Rockers report Guitar Hero III Dolby Pro Logic II is missing

by David Hinkle { Oct 30th 2007 at 3:00PM }

Wii owners likely heralded the coming of Guitar Hero III as a momentous event that demanded calendars be marked off and days away from work be cleared with bosses, where spiked leather bracelets were removed from hidden drawers and proudly displayed on wrists. It is likely a time when turning the volume up to 10 isn't enough. But, many might have found that the experience has been tainted by the lack of Dolby Pro Logic II.

News first burst on the scene thanks to users over at the official forums for Guitar Hero, where the title's lack of compatibility with Dolby Pro Logic II was reported by several Wii owners. The official response from tech support has been "We are looking in to right now. The time frame is still unknown at the moment we are still looking in to the problem."

Any of you out there experiencing the same issues? Care to chime in on any other issues with the game?

[Thanks, Langst!]

Tags: activision, dolby, gh3, guitarhero3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris @ Oct 30th 2007 3:19PM

I haven't noticed it, but then again I have the sound coming straight out of the TV... =]

Question for the crowd... what is the current status of getting custom tracks into GHIII for the Wii? Any groups or people working on it?

Christopher Jones @ Oct 30th 2007 3:36PM

I haven't noticed that, or really cared but I do care that my game freezes a lot. Has anyone else experienced freezing? My roommate said this afternoon it froze over and over again to the point it won't even load now...

integr8shun @ Jan 18th 2008 7:18PM

Mine has frozen twice now and I had to do restart the system to get it going again. This only happens on GH3. Hope this is not going to be a problem....

Flaken2000 @ Oct 30th 2007 3:43PM

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully it will bring more attention to the problem.

The problem is more than just the Pro Logic II not working. It seems the game outputs mono sound. When your Wii is set to Stereo, the same sound comes from the left and right speakers. When set to Surround, only the center channel is active.

Also, the GHIII game manual states that we can change from mono to stereo sound in the in-game sound options. A lot of owners, including myself, have reported that this option is missing from the menu altogheter.

Btw, the official response posted is the response i got from Activision :)

esp2000 @ Oct 30th 2007 3:56PM

I will have to pay more attention tonight when I get home. I did notice the the in game sound was not quite as loud as I was getting when I was launching the game from the Wii Menu. That was kind of bugging me but I just blew it off.

If I notice it only coming from my center speaker, I will contact Activision as well.

TooManyGames @ Oct 30th 2007 4:01PM

I haven't check it yet, guess I'll have to when I go home tonight.

Any of you lefty-flip players noticing that the game will randomly switch to righty mode during menus then back to lefty-flip in songs, then back to righty in menus again? I sent Activision a bug report, they said I was the first one to send in that problem. If anyone else is having this issue please send them a bug report and let them know so they can send out a patch!

TooManyGames @ Oct 30th 2007 4:04PM

I haven't check it yet, guess I'll have to when I go home tonight.

Any of you lefty-flip players noticing that the game will randomly switch to righty mode during menus then back to lefty-flip in songs, then back to righty in menus again?

I sent Activision a bug report, they said I was the first one to send in that problem. If anyone else is having this issue please send them a bug report and let them know so they can send out a patch!

Bumbolio @ Oct 30th 2007 4:36PM

Like Flaken2000 mentioned, it is not just ProLogic II users that suffer, there is no stereo sound at all coming out of GHIII for the Wii. You only get the same mono signal coming out of the left and right channels. I don't know if they will be able to issue an update through the Wii's firmware, but I hope that at the very least they will allow us to send in our discs for a revised copy.

steve @ Oct 30th 2007 4:53PM

well....i'm glad i made the last minute decision to get the 360 version. damn. i was hoping that the wii version would do well though.

Mr Khan @ Oct 30th 2007 5:38PM

Well, i guess their team figured we were Wii owners, we obviously don't care about technology, so we won't know Dolby from a hole in the ground

duh

AzaMcWazza @ Oct 30th 2007 6:32PM

I'm pretty sure (I hope I'm wrong) that there is no patching system in the immediate future or ever for the Wii. This could be a real downer for the system, because devs these days not only like to add additional content, they want to fix bugs, or play imbalances that arise once the game's in the field.

I'm tending to think this is why Rock Band for Wii hasn't been announced - they're waiting for DLC and Patch support.

Activision would be miffed if they had to master another disc and offer replacements for people.

