Guitar Hero Mania: EURO Version Available, New Controller & Bags, GH II preorder

June 26th, 2006, 06:12 Posted By: wraggster

News from Lik Sang:

One of the hot games on the rise right now is certainly Guitar Hero. It all started last November, when RedOctane took the gaming microcosm by surprise by delivering the US version of the game. A great slowburner of a hit, the Guitar Hero + Gibson Guitar Controller bundle has been selling steadily since then. We now also have the PAL version of the game in stock over at Lik Sang Europe, and we got word on additional accessories coming our way soon too. There is a third-party Shredder Guitar Controller from TAC, compatible with RedOctane's hit, that is getting delivered to our warehouse in the next couple of weeks. The official Guitar Controllers from RedOctane will also come out this June for separate sales (2-Players mode!). Also from RedOctane, we are collecting preorders on the Guitar Hero Gig Bag that will allow you to carry your controller around like a Mariachi. Coming this summer!

Guitar Hero has been developed by Harmonix, who already committed all the Karaoke Revolution for Konami, as well as other music games for Sony Computer Entertainment of America (including Frequency and Amplitude). They also coded a non-music Eye Toy game called Antigrav. At first glance, the game might seem close from Konami's Guitar Freaks to Bemani fans. Except it greatly improved on the original concept and it's now much more of a tribute to rock'n'roll than a simple rhythm game. With two more fret buttons, it gets you to actually move your left hand much more. With more realistic gameplay sequences, it brings the experience to a whole new level, not to mention the confidence boost you can get from shaking the whammy bar. The selection of songs and the attention to detail that the baby has received make it one of the greatest games released recently. Guitar Hero has been acclaimed by critique all around the world, be it in the U.S. of A. (dithyrambic press over there!), from the greatest UK gaming journos, from French online gaming references JeuxVideo.com and GameKult, in Siberia, or from anywhere else you can think of. Awarded "Best of E3" by IGN in 2005, the game has also reached the hearts of true music fans everywhere. Whether you are an experienced musician or a newbie wannabe doesn't matter much to your fun level (it will influence your scores in Expert Mode though).

Here at Lik Sang, we tried on the game only a couple of months after its release. For our defense, it was Christmas Rush Wartime mode before that. One cold morning of February (well, maybe not so cold here in HK) I casually brought up a sample unit from the warehouse to our Lik Sang Gaming room. Curious gamer by nature, I wanted to find out what was all the fuss about this growing phenomenon. I am afraid I disrupted our business from the inside by doing this. All my colleagues are playing it during their [suddenly extended] lunch time and after hours. I personally bring it at home to play it with my buddies, when the customer support manager is not quicker than I am to steal the equipment. Even those who don't play it [because too shy to demonstrate their clumsiness in public] can't keep looking away. Five of us here have in the meantime entered in a ferocious competition, trying to beat each other's high scores song by song, day by day! It is a damn great game. The most refreshing thing in a long time for old industry veterans like we all are at Lik Sang. Might keep us waiting until the Ninty Revo... *cough*... Wii. So long J-Pop, American Rock here I come!

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