GHWT drum tuning app coming soon, ION Drum Rocker patch now live
by Ross Miller 
{ Oct 29th 2008 at 11:54AM }
In addition to announcing new track packs, Neversoft has issued a trio of updates concerning the Guitar Hero World Tour drumset. First off, those who have been experiencing sensitivity issues with the set will be happy to know that the developer will be releasing a drum controller tuning kit for Windows "very soon," so users can self-tune their skins at home. Neversoft also recommends that if you're currently having issues, you should contact Activision customer support.
For Xbox 360 owners, the ION Drum Rocker compatibility patch should now be available for download. As for PlayStation 3 owners still waiting on the promised GHWT drum compatibility with Rock Band 2, Neversoft said it's all up to Harmonix to release an update for the game. We'll poke them again to see if we can get an ETA on that patch.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 29th 2008 12:04PM
Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but how exactly do I connect my wireless drum kit to a Windows PC?
Tank @ Oct 29th 2008 12:29PM
If you contact Activision support, apparently they'll send you a MIDI - USB cable.
ExMcCloud @ Oct 29th 2008 12:06PM
Too Late I bought Rock Band
BigD145 @ Oct 29th 2008 12:06PM
Does this mean each pad is capable of 'drift'?
Tony Bowman @ Oct 29th 2008 12:07PM
sucks for Mac-only users, like me.
dark_inchworm @ Oct 29th 2008 12:09PM
Drag your drum kit to your nearest library or school!
Tank @ Oct 29th 2008 12:32PM
Got a friend with a laptop PC?
megapenguinx @ Oct 29th 2008 2:25PM
use cross over!
Tony Bowman @ Oct 29th 2008 2:54PM
Crossover is what I'm hoping for to come through for me, but it's still kind of shitty of Neversoft to ignore Mac users. :( It's not like we're a fringe market anymore. And it's not like this is some massive software package. They don't have a single coder on staff that's familiar with OS X coding? Seriously?
Bslashingu @ Oct 29th 2008 3:42PM
Crossover isn't able to communicate with most hardware like that. I doubt their drum tuner would be able to work like that.
Also, what about people with Linux? Wine definitely won't be able to run it.
Myth84 @ Oct 29th 2008 12:12PM
"Soon"? What a worthless statement. Holds no value.
dark_inchworm @ Oct 29th 2008 12:16PM
Just look at how The Behemoth and the MS patch certification team have redefined "soon."
wytshus @ Oct 29th 2008 12:27PM
I tried to use the RB2 drums with GHWT last night, doesn't work. Is there a setting in GHWT to make other drum pads work? Also, I bought a headset mic to use while playing guitar. It works fine with RB2, but it isnt recognized by GHWT. The RB2 mic and guitar work fine with GHWT.
I will never buy another GH peripheral after the debacle with the guitar packaged with GHIII.
Mrblonde @ Oct 29th 2008 12:35PM
My RB2 drums work in World tour
Shagittarius @ Oct 29th 2008 1:32PM
THE RB2 drums work in GH:WT but they don't use the pressure sensetivity which is a lame money-grab on Neversoft's part.
Hafk @ Oct 29th 2008 3:38PM
Lame money grab?
I can't use my orange Cymbal in Rock Band 2's freestyle mode, and you don't see me bitching.
The sensitivity of the two drumsets are different.
RB2's kit has two levels, and GH:WT's kit has six levels.
wytshus @ Oct 29th 2008 12:39PM
Thats weird. I set up the drums and headset mic in RB2 and played a song just to make sure they worked. Then I put in GHWT and it did not recognize either device....
Gaucho @ Oct 29th 2008 12:55PM
Too little, too late IMO, I'm returning it and getting RB2 tomorrow. Also I'm a mac user too (at home and at work) so short of taking my drum set to a library, this ain't gonna happen.
T @ Oct 29th 2008 1:16PM
So wait if software can fix the issues, why does this it have to be a seperate Windows ap instead of an in-game feature?
If they can patch a friggin' STORE into the game, they can add this...
Mike T. @ Oct 29th 2008 1:59PM
Amen!
"Here, we sold you a shoddy product, now go fix it yourself, motherfucker. Or maybe you can pay to be without your drums while we troubleshoot yours, THEN send you a new one via RMA. You didn't want to play drums any time in the next month, right?"
Geez...It's almost like they WANT to alienate customers. After having been through EA's RMA process three times for RB1 (2 guitars, 1 drum set) and having it be painless and FREE each time, I just have to ask if Activision's process includes complimentary Vaseline.
