The Guitar Hero III vs. Rock Band Thread

[areaseven]

[areaseven]

For those who have finished GH3, what are your favorite songs in the game?

Here's my list:

"Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison

"Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS

"Barracuda" by Heart

"Paint It, Black" by Rolling Stones

"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" by Scorpions

"Same Old Song and Dance" by Aerosmith

Guitar Battle vs. Slash

"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses

"Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson

[Apollo Leader]

For those who have finished GH3, what are your favorite songs in the game?

Here's my list:

"Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison

"Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS

"Barracuda" by Heart

"Paint It, Black" by Rolling Stones

"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" by Scorpions

"Same Old Song and Dance" by Aerosmith

Guitar Battle vs. Slash

"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses

"Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson

When you mean finish, do you mean including playing through on hard and expert?

Definitely like most of the songs you mention, a few others of mine include:

"Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce (got 19 notes away from the 1,000 note achievement with this song on easy a few days ago! Aargh!)

"One" Metallica

"Hit Me with your Best Shot" Pat Benatar

"Even Flow" by Pearl Jam

"My Name is Jonas" by Weezer

There's a few others that I don't remember the name of the bands or the songs, but I liked the tunes and I liked the way they played.

[mikeszekely]

My Gamestop's doing a midnight thing for Rock Band. Should have it in less than four hours.

[Apollo Leader]

Will be picking up Rock Band (the full set) this afternoon! Anybody have the chance to play it yet? I haven't had the chance to play the in store demo yet. I do know that the Rock Band guitar's stumming switch is a little more rigid then the various Guitar Hero strumming switches; my brother can attest to that. Besides the song on the game itself, there are already numerous songs and song packs available off of XBLM (for us 360 owners) including stuff my Metallica and the Police.

[mikeszekely]

Will be picking up Rock Band (the full set) this afternoon! Anybody have the chance to play it yet? I haven't had the chance to play the in store demo yet. I do know that the Rock Band guitar's stumming switch is a little more rigid then the various Guitar Hero strumming switches; my brother can attest to that. Besides the song on the game itself, there are already numerous songs and song packs available off of XBLM (for us 360 owners) including stuff my Metallica and the Police.

I've played it a little bit, in solo career with the guitar. In that mode, it's pretty much like Guitar Hero with a cleaner interface. On the plus side, the Strat controller is much better than any of the Guitar Hero controllers I've used (The SG, the Xplorer, and the Stryker), the cash you get is good toward new threads for your rocker. You get bonuses for perfect solos, you can see before you finish the song if you're going for five stars or four, and when you hit the "energy notes" while in "overdrive" (read "Star Power"), it extends the time in Overdrive, instead of you missing out because you're using Star Power. On the minus side, as much as I love the Strat, Gibson has better variety when it comes to guitars versus Fender.

Oh, and for those of you at home keeping score, the PS3 Les Paul works with the PS3 Rock Band, the 360 Les Paul and the 360 Xplorer work with the 360 Rock Band, but the Rock Band Strats do NOT work with Guitar Hero II or III.

[mpchi]

Oh, and for those of you at home keeping score, the PS3 Les Paul works with the PS3 Rock Band, the 360 Les Paul and the 360 Xplorer work with the 360 Rock Band, but the Rock Band Strats do NOT work with Guitar Hero II or III.

So you've tested it out on your machine with the PS3 Les Paul Guitar playable on PS3 Rock Band? Just want to make sure, since a lot of people have been complaining about their PS3 GH3 guitars not compatible with Rock Band PS3, while the Xbox360s are fine. And I only have the Rock Band PS3 Fender, so can't really test it myself.

Edited November 20, 2007 by mpchi

[jwinges]

So you've tested it out on your machine with the PS3 Les Paul Guitar playable on PS3 Rock Band? Just want to make sure, since a lot of people have been complaining about their PS3 GH3 guitars not compatible with Rock Band PS3, while the Xbox360s are fine. And I only have the Rock Band PS3 Fender, so can't really test it myself.

Has anybody heard of the freedom V wireless guitars (flying V) work with rock band?

