Guitar Hero World Tour now rocking store shelves everywhere

This day has been a long time coming, but Activision's next iteration of the Guitar Hero cash cow franchise is officially available. Truth be told, the game (and requisite instruments) was sitting on a-many of store shelves yesterday, but there's nothing like a formal announcement to really push you to take a few hours from work and rock out this evening. There's a variety of bundles out there ranging from the game alone ($49.99 to $59.99), the game and a guitar ($89.99 to $99.99) and the full-on band kit ($179.99 to $189.99), so make sure you choose wisely when heading out to drop some dough.

[Boarderwoot @ Oct 27th 2008 11:35AM]

Sweet! now I just have to go out and buy three friends...

[Kyle @ Oct 27th 2008 11:41AM]

I'll be your friend...but, I always get to play guitar!

...and it'll cost you $29.99 an hour.

[Flaystus @ Oct 27th 2008 11:52AM]

I play Drums and only charge $15/hr

[avester @ Oct 27th 2008 1:33PM]

I can play the bass and cost only 5 beers an hour.

[dvsbstrd @ Oct 27th 2008 1:59PM]

I'll play keyboards, but we have to do "Take on me" at least once a set.

[hans @ Oct 27th 2008 3:18PM]

I'll play whatever you can, and free if you let me go naked every time we deploy star power.

[El Taco @ Oct 27th 2008 4:53PM]

I'll be your friend, 3 conditions though.

1.) Unlimited supply of Craisins

2.) I get guitar

3.) You must provide 20 square feet for me to rock out in.

[noyp @ Oct 27th 2008 8:40PM]

Eww! crasins

[Darren @ Oct 27th 2008 11:39AM]

If you'll bother reading the text, you'll notice that I spotted this on shelves yesterday, but Activision has formally announced (see Read link PR date, please) the shipment today.

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 11:47AM]

In other news, losers now lining up at cash registers everywhere.

[striggity @ Oct 27th 2008 11:49AM]

in other news...losers who think people who pretend to play instruments are losers...are also losers for pretending to be pro athletes and criminals.

[someonepleasekillme! @ Oct 27th 2008 10:09PM]

yea - why actually take the time to learn an instrument and have some pride when you can just push a couple of buttons on a plastic piece of crap that any 2 year old can play! I bet guitar hero groupie chicks are just as hot as real rock band groupies!

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 12:08PM]

Yeah yeah. I've heard this argument before. "All games are just pretend!"

Being a real criminal would result in dire life consequences. Actually picking up a guitar to play it instead of mashing colored buttons on a fake one while covering Slipknot and Queens of the Stone Age will most likely NOT. As a matter of fact, it may actually be COOLER than pretend. I can't travel to Vana'diel and slay dragons. I CAN pick up an instrument and play it.

In other other news, losers low ranking me begins now. Well, it began one post ago. But it continues now.

[kr @ Oct 27th 2008 12:13PM]

Why take the time to learn how to cut someone's throat and have some pride when I can just mash some buttons in Splinter Cell?

Unless you are willing to help me practice, someonepleasekillme!? You seem pretty willing already...

The point of video games is to have fun and do things that you couldn't do in real life. Does the fact that people like to play Guitar Hero etc. threaten your ability to play a real guitar?

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 12:18PM]

"The point of video games is to have fun and do things that you couldn't do in real life."

...you couldn't play guitar in real life?

I am going to go ahead and make the assumption that you don't have any fingers.

And regardless of any other arguments on why video games exist and who plays them and for what reason and all that shit, you just look like a god damn douchebag playing Guitar Hero. It's really that simple. It is THE most loser of all the video games besides World of WarCraft. Then again, I could be wrong about GH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZtyK9mX_OU

No, I'm not.

[kr @ Oct 27th 2008 12:22PM]

I can't play guitar because I have neither the time nor the money to invest in it, and I think it is safe to assume that my situation is not unique to just me. Also, I can't stand Guitar Hero, I think it is possibly the most boring game I have ever played, but I also can't stand arrogant assholes like yourself putting down others who enjoy a harmless activity.

[kr @ Oct 27th 2008 12:30PM]

Also:
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20070509

[whizack @ Oct 27th 2008 12:38PM]

That's pretty ignorant of you to say, many of the people I know play GH/RB as a social game and might also use it as a means to practice for the real thing while having fun with friends.