Brandon @ Oct 30th 2007 6:38PM

Yeah, well I'm going to be miffed if they don't. And while I'm sure it will be costly and annoying for them to issue replacements, I have a hard time mustering any sympathy for them. How hard would it have been to test the sound configuration before sending the gold master to the dupe plant?

Jughead789 @ Oct 30th 2007 6:43PM

Anyone else unable to get GH3 online? my conection tests come back fine the internet, forecast, news, and shopping channel all work fine but i can't get the game to connect online....

alienbob113 @ Oct 30th 2007 7:25PM

i too noticed the lack of stereo sound, because started off playing on a mono tv. When i switched to a stereo tv, no change in sound; however if you play online (and id assume multiplayer also) the sound appears to be stereo, as the notes are played on the speakers that correspond with the side each player is on. You hear your notes on the left, and the opponents on the right.

Tamakun @ Oct 30th 2007 7:55PM

Well, the problem I have isn't with the audio (I only have Stereo Speakers) but I can't change Metalhead's Styles. I've posted on their official forum but haven't seen a response yet, and the method they suggested (re-select Metalhead and his styles appears there instead) doesn't work with mine.

It took me forever to get it online - basically I think it's just due to the number of people attempting to connect. Their official website is seriously slow, too.

lars @ Oct 30th 2007 10:12PM

has anyone else tried to copy their saved game files onto an SD card? I keep trying it but getting a. "unable to copy" message.

Chris @ Oct 30th 2007 11:54PM

I've noticed that all the audio in the game aside from the songs themselves seem very muffled. Is that related to this problem at hand or is it something different entirely.

And I think Activision skimped the graphics on the Wii. We all know the Wii is capable of much better than what is in GH3 now. It looks like they took the PS2 version and adjusted it for the Wii without touching on the graphics.

Darth Vargi @ Oct 31st 2007 7:43AM

This is the official reply I had received...

Response (Thien Nguyen) 10/31/2007 12:56 AM
Hello and thank you for contacting Activision Customer Support,

Yes we are working on this issue and ask for your patience at this time. It does in fact seem to be a Wii only issue. Information regarding patches for the Wii will be posted on the Guitar Hero III website when the appropriate time comes. Please try setting your console to use stereo sound in the meantime.

Thank you for contacting Activision Customer Support, if you have any other questions, we will be happy to address them.

nat @ Oct 31st 2007 8:14PM

I just picked mine up today during lunch.. Then saw this post when I got back to work. Got home and I'm having the same problem, using any Dolby mode on the receiver plays audio out of the center channel only. I can force it to play out of all speakers with an "all channels stereo" mode or whatever, but this is pretty lame.

NewJohnny @ Nov 1st 2007 10:48PM

I also have center channel only. How could they release a music game and not get the audio right? Unbelievable.

NewJohnny @ Nov 1st 2007 10:51PM

Thinking further on this, it occured to me the sound may be fine, but it's defaulting to mono, and they simply forgot to enable the audio selection in the Options menu.

MooTaters @ Nov 6th 2007 12:29AM

yeah I seem to get the mono problem too. I also thought they skimped on the graphics which look like they are from the gamecube and thought to my self nintendo didnt go off and sell another skinnier gamecube to us. Anyone notice that we get different extra characters elroy buvis and metalhead compaired to rock god and grim ripper. I also see no option do buy/download new songs. I hope if they ever make a patch they make sure they have gotten all the problems...I think there is also a problem with the missing a note where it sometimes does it once or twice more with the sound than it should.

NBFman @ Nov 6th 2007 1:30PM

I noticed one other person say that they cannot connect to the wi-fi in the game. It is'nt working for me either, (and I've checked the connection settings in the Wii menu, and they are fine. I can go on the internet channel, weather, etc.). Does anyone else have this problem, and does anyone know how to fix it?

j scott @ Nov 9th 2007 5:57PM

I have found a different problem. After 2 days of play, the whammy bar became loose, and then stopped working all together. I was by the store I purchased GH3 that 1 cashier was having the same problem, and that I had to get a new guitar. Has anyone else had this problem?

danny @ Nov 9th 2007 8:16PM

I am having an issue with the game skipping. Anyone else? I will be in the middle of a song, the song starts to repeat the same note, but the screen continues to move as if nothing is wrong. I restart the Wii game goes black but the skipping sound is still present. I have to unplug and plug back in the game. So far I have only noticed this with Guitar Hero III

Nicole @ Dec 16th 2007 4:02PM

I just purchased the game today and am also having a problem with the music skipping; did you ever find any solution?

