So, you own Guitar Hero; you own Guitar Hero II (at least I hope you own both of them) and while rocking out in your living room is fine, there’s just one slight problem. The guitar controller packaged with either of the games is a bit limiting. Sure, you can play mock guitar with the best of them, but trying to running around your imaginary stage and pull of some of those impressive rock moves doesn’t work quite as well with the short length of the cord. You’ve maybe pulled the controller out of the port a few times I’m sure or even had the PlayStation 2 topple over, but those days are over.

Nyko is always coming up with new accessories that gamers can use, and not just frivolous ones that provide eye candy. There’s no argument that the Guitar Hero series has become a huge hit and to give virtual guitarists a better means to play the game, Nyko has come up with the FrontMan Wireless Guitar. The first thing you’ll notice is a difference in the body style, and while Red Octane has gone for the classic Les Paul look (not one of my favorite guitars) The FrontMan somewhat replicates the Z body shape seen most commonly with Dean Guitars, though minus the signature headstock. The difference in body style though really makes no difference in playing the game. This isn’t like the real world where fret inlays and every other little part of the guitar can make one guitar stand out from the other. Everything that you know and love about Red Octane’s guitar controller is still here, so there’s no worry about adapting to it.

The wireless guitar is quite simple to use, actually. You’ll first need to make sure the PlayStation 2 is turned off and then inset receiver into an open memory slot. The receiver itself looks like a miniature foot pedal; though this time the “foot switch” acts as the means to connect the guitar for wireless play. Once you’ve started up the system, just press the link button on the controller. The LED lights start blinking to establish the connection and once it has, they will turn off. It’s really that simple.

In order to effectively run wireless however, you will need batteries and the guitar does include three of them. In order to conserve battery power however, the unit has a feature where it will shut off after five minutes of inactivity and resume once you pick it up and start playing again. If you want however, you can also link the guitar into the PS2 itself with a USB cable, also included, to play it. Even better however is the fact that you can use rechargeable batteries and by using the USB cable, you are recharging them while playing the guitar.

The FrontMan Wireless Guitar is a very well thought out product, and for those who love playing Guitar Hero but want the luxury of running around mindlessly to play it, this will satisfy the need. However, there is some bad new for a certain group of people. If you own a PlayStation 3 and intend on buying the unit, I’d recommend against it. While the receiver portion fits into a memory card slot, it’s just a little too short to work in the PlayStation 3 Memory Card Adaptor (fortunately I still had a PS2 unit sitting around to test the product on.) I’m sure with the future release of Guitar Hero III however, Nyko will make yet another unit designed with the PS3 in mind, and the recommendation I’d like to make is to use BC Rich as the design influence. The game itself might not have any death metal, but there’s no reason to not have a mock guitar that is associated with it (though you’ll find a good deal of 80’s hair metal bands used these guitars as well.)

Wireless is the only way to play guitar, and it’s certainly just the thing to make Guitar Hero that much more enjoyable. The restriction of short cables is eliminated completely and while it might not make you play better, it at least gives you complete and total freedom, just the thing that any guitar player needs. The FrontMan Wireless Guitar is a necessity for any GH arsenal and ensures those two player co-op or battle songs don’t result in a tangled mess of a game unit on the floor when you try and take your guitar skills to a level that transcends the game itself.

-mike-