Mike T. @ Oct 29th 2008 2:01PM
Oops, should have said, "now go use our unnecessarily cumbersome process to fix it yourself."
Blank-Mage @ Oct 29th 2008 1:22PM
That picture makes me think of armoring my mechwarrior. I'm not sure why.
Tez @ Oct 29th 2008 1:24PM
And what are they planning to do about their defective guitars?
Tez @ Oct 29th 2008 1:25PM
Nevermind, they want me to pay to send it to them. F you, Activision/RedOctane.
xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Resurrection Force) @ Oct 29th 2008 1:50PM
What part is defective on the guitars? Or is the whole thing defective? Mine hasn't had a problem yet...yet. :-\
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 29th 2008 2:55PM
@General Death
For me it was the touch strip. It would fire off randomly causing the game to think I was tap-strumming when I really wasn't, so getting any kind of streak going was nearly impossible. So I sent my guitar in yesterday. Now I have to wait to get my MIDI Cable from Activision so I can try and fix my drums.
Tez @ Oct 29th 2008 3:37PM
Strum bar for me. The downstroke stopped working.
xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Resurrection Force) @ Oct 30th 2008 11:14AM
That blows in a major way. So far mine is still working (rarety?)...I hope they fix these problems for you guys in a timely manner. P.s. I haven't even used the slide bar yet...still too much of a n00b to it.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 29th 2008 3:00PM
I think tuning the drums yourself via the kit (which is out now, btw) is the best way.. Cuz every problem is going to be different, seems you can get the best results by doing it yourself in real time. And once you have it you can change it up whenever you want. I prefer this over having to wait weeks and weeks to get a drum kit back after having to pay to ship it to them and all that hassle.
bobartig @ Oct 29th 2008 6:05PM
The best way is calibrating the drums properly during manufacturing, and having kits that won't drift out of alignment.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 29th 2008 6:38PM
@ bobartig
Well that goes without saying.
JoshEEE @ Oct 29th 2008 3:07PM
I didn't even know the Ion drums were going to work with this (Ion's website says they're "tuned" for Rock Band), so this is kinda cool.
I've still got a lot of Rock Band 2 to play before I need a new music game, but now that I know this supports the Ions, I'll get it for sure.
Rich @ Oct 29th 2008 3:36PM
Back in my day only PC games needed patches, dagummit!
THRILLHO @ Oct 29th 2008 3:50PM
the program is out now;
http://redoctane.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/redoctane.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=21748&p_created=1225236414&p_sid=7ABKZzhj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=21748&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD01MjAsNTIwJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1
Tank @ Oct 29th 2008 4:45PM
Awesome! Thanks a lot.
Now I just have to get Activision to send me one of those stupid cables.
Terrence Newton @ Oct 29th 2008 4:39PM
would someone who has the ion kit and gh:wt please let me know if the new patch allows you to use cymbals and play all five lanes instead of only four? if it does, then i will go and buy gh:wt right now (or maybe like tmw). thanks.
jarhead906 @ Oct 30th 2008 9:48AM
This is why you get Rock Band 2.
I have Guitar Hero III, and let me tell you, after finding out that after I was prompted to update the game the only thing that the update did was to place a nice, realistic photo of a pack of Stride gum in the top left-hand corner of my song selection screen. Wonderful.
If I wanted to receive advertisements by paying a premium fee I would have bought a 360 a long time ago. Guitar Hero is a fad IP anyway, and World Tour hardly matches what Rock Band achieved.
?........? @ Oct 31st 2008 5:17PM
So how are the graphics in this game? (for 360)
I saw a demo set up and it looked horrible....
Is this bs worth dealing with ?
Or should I get RB2?
Not that rock band doesn't have it's share of problems either.
In the end RB2 or GHWT ?
TheHeartless @ Oct 30th 2008 2:24AM
You're telling me they sold me 3 broken drum kits, and now that they have a proposed home fix, it's only for WINDOWS users!?
?........? @ Oct 31st 2008 9:41PM
OK I have now played both RB2 and GHWT both on a ps3 and HDTV
GH at sams club and it seems like theres a rb2 setup
in every walmarts mens clothing dept....
So
Rb2
MUCH Better graphics from what I saw
I like the rb2 guitar better than the gh one but thats just my taste.
The drums are really nice and sensitive but I haven't played the GH drums yet.
Better bigger set list with DLC and compatible with RB1 which ill be getting also hopefully.
The DLC songs are cheaper than guitar hero's.
Guitar hero did have the song creator but for me it's kind of a pain. There also seemed to be longer and more frequent loadings in GHWT.
So for me its RB2 all the way (this round anyway)