RotBot @ Nov 9th 2007 11:48PM

Here's some concrete proof that the game is dual mono. Someone recorded the output of the game and laid the waveforms for the left and right channels over each other. Both are identical.

http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/290985/?s=30e1fdf6e3efdc6#post4593701

MousePotato @ Nov 11th 2007 3:52AM

Stereo suddenly kicks in when you activate Star Power, unfortunately it only last until your Star Power runs out :(

Tanya @ Nov 19th 2007 10:10PM

OK we may be stupid, but we can't seem to get this in to two player mode like it says you should be able to with the second remote. Any ideas?

rugedwarrior @ Jan 27th 2008 1:44AM

I figured that one out.... hit the home button on the wii remote... when that screen comes up go all the way to the bottom and click on the wii remote config and that where you will be able to reconnect both wiimotes...

?? @ Nov 20th 2007 4:53PM

is there any way to play downloaded songs on the guitar hero 3 wii or will there ever be

Mister Lee @ Nov 23rd 2007 11:57PM

Bought GHIII yesterday and am pretty miffed about the sound issue. Seems fine for the developers' bits when the game is first loaded - surprise surprise - but then it all goes a bit quiet and yes - is mono, even with the Wii set to stereo. I also don't have the option to change it in the game menu. Was a bit of a shock when I put in Resident Evil 4 after playing Guitar Hero! That said, I think the game is great fun having never played any of the GH franchise before. Mind you, this is the first console I've owned since the N64!!!
Activision need to get their act together but as this game is in such great demand at the moment (I trawled 20+ stores in central Ontario trying to find one before eventually getting it) and they're obviously making $$$ from it, I'm guessing they're not too bothered.

gamer man @ Nov 25th 2007 7:54PM

i also had problems with the whammy bar(it obviously had to quit working in battle mode)but i stopped playing and it later began to work and if there is a way to download songs to gh3 pppppplllleeeaaassse post it please. (:

dudette @ Nov 28th 2007 5:14PM

ugh so i was playing gh3 for, i jsut got it 4 days ago for my b-day and i was playing slash in battle, and my stupid whammy wasnt working!
i was fiddleing around with the options and such, but i tried everything i could, anyone know why it wont work?

someone @ Nov 28th 2007 5:53PM

the whammy bar wont work if it is pressed in when you turn the game on. at least i think this is the problem. so dont fiddle around with the whammy bar while it is loading the game up. if it does happen again, just reset your wii and you'll be good to go.

Surreal @ Dec 2nd 2007 10:34AM

I too had the problem with the whammy bar not working. Stopped working during a battle online.

What I did was this to fix it:

Start up Guitar Hero 3, go to options and there you can calibrate the whammybar.
In the calibration-screen, you can use your whammy to change the appearance of a cartoon-guy. (He becomes a skeleton).

Well, my whammy didn't change him at all, so I disconnected the Wii-remote from the guitar and swung the wiimote (if you don't have a guitar, swinging the wiimote is the same as using the whammy). This worked.
So I put the wiimote back into the guitar and again entered the calibration-screen. (You can only enter calibration when you have connected the guitar).
And now I was able to calibrate the guitar and get my whammy working again :D

Hope this helped some of you guys having trouble with the whammy. Altough I truly suck at explaining stuff =)

malissa @ Dec 2nd 2007 4:48PM

can I download new songs to guitar hero 3 for the wii? If so how? I have no option in my game to do this.

Brio @ Dec 31st 2007 11:02AM

I just got GHIII this past Friday (don't ask me how) and thought my whammy bar wasn't working but figured out that when i started up GHIII then put the wiimote into the guitar, the whammy and sometimes sounds from the wiimote were not working.

What I do now is turn on the system and load GHIII using my second wiimote. Once GHIII is started, I turn on the other wiimote while it's in the guitar and everything works fine.

hope that helps someone

p.s. can someone please post if we can download new song packs for the wii?????

Lee @ Jan 8th 2008 6:40AM

Just repeating the question... how do we download extra songs to Wii?
All the other consoles do it, why not the Wii?
I did see something on google about it being available in march 08......?
This is very annoying. The GHIII and contoller costs more for the Wii than any other console, yet it is falling short on so many issues!... sound, graphics, downloads etc.!