Testing your tolerance for big plastic controllers.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is nearly upon us, coming with either just the game or bundled with yet another guitar, though it’s only a superficial reskinning of GH3’s all mighty axe.  So if you never got the GH3 bundle, or wrecked the guitar imitating the Who, then you can pick up this replacement, though I honestly think the game is overpriced with the skimpy amount of tunes it includes.  Worse, the guitar is going to be a relic come this fall.

That’s not the big problem though, looming ominously on the horizon like a Transformer fan’s plastic robot army.   The problem is one of space.  This autumn is going to see the release of Guitar Hero: On Tour and Konami’s Rock Revolution, with Rock Band 2 likely close on their heels.  Look, I’ve got a good sized condo.  I’ve even got a garage, and no way do I have room for three full sets of plastic instruments, which of course aren’t going to be compatible with their competing titles.  My Rock Band drum set sits in the corner collecting dust, occasionally dragged out for a drunken fumbling session.  The drum kit with GH:WT looks much nicer, but where am I going to put it?  Not to mention the new guitar it also comes with, whose special features make previous models obsolete.  I’ve got three plastic guitars already.  I didn’t buy these fake music games to be forced to go into a real instrument store to pick up a guitar rack.

Oh, Konami?  Too little, too late.  For years, you had the music genre pretty much to yourself, and plenty of time to bring over Guitar Freaks, but someone beat you to the punch.  Now you’re offering another set of instruments and no master recordings?  Are you out of your mind?

On the other hand, there’s Ultimate Band, which is exclusive to the Wii.  I have no idea how it’ll turn out, videos make it seem a little on the simple side, but it has the great advantage of not forcing you to buy more plastic than what already came with the system.  Sure, I’d have to actually buy a Wii, but when it’s smaller than a Rock Band guitar, I think I could find the space for it.

Geeks and otaku and nunchucks… oh my.

It’s been quite an eventful week for Nintendo. First on the docket is an exciting piece of litigation: Nintendo of America Inc. v. Nyko Technologies Inc. Apparently, Nintendo is none too happy with Nyko’s release of their wireless nunchuck apparatus. They are so displeased, in fact, that they are asking a judge to order that the device stop being sold immediately. Oh, and they also want any profits generated from its sale.

But why? After all, third parties have been making controller knock-offs forever. So what makes this different? Perhaps they have their own wireless nunchuck in the works. Perhaps this is meant to be a warning shot for Sony and Microsoft, both of whom have been rumored to have input devices similar to the Wiimote in development. Or perhaps it’s none of the above. Either way, it will be most interesting to see how this pans out.

Now let’s move to some lighter fare.

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Now you can shake, rattle and roll. 

With so many triple A titles like Gran Turismo 5 and MGS4 slated for release this quarter, Sony has decided to spice things up for players by releasing a new version of the PS3 SIXAXIS wireless controller by incorporating rumble feature. Oh and it's got a new label too: the Dualshock 3. When this controller hit my doorstep earlier this morning, I initially thought someone made a shipping error by sending me an extra controller. Of course, it all made sense after I took time to actually read the enclosed press release statement that was included in the box.

For those of you who've come to cherish the rumble feature which to date has been in every PlayStation console release should feel right at home with the DualShock 3. Upcoming games like the aforementioned titles above will be among the first new batch to make use of the new gameplay enhancement.

Existing title may require a software update and users will be prompted to download any updates upon playing specific games like PAIN, Burnout Paradise, Uncharte, MLB 08: The Show and several others. A complete list will be made available at the PlayStation website.

360 limitations necessitate external solution.

Thanks to Microsoft charging peripheral makers a fee to use their proprietary wireless technology, the 360 version of Rock Band will be bundled with a wired guitar instead of a wireless axe like the PS3 edition. As disappointing as this is, it presented another issue: four wired peripherals is one more than the three USB ports on the 360 can handle.

To remedy this problem, EA will be including a USB hub with the bundle. Great news, particularly if you have a wireless network adapter (or perhaps an HD-DVD drive) already occupying the rear USB port.

Now the big question is, do you buy the bundle and get stuck with a wired guitar or do you buy everything piecemeal and pay a premium? I had planned on using my GHII X-plorer as the bass for my Rock Band and save the $70-$80 on a second Strat, so I'd kind of like my main guitar to be wireless. Decisions, decisions…

[via Kotaku] 

Dead or Alive sticks everywhere rejoice, you're still the only option for Xbox 360 owners.

It looks like those wishing to profit from their Dead or Alive sticks will have another month until any competition arrives. The Hori-produced limited edition Virtua Fighter 5 stick has been delayed until early September. The stick cannot be pre-ordered from EB/Gamestop stores (according to 2 stores that I called), so you have to order it online.

With the Capcom remakes, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, as well as Virtua Fighter 5 and LIVE games such as Streets of Rage 2 (Yay!) on the way, let's hope the date won't slip any further. A lot of us prefer to use arcade sticks for much more than just fighting games, especially considering how horrible the 360 d-pad is.