Matthew Pellet over on CVG posted a very interesting preview piece regarding Guitar Hero: World Tour, and as someone who has yet to purchase Rock Band (long sob story), I have to say, that my initial skepticism regarding the upcoming game is starting to wane a bit.
One of the things that World Tour has going in its favor is the fact that the disc that you purchase will have over a hundred songs on it, and like Rock Band, it will rely on DLC to boost its track list. Activision has also stated that every song will be a master recording this time around, which means that they have probably been doing some serious wining and dining of late.
Over one hundred songs on the retail disc nonwithstanding, what makes me want to choose World Tour over Rock Band is the new “GHTunes” feature which not only allows you to create your own songs, design your own album coversand then upload your album for all the other gamers to download -but the mass of user created music that will become available to you.
Music Maker will allow you to create your said music, which is awesome because if you really want a certain song, oh say “Hells Bells” which you just KNOW Angus Young will refuse the gaming public (don’t get me started on him), you can pretty much bet your sullied soul that a user out there will create it for you. All for free mind you.
Matthew does, however, mention and inevitability, which may indeed pee in your bowl of Cheerios:
“How this system is policed is yet to be established. Monkeying with copyright material is a risky business and we’re not sure how kindly the music industry will look upon fan recreations of famous songs. With no vocal recording, tracks will never be identical to the originals, but it’s likely that Microsoft will have to clamp down on certain ‘pirates’ if complaints are lodged by the copyright owners. Cliff Richard, for one.”
What sick individual would want to download a Cliff Richard song is beyond me, but there people who enjoy going to “Furrie” conventions out there so I guess it would not surprise me if someone would want to download “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, “Where Do We Go From Here” or any of his cheesy duets.
To help gamers figure out what songs are new and what user generation content is the best of the best, GHTunes will be bundled with ranking systems to make sure nothing good is lost in a sea of user created malaise.
There has hardly been even a rumor let alone actual content written about Rock Band 2 other than “its coming”, therefore, EA and Harmonix could be implementing similar features like GHTunes and Music Maker into their next installment. However, until they decide to raise the bar, like Matthew, it looks as though World Tour is the direction I am heading. Plus, if I were to finally purchase Rock Band, the second version will already be out and I will have to sell my first born to be able to catch up with the rest of you in terms of downloads.
Thanks: CVG
6 Comments to Guitar Hero: World Tour Might Give Rock Band a Run for Its Money
by: Hawkeye
On June 19, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I will never turn my back on Harmonix and get some cheap knockoff instead. I’m sure Rock Band 2 will be just as good. Plus, it looks like you may just want to get Frets on Fire (which has been out for over a year now)or make your own songs in reality instead of this. Honestly, I still think Rock Band 2 will be the superior franchise for the next installments. Remember, people, we’re talking about HARMONIX.
by: da soc
On June 19, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I’d rather just stick with GH3 PC customs from scorehero and ones I make for frets on fire.
You’re going to be playing freaking MIDI files. How can that possibly be fun?
by: Stephany
On June 19, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Actually Hawkeye, I do have Frets on Fire, but the problem I have come across on there is that the user created content can be very buggy. On many songs, the only time you hear any sound at all is when you are strumming. If you stop, you do not hear any music at all. This is not to say that ALL of the user generated content is buggy, just that I have run into quite a bit of it.
by: Roxxer
On July 1, 2008 at 9:58 am
I agree with Stephany!
Loads of the customs for FoF are a bit weird on it I think.
There’s an awesome website I found that has a whole load of songs for FoF, they’re all from Rock Band & the Guitar Hero games. I’ve downloaded about 100 or so from this site and they’re all ripped from the actual game discs.
The site is called Geetar Freaks for those who are interested!
by: iKiddo
On July 1, 2008 at 10:54 am
Point is … They both suck and always will do … Crucifies great music as well.
by: Roxxer
On July 7, 2008 at 8:47 am
Bit harsh!
There’s plenty of people who think these games rock & they certainly get people interested in new music. For example, my daughter had never heard of The Ramones before the original GH game, now they’re one of her favourite bands.
And they don’t “crucify” music. Most of the songs use the artist’s original master recordings … All the developers do is emphasise the guitar. (If they do anything at all!)