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Will Pelican’s USB Adapter Let You Play Guitar Hero on the PS3?
By Paul Munn | May 7, 2007
A fellow PS3 owner handed me something tonight that, at first blush, looked like a beefed-up version of the USB adapter I already use with my PS3 to use my PS2 Dual Shock 2 controller. This new dongle was different in a few important ways.
1. It’s made by Pelican and has a 5-year warranty. Pelican will replace or repair your console if a Pelican product damages it.
2. It has a “PS Home” button on it and four red LEDs to indicate controller number.
3. “Guitar Hero(tm) 1 and 2 Ready: Plug in your favorite guitar and rock out to Guitar Hero 1 and 2 on your PS3.”
4. It doesn’t support rumble.
This is apparently a brand new accessory, having been delayed a couple of times, and during our tests on his PS3 we were only able to show that the PS Home button works and that the LEDs designating controller numbers are accurate. It also seems to treat the Analog button on the Dual Shock 2 as a sort of Home button as well: if you hold it down it pops up the menu.
The red LEDs are important, because it along with the PS Home button basically lets the controller join as a second, third, or further player, something my run-of-the-mill USB adapter doesn’t let you do. Either you’re the only controller or you can’t use it. This is a nice upgrade.
But neither of us has Guitar Hero and a guitar to test it with, so keep your eyes open for another enterprising user to put it to the test. If you want one, look for PL6338.
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Comment by Paul Munn — May 7, 2007 @ 9:45 am
After I posted I noticed there’s actually a switch on it for changing to three different modes. One is Normal mode for controllers, two and three are for different Guitar Hero related modes, lefty and righty. This looks very promising.
Comment by TeamQJ — May 7, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
to be honest. we haven’t tried this one yet but the ps home button is really something. some of our readers pointed out that it still doesn’t work with GH controllers. just thought you would know that.
http://www.qj.net/Pelican-s-PS3-USB-adapter-compatible-with-PS2-s-GH-controllers/pg/49/aid/91645
Comment by Damian Frost — May 8, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
I have read on some sites from ppl posting there that it reads the fret buttons backwards on the GH and GHII controllers, maybe they aren’t aware of the Righty/Lefty mode switch on the side. I will definitely be getting one of these to test it for my self.
Comment by Paul Munn — May 9, 2007 @ 9:41 am
It comes with detailed instructions on setting up the righty and lefty modes of the device for GH play.
My friend who bought the Pelican adapter did buy Guitar Hero II the next day and reported that it worked fine. I haven’t had a chance to ask him in detail if there’s any noticeable side effects with it, like maybe a delay or something. Given that it’s a hardware device I’d be surprised if it had any kind of delay or adverse effect, but we’ll see.
Comment by Blackout — May 9, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
To be relased 7/17
http://www.buy.com/prod/two-player-ps2-to-ps3-controller-converter/q/loc/108/203328582.html
Comment by Thomas — May 10, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
I have this adapter, and tested it with GH II,
I have not been able to get to work fully; when using the guitar to naviage menus, you have to put the adapter into menu mode by holding the green fret and strum, and there’s a righty mode, and a lefty mode. I think my errors were coming from being in the wrong mode. From the buttons that were working for me, there was no lag.
in the instructions, there’s a disclaimer that says that w/ the adapter you WILL NOT be able to perform hammer ons and pull offs w/ the adapter.
Comment by Nick — June 24, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
This controller doesn’t get full use out of the Guitar Hero game and/or guitars. As it states (on the instructions…not on the packaging), “‘Hammer Ons’ and ‘ Pull Offs’ will not work while playing Guitar Hero 2 while using this adapter. You must strum for each individual note that is played.” This makes progressing further in the game (i.e. the Hard and Expert levels) nearly impossible. I wouldn’t buy this controller purely for GH.