Ben Heck's Guitar Hero Pedal

Arriving yesterday in the mail, as if laughing at me, was Assassin's Creed, courtesy of my restarted Gamefly subscription. I had forgotten to change my game queue (I also got The Warriors on PSP. WTF?) So, really, if I were to seriously play Assassin's Creed within a week after getting GTA IV, we're talking about a length of time spent indoors that borders on being incarcerated.

Anyway, this is hardly news, but AC has a control system that will take me a week to get comfortable manipulating. The game is a perfect example of how increasingly complex controllers will give rise to increasingly complex-to-control games. GamePro has a list of 5 suggestions for paring down the buttons and options.

Harrison, Molyneux Agree - Controllers Are Too Complicated

""We don't use half the buttons on the 360 controller," admitted Molyneux, "simply because the whole dream I've got is that someone will sit down to play Fable 2 who has never played a game before and they can play with someone who's played games the whole of their lives.

"You hand somebody a game controller and it's like you've handed them a live gun or a hand grenade with the pin taken out"

Nyko Gives Wire Haters A Second Dose Of Wii Love

Rock Band Standalone Drums, Guitars Get Prices, Dates

Harmonix and MTV Games have finally released concrete street dates and retail prices for individual Rock Band instruments, IGN reports today, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 versions of the game. PlayStation 3 owners (and Xbox 360-types without an already functioning Guitar Hero controller) will be able to finally get their back-up guitarist up and rocking on April 1, as the Fender Stratocaster controller arrives for $59.99. That's an uncomfortably long wait.

The individual drum controller arrives much earlier on February 12, but at a $79.99 price point. Cold comfort there.

Rock Band Instruments Priced, Dated [IGN]

Wireless Wishes Granted By Nyko

Wireless Wishes Granted By Nyko

Gamers of every system will likely be pleased with the line-up of new products announced by Nyko Technologies at CES. Wii fans should be especially pleased, as Nyko will be coming out with the Wireless Nunchuck, and The Frontman wireless guitar (you'd think some other third-party manufacturer would have jumped on this sooner, but hey, I'll take what I can get). Some of Nyko's upcoming and recently released products will be available for a hands-on demo at CES, although I imagine there won't be much of a line-up to try the new Charge Base 2, as recharging batteries isn't the thrill it once was.

Hit the jump for some early 2008 goodies.

Rock Band Guitar Controllers Failing

Oh, goodie. I've yet to take my Rock Band gear out of the box, but plenty of you have and are now experiencing hardware problems with the included Fender Stratocaster controller. The majority of the problems reported on the official Rock Band community forums indicate that the controller's "down strum" simply won't register or will double register notes after a few hours of playing. Some are reporting bad hardware right out of the box, but general user feedback indicates a progressive issue.

Official response on the forums has been that users experiencing hardware problems should recheck their connections and restart the game. If Rock Band hardware is still failing, users are being directed to EA's warranty page, to request a replacement controller. Good luck and godspeed, replacement guitars.

The OFFICIAL "One of my Instruments is Already Broken" Thread [Rock Band Forums - thanks, All!]
Rock Band Warranty [EA]

Saitek Devoured By Mad Catz

Eric Winkler, Saitek's founder, commented: "Joining Saitek with Mad Catz is a truly complementary step that leverages the strengths of each side, gives the combined business a new scale, and strengthens the relationships with both suppliers and customers. I am proud of what the Saitek team has achieved in its 28 years and I thank all those who made it possible.

Ben Heck's New One Handed Controller

Assembling Rock Band Drums Is A Minor Pain

We're torn. It's great that the Rock Band drums disassemble. But all of that telescoping had us hoping for a simple one or two step maneuver to rock the peripheral from stored form to final form. Instead, we're left with a pile of parts, some agglomeration of rejected camping equipment. Though, to be fair, Totilo assembles the kit in less than a minute. Thoughts?

How To Assemble The "Rock Band" Drum Kit [MTV Multiplayer]

Microsoft today announced they will start selling pink and blue Xbox 360 controllers today for $50 a pop. My favorite part of the announcement, seen after the jump, is that Microsoft bucked the trend for renaming colors we all already know and love. So blue is just blue and not Arctic Frost and pink is just pink and not Blushing Mother... actually, I kinda like the sound of Blushing Mother. TM. No stealing my color name, I just TMed that shit.

Xbox 360 Chatpad Tires Out My Mitts

The new Xbox 360 Chatpad is pretty great. Despite most LIVE users being more inclined to voice chat than text message online, I can appreciate the solid construction of Microsoft's new peripheral. At first glance, the Chatpad looks like it will never fit on the controller, but the unit snaps on snugly. And you quickly find that its well-spaced keys are comfortable and prevent spillover button presses. Going from playing to typing requires a simple shift of balance—there has clearly been a ton of thought put behind the device's practical ergonomics.

But it really tires out the hands.

Ace Combat 6 Sticks The Landing