Some players of Guitar Hero III, the video game where you strum on a toy guitar to tunes played on the TV, have been emitting a different kind of squealing feedback.

It seems that for those who own a Wii gaming console, Guitar Hero III is playing music in mono, not stereo or surround sound. This despite the fact that the software package says explicitly that the game features Dolby Pro Logic sound. (The problem is not affecting the PlayStation or Xbox consoles.)

Wii players by the hundreds have spoken up about the subject, some complaining, others defending the Wii — but not so much the game’s publisher, Activision. The complaints — posted on sites like the Guitar Hero forum and Consumerist.com — go something like this:

This is a really discouraging problem for a game centered around music to have.

And

I really hope they really are looking up the problem and offer us a solution. They only have themselves to blame for the screw up.

As in any debate over a piece of technology people hold dear, the issue is bringing out Wii defenders. And there are those who argue that people complaining about sound quality while playing a toy guitar in a living room concert ought to, like, chill out, dude. Those posts go like this:

Last time I checked if you went to a concert the speakers would be mono. So it being in mono makes it realistic.

And

Quit knocking the greatest guitar game ever. Worry about hitting the right notes. If Slash promotes and plays it, it’s perfect.

For you older Wii players (the market, they say, is expanding), Slash is like Keith Richards, but the black lung probably isn’t as far along. We digress. In response to a query about the problem, Activision sent this statement:

We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. We are currently working with Nintendo and are planning to issue an improved audio experience in future versions of the game. We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available. We thank all of our customers for their support and patience.

Guitar Hero III, which sold 1.3 million copies within seven days of its release, has made Activision a darling in the industry. The glitch hardly undermines its larger success. But with Rock Band, a competing product, on the market, and with the Wii becoming increasingly mainstream, Activision can’t afford to mess this one up.

(source nytimes)

With the Christmas season fast approaching, a time when families surround us and we are at our most competitive, we’ll all be looking for ways of getting ahead in whichever games we are playing.

To celebrate the release of its new quiz game, Alan Hansen’s Sports Challenge, Oxygen Games™ has teamed up with psychologist Dr Aric Sigman to bring you some top tips on how to increase your reaction times and get to the top of the leaderboard this Christmas.

Dr Sigman’s top tips for faster reaction times:

Take a (strong) Tea Break
A moderate dose of caffeine decreases the time it takes to prepare a response for a complex reaction time task. The amount of caffeine in one cup of strong tea or coffee increases reaction time and your ability to resist distraction, plus it works within minutes.

Teetotal
Alcohol slows reaction times – that’s one of the reasons we have drink-drive laws. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, which means that it does the opposite of stimulating you and a lot to slow you down. Denounce the firewater until your celebration drinks after you win the competition.

Lie Down
A lot! Fatigue isn’t fast or clever but sleeping a lot is. Your reaction time gets slower when you are tired mentally or physically. The more complicated the task, the slower you will be when you suffer fatigue. Mental fatigue, especially sleepiness, has the greatest effect.

Pick Your Moments
Your body clock works in circadian rhythms of roughly 24-hour cycles. Yet even with such a biological ‘clock’, there is variation in people’s daily rhythms. But disruption of the clock – by staying up too late or changing our sleep-wake schedules negatively affects our alertness and reaction time. Identify the time of day you experience your peak performance. Ask yourself; are you an early bird or night owl, based on what you think are your best times for high alertness. (Early birds are most alert before noon and night owls are most alert during the evening.)

Avoid Trash Telly
Watching lots of soap operas and talk shows isn’t just unstimulating intellectually but has been recently linked with slower reaction times. Scientists believe this type of programming simply doesn’t exercise the brain enough and allows it to become flaccid and slow, like the people who appear on some of the programmes.

Use Your Imagination
Even practising your reaction time mentally will increase it when it counts. Visualise the actual hand movements, and in your mind go through the motions as if it’s the real thing. And when you play the real thing you should be faster.

Tense Up
By contracting your arm and hand muscles for a few seconds (isometric contraction) and then relaxing them a number of times before you play the game seems to allow your brain to work faster. So squeeze, hold and relax… and again.

