Apparently, Guitar Hero is outselling Rock Band 6:1...

[j_dub_rules]

http://kotaku.com/5051496/activision-boss-says-guitar-hero-is-jesus-christ-in-videogame-form

But hey, if there were 6 Rock Bands a year like the 6 Guitar Heros a year, then yeah, it'd probably be even...

Oh and Bobby Kotick once again comes off as a giant douche....stupid Activision

[afterstasis]

what a nutsack...

[lemon76]

Money makes money. With the names involved in GH:WT activision is looking to completely destroy RB. Lets