Home : Hardware : Articles : Double Range Freedom V Guitar Preview
Soon you’ll be able to rock Freebird like never before.
The folks at TAC, the makers of third party peripherals who got under Red Octane’s and Activision’s skin earlier this year with their “Freedom V” wireless and “Rocking V” wired guitar controllers for use with (as it says on the box) “Playstation 2 Guitar game,” are at it again. In December they’ll be releasing the “Double Range Freedom V” wireless and “Double Range Rocking V” wired guitar controllers for use with Guitar Hero and probable Game of the Month (year?) candidate Guitar Hero II on the PS2.
At a glance the Double Range units don’t appear all that different from the models they released previously. Look close though and you’ll see that this puppy has ten (TEN!) fret buttons. Five are in their expected location, but five more appear near the bottom of the neck. 
What could be the purpose of the extra buttons? Upon first seeing this baby I assumed that the extra buttons would allow a nimble-fingered virtuoso the opportunity to play Guitar Hero II’s multiplayer mode solo, performing both the bass and lead guitar parts. Having played Guitar Hero II since, however, it’s obvious that this is not the case. Surely no one alive could do that. Anyone who could is no doubt living in a government research facility somewhere while guys in white lab coats take notes and report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the potential military applications of such a dexterous individual.
Nope, apparently those extra buttons are there for cool factor alone.
The idea is that the player can be banging away at Suicidal Tendencies’ Institutionalized (“all I wanted was a Pepsi!”) or (my personal favorite) Spinal Tap’s Tonight I’m Gonna Rock Ya (Tonight) on the regular buttons and then play the guitar solo on the lower fret buttons, Nigel Tufnell style.
It sounds like a silly idea when it’s actually written that way, but there’s no denying the inner rock star/gaming geek’s insistence that it is also the coolest thing since Pong.
We’ll know more about the potential for groovy that this controller has to offer when we get the chance to review it sometime next month. Until then you can look at the photo they sent us and drool over its relative sexiness.
Preview by Michael Triggs.
Send this article to a friend.
Not a member? Register here for free! It's quick and easy.