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OK so I’m sitting here thinking what can I write about and then Rich gave me some inspiration, OLD GAMES… so I got to thinking about all the games I have played over the years on my Atari and Amiga 1200 and tried to think of my favourite game. Then I remembered last Christmas at the family bash my Nephew brought along his play station and his stack of games, sifting through them trying to find the shootem ups and racing games I came across GUITAR HERO’s… now I can air guitar with the best of them so this one caught my eye.

“Hey Tom, where’s the controller for this guitar hero game? Is it any good??” . In walked my nephew with a big box “here you go, its way cool, ill show you how you play it!” and out he pulls a plastic guitar… no way, that’s not the controller I thought, I was already hooked.

Obviously I didn’t need him to show me anything so I nicked the guitar and assumed the ROCK stance of my youth and prepared for SMOKE ON THE WATER [da da dah, da da da dahhh], how hard could it be… VERY it appears, I was pants. So falling back to ‘plan B’ I asked Tom to show me how to play it, he decided that Smoke on the Water was probably a bit too beginner for him so switched to Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’, flash little git!

WOW, it was mental I hadn’t laughed so much in ages, there he was ripping into the song, using the tremlo arm thinigie to give effects and building up rock points, the crowd where going mad. By this time the entire family was looking on as I once again took up my trusty Gibson SG preparing for Smoke on the Water. Well it was a nervy start and the crowd both real and machine driven didn’t seem that impressed but I was starting to get the hang of it and soon everyone was cheering and I was rocking, then one bad note, a laps in concentration whilst trying to play the guitar behind my head and it all went pair shaped, I completely lost it and was booed of the stage…

Well anyway by 2.40am my brothers and I had all mastered it; well I could now play Boston’s “More than Feeling” without getting binned by the crowd!

The next day talking to my niece she informed me that she can play all the tracks and even has her own band set up in game. She then proceeded to thrash out Motorheads “Ace of Spades” and “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult… which of course meant that we had to start practicing again, it was then that the wife threatened divorce and I sheepishly walked away from the console!!

So I’m really looking forward to this Christmas as I’m thinking of going for “Killer Queen”, I know if I put in the time ill be able to suss it by Boxing day… I have already bought Tom’s Christmas pressie, yep you guessed it’s Guitar Hero’s II – Encore Rock the 80’s. Apparently you can link this one up to two controllers with one person playing bass and one playing lead… there should also be now surprise to hear that my younger brother is currently trying to buy a second controller; I just hope Tom still likes this game!

So if your Christmas is usually just Turkey and “The Great Escape” think again, this year get GUITAR HERO, some mates and obviously lots of beer and get rocking…

While writing this I have also noticed that Guitar Hero’s III is out later this year with new songs and game play.

Its available for lots of different platforms; Guitar Hero is available for the PlayStation 2, Guitar Hero’s II [Encore Rock the 80’s] is available on both PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 and the new title coming out soon, Guitar Hero’s III – Legends of Rock is available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the Wii.

For more info visit REDOCTANE

posted by Truegrit

Command & Conquer 3 isn't exactly what most people would call great literature. Nevertheless, as one of Electronic Arts's more narrative-driven franchises, the story is something fans take note of. 1UP knows as well as anyone fans can get a bit hardcore with their nitpicking -- so can we.

Over on the official C&C3 forums, folks have been critical over various plot inconsistencies in the series. Command & Conquer 3 executive producer Mike Verdu took a timeout to address the concerns:

Interestingly, Verdu admits that creating and maintaining the game's fiction is similar to how they handle gameplay and features -- forum complaints raise a flag that causes them to go back and consider certain areas that may need changes or tweaking in the future. That seems to be a fairly unique way of creating a story, although it might compare well to the world of comic books, where fan complaints run rampant on internet forums, often answered by writers, artists, or editors.

C&C3 community manager APOC also provides an example of the types of inconsistencies they're receiving complaints about in that same thread. One popular problematic point is the discovery of the Tacitus, a powerful object of Command & Conquer lore. According to a briefing in C&C3 it was found in 2028, but the time stamp of the game in which it was found (the Tiberian Sun expansion pack, Firestorm) sets it at 2030.

posted by Gunny