Topic: Guitar Hero III disc replacement pre-registry website is live

[Flames_of_chaos]

Website

"Once the replacement discs are available, the replacement program will begin. We will send you a disc replacement package which will consist of exchange instructions, a replacement disc claim form, and a postage paid envelope for you to return your current copy of the Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Once you receive your package, please complete the claim form and return your original game as directed. Once we receive your game, we will mail you the free replacement disc."

[Kairon]

It should be said that this site is just for the "pre-regiustration" program. That is, sign up here to get info about when the REAL disc replacement program will start.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Announcements about... announcements.

They've learned a lot from Nintendo.

[Dasmos]

There should be a site where you can a full refund from this game, plus extra compensation for the time wasted and all the  brain cells destroyed while playing it.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well at least Activision is doing something about the issue and it being 100% free of charge (even the shipping is handled) unlike microsoft with the halo 3 disc debacle where the user had to pay for shipping to get the disc repaired. I think Activision is handling this well.  

[Nemo]

I signed up for this as soon as I heard about it. They sent me the packaging and instructions. I got an e-mail saying they received it. Yesterday I got another e-mail saying they approved it and would be sending me the new disc.

Does anyone know if there will be any changes made besides just the audio output?

[vudu]

According to the message board users at gamefaqs.com, no.  Which is kind of shitty.  I has hoped that they would have at least made the boss battles playable in co-op.

I decided I'm just going to take advantage of the refund off the send the whole thing back.  I'll pick up Guitar Hero 4 when it comes out and maybe look for a used copy of GH3 then.

[UltimatePartyBear]

So, are the fixed copies on retail shelves now?  I held off from buying it when I found out about the problem.

[vudu]

Yes, stereo copies have been available in stores for a couple months now.  I'm not sure if there's a way to tell the difference between versions without opening the box.  Your best bet is probably to ask the clerk when they got the shipment.

[Flames_of_chaos]

I don't know if the new retail version of GHIII is the fixed ones. I heard on the new packing the dolby logo is absent. Anyways a few weeks ago I got the remastered disc with the surround sound fixed and the difference is night and day. But I have encountered one weird glitch in one of the songs that happened once and in the glitch one part of the audio track was missing, but when i restarted the song and it was fine after the restart.

[vudu]

I don't know if the new retail version of GHIII is the fixed ones. I heard on the new packing the dolby logo is absent.

According to Jonny on one of the recent podcasts, he was at a friends' house playing multiplayer and there was definitely some stereo action going on.

[Nemo]

Wow, 2 days after I got the e-mail saying "within 14 days," I got the disc.

[Rhoq]

I just checked my status on their website and it looks like my replacement disc was mailed out yesterday. Hopefully I'll have by the middle of next week.

[Flames_of_chaos]

It's also worth noting that Activision is sending out free guitar faceplates whoever got their GH3 disc replaced.

[Nemo]

It's also worth noting that Activision is sending out free guitar faceplates whoever got their GH3 disc replaced.

Whoah. What? I didn't get any freebies.

[Flames_of_chaos]

It's also worth noting that Activision is sending out free guitar faceplates whoever got their GH3 disc replaced.

Whoah. What? I didn't get any freebies.

Well some game news sites are just reporting this so I suppose Activision/Red Octane are shipping them out as much as they can.

[bustin98]

I got my faceplate today. Its a cool little surprise.

[Nemo]

Did it come with your disc or was it separate?

[Flames_of_chaos]

Separate I got mine today and I'll post pics of it.

[Ceric]

Thats a nice way to smooth some of this over.

[UncleBob]

I disagree.

"The faceplate is nice, however, it simply isn't enough for all the customers that Activision continued to sell a faulty product to, *knowing* it was faulty, acknowledging it was faulty, yet still shipping out the faulty product without even notating the package that it didn't have the feature it was supposed to have.

It seems to me that Activision wanted to take advantage of the holiday rush for Guitar Hero sales and the ignorance of the customers who didn't know any better.

It's like punching me in the face, then apologizing for it, instead of simply not punching me in the face in the first place."

[Flames_of_chaos]

I disagree.

"The faceplate is nice, however, it simply isn't enough for all the customers that Activision continued to sell a faulty product to, *knowing* it was faulty, acknowledging it was faulty, yet still shipping out the faulty product without even notating the package that it didn't have the feature it was supposed to have.

It seems to me that Activision wanted to take advantage of the holiday rush for Guitar Hero sales and the ignorance of the customers who didn't know any better.

It's like punching me in the face, then apologizing for it, instead of simply not punching me in the face in the first place."

I actually see it a different way, while there are a lot of buggy games and some that are game breaking it's nice that Activision worked with Nintendo to re-issue a new disc with the problem corrected and they even gave people an extra faceplate who did the disc switch. If you were that offended you can ship the whole thing back to Activision and they gave you a full refund of the game plus the shipping price.

People with Rock Band had a lot of problems with the Rock Band hardware for 360 and PS3 and they gave an option to ship them back the faulty hardware and the ship back a "fixed" piece of hardware(some of the "fixed" ones had problems as well) or they send you the hardware but you have to give them your Credit Card Number and if you don't ship them back the broken hardware EA would charge you roughly $125 dollars.
I actually like how Activision handled it, it wasn't as stressful Red Octane gave the people something extra or if you were that "disgusted" about it you can ship the thing back to them and you'd get a full refund.

[UncleBob]

I'm not going to defend EA/Rock Band at all.

As far as this situation is concerned, had Activision stopped shipping the faulty product - or even put a disclaimer on the package acknowledging it was faulty before consumers were tricked into buying it - I would be more than pleased with this outcome.  Unfortunately, they did not.  Instead, they continued to screw over customers, then tried to make up to the few who caught them and cared enough to do something about it.

And this is giving them the good faith that they didn't know about the "bug" before the game was released.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well what about all the other buggy games out in the market that the publishers don't give a damn about and won't fix??

[UncleBob]

It depends on how big the bug is.

With Guitar Hero, we're talking about a music game with a major defect in the sound track.
This, IMHO, would almost be akin to shipping a NASCAR game that you can't steer correctly or a Madden game that features Mariachi band members instead of NFL players.

If it's a minor bug like, say, the Twilight Princess Cannon Room bug, then I can excuse that.  Hell, even the Bubble Bobble DS bug is somewhat excusable because I'm guessing it had a budget of about $12.50 and no one play tested it.  And they stopped shipping it as soon as the bug was noticed (and announced a recall on copies already in stores).