[mikeszekely]

So you've tested it out on your machine with the PS3 Les Paul Guitar playable on PS3 Rock Band? Just want to make sure, since a lot of people have been complaining about their PS3 GH3 guitars not compatible with Rock Band PS3, while the Xbox360s are fine. And I only have the Rock Band PS3 Fender, so can't really test it myself.

No, I apologize profusely, I tested the Xplorer for 360 on the 360 version of Rock Band. It works fine, so I'm actually assuming that both Les Pauls worked with Rock Band on their individual systems. Big mistake on my part.

According to this article, the Xplorer and Les Pauls are confirmed to work with Rock Band on the 360, and Harmonix says that third party guitars should work as well. Again, that's for the 360.

As it turns out, the PS3 Les Paul does NOT work with the PS3 Rock Band. No idea why. And neither Strat works with any Guitar Hero games (this is being blamed on Red Octane).

Sorry for the confusion.

Anyway, I was lucky that my best friend and his wife are visiting from Cleveland, and with my and my wife we actually got to play Rock Band with all four instruments. It was a blast... if any individual instrument is as fun to play solo as Guitar Hero, playing as a whole band is that much more so. We stuck to easy, which meant that I was pretty much acing the guitar parts, and my buddy turned out to be very good on vocals. My wife performed passingly on bass, and my buddy's wife turned out to be a natural on drums, so we actually had a pretty good synergy going. We didn't have a lot of time tonight, but they're going to come again tomorrow to try the band career mode. Sadly, they're heading back to Cleveland on Thursday.

[areaseven]

[Apollo Leader]

"Ah, Purple Haze!" I had forgotten all about Blendtec. Good stuff.

I picked up Rock Band last night, but I have no idea when I'll get it opened up. Hope to be able to have it playable for Thanksgiving tomorrow when I'm with my relatives. Of course I always have Guitar Hero.

[Apollo Leader]

Halo theme (I'm talking about the music, not a background for the dashboard!) for GHIII on Marketplace, free, tomorrow.

[mikeszekely]

Halo theme (I'm talking about the music, not a background for the dashboard!) for GHIII on Marketplace, free, tomorrow.

I'll download it, even though I don't have GHIII for the 360.

I picked up Rock Band last night, but I have no idea when I'll get it opened up. Hope to be able to have it playable for Thanksgiving tomorrow when I'm with my relatives. Of course I always have Guitar Hero. smile.gif

Once you play Rock Band, especially if you have some extra people and can really play as a band, you'll realize that's like saying, "I've got a Murcielago in the garage, but I don't know when I'll put the new tires on it. But hey, I always have my station wagon!"

[mpchi]

Can't say about multiplayer modes, nor a lot of modes actually, since I am only starting to play, hehe. But Rock Band is fun. Drums are sensitive (but hard, as the foot pedal beat tends to throw your arm motions off often, unless you are very good with arms and legs coordination), but fun nonetheless. Wish the plastic on the drum pad is not as loud though when you hit it. Might need to find some rubber tip for the drum sticks to soften the noise, unless you crank the TV volume up really high to cover it. Guitar is easier to pick up, but can still be very challenging. But guess it might be easier for experts with Guitar Hero III. RB definitely is fun, and has a good variety of gameplay.

[Uxi]

Looks like I'll be a tie breaker in favor of Rock Band. Not interested in either of these really but I could see the potential of some fun with two other friends...

[areaseven]

For those who picked up Rock Band, what are the best songs on the playlist to play on guitar or drums?

[mikeszekely]

For those who picked up Rock Band, what are the best songs on the playlist to play on guitar or drums?

Ooh, tough choice. I really enjoyed the set list in Rock Band. Even songs I by bands I usually don't like, like Garbage, I enjoyed in Rock Band. The only songs I didn't enjoy to play were "Highway Star," because as nice as the Rock Band Strat is, it seems to have a hard time picking up a lot of successive notes, and I really felt like I was hitting a lot of notes it said I was missing, "Sabotage," because the Beastie Boys suck even in the most awesome of games, and "Train Kept A-Rollin'" because it's kind of repetitive.

Mind you, that's just with the guitar. I just started the drum solo career, and so far I liked playing all the songs (the first two venues). I haven't done any vocals yet.

