Oh hey, speaking of mixing booze and silly rhythm games! Last Saturday, Reggie and I were invited to a gamer party hosted by Maxim-now-turned-Microsoft employee, Nikhill Koshi, along with the usual suspects such as fellow employee/friend Sanjoy John and the girls from Genesis (the PR group, not the 16-bit console that had that one kick-ass Aladdin game). Sorry Mohit Anand fans, no loving here for you. Besides that, I suppose there were other people present. I wouldn’t know if mentioning any names would spark your general interest meter, since the games they mostly played were borderline “eh” at most. First you got the men fondling with their balls in FIFA and NBA 2K-whatever for what seemed like forever. Then you got the women laughing it up in Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 4, since they were the easiest games to get into (somebody should introduce these ladies to the Wii!).

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Now that I have your attention…

I’d like to make it absolutely clear that I do not hate Guitar Hero 3. Nor GH1 or GH2. In fact, Guitar Hero is probably one of the best games out there that money can buy. Enjoy the game alone or get together with a bunch of friends. Drunk ones are better. But the game is quite literally for everyone - at any time, at any age.

But what’s got me pissed off, is that while Guitar Hero 3 for the PC is a good game you can invest your hard earned cash into, it’s also something that pretty much asks you to reinvent the wheel and buy a new guitar controller! Now while this may sound retarded (how are you supposed to play the game without a guitar!!? I hear ya), it’s just a tad insensitive towards the good folks who have Guitar Hero 1/2 and their controllers. Why on earth would I want to buy 2 guitar controllers for 2 different systems!? Sure, the 360 is a different story, but for the poor saps who want to enjoy the game on the PC - there is no hope. You MUST buy the controller.

Now here’s my problem - I’m not a cheap bastard. Well, OK, so I am. But the game ought to respect the fact that if I’m plugging in my PS2 GH controller via a USB connector, it better recognize it! But no! So if you can’t afford a second controller, you play with the effin’ keyboard!

The question really is - why couldn’t Neversoft or Aspyr build in support for a GH PS2 controller via USB? It’s no big deal - I mean Frets on Fire can do it, right? So the only other way you can get around this is by installing a program such as Pinnacle Game Profiler or something similar. Go through the pain of mapping each key to the buttons. Get humiliated because of the obvious lag for the game to pick up the controls and the ultimate realization that there is no whammy bar support! It sucks.

I wish game companies learnt a lesson or two from the Indie scene. Low budgets give us great games or at least a flawless gameplay experience. Sadly, with all it’s good looks, (crap songs), mega endorsements and hi-res models, Guitar Hero 3 for the PC has left me with a bitter aftertaste. I don’t want to buy it for a console because I have GH1 & GH2. I don’t want to buy a new controller because I have one. One that can work, if supported.

I want to uninstall the game and ask for a refund. Goddamn. Frets on Fire is better.

Looks like the Scots are putting their own unique spin on the gaming world. After awarding the first Unreal Tournament III world record, the folks over at the Guinness World Records are now coming out with the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2008 on February 8th, 2008. Meant to be a collection of astounding videogame-related records, the book will carry detailed profiles on the best videogames ever made, interviews with record holders and a ton of awesome trivia that should prove to other people how big a videogame nerd you are - like knowing, for example, that Faiz Chopdat has served the “Longest Prison Sentence For Playing A Computer Game” after refusing to turn off his Tetris game while on board an airplane and instantly becoming my lord and master.

But wait, that’s not all, if you’ve been boasting all your life about kicking ass in Guitar Hero, here’s your chance to put your money where your mouth is by taking part in the very first Highest Scorer on Guitar Hero World Record attempt. All you gotta do is cosplay like your favorite guitar hero and end up on February 6th, 2008 at Paris, London, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles or Australia and prove you’ve got what it takes to to be the best damned GH player in the world. According to the official rules:

Players will rock in pairs to one song before passing on to the next Guitar Hero, with just 15 seconds changeover between jams! Paris will kick off proceedings followed by the London, New York, Toronto, LA and Sydney. Players will also be given the chance to form a group and compete for the highest score set by a 6 people playing one guitar, with each person allocated a key and the strum bar to play!