Practise
Activity-specific training movements that are practised in game-like situations are the ones most likely to be used in competition. So practise the actual reaction time movements in as realistic a situation as possible. Reaction times should increase within three weeks of practise and the effects will last for at least three weeks.

Get Off Your Bum!
Physically fit people have faster reaction times. Furthermore, exercise actually increases mental performance and problem-solving abilities within 20 minutes. So if you are generally fit and you then do some aerobic-type exercise for 20 minutes before you compete, you’ll have a distinct advantage.

Get Aroused
One of the most investigated factors affecting reaction time is arousal, or our state of attention, including muscular tension. Reaction time is fastest with a medium level of arousal, and deteriorates when we are either too relaxed or too tense. And exercise improves your reaction time by increasing arousal.

Punishment and Stress
For those of you with a masochistic streak, research consistently shows that receiving an electric shock every time you react too slowly will actually improve your reaction time no end. Alternatively, having someone make you feel anxious about your performance has the same effect, at least on simple reaction time tasks.

Stay Well
Illness and minor upper respiratory tract infections slow reaction times, make our mood more negative, and cause disturbance of sleep, which in turn slows reaction time even further. Watch who you kiss or shake hands with.

Destroy Distractions
Distractions increase slow reaction time. Background noise slows reaction time by inhibiting parts of the cerebral cortex. TVs on in the background, mobile phones and email pinging noises slow you down.

Sweet And Slow
Sugar and high glycemic foods can cause drowsiness. Despite claims that glucose will improve performance the opposite is likely to be true. Stick to unrefined carbohydrates and avoid sugary foods and drinks before you compete. Be a monkey and eat a banana instead.

Test your reaction times and put these tips into practise by playing Alan Hansen’s Sports Challenge - the perfect gift for any family this Christmas! Out on PlayStation®2 and PC now and WiiTM on 7th December.

New York, NY - December 7, 2007 - ASTRO Gaming and Major League Gaming, the leading professional video game league today, announced the launch of a new high-end gaming headset and audio system specifically designed to meet the needs of competitive gamers. Following a full year of field-testing, the MLG Edition of the ASTRO Gaming A40 Audio System will become an integral part of MLG gaming stations at the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit and is now available to gamers nationwide.

“ASTRO Gaming designed the MLG-branded A40 Audio System from the ground up to be a complete tournament-grade audio solution for competitive teams,” said Joshua LaTendresse, producer of the A40 Audio System. “The MLG Pro Circuit is the premier competitive series in professional gaming today, and we wouldn’t have partnered with anyone else for this ground breaking product.”

The MLG-branded A40 Audio System consists of two parts; the patent-pending A40 MixAmp and the revolutionary A40 Headset. The palm-sized A40 MixAmp combines high-quality headphone amplification with Dolby Digital surround sound and integrates a zero-lag voice communication channel for private team chat. The A40 Headset pairs world-class audio quality with versatile configuration, including a noise-canceling boom microphone that can be worn on either side, and an array of noise-dampening Speaker Tags.

When the A40 MixAmp and A40 Headset are combined together, they represent the ultimate audio solution for demanding gamers. When two or more MixAmps are connected, the A40 Audio System becomes the pinnacle of audio performance for professional teams. In partnership with Major League Gaming, ASTRO will deploy a full array of Team MixAmp Racks that will enable simple “drop-in” connectivity at all MLG competition stations.

“The A40 is the most sophisticated, highest quality approach to competitive gaming audio, so we’re proud to debut the systems at the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit as ASTRO Gaming’s exclusive partner,” said Matthew Bromberg, President and CEO of Major League Gaming. “Developed with the needs of gamers in mind and tested by MLG Pros, The MLG-branded A40 will be highly sought after by demanding gamers who want to play with the same equipment used in our pro competitions.”

The A40 Audio System is available for sale online at www.mlgpro.com, www.astrogaming.com and will be available for in-person purchase at all MLG Pro Circuit events during the 2008 season.