[Apollo Leader]

Ooh, tough choice. I really enjoyed the set list in Rock Band. Even songs I by bands I usually don't like, like Garbage, I enjoyed in Rock Band. The only songs I didn't enjoy to play were "Highway Star," because as nice as the Rock Band Strat is, it seems to have a hard time picking up a lot of successive notes, and I really felt like I was hitting a lot of notes it said I was missing, "Sabotage," because the Beastie Boys suck even in the most awesome of games, and "Train Kept A-Rollin'" because it's kind of repetitive.

Some of the problems you are having is probably because the strummer is starting to go bad on you. I got to the end of guitar solo career on easy last night and the songs got harder to play because of the strummer. When I started playing songs on medium, the game became almost impossible to play because even though I was playing the game PERFECTLY, it wasn't registering my hits or the timing was off. I switched to one of my Gibson Xplorers from GHII and the game was playing perfectly again. Looks like I'll be having to get a new Fender soon!

Even though a lot of the guitars seem to have this flaw, I otherwise like this guitar a lot. The frets are conformal making it easier to slide your hand along, the stummer switch is a lot bigger and you have a much reduced chance of slipping, when the strummer is working it's more forgiving then the Guitar Hero Gibson's switch where you accidentally cause it to strum an extra time by accident, because the strummer doesn't have a hard click you can easily strum while raising the guitar without worrying about screwing things up when going into Overdrive/Star Power, and this Fender guitar looks and feels a lot more realistic then the plastic toy guitars of GHI and II. Can't wait to have my new one!

Edited November 30, 2007 by Apollo Leader

[Apollo Leader]

Once you play Rock Band, especially if you have some extra people and can really play as a band, you'll realize that's like saying, "I've got a Murcielago in the garage, but I don't know when I'll put the new tires on it. But hey, I always have my station wagon!"

It's been a blast with 4 people and I plan on using it with some friends tonight. Though there are a lot of songs and features I like on GHIII, the over all presentation, gloss, features, balance of the gameplay and songs, and of course the 4 player capability definitely has me favoring Rock Band over GHIII. This is definitely the true Guitar Hero successor.

[mikeszekely]

Some of the problems you are having is probably because the strummer is starting to go bad on you. I got to the end of guitar solo career on easy last night and the songs got harder to play because of the strummer. When I started playing songs on medium, the game became almost impossible to play because even though I was playing the game PERFECTLY, it wasn't registering my hits or the timing was off. I switched to one of my Gibson Xplorers from GHII and the game was playing perfectly again. Looks like I'll be having to get a new Fender soon!

Even though a lot of the guitars seem to have this flaw, I otherwise like this guitar a lot. The frets are conformal making it easier to slide your hand along, the stummer switch is a lot bigger and you have a much reduced chance of slipping, when the strummer is working it's more forgiving then the Guitar Hero Gibson's switch where you accidentally cause it to strum an extra time by accident, because the strummer doesn't have a hard click you can easily strum while raising the guitar without worrying about screwing things up when going into Overdrive/Star Power, and this Fender guitar looks and feels a lot more realistic then the plastic toy guitars of GHI and II. Can't wait to have my new one!

Well, I'm not sure what to think about the guitar. I didn't have any trouble until I was playing stuff like Highway Star on medium. I'd swear I'm hitting all the notes, but the game begs to differ. I go back and play and easy song, and I can still get 100%. Hmm...

Actually, my Xplorer is flaky. On both GHII and Rock Band, it'll occasionally shut off. Even though it's plugged in, the light's off, and the game's telling me to reconnect the controller. I'm going to wait awhile, and try got get GHIII with Les Paul or maybe just the Les Paul.

In any case, you don't have to send your guitar back. You can fix it yourself. Directions here.

[Smiley424]

I knew there was something fishy with the strum bar when I was playing with it the other day. I thought it was either the angle I was in relation to the TV (old skool rear projection) or the batteries were starting to go (we played the heck out of it over Thanksgiving weekend). Guitar plays like GH, but I find it easier, probably because there isn't a background on the note bar which at times can mess me up in GH. The game is alot of fun with other peeps, me and my two cousins rocked out using everything and it was alot of fun.

My only beef with Rock Band is that the number of available songs is quite low. Reviews have stated that fact and from playing career mode you do end up playing alot of songs over and over again. I'll be waiting to see what becomes available to download. Another possible complaint (mainly for the youngsters) is the song list skews towards more classic songs which I don't mind, but my cousins had no clue about some of the bands and songs. Another big plus is the use of original music and not covers (though GH is catching up in that regard).

