those either. Anyway, the new Red Octane guitars look and feel really good. Oh, and they moved the Xbox's guide button and d-pad higher up the guitar's body to get it out of your wrist's way. They also put the select (back) button within pinky length of the fret to activate star power by easily moving a finger instead of jarring the guitar. The redesign really looks great.
The weird news was Red Octane's cagey attitude towards pricing between systems, the same thing we experienced with Harmonix about Rock Band. Following Rock Band's unconfirmed price difference between Xbox 360 and PS3 wireless guitars, it looks like Red Octane hasn't made a decision regarding their pricing of the Xbox 360 controller either. Will they charge more for the licensing fee attached to using Microsoft's proprietary wireless? And what is the extra cost? They will supposedly get back to us as soon an answer can be authorized. Yeah, this Microsoft wireless drama is just ridiculous, especially if it forces the peripheral manufacturers to punish the consumers for Microsoft's greed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony @ Jul 14th 2007 6:33PM
They haven't finalized the prices on any of them, so there's no limit to how many conclusions I can make up about it. I don't think MS is stupid enough to force a company to price this out of the range of the PS3... but I guess we'll see. At this point it's kind of all just guessing.
jimy @ Jul 14th 2007 6:34PM
Select button sounds good. Even more excited now.
JAC @ Jul 14th 2007 6:38PM
Ok, will the guitars for GH3 work with rockband as well?
Fernando Rocker @ Jul 14th 2007 6:37PM
For the Wii version, If I move the Guitar to a side, the character on screen also moves the guitar. It will be a cool feature.
Obie @ Jul 14th 2007 7:09PM
"The Wii version (seen above), allows you to put your Wiimote into it via a flap in the back. There is no word yet on why you would need to do this, if it's only to activate "star power" it just seems a little superfluous."
Well, since this allows the guitar to use the wiimotes motion sensing and bluetooth functions, I think this is a nice way of avoiding redundancy and hopefully pass on savings towards the final product.
Matters @ Jul 16th 2007 1:12AM
I think you hit the nail on the head.
When I read the article I was thinking "isn't it freaking obvious?!"
The classic controller does it so why not this too? It's a great idea.
konajinx @ Jul 14th 2007 7:09PM
Not sure why everyone goes gaga over wireless instruments with these games. Hell, when I play my real guitar, I'm plugged into my amp and it doesn't get in the way, just like the cord never got in the way for me on GH on PS2 or GHII on the 360. To each their own, though. I just personally wouldn't shell out extra for something I'm going to be playing not more tha a few feet away from the console, anyway.
Seroth @ Jul 14th 2007 7:19PM
Normally when people play Guitar Hero, they just sit or stand. That's fine with a wired controller. But sometimes, you just wanna goof off, and show off or something. You end up rocking out too hard and you unplug the controller from the system. That's why wireless is so great. :D
Yeah, I know it's silly to do that kinda stuff, but it can be fun, too.
Richard @ Jul 14th 2007 7:22PM
I imagine they are probably using the Wii remote's wireless capabilities as well, so I doubt it's superfluous.
Hey Apples @ Jul 14th 2007 7:29PM
Using the wii-mote's built in sensors and wirless seems like a no-brainer. They don't need to include those components themselves which is a cost savings in manufacturing.
The only downside is that your guitar looks stupid.
Sketchy Fletchy @ Jul 14th 2007 7:46PM
Wii guitar makes perfect sense. They can make it cheaper by essentially making it an extension peripheral connected to the wiimote (like the nunchuk attachment), neatly avoiding the need to develop and manufacture all the wireless electronics.
Basically, they can make it cheaper and easier because the wiimote already provides the wireless communications and button press interpretation hardware (and even the tilt measuring) with a ready, extensible interface. The guitar is just a shell.
cheese @ Jul 14th 2007 8:16PM
There are no other wireless controllers for the 360 for a reason. MS says they give you a choice, but that choice is limited to what they offer (not that their controllers are bad or anything, it just places unduly limitations on other wireless peripherals)
DWells55 @ Jul 14th 2007 9:46PM
I just hope the savings are passed to the consumers.
dork @ Jul 14th 2007 10:42PM
Actually the wireless "nonsense" you speak of by microsoft is a great idea.
Working retail and selling those stupid madcatz and gamestop brand/pelican controllers are stupid as crap.
Everyone buys them to save 10 bucks and then they wonder why they break within 24 hours.
im glad microsoft is the only company releasing first party wireless controllers. We dont need any more junky made controllers
ttr @ Jul 15th 2007 12:04AM
It's not like you are being forced to buy 3rd party devices. Whenever I go to the gamestore, there are plenty of first party controllers and such, except for when the Wii first came out and it was impossible to buy any accessories.
But any informed gamer will know to stay clear of those crummy 3rd party accessories, unless you really want a controller with turbo buttons and such. More choice is more good, even if 1 option is clearly superior.
Vince @ Jul 14th 2007 10:51PM
"pulling a Peter Moore" isn't gonna happen. just drop it.
jordan @ Jul 15th 2007 10:56AM
i'm not sure if you've ever played GH, but if you ever pick up a controller/guitar, you'll find that it does happen, and it's not an uncommon occurrence
Vince @ Jul 15th 2007 12:20PM
I've played quite a bit of GH actually (5 starred all expert songs on GH2 even) and it never happens. REGARDLESS, I was talking about using the phrase "Pulling a Peter Moore". It's never going to catch on. It was more of a reference to the movie Mean Girls than anything.
mercuryDrug @ Jul 15th 2007 3:03AM
I think buying all that 3rd party crap instead of spending 5-10 more bucks or the real thing is "pulling a Peter Moore"
Jacob @ Jul 15th 2007 6:12AM
The Wii version better be at least £10 ($20) cheaper than the others, considering how much Wiimotes cost. The Wii guitar is pretty much a glorified Zapper, if you think about it.
Leo-Jay @ Jul 15th 2007 8:22AM
I've already got a pre-order in for this at EB; the drone at the counter indicated that the Wii version is $10US cheaper than any other version they're selling, which is fine. It's not a lot, but I'll take what I can get, really.
Jake @ Jul 15th 2007 12:00PM
Charge more and sell less. Brilliant.
kelekod @ Jul 15th 2007 3:17PM
Well considering its a Wii fault for "putting the controller in your pocket" for the classic controller, shouldn't this be a Wii positive that that the remote can go somewhere thats not the pocket? I think its fine that the Wii mote shows and maybe it adds a little something extra with the motion? only further details will tell.