Guitar Hero drum issues "isolated"

By Tom Bramwell Published 29 October, 2008

Activision to release "drum tuning kit".

Activision has described sensitivity issues affecting Guitar Hero World Tour drum-sets in the US as "an isolated manufacturing issue" and said it would "immediately address any hardware issues" via its US support channels.

However, the publisher clearly believes it can solve at least some of the problems in software, having added that it will "soon be offering a drum tuning kit that will enable players to fully optimise their drums".

"We have learned that certain drum kit controllers manufactured for Guitar Hero World Tour have sensitivity issues. We believe that these controllers are limited to ones in the earlier manufacturing stages," the publisher said in a statement published on the support pages of peripheral manufacturer RedOctane (thanks Kotaku).

"While we believe that this was an isolated manufacturing issue, we are stepping our efforts to randomly test our drum kit controllers so customers can be assured they work properly.

"In the event any consumers do experience problems with their drum kit controllers associated with sensitivity issues, Activision will soon be offering a drum tuning kit that will enable players to fully optimise their drums."

Following the game's US release this week, forum-going fans complained that one or more drums on the five-pad set were only registering soft hits whenever they tried for hard ones, despite the kit's velocity-sensitive make-up.

Others reported that the drums were not working with Rock Band 2 on PS3, despite promises of cross-compatibility. We've contacted Sony, EA/Harmonix and Activision for comment on that one, but so far there has been no response.

We've not heard back from Activision about whether the drum problems will be a problem for European consumers when the game comes out in November, but then Activision hasn't officially confirmed specific release dates for the game in Europe either.

We have at least been able to get hold of review copies, as you may have noticed from our Guitar Hero World Tour review. With EA/Harmonix's Rock Band 2 still unavailable in Europe and no word yet on a launch date, GHWT remains the best option for prospective videogame bands.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Vordred #1 3 years ago

    this reminds me of the old Whammy Bar issue with the GH2 controlers, they did a software fix for that too which some say worked and so said it did not.

  • kangarootoo #2 3 years ago

    Anything that tries to rectify a lack of sensitivity in hardware with a software solution is on shaky ground. You can still get the same range of sensitivity, but not the same granularity. "Less divions of sensitivity" if you like.

    Optimisation is one of those words that we tend to deem as positive (just as we tend to deem critisise as negative), when it fact it really means "to make the best of". Its a good marketing word though.

  • Marshall2008 #3 3 years ago

    The UK Xbox 360 advert dated Rockband 2 as 21st November.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 3 years ago

    This is why I wait for the RB2 instruments. My GH2 guitar had the problem with the Whammy bar (which I could fix myself but I did have to open the guitar) and I also had to fix my GH3 guitar because otherwise I could not press more than 2 frets. It's a shame really.

  • Joco84 #5 3 years ago

    I'm really concerned whether I'm making the right choice. I've pre-ordered the full band kit (with extra quitar free) on PS3, but I'm worried this is gonna suck.
    Here's my options:

    1. Buy GHWT, which may or may not have an issue with the drums
    2. Import Rock Band 2, but won't be able to use the UK PSN store for DLC
    3. Wait for Rock Band 2 in UK, but not sure when this will be available
    4. Buy Rock Band 1, but hear the instruments are not as great as RB2 or GHWT

    All in all.... it sucks at the moment.

    I want a band game for this Xmas to play with family & friends. I might have to stick with my GH3 and GH: Aerosmith.... :(

  • siksik6 #6 3 years ago

    Yeah I wasn't sure about this, and after IGN gave it 7.9 I considered cancelling my pre-order and maybe going for RB2.

    But then I remembered IGN suck, the GH drums still look better, and I'll definitely buy RB2 anyway. So meh.

  • kangarootoo #7 3 years ago

    @Joco84

    I would expect that by the time your copt of GHWT turns up this issue will be all sorted.