[mikeszekely]

Another possible complaint (mainly for the youngsters) is the song list skews towards more classic songs which I don't mind, but my cousins had no clue about some of the bands and songs. Another big plus is the use of original music and not covers (though GH is catching up in that regard).

Not a complaint for me! I didn't care much for the song lists in Guitar Hero II or III (and while I did like Rocks the 80's, I wish there was less Limozeen and more Journey or something). Rock Band has the most variety and all around goodness since the original Guitar Hero. Even bands I don't normally like, like Garbage and Hole, I kinda liked the songs they picked for the game. The only song I flat out do not like is Sabotage... seriously, I'd like to find the guy who thought that the Beastie Boys off-key yelling was music and kick him in the nads a few times.

As for downloadable content, I'm a little disappointed that so much of it is covers, but there's still some stuff I definitely want to grab, especially the Metallica Pack, "My Sharona," and "Jukebox Hero." Still holding out for downloadable Def Leppard...

[areaseven]

Another possible complaint (mainly for the youngsters) is the song list skews towards more classic songs which I don't mind, but my cousins had no clue about some of the bands and songs.

Well, that's their first taste of real rock music. My only problem with the playlist is that there's too much grunge crap in it.

Oh yeah, and Rock Band doesn't have DragonForce. Of course, Guitar Hero III doesn't have Faith No More, so that makes it equal in my book.

Edited December 2, 2007 by areaseven

[areaseven]

And here's one of my favorite songs from Guitar Hero III:

Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"

[Apollo Leader]

Father sells son's Guitar Hero III for $9,000 after catching son smoking pot.

[Apollo Leader]

Robert Rock Band!

[KiriK]

i've just had the opportunity to play Rock Band and while i say it's pretty fun, i don't like the feel of the Rockband Guitar at all. It feels cheap and flimsy and doesn't have the solid feel as the GH guitars. Although it was pretty entertaining, i think i'll stick with my GH3 until they work out all the kinks in RockBand and then release Rockband 2.

Hopefully it'll come out for the Wii too.

[myk]

Isn't it possible to use the GH controller for RB? Also, wasn't there some sort of contraversy regarding either PS3 or 360 having programming to prevent using the "wrong" controller with either game?

Edit: I found some 'info on this after all...

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/rock-ban...ero-controller/

Edited December 17, 2007 by myk

[areaseven]

I just got GH3 for the PS2, and I'm very impressed with the Kramer Pacer controller. It looks and feels more solid than the old SG controller. Of course, it's not as good as the Les Pauls of the higher-end systems, but it's built way better than Rock Band's Fender Stratocaster controller.

[mikeszekely]

I just got GH3 for the PS2, and I'm very impressed with the Kramer Pacer controller. It looks and feels more solid than the old SG controller. Of course, it's not as good as the Les Pauls of the higher-end systems, but it's built way better than Rock Band's Fender Stratocaster controller.

Unless you happen to like Rock Band's Strat better, which I do. Yeah, the Kramer is better than the ol' SG, but both of them feel like those little little toy guitars. The Strat feels more like a guitar to me.

[areaseven]

Unless you happen to like Rock Band's Strat better, which I do. Yeah, the Kramer is better than the ol' SG, but both of them feel like those little little toy guitars. The Strat feels more like a guitar to me.

I agree that the Strat looks better, but it's not well-built compared to RedOctane's controllers. It seems that Harmonix spent too much time and money on the Rock Band controller's looks rather than its build quality.

[Apollo Leader]

If it wasn't for the issues with the Stratocaster (namely the strummer going bad), I not only like the look but the feeling and handling of it.

Speaking of which, two weeks ago I had the shipping box sent off to me. A week ago I got it and sent my 360 Stratocaster off. Come this Monday, I get another box... there's no return slip and the box inside is for the PS3 version, no instructions or anything! Also the slip I got seemed to indicate that I should have had the actual guitar inside! Anyway, I got hold of EA and I should hopefully have it by next week at the latest.

Now I got to decide what free game to get...

[areaseven]

What's in store for Activision?