I suppose if you suck at that, you could try showing the world how you’re the best when it comes to 100%-ing every song on Expert with the standard Xbox 360 controller… and then get fed through a straw for the rest of your life…

Let’s face it, the Guitar Hero games may be the best, but you look absolutely retarded while playing them with a tiny, plastic controller. Well, that’s a thing of the past. ArtGuitar, a leading designer of custom graphics for guitars, working with Peavey are bringing out the limited edition AG RiffMaster Guitar Controller for the PS2. (Where’s my Xbox 360 version!?)

That’s right, you guessed it right. This is an actual Peavey guitar modded with the PS2 guitar controller, so you actually look pretty darn badass while you nail that cruel solo from Hanger 18 in Expert mode! And the best part, all 17 of these are collectible masterpieces, with some fantastic artwork on them showcasing KISS, Megadeth, Ozzy Ozbourne, Pantera and Lynyrd Skynyrd - all yours for a low, low price of $399. Hey, if it looks this good when I’m playing one of the greatest games ever made, I’d pay $500!

Created from a real Peavey guitar, ArtGuitar has preserved the qualities found in the original makeup of the instrument. The guitar strings have been removed, but the headstock of the AG RiffMaster Guitar Controller, still sports real tuning pegs for an added visual appeal. Crafted from natural basswood, the body displays custom artwork showcasing 17 unique designs featuring five legendary rock bands. The neck created from hard rock maple, features five colored fret buttons located amongst true frets and position markers on a genuine fingerboard while the pickup consists of one humbucking and a scale length of 25.5″. The guitar controller also features premium 2.4GHz wireless technology for high-performance precision gaming.

There you go, off to max out your credit card yet again. Don’t worry, you’ll have even more great ways to spend your money, including official hard shell cases for your precious controller, Peavey logo barstool, guitar polish care kit, guitar stands and much, much more. Gotta love capitalism. And Guitar Hero, that’s a must!

I’ve heard a handful of Wii users gripe about how Harmonix’s next musical opus Rock Band won’t be featured on their platform (so far, it’s just coming to PS2, PS3 and X360), especially when Neversoft’s newly-released Guitar Hero III says otherwise. Although at this point, it’s still a debate whether a game of Rock Band’s promise can have so many supported peripherals and still prove to be a commercial hit. Then I saw this video of Nintendo’s upcoming Wii Music posted by 4cr. Wii Music tries to achieve a somewhat similar goal in mind, but with having the standard WiiMote as your multipurpose instrument of choice, making it accessible to those who don’t even own the game yet. Now, you might not be able to strum to popular hits like Foo Fighters’ Learn to Fly, but Carmen’s The Overture doesn’t sound too shabby either.

Of course, if only the Wii would be made readily available in India. Which reminds me, if you’re living in China and happen to be reading this, kindly note how my fists are burning red. And that they’re telling me to defeat you!

So you think you’re great with that Guitar Hero controller, huh? Be prepared to take your skills to a whole new level with the upcoming Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, available for the PS2, the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the Wii sometime later this year, we hope.

In a recent press release announcing their E3 lineup, Activision has confirmed that GH3 will feature legendary guitar hero Slash, from the erstwhile Guns N’ Roses, will be providing an original track for the game will appear as a boss battle character, allowing self-made GH freaks to shred against the master shredder. Also announced was the news that the GNR anthem “Welcome to the jungle” will be included for the game’s awesome soundtrack, which already boasts of an impressive collection by legends such as The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Kiss, Alice Cooper and Heart. So what are you waiting for, get cracking already and start practicing your skills on GH1 and GH2. That is, at least until Rock Band steals you away.