    It sounds like a trivial issue to fix in production, and it also sounds like only a handful of early kits are affected. Velocity detection is a non-crucial function too, so eeeeeven if you were unlucky enough to be affected, 2 beers later at Xmas you probably won't even notice the difference once you get pounding.

    If the kit was missing hits then I might be more worried, but detecting the odd hard hit as a soft one won't stop you enjoying the game one iota. I play drums myself, and I always felt that velocity detection was much more of a PR weapon than a gameplay enhancing device (if you play heavy music, as I often do, every hit is a hard hit :) ).

    DO NOT go for option 4. The RB instruments blow in comparison to the new kit for either RB2 and GHWT. I think sticking with option 1 is your best bet and I'm sure everything will be cool.

  • dens0n #8 3 years ago

    Thats what I planned on doing, also.
    I wanted to get GH4 with all the instruments and then buy RB2.

    I got a question though:
    I saw videos of people using the RB-drums with GH4 and the game automatically reduces the fifth track because RB drums obviously only have 4 pads.

    Anyone tried it the other way round? Meaning RockBand1/2 with GH4 drums?
    Will there be a fifth track and how is it integrated? Does it feel "real" or is it kinda weird ? Especially with the cymbals and all.. I mean I dont wanna thrash the cymbals and have a snare/tom sound or something like that, that'd be a bummer.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/08 @ 11:16

  • kangarootoo #9 3 years ago

    @dens0n

    I'd be amazed in RockBand added an extra track to their note charts, just to support a competitor's peripheral.

    Given that the RB pads essentially represent 2 drums and 2 cymbals, and GHWT is 3 drums and two cymbals, I would expect one of the following when using GHWT in RB (assuming that is even supported, it may not be).

    1. One of the drum pad does nothing. Not ideal, but still quite playable.
    2. Two the drum pads have the same effect, so you can just take your pick.

    On the subject of "reducing the fifth track". Do you means events on that track were shifted into a still-active track, or that the events on the fifth track were simply removed from play?

  • dens0n #10 3 years ago

    The fifth track is being removed but the things you would play on the fifth track appear on the other 4 remaing tracks, so the support seems pretty damn good, that what makes me hope that they put the same effort into RockBand supporting the GH-drums.

    So yeah, thanks for the quick answer and excuse my bad Englisch, not my mother tongue ;)
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/08 @ 11:36

  • Joco84 #11 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Cheers for your thoughts, makes me feel a lot safer.

    Does anyone know where you stand in terms of returns though. I'm pre-ordering from Play, and if I get an issue with the instruments, who is to blame? Surely its not Plays fault if they don't work properly. I hear stories of people modifying their kit to make it work - doesn't really imply that people can return their faulty goods, more people having to make do with what they've got.

    £150 is quite an investment for a piece of kit, I want to be sure that if I get a problem, I'm gonna be able to return it.

  • kangarootoo #12 3 years ago

    @Joco84

    I'm guessing you are in the UK. If you are, trade law says the point of sale is responsible for returns. So if you find your controller is dodgy, Play have to deal with that. Any company that tries to send you back to the manufacturer for warranty claims is breaking the law.

    In fact, under UK law you don't even need to show a receipt to have faulty good replaced, but you do need a receipt if you a chasing a refund (many companies aren't aware of that, but a letter from the Citizens Advice Bureau will normally sort that).

    I should add that Play are a pretty solid company with a decent returns system and I would be amazed if they tried a brush off such as I describe with any customer.

  • kangarootoo #13 3 years ago

    P.s. regards modding, it depends on the mod. Slipping a penny behind a pad or taping a sock to a cymbal pad is not going to affect your right to return (so long as you remove the penny/sock before returning the controller).

    Screwing on a foot-pedal strengthening plate certainly will have an effect (though some vendors may let that slide if the foot pedal itself was not the faulty item).

  • metalnut #14 3 years ago

    "GHWT remains the best option for prospective videogame bands."

    Given that every review I've read states that Rock Band is still the stronger game in full band mode, I wonder why Eurogamer prefers GHWT. Maybe they're just billy-no-mates....