Guitar Villain, Drum Villain, Keyboard Hero, Drum Hero and Band Hero

Also, what's with The Romantics and their problem with Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s?

Activision: 1, Romantics: 0

[areaseven]

Rock Band ( ロック・バンド )

Harmonix/MTV Games/EA Games, 2007

For the Sony PlayStation 3/Sony PlayStation 2/XBOX 360

Rated T (Teen) for mild lyrics

(Review based on the PS2 game only version. Tested using the Guitar Hero III Kramer Striker wireless guitar controller.)

Lowdown

If there was one thing Guitar Hero lacked over the past two years, it was competition. But all that has changed after Harmonix, Inc., co-creator of Guitar Hero, was acquired by MTV Networks. Using what they've learned from developing Guitar Hero, Harmonix took the guitar game formula and expanded it further by adding drums and vocals. The result: Rock Band

Gameplay: A- (Guitar/Bass Mode Only)

To the untrained eye, Rock Band just looks like a Guitar Hero clone. You simply match the frets and strum to score points and win the crowd. Experienced players, however, will tell you that this is a completely different animal, despite similar elements. Instead of buttons, the notes are represented by thin bars. This results in a slightly steeper learning curve than with Guitar Hero, as the notes and Target Bar appear to be smaller. The Crowd Meter, located in the left corner, is the game's version of GH's Rock meter. On the upper right is the scoreboard; and under it is the Star Meter, which rates your performance in real-time. The Streak Meter/Multiplier is located under the Target Bar.

The Energy Meter is located between the Target Bar and Streak Meter, and functions the same as GH's Star Power. Score Energy Notes, and your Energy Meter fills up. Once it's half-full, you can engage Overdrive, which doubles the points. However, unlike GH's Star Power, you can refill the Energy Meter while on Overdrive; thus, increasing your score further.

On Bass mode, you have Bass Groove, which turns the Guitar Track blue and maximizes the Multiplier from 4X to 6X. And with Overdrive engaged, you can score up to 12X. A nifty incentive in playing Bass over Guitar.

(At this time of review, I had no access to the Fender Stratocaster controller, so I am unable to review its features such as the Solo Fret buttons and the 5-way Effects switch. I also had no access to the drums or microphone.)

Missing in the PS2 version are the Create-a-character mode and the Rock Shop. Therefore, you don't earn cash after your performance and you don't have rock stars to call your own.

And unlike GH3, Rock Band does not use a storyline in Career Mode. It sticks to the simple formula of performing gigs as you go. And that's how most fans like it.

Graphics: B+

This is where Rock Band has the full advantage over Guitar Hero III. In contrast to GH3's cartoonish characters, the in-game musicians in Rock Band are realistically designed with a slight anime look. And you're not limited to one male and one female singer. For instance, a guy with glasses tackles the New Wave and Weezer songs. A bearded hippie performs Rush and other Progressive Rock songs, while a redneck with a long beard and a flannel shirt sings Molly Hatchet and other Southern Rock songs.

The layout is much cleaner than GH3. Since majority of the songs are from the '80s, the game incorporates '80s-themed colors and fonts. And even on the inferior PS2, the game looks really good.

Soundtrack: A

Guitar Hero III may have more songs, but Rock Band has more original songs on its playlist. Harmonix and MTV Games managed to secure the rights to use master tracks from five major recording labels. Like GH3 there's a song for everyone ranging from Classic Rock (i.e. "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who) to Hair Metal (i.e. "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi) to Punk Rock (i.e. "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones) to Progressive Metal (i.e. "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria). Fans longing to bang their heads to Metallica will be delighted to know that "Enter Sandman" is in the playlist.

Sadly, PS2 owners have no access to Downloadable Content that the PS3 and XBOX 360 versions have. At least the PS2 version has "Timmy & the Lords of the Underworld," which is probably the toughest song to beat.

The Bottom Line

If Guitar Hero III isn't entertaining enough for you, pick up Rock Band. It's enough fun to keep you at home during the Holidays.

Links

Official Rock Band Homepage

Reference

Wikipedia

Edited February 13, 2008 by areaseven

[areaseven]

"Timmy & the Lords of the Underworld"

Vocals

Guitar Mode (Expert)