Activision announced on Friday that starting with early 2008 it would sent replacement Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock discs to owners of the Wii version of the game, who had been complaining about audio problems. Although it won’t be for Christmas, at least the problem will be eventually solved and the Wii owners will be able to enjoy Guitar Hero III as much as the PlayStation and Xbox 360 owners currently do.

According to hundred of complaints posted on web sites such as the Guitar Hero forum, it seems that on Wiis the game is playing music in mono, not in stereo or surround sound, despite the fact that according to the software package, it should feature Dolby Pro Logic sound.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’s Wii sound problem gave the video gaming console’s fans another occasion to express their loyalty to Nintendo and Wii; most of the owners defended Wii and blamed Activision, the company that bought the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix and launched the third title of the popular video game series.

But, after hundreds of complaints and posts, Activision seems to have eventually found a solution to the problem.

“We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. We are currently working with Nintendo and are planning to issue an improved audio experience in future versions of the game. We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available. We thank all of our customers for their support and patience,” said Activision through a statement, in a move that should calm the irritated Wii players.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has been an important commercial hit, selling no less than 1.3 million copies in its first seven days of release. But with Harmonix’s Rock Band on the market and with Wii becoming increasingly mainstream, it was time for Activision to do something about the game’s Wii sound problem.