I personally play bass guitar and enjoy playing the bass on GH/RB, the concepts of rhythm are the same and it helps me work on my timing.

A friend of mine plays guitar and also plays guitar on GH/RB because it helps with his finger dexterity and gives him ideas for stuff to play.

Another friend of mine plays it for the vocals so he can practice for karaoke.

Playing a real instrument is a steep learning curve and a significant investment, while you have to pay upwards of 200 dollars for a rockband style game, you certainly aren't going to buy a decent guitar or drum set with amps for the same price and it's stupid of you to suggest that they're the same or that somehow one makes you a more capable musician.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 12:39PM]

stop teh pressez! someone plays real guitar, let me put my fuck-me pants on.

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 12:45PM]

Wow.

There's a lot of living room rockstars in this joint.

I guess I was wrong about it being for losers. Rock on, you demons.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 12:48PM]

atro, does playing "Brown Eyed Girl" at parties still get the bitches?

[Turkey @ Oct 27th 2008 1:09PM]

I play guitar in a band - I've been playing for years. I'm pretty good, I've been told - we play to crowds of 500+.
And I LIKE playing Guitar Hero, because it's FUN, and DIFFERENT, and I don't have a band in my living room to practice with the whole time. I have a friend who's a session guitarist. HE likes playing Guitar Hero III, for exactly the same reasons.

Why is it so hard to believe that people enjoy doing both? I have a car, but I still enjoy playing PGR. People play football in the park, but they still enjoy PES.

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 1:22PM]

@phanbouy

Only if beating Dragonforce on Guitar Hero still does.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 1:39PM]

guys, he's just helping you to be more cool. it's important to him. he's engadget's Member PR Attaché

[bobartig @ Oct 27th 2008 2:51PM]

@someonepleasekillme! "bet guitar hero groupie chicks are just as hot as real rock band groupies!"

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=136183215&albumId=1944153

...although, she's not a groupie, she actually plays the games.

[Muzko @ Oct 27th 2008 3:40PM]

@Atropos

Which one were you in the video you posted a link to? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZtyK9mX_OU

Haha..

[Atropos @ Oct 27th 2008 4:25PM]

@Muzko

The really cool one. Watch it again.

[Chuck @ Nov 7th 2008 11:58AM]

I guess people who are IN bands that play these games are losers too huh? Because it is not possible for someone who plays a real instrument to obtain any fun from a videogame version of it.

Contrary to your intelligent belief, a lot of guitar players actually find these type of games appealing for a reason. But you're the bigger man calling them losers since you hang out with the cool crowd.

[JL @ Oct 27th 2008 11:48AM]

FYI for PS3 owners who want to use the GHWT drums on Rock Band: Contrary to what Sony announced, they are NOT compatible. If you want to use GHWT drums on RB2, get the X360 version! No word yet from Harmonix about a patch if/when coming.

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94675

[Jeff @ Oct 27th 2008 11:50AM]

BTW, here's the link to Sony's false announcement:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/08/18/

[RC @ Oct 27th 2008 11:49AM]

Where the heck is the PDC liveblogging?

[Hellswraith @ Oct 27th 2008 11:57AM]

I went through three sets yesterday. I bought one set from Fred Meyers, got home, set it up, and noticed the red pad not working. Took it back to exchange it, but they didn't have anymore in stock. Ended up getting a refund.

Then I went over to Walmart, picked up a set, got home, set it up, and it was also having problems with the red pad. I took it back and exchanged it.

Now with my third set, I can actually play the drums, but it just doesn't feel right yet. I have heard there is supposed to be a sensitivity tweaking tool coming out. I hope that fixes that remaining weirdness.

[uskali @ Oct 27th 2008 12:00PM]

As a fake drummer I'll have to say that the drums are massively superior to rock band's. The style of play is much more fun and complex than rock band. The pedal is kind of cheesy though, but its quieter than the RB2 one, and if you live on a 3rd floor apartment that's sort of important i think. They are supposed to be compatible, maybe I can just plug in the RB2 pedal, though I haven't tried that yet.

