Poll: Rhythm game nation - Rock Band or Guitar Hero 3?

So last night at midnight Harmonix -- former developers of the Guitar Hero series -- and MTV's new rock and roll simulator, Rock Band, had its first ever gigs. Of course, Guitar Hero 3 fans have been shredding for weeks, and probably aren't about to sell one faux guitar for another (especially if it's not even guaranteed to work). So which are you buying (or asking for)? What's that, you want our take? Ok, well, since you asked, when the talent (Harmonix) left the Guitar Hero series, we thought the new game suffered big time. Plus we're WAY more into the tracks on Rock Band -- c'mon, they've got Bowie and The Clash! -- but we kind of think the Guitar Hero Les Paul is better than the Rock Band Fender. Vote below in the battle of the bands, and may the rockingest win.

Poll: Rhythm game nation - Rock Band or Guitar Hero

Rock Band: I'm tattooing the my band's name on my arm.Guitar Hero 3: I'm totally going to reach a million points and learn to play acoustic.Um, both!How about you try a real guitar? You might actually meet some girls.Did someone say Dance Dance Revolution? No? Fine, nevermind.Games are boring, and so am I.Vote

[mushrooshi @ Nov 20th 2007 3:56PM]

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION FOREVER!

Damn, I hate the DDR games, they suck ass. DDR Extreme FTW!

[mushrooshi @ Nov 20th 2007 3:57PM]

CRAP!!!! I meant I hate the *new* games.

[StrangeBum @ Nov 20th 2007 4:46PM]

I was going to say....your comment was possibly the most self-hypocritical comment I had EVER read.

And Yay for learning how to play a real guitar!!!!

I like both games though to be honest!

[Mystic @ Nov 20th 2007 4:05PM]

Where's the option "I like to pick the stupidest answer and make the poll meaningless"? Which it seems a lot of your readers like to do.

[Lemmiwinks @ Nov 20th 2007 4:07PM]

They did. It was option 4.

[applefreak @ Nov 20th 2007 5:10PM]

hay, that is what I picked

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ Nov 20th 2007 4:17PM]

Rock Band baby, buying it TOMORROW! YEAAH!!! [I wonder if there's gonna be any turkey-related songs?]

[fred @ Nov 20th 2007 4:32PM]

I love how the majority of answers are for the real guitar. Uh huh, we all believe that you took the time to answer and aren't closet GH junkies. Nevermind the number of real musicians that play too. I mean don't get me wrong it's not like I don't know that I look like a huge nerd playing a little bitty plastic guitar, but then again it doesn't take a little plastic guitar for me to look like a nerd.

[shanoboy @ Nov 20th 2007 4:36PM]

I actaully do play real guitar and have steered away from these games simply because I feel like a loser playing fake guitar when I could be playing real guitar.

Guitar hero is fun as hell though and it doesn't require you to retune!

[MikeG @ Nov 20th 2007 4:48PM]

lol "i actually do play a real.." as if it's a rare occurance or something.

[scolen2 @ Nov 20th 2007 7:49PM]

I think it's a great training tool for keeping my left hand loose and traing my fingers to work indipendently. Oh, its also fun. ;-)

[Reader @ Nov 21st 2007 1:31AM]

I do like the comeback I read on engadget some time ago to counter the "play a real guitar" deal, it went (very vaguely):

Why don't we all just race real cars and shoot real guns too?

Seriously though, you never hear someone say how lame it is that you're not out racing real cars and just "pretending". People that can't have fun on Guitar Hero are insecure and superficial. I personally don't have the time to pick up an instrument, but being okay at guitar hero takes about an hour once every few months and it's fun.


I voted for Rock Band, I wanna try the drums.

[kyle allen @ Nov 21st 2007 3:36AM]

dont be haters you guys, shanoboy is right, guitar hero is fun, theres no denying that, but real guitar is even more so!!! seriously, try it!

