Let me get this out of the way first: I am not a "Harmonix fanboy". If I was, I wouldn't have bought the mess that was Guitar Hero 3 because of blind love for a certain company. However, after the epic battle between the two music game giants, Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band, occurred last year, it was an easy outcome for anyone with half a brain and a few extra dollars: Rock Band was the finer game. Not only did the game nail the gameplay on all instruments, the DLC promises were completely fulfilled. All around North America (Note: This blog is not a reflection on the poor job done by EA in publishing Rock Band across the pond) critics praised Rock Band as a revolutionary platform and excellent music based game.
Alas, as all things occur, the stupidity of the masses brought shameful results: Guitar Hero 3 outsells Rock Band in a landslide. Was it the superior quality of the game? Of course not: any consumer with an internet connection could go to any Gamerankings or Metacritic-type site and see that Rock Band outscored GH3 by at least 7%. Was it the soundtrack? Not really. Both games had great soundtracks that appealed to most music enthusiasts that looked them up on Wikipedia. Plus, the average Joe could care less what songs are on the disc, because the average Joe does not hear anything thats not on MTV or MegaHitz 98.3 FM.
No it was a name. Guitar Hero. The words that build a strong reputation on three fantastic music games from Harmonix. However, the developers get shafted once again. Neversoft sloppily put together a mediocre music game that sold to millions across America within its first week of release. While Rock Band has been successful, it has not reached the megaton status that the Guitar Hero brand now has.
What caused me to start this too-little/too-late argument? Recently I have viewed some leaked footage of the latest masterpiece from Neversoft and Activision:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qoI-rkMnyV8
This short video shows little promise that GHIV will be more than a sloppy "me too" attempt by Neversoft to catch up with Rock Band's new found fire. The interface is cluttered and horrible, the band visuals are atrocious, and there is little good to be found anywhere at all.
Meanwhile Rock Band II will do nothing than build upon a great proven formula: A fantastic new track list seems to have pleased 95% of the people who see it (as well as 20 free tracks on day one), the gameplay modes have been updated to answer to fans' requests, and the instruments seem much improved over the disappointing showing of RB1s instruments.
Does this mater? Absolutely not. Guitar Hero World Tour will sell truck loads to blind fans of brand names and mediocrity will become the new standard of music games. Please dont support this injustice.
And please dont point out the irony of GH3 being my last played game on XBL, I checked out the free GH3 DLC a week ago for 10 minutes and havent touched my Xbox since.
It's simple: GHIII was cheap, by comparison anyway. When I told my cousin about how GH:WT would be like Rock Band, the only thing he said was he thought it was stupid because it will be too expensive now. As long as RB2 is a little cheaper, I think it can eat GH.
The new tracklist did not please me... it was essentially one of the leaked lists with the best songs taken out. But its still gonna be better than ghwt, unless theyve learnt not to just add extra notes as they please...
I don't get why everyone is hating on GH:WT. Coming from me, someone who has never owned a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game, GH:WT seems like it's shaping up to have a lot of neat features that will set it apart from Rock Band. With the better positioned, velocity sensing drum set, added touchpad keys for the guitar and especially the track creation mode. For someone like me, who usually listens to extremely niche music, the idea of a fully fledged track creation mode is extremely appealing.
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about me
Hey guys, my name is John, I'm a really avid gamer and I enjoy checking out the newest gaming news just as much as playing them
Some of my favorite games are Portal,Rock Band, Galaga, Call of Duty 4, Halo: Combat Evolved, Gears of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, Forza Motorsport, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros, Elite Beat Agents, Mario 64, Star Fox 64, God of War, Lumines, Goldeneye, Oblivion, Pokemon Red, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and a whole lot more I cant remember now!
Im not a fanboy to any particular side, I like good games and I hope all companies do well so I can keep playing great games! I only "current gen" consoles I own are the 360 and Wii, but I purchased all 3 last gen and hope to purchase all three this gen too! I own both a PSP and DS.
Im not a huge fan of JRPGs or most Sports games, but I am usually very open minded to any type of game. I am usually more of an action gamer and I am an advocator or games that bring great atmosphere and story to the table. I have a bad habit of not finishing games and probably have only completed 10 or 20% of the games I own.
Some of my personal favorite gaming moments include getting the Log in Guitar Hero II, "Still Alive" at the end of Portal, and trial and erroring one section in Dead Rising over 20 times until finally beat the impossible time limit in a feat I wish I had recorded or something.
Some of my favorite non gaming things:
Shows:Arrested Development, Red vs Blue, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office (UK and US), Simpsons (older stuff), Futurama, South Park
Movies: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Lawrence of Arabia, Citizen Kane, "Planes, Tranes, and Autombiles", Raiders of the Lost Ark, Original Star Wars Trilogy, No Country For Old Men, 2001: A Space Odyessy, This is Spinal Tap, Finding Nemo, The Truman Show, The Aviator, Saving Private Ryan, and There Will Be Blood
MusicRadiohead, The Who, Arcade Fire, Soundgarden, The Strokes, The Hives, Beck, etc.
Weird Stuff Im Obsessed With: Disneyland,In n Out Burger, Calvin and Hobbes, FoxTrot
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006
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And please dont point out the irony of GH3 being my last played game on XBL, I checked out the free GH3 DLC a week ago for 10 minutes and havent touched my Xbox since.
It's simple: GHIII was cheap, by comparison anyway. When I told my cousin about how GH:WT would be like Rock Band, the only thing he said was he thought it was stupid because it will be too expensive now. As long as RB2 is a little cheaper, I think it can eat GH.
I'm buying GH:WT over Rockband. Why? Because Then I can use my old guitars and I only have to pay for the drums. I'm such a fucking cheapskate.
The new tracklist did not please me... it was essentially one of the leaked lists with the best songs taken out. But its still gonna be better than ghwt, unless theyve learnt not to just add extra notes as they please...
I don't get why everyone is hating on GH:WT. Coming from me, someone who has never owned a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game, GH:WT seems like it's shaping up to have a lot of neat features that will set it apart from Rock Band. With the better positioned, velocity sensing drum set, added touchpad keys for the guitar and especially the track creation mode. For someone like me, who usually listens to extremely niche music, the idea of a fully fledged track creation mode is extremely appealing.
Add "the game should be quite fun." to the end of that second to last sentence. My 3:30 am grammar skills are fail.