As a mechanical engineer I'm kind of worried about the cymbals though. They are made of some sort of hard rubber, but I can imagine them tearing at some point... hopefully that wont happen. From what I hear you have to pay to ship broken stuff back :/

[Ghoti @ Oct 27th 2008 12:05PM]

The demo unit at my local Best Buy already had a "torn" orange cymbal (by 10:30 am, 30 minutes after opening). So your concerns may be warranted. That being said, we all know that store demos are subject to some pretty major abuse...

[whizack @ Oct 27th 2008 12:15PM]

The ION Drumrocker is not compatible, the drums are recognized as 5 lane drums and will throw a hit for both the yellow and green cymbals as yellow + orange and green + orange making it so you can never get a combo.

If you own the split strum bar wired bass guitar, be sure to switch the switch on the back of the guitar to RB1 otherwise your guitar will show up as a microphone.

[Ghoti @ Oct 27th 2008 12:22PM]

A guy from Neversoft posted on the Guitar Hero forums that they have a "Title Update" ready to go any day that will fix the Ion Drum Rocker issue (among other things). He actually mentioned that it might be available on the same day as the release, but apparently, that didn't happen.

[ZaxCG2 @ Oct 27th 2008 12:28PM]

Nintendo Wi-Fi Pay and Play. Wow that sounds exciting. :|

Anyways, I can't wait until this Christmas!!

[Doug @ Oct 27th 2008 12:47PM]

I picked up my full bundle at Walmart on Saturday night. For the most part it's a pretty good game.

As far as the song selection goes, there are WAY too many duplicates of songs in Rock Band 2. There are really a lot! That part is disappointing. Aside from that it looks like all songs now are master tracks, and the song selection is quite extensive. The songs duplicated from RB are considerably more difficult in GH, and seem to reflect more accurately the notes actually played in the song.

The guitar parts seem to be on the same par of difficulty as previous versions of GH, and more difficult than RB. I breezed through most of Expert on RB2, and so far I have gotten 38% through Expert on GH with only a little difficulty, but the songs are now getting tricky to pass first time through. I was about 65% through the RB game when I hit that point.

The new beginner mode is going to be a joke for most people because you don't use the frets (just strum), yet the notes come too frequently and inconsistently to be playable by young kids. I'm not quite sure what they had in mind there. Most anyone capable of playing beginner should be able to handle Easy as well.

The new instruments are a HUGE upgrade over what we have had access to in the past with either GH or RB. I really like the drums -- they are built so much better than the ones for RB, and the new layout and extra pad make a lot more sense. The new strum bar on the guitar and the much more solid connection between body and neck make the new guitar worth getting. This also marks the first time that GH has actually added any new functionality to the guitar parts of the game: there are now extended sustains, a new method for playing solos, and the bass part adds an open fret note like you'd find on a real bass (strum with no fret button). The touch strip is an interesting idea, and it does make playing the new solos easier, but it is difficult to know and feel which of the 5 "buttons" you are pressing.

GHWT adds the ability to create your own songs, but I don't see most people using this. I have had a lot of fun creating my own characters, though. The game lets you create up to 20 unique characters that you can play, along with their own guitars that are fully editable. It doesn't affect game play, but it does add to the overall fun of the game.

One complaint with the game... Songs are played in groups of 4 to 5 at a time ("gigs"), and you can't play any songs individually until you complete all of the songs in the same group. New gigs open up as you finish the ones you've already unlocked. Fortunately if you reach a song you can't pass as you progress through a group you can change the difficulty at any song. So you don't get stuck on a gig if you can only pass 4 of the 5 songs; just lower the difficulty for the last song and you can move on. But being forced to play all songs in a gig to play any of them individually does mean you'll have to spend at least 20-30 minutes at the game each time you fire it up. One odd thing is that there are some gigs that you have to spend money (in-game money, not real cash) to open up. If you've unlocked them, why do you still have to cough up cash to play them? And when would bands in real life pay money to play a gig?

Walmart had a bundle I hadn't heard about... they are carrying a two-guitar version of the game which includes the new guitar as well as one of the Les Paul guitars that was introduced with GH3.

[stephen @ Oct 27th 2008 12:58PM]

I bought them at 11am yesterday. At 10:04pm the red drum pad stopped working. No one in town has a replacement. I'm screwed until gamestop gets more in. Seems this is a more widespread problem as others are having the same problem

[holycow @ Oct 27th 2008 2:40PM]

Get a refund?