[3v1lkr0w @ Nov 21st 2007 4:11AM]

I actually love these games. Im a huge GH 2 and 3 fan, and when i get Rock Band I will be a huge fan of it too. I play real bass, been playing for about 2 years now, and Guitar Hero actually helped me out. Not by showing me how to play...but helping me increase the spead at which my hand and fingers move.

[mike_p @ Nov 21st 2007 6:37AM]

@kyle: No one said playing a real guitar was NOT fun. But playing Guitar Hero certainly shouldn't make you feel like a loser especially if you CAN play guitar. It's just a game.

If you got better as a guitarist by playing this game, chances are you're not a very good guitarist, IMHO. Seriously, it's just 5 buttons and 1 "string". Ohh, a whammy bar and a couple of buttons too ;-)

[Justin @ Nov 21st 2007 8:10AM]

@Reader

Apparently you haven't spent much time on forums for racing sims. Real-life race car drivers play those too, sometimes even as a training tool, but they're a couple notches up on the "you've never done the real thing, and you really don't know what you're talking about until you do, so just go back to your game" scale. People who think Guitar Hero is for lazy people who don't want to take the time to learn to play the real instrument are not nearly as vocal.

(And no, I'm not one of them. I play guitar--badly--and have a music degree, but I can see the games being fun, and that's what really matters.)

[Dias @ Nov 20th 2007 4:42PM]

Guitar Freaks. Period.

[ThePengwin @ Nov 20th 2007 10:55PM]

My god, someone knows about that game?!?!?!

[James @ Dec 1st 2007 5:55AM]

Uh, damn right! I've been playing Guitar Freaks in the arcade for years before this Rock Band rubbish came out!

[Jay @ Nov 20th 2007 4:45PM]

I will not vote in a poll that chooses to list the ultimate sellout "we didn't make this for real music gamers, we made it to make an assload of money" games
GH - Guitarfreaks came first
RB - Guitarfreaks and Drummania session play came first
DDR - Stopped being good 5 years ago when they realaized they could sell more watered down PS2 ports than new arcade machines.

Add 1 vote for ITG, Pump, and IIDX

[hurricane @ Nov 20th 2007 5:05PM]

Tell it how it is, brutha!

[mushrooshi @ Nov 20th 2007 5:33PM]

Hell yea man!

[ThePengwin @ Nov 20th 2007 10:57PM]

DDR SuperNOVA was when DDR started going to shit

[SteveJ @ Nov 21st 2007 9:01AM]

Hmm, I really like Supernova, and Extreme 2 and DDRMAX2. I'm not a fan of ITG, but only because of the incredibly, irritatingly long load times.

As for this poll, I didn't vote, as the only game I have is Guitar Hero, which I only got a few days ago. I love it. I can't afford Rock Band and I don't really have room for it either.

[Jay @ Nov 21st 2007 12:20PM]

SteveJ

ITG PS2 loading times are bad because its running on a the Stepmania engine which had tovbe heavily modifed to run on the hardware.

Try playing in the arcade (were its meant to be played) or even the PC version.

[Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Nov 21st 2007 1:35PM]

Guitar Freaks was never localized, had only 3 buttons, and had a crummy track list. I don't think drummania ever had a console release. You can whine about what came first, but the current crop is head and shoulders above their predecessors.

[adamantypants @ Nov 30th 2007 5:38PM]

ITG FTMFW.

Also, play PIU Zero.

[James @ Dec 1st 2007 5:56AM]

beatmaniaIIDX should definitely be on here as the king of rhythm games.

[Zeus the God @ Nov 20th 2007 4:47PM]

"Guitar Hero 3: I'm totally going to reach a million points and learn to play acoustic."

LOL! Nice South Park reference. Kudos to you, Mr. Block.

[anonymouspimp @ Nov 20th 2007 4:51PM]

4-player drunken Donkey Konga action!

F...T...W...

[Lemmiwinks @ Nov 20th 2007 5:46PM]

Two times!

[Chris @ Nov 20th 2007 7:32PM]

yay, I second that notion!

