Guitar Hero III Shipping Issues

Guitar Hero III is finally out and already a couple of issues surfaced and they're ready to ruin the day for the average rocker. In case you're planning a Wal-Mart shopping spree, think again, especially if you're going to buy the latest Guitar Hero title. As you might probably know, the new game comes with a Les Paul controller in the case of the Xbox 360 version and a Kramer controller bundled with the PS2 version.

However, Wal-Mart offers you Guitar Hero III, but only bundled with an X-plorer or an SG, the older versions of the controller. The problem is that once you find this out, it's already too late, since the store doesn't refund or replace items, if you're already opened the game's case. At least the price of this "dumbed-down controller" version is lower and you'll pay $10 less for a guitar that you already own. This may not seem like a major issue to many, but the new guitar is half of the experience we're going to take part in, specially because of its customizable options.

If I were stuck with the same SG, I would probably master all the songs immediately and quit playing GH III, because it would resemble the previous titles too much. In the meantime we're wondering if this is Activion's or Wal-Mart's fault, while waiting for an official statement from one of the two. Is the producer trying to get rid of old controllers? Is there some sort of misunderstanding or conflict between Activision and Wal-Mart?

We're guessing it's only a common mistake, which usually makes its appearance in the case of a major buzz surrounding a certain product. Everything gets overhyped, people get nervous and they become the authors of such mistakes... Any plans for a way to fix it?