[stephen @ Oct 27th 2008 5:09PM]

gamestop won't refund it because i opened the game and they don't accept refunds on opened software. could only get a credit which would just get used to buy another copy

[mmendoza27 @ Oct 27th 2008 1:06PM]

Bought just the game yesterday, it's alright. Haven't tried the drums yet. I already had the Rock Band set, gave it to family and got RB2 set. I though the GHWT setlist was pretty cool, but I really couldn't get into the game that much. I'll keep it just for some of the songs. Just can't see myself playing it all the time like Rock Band. It's not as difficult it seems as GH3.

[john commenter @ Oct 27th 2008 1:54PM]

There are great songs, but also a boatload of songs that I have never heard before. C-sides so to speak. This is not a problem except on the vocal tour, which mixes the C-sides in with real songs. I was going to use it to unlock the whole list. That was a challenge (singing songs I'd never heard before), until I discovered the beginner mode, which is insensitive to pitch and very loose. So last night I started having the game sing to itself (mic next to speaker) . Works fine, so I'll unlock the whole thing tonight I guess by making the game wank while I read a book. Now there's something you can't do in Rock Band.

[InfinityPlusOne @ Oct 27th 2008 2:25PM]

I picked up the full band kit for PS3 on Sunday from a local EB Games. I got it set up and played it yesterday for a good 5 hours or so. So far, I've only played with the drumkit which is pretty awesome. I haven't experienced any issues with the red pad as others have posted about, but I had a weird issue where if I hit the red pad, the yellow cymbal would register at the exact same time even though I didn't hit it. I believe I have fixed this by loosening the screw caps on my cymbals. I have yet to touch the new guitar, but so far, I've heard that people have reported bad strum bars, or stuck buttons. Also, that the touch sensitive area is a useless gimmick. I'll have to play around with it to see if I concur, but I am just hoping that it works. The mic works fine except that it accurately reproduces what my singing voice sounds like (hint: it's awful).

[Confused @ Oct 27th 2008 4:03PM]

Can someone please fill me in? Which controllers can operate both which versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band? Both games are beyond sweet; but as I am finacially poor, I need to keep my investment to a minimum...

[Ghoti @ Oct 27th 2008 12:02PM]

Any of the instruments should work, Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2, or Guitar Hero World Tour. The Rock Revolution instruments should work too, but I don't think anyone seriously includes them in the list... :-)

If money is an issue, you can get some pretty good deals on the full Rock Band 1 kit. However, if you have a 360 or PS3, and you want to use the Rock Band instruments, I'd suggest buying the Rock Band 2 kit, then going to your local game rental place and rent Rock Band 1. Pop the disk in, let it do the game update, then go into the "extras" menu and export the songs. Pay the $5.00 (or 400 pts) and the system will then copy 55 of the 58 Rock Band 1 songs onto your hard drive. You can then take your rental back. This will give you 84 RB2 songs, 55 RB1 songs, 20 free DLC songs when they come out, plus 3-4 other free DLC songs, so a little over 160 songs for an investment of about $200 ($190 for the RB2 kit, $10 or so for the RB1 rental and export). If you wanted GH:WT, then just buy the stand-alone game for $60.

Note that you could also get the GH:WT kit, and if you still wanted to do the RB2/RB1 thing, buy the RB2 game stand alone, then do the RB1 rental/export thing I described above. You'd be out the same $260 approximately.

So, basically, if you're gonna do one or the other, RB2/RB1 gives you the best bang for the buck (and they have hundreds of tracks already available as DLC). If you want both games, then it's basically a matter of which instruments you like better.

[shiberving @ Oct 27th 2008 12:14PM]

http://www.joystiq.com/Instrument-Compatibility-Matrix/

[Basic @ Oct 27th 2008 3:31PM]

Just buy the Wii version right? They all use the Wii Remote. Has anyone had a problem interoperating GH and RB Wii controllers?

[Basic @ Oct 27th 2008 3:33PM]

WOW that's pretty asinine that the Wii based controllers don't work with every game. Read shiberving's link.

[Harrison @ Oct 27th 2008 4:20PM]

Love the commercials for this - A-Rod, Kobe, Michael Phelps, Tony Hawk!