Play Station

Why the PS3 Version of GH III Needs an Additional Wireless Dongle

Well known website tries getting some answers from RedOctane, Harmonix and SCEA

By Filip Truta, Games Editor

11th of October 2007, 09:16 GMT

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The wireless dongle needed to support the guitar controller for Guitar Hero III, PS3

It has been confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will ship bundled with a wireless guitar. What everyone should also know, if they're going to get the game for their personal collection, is that gamers will need to insert a USB

wireless dongle in order to sync their Guitar controllers with the machine. Now why would the fancy PS3 version would need such a dongle, while the Wii and 360 versions of the game don't?

1up.com contacted Red Octane for clarification on this seemingly useless additional step in connecting the controller to the PS3. Red Octane VP of Hardware Lee Guinchard answered: "For the PS3 guitar, we're using our own 2.4ghz wireless solution. Our products require considerable time for certification and testing to perfect both our software & hardware, so this was the most effective way for us to bring a high quality wireless solution for PS3 this holiday. The guitar does have many features that you will see on the Sixaxis controller such as the Home button, D-pad for menu navigation, etc., and it follows official PS3 protocols and is an officially licensed product from Sony."

Another Red Octane spokesperson, this time Bryan Lam, told the website that adding the dongle was Sony's fault because the PS3 tools only work well with the SIXAXIS, and if Red Octane wanted the PS3 version of Guitar Hero 3 to hit at the same time with the Wii and Xbox 360 ones, they simply had to come up with their own wireless solution.

When Harmonix was asked if the same thing would translate to Rock Band, this is what 1UP managed to get: "Our first and ideal choice is to utilize Sony's tools for 3rd party use of their PS3's Bluetooth functionality," said a Harmonix spokesperson, "however our development schedule timing for Rock Band did not coincide for this to be an option for the first generation of Rock Band guitars. Although we have not made any final decision yet on this matter -- we are actively considering moving to the PS3's internal Bluetooth solution in the future when feasible."

SCEA Corporate Communications spokesperson Kimberly Otzman also failed in providing 1UP with a satisfying answer, but it's clear to everyone that developers always hit a wall when working with the PS3. Sony is either hiding something by not providing the necessary tools, or the machine itself is just too complex.

TAGS:

Guitar Hero III | Harmonix | RedOctane | wireless dongle | PS3

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