Why no secondary controllers for Xbox 360 Guitar Hero fans?
One of the most popular games currently on the market, Guitar Hero II is making waves on every console and is truly bringing the simple fun back to gaming. However, there is one market that is being shunned by the now Activision-owned company Red Octane, and that is the Xbox 360 user base. If you plan on buying Guitar Hero II in stores, be forwarned: you will not be able to purchase a second controller in stores, so kiss your dreams of 2 player joy goodbye.
Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 is a great source of entertainment for single players, but even moreso for twosomes; however, after visiting the following stores, I was informed that playing 2 players was a pipe dream on the 360:
Walmart (2)
Target (2)
Best Buy (2)
Circuit City (1)
Gamestop (3)
EB Games (1)
Sams Club (1)
Every store stocks at least 5-10 third party controllers for the game, but they are all for the PS2 versions; no love is given to the 360.
Most surprising were the answers given by representatives at each location:
“Yeah, I don’t know if we’ve ever carried guitars without the game too..I don’t think we’ll get them. You could always buy the game and guitar again and try to sell the game back” -Best Buy
“Well, I know we had them at one point, but I don’t know if we’ll be getting them in again.”
-Target
“Actually, we only had a few when the game initially came out, but we don’t carry them..your best bet is to pre-order the wireless guitar that’s slated to come out in October.”
-Gamestop #1
“We only received 2 secondary controllers when the game initially launched; since then, we’ve only gotten 1 or 2 back from customers…honestly it’s because Microsoft is squashing the competition in preparation for Rock Band. You can keep checking to see if we get any in.”
-Gamestop Manager, store #2
The list of replies goes on and on, most of which were uninformed people who didn’t particularly care that no secondary controllers were stocked.
Though many people recommended shopping online for a second controller, it is both the store and the distributor’s job as retailers to either stock the equipment necessary to play the game as advertised; if you advertise a game in stores as 2 player, you are responsible to provide the necessary equipment to play the game to the fullest capacity. Though many are comfortable with making internet purchases, there are still more who remain firm that they will not conduct business on the internet; what does that say about poor customer service?
Otherwise you are simply misleading customers; If customers were alerted that they couldn’t purchase the second guitar, there is a strong chance many who anticipated playing two player might be dissuayed from making a purchase. A recommendation from store employees to buy another $90 game and controller set and sell the game back for store credit is completely unacceptable; After pointing out that users could only lose money by selling back games after purchasing them from the same retail location, one Gamestop employee held a blank stare and said, “Well that’s what I’d recommend.”
Recommending users purchase the games and resell extra copies for a loss simply to play the game as advertised is highway robbery.
If anyone has any insight as to whether this is a breach in some sort of business practice code, please share it. If companies are going to profit from distributing Guitar Hero, they should be responsible for stocking the equipment necessary to play it as advertised; furthermore, Red Octane should not be distributing the game if they are unwilling to distribute the controllers singularly.
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10 Responses to “Why no secondary controllers for Xbox 360 Guitar Hero fans?”
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July 2nd, 2007
There are controllers everywhere in my area. Maybe your area is just out of stock. I have 2 guitars.
July 2nd, 2007
yea you can also go to red octane and buy 2 from them directly. Do your homework be for writing!!!
July 2nd, 2007
Jeff, you’re a lucky fellow! All retailers in my location said specifically they wouldn’t be receiving controllers…I’m referring to the entire dc/metro baltimore area.
Joe smith,
I did my homework, thank you. In fact, I emailed Red Octane regarding the lack of store support, and yes I am aware you can buy them on the web page. The entire point being made was that as store retailers, there is a responsibility to provide support IN STORE for products they release. Do you reading a little more carefully
July 2nd, 2007
ebay is a great for finding things you can’t in stores….ever heard of it??
July 2nd, 2007
Triston’s right. The fact that you can’t find guitar controllers for the 360 is just pathetic. You’d think redoctane would want to make more money off of an already extremely popular game. I can’t do the 800k and millionaire achievements without a second guitar and frankly, I’m not going to spend $90 on the whole bundle and then sell the game back to gamestop for like $10. They also haven’t released and dlc for gh2 which is stupid because they said they’d have something every 2 weeks and they said that gh2 would have the most dlc of any 360 title. I’m not happy at all with any of these companies right now and they need to change if they want customers to continue to buy their products.
July 3rd, 2007
The stores don’t have Responsibility to carry anything. They’re stores…they can stock whatever they want within the laws. If they don’t think it will sell, why would they carry them. Why is it you assume everything should be the way YOU want it to be? Maybe they don’t want to deal with all the returned guitars they had to deal with for the first month of release. Maybe they realize the poor quality of the hardware that Red Octane allowed to be distributed.
Simply because a game allows two players doesn’t mean they have to offer anything to you as a retailer. Hell…they don’t have to offer the game for sale.
Don’t get upset because someone tells you to do your homework before writing when you decide to pass off your opinion as fact. That is poor journalism.
July 3rd, 2007
I noticed the same thing. When I went to a Best Buy near Boston to buy the game for 360, for one thing I had to ask someone and wait for 5-10 minutes for them to go find it somewhere. And then I realized that it only had one controller and that it was wired. I asked about wireless and she said something about “We had them but I guess we don’t anymore.” What kind of BS is that? I don’t think they ever did have wireless controllers for 360, but for some reason she said they did? They have to get their act together.
July 31st, 2007
First of all “The Whiz Kid” is just an idiot. The stores house plenty of ps2 guitars which are even of poorer quality in comparison to the explorer guitar for the 360. Joe Smith makes a good point, it’s advertised as a two player game and there are no second controllers made available. I’m having the same problem. I don’t want to rely on Internet shopping for something like this. This is bullshit and everyone should be pissed off about this.
August 13th, 2007
Joe Smith,
Please do YOUR homework before posting. If anyone here needs to, obviously, it’s you. If you did not notice, some people are not comfortable purchasing items on the internet and some simply cannot because of age. Ever heard of it?
Dipshit.
August 18th, 2007
ok i got an even better one……try finding another guitar in the UK….now that is a challenge.
to be honest the whole way this game has been handled from dlc to this farce, is quite honestly appalling….
the game has multiplayer ffs, how can 2nd controllers not be readily available.
they don’t deserve to sell 1 copy of gh3 for this fiasco, but sadly as we have just heard, no rockband till next year for us in th uk, i feel gh3 will be the 2nd choice for most buyers this xmas.