[zoltek @ Nov 20th 2007 4:54PM]

I HATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE "dude go play a real guitar"

thats like saying, "dude put down madden and go play real football", "dude go find some alien friends and put halo down", "dude go sign up for the army and stop playing COD4"

just because people made a game out of your "craft" dont hate on it... noones trying to be a rockstar by playing guitar hero... shutup already

[jeff @ Nov 20th 2007 5:00PM]

"noones trying to be a rockstar by playing guitar hero"

Actually, thats not completely true.

http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/05/the_inevitable_.html

[akatsuki @ Nov 20th 2007 5:03PM]

Well given how uninteresting most sports games really are. It would be better to go out and play some real football.

[fred @ Nov 20th 2007 5:11PM]

Amen.

[Will @ Nov 20th 2007 11:09PM]

...of course, a serviceable real guitar is indeed *cheaper* than either of these games, and is a marketable and rewarding craft. Note that were you to play real football instead of Madden, or join the Army instead of COD-in' it up, you're performing radically different actions than the games - with the guitar games, you're essentially just sitting there holding a guitar-like object, instead of just sitting there holding a guitar, so you're comparisons are faulty.

That said, I prefer Rock Band.

[zoltek @ Nov 20th 2007 5:03PM]

haha as soon as i posted that i knew that would be brought up... but honestly... they will never be rockstars

[Hotwings @ Nov 20th 2007 5:03PM]

I say Rock Band. Guitar Hero is great but it's been out for awhile now, I want something new and fresh. Besides, I don't want something that everybody else has already, I like to stand out.

[NHAnimator @ Nov 20th 2007 5:21PM]

Well, buying Rock Band should make you stand out. I mean, I'm sure that nobody else will have that under their tree.

[FixtSux @ Nov 20th 2007 9:59PM]

GH3 will sell more, but the buzz will be with Rock Band...

[jaredgood1 @ Nov 20th 2007 5:16PM]

You know, I remember trying to take up karate after playing a bunch of fighting games. I was very disappointed. A: I didn't get to travel to any island locals for tournaments. B: The breasts didn't bounce nearly as much in real life. C: As much as I tried to jump into the air and torpedo towards my opponent yelling "Yegalea!", I just fell down a couple of feet later. and D: I got thrown out when I did the splits and punched my opponent in the nuts.

Based on that, screw playing a real guitar.

[Johan S @ Nov 20th 2007 5:21PM]

When are stringless guitars going to get popular and cheap? Having to press a string sucks. Why should we? When there is good touch and pressure sensitive technology. If people like the feel of an inverse groove ..there can be rubber-like strips on the guitar that act as string substitutes. And the strumming, well it can be done using theremin like tech so you dont even need strings for that.

The advantage is that it's easier on the fingers and finger tips. Ok fine .. the real reason I want it cheap is cause it's cool.

I estimate the manufacturing of a guitar to cost much less than the iPhone. Unless it puts fancy oled crap on the guitar.

[Josh A Cunningham @ Nov 20th 2007 5:33PM]

After playing guitar for a few months you get callouses so it doesn't hurt. I would never change my strings out for touch sensitive gayness!

[insertAlias @ Nov 20th 2007 5:35PM]

Damn you for bringing up the iPhone in a post that had *not one goddamn thing* to do with it!

As to your actual comment, that idea sucks. I like my acoustic guitar, thanks.

[Ethan @ Nov 20th 2007 9:42PM]

Analogue implementation will never be fully replaced. Human subtlety is simply more musical.

[Pirateinmymind @ Nov 20th 2007 5:39PM]

I would Just like to make it known that I only voted for GH due to the South Park reference. In all honestly I want both

[weasel C. @ Nov 20th 2007 6:05PM]

Wheres the option for frets on fire?

[alloneword @ Nov 20th 2007 6:06PM]

The fact that only GH is available on the Wii makes it an easy decision for me.

[Andrew @ Nov 20th 2007 7:27PM]

same here. I only need 58 more dollars until I can buy GH3.