Question about guitar/drum controllers

[_ETERNAL]

I decided to get into Guitar Freaks/Drum Mania, and I quickly realized that the controllers are pretty important. What kind of controllers would be the best and most "generic", and which ones would provide the highest quality? I could just pick up the guitar/drums for GF/DM, but then what would happen if I wanted to play the new Guitar Heroes or Rock Band? Likewise, if I get a full RB set, would that work on PS2 games like GF? Basically, I'm trying to figure out which controllers would be best to buy for as wide a use as possible, because as far as I know it isn't a necessity for a person who plays Guitar Heroes, Guitar Freaks and Rock Band to have a separate guitar for each game.

[Checky]

GuitarHero and Rockband guitars will not work with guitarfreaks perfectly. By default, they are set to hold down the "left" button to recognize it as a guitar controller. Therefore, when you try to play guitarfreaks, it constantly scrolls through the menus and you can't stop it. Also, in older versions of guitar freaks, the keys 1,2, and 4 on a guitarhero or rockband controller constitute the Red green and blue buttons on Guitarfreaks by default, making it difficult to play. With versions of V2, Masterpiece Silver, Masterpiece Gold, and V3 you can remap the keys in game. Still though you have to deal with the menus, whereby you would have to unplug your guitar, plug in a dualshock, select your song, then plug the guitar back in before the song starts.. very annoying. Likewise, Guitarfreaks controllers will not work for Guitarhero or rockband because they only have three buttons. Drums wise, Guitarhero/Rockband drums will not work for Drummania by default, as there are only 4 pads, while drummania requires 5 to play. A drummania controller might work for rockband, although I am not familiar if whether they are programmed similiarly to the guitars, i.e having to have the "left" button held down to recognize the controller. If it is not as such, then a drummania controller could be used for rockband, as long as you can remap the controls in game.

Your best bet for starting guitarfreaks or drummania is to pick up a KOC (Konami Official Controller) these run for less than 100$, and you can sometimes also get a good deal on the forum marketplace. Also check Buy Video Games for Consoles and PC - From Japan, Korea and other Regions! - Play-Asia.com.

If you want to play Guitarhero/Rockband, your just going to have to buy the basic peripherals for them, there really is no other alternative.

Good luck.

[dartvalince]

Originally Posted by Checky

Your best bet for starting guitarfreaks or drummania is to pick up a KOC (Konami Official Controller) these run for less than 100$, and you can sometimes also get a good deal on the forum marketplace. Also check Buy Video Games for Consoles and PC - From Japan, Korea and other Regions! - Play-Asia.com.

Please head the words Checky said very closed. Your Best bet is to pick up a KOC (Konami Official Controller). Try as best you can to stay away from the Topway brand controller. These are third party. I've never used one, but I've heard enough about them to let people know not to get them. Ebay has 4 DM KOC's each varying in price. You can find them here: Drummania Controller items on eBay.com. Alternativly you could ask Jumbo in the Marketplace thread if he can find you one. He's over in Jap. and is finding items for people and getting them for them. This is how I got my DM KOC. You can find a link to the thread here: http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/f48...oks-etc-28517/.

Also, as Checky said, you can't effectivly use the Guitar Hero guitar on the earlier versions of GF due to not being able to button map. If having to use a dual shock in the menus, and then swapping the controller out after you select the song, doesn't bother you, then it's an OK route to take. I've found though that using a GH controller for GF, i get alot of misses in certain runs. I'm not exactly sure why, but i think it has something to do with how the pick registers differently between each controller.

[Mus!kBox]

If you're really serious about DM, get a Yamaha set. Good ones are over 1000, but they act as a seperate set, and are pretty much identical to the arcade ones.
Or, look and see how the Ion premium for RB2 is ganna be. its only 300 and has enough drums for DM. thats what i might do.

[Jeff Paine]

It's very very unlikely that there will ever be a universal controller that works with Guitar Freaks, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. Likewise, unless Guitar Hero and Rock Band add support for MIDI drums, there won't be a universal drum controller either.

The best Guitar Freaks controller you can buy would be the Guitar Freaks ASC. Otherwise, get the KOC.

For Drummania, the only controller produced by Konami is the KOC, but it officially supports Yamaha DTX drums, paired with a Yamaha MIDI-to-USB adapter. The bottom of this page has a list. The DTXplorer is the entry-level series, and the DTXtreme is the top-level series. DTXpress is in the middle. There are other drums in the DTX series that haven't been officially claimed to be supported, but they'll more than likely work.
Also, as for the DD-50 and DD-55, those are just drum machines (like the KOC) so you'd be better off just using the KOC instead of spending the extra money.

EDIT: Here's a more comprehensive list of drumsets that have been tested on various Drummania mixes.

Key:

◎...Officialy supported by Konami
○...Can be used unofficially
？...Unknown
×...Cannot be connected
△...Can be connected, but unsure if it can be used

ヤマハ = Yamaha
ローランド = Roland

Model numbers might differ between regions

Drummania and GFDM 3rd&2nd don't support any drumset except the KOC

[BemaniAK]

Originally Posted by dartvalince

Ebay has 4 DM KOC's each varying in price. You can find them here: Drummania Controller items on eBay.com.

Goddamn those are expensive.

[dartvalince]

Originally Posted by BemaniAK

Goddamn those are expensive.

They are which is why i suggested the alternative to ask Jumbo if he can find one.