Friday, November 10, 2006

TAC and Guitar Hero Controllers

TAC (The Ant Commandos) has been making guitar controllers for Guitar Hero. One of the controllers they offer is called "The Shredder," which is smaller than the regular-sized controller.

That sounded great for Eli 5.3, so I ordered one.

It arrived this week, and we plugged it in (Eli was really amped up)--and it didn't work. Three of the buttons did nothing, and the other two fret buttons were mismapped.

In the meantime, Kotaku had noticed this as well, and contacted TAC. Here's what they were told:
TAC guitars DO work with GH II. Older versions of TAC guitars purchased before October 1st need the adapter, which are available on our website www.theguitarmania.com. All other TAC guitar controllers purchased after that time are FULLY compatible with GH and GH II.

I saw this story on 1UP.com as well.

That's great, except that based on my experience, it's bullshit. I bought the controller on November 1, fully a month after the alleged October 1 cutoff date. After being told by TAC customer service that I needed the adapter, I saw the story on Kotaku and sent them this e-mail:
I saw this on 1UP.com this afternoon:
“1UP contacted the controller maker this afternoon, who clarified the situation. Ant Commandos says that only guitars purchased before October 1st would not be compatible with Guitar Hero 2. Everything after that is peachy-keen, including the recently released Freedom V Wireless guitar.”

I just purchased the controller late last week. So do I still need the adapter, or is it just a defective controller? Thanks for the help.


Here's their response:
Yes, you need an adapter, thank you.

So what TAC is telling Kotaku and 1Up is not what they're telling their customers. In other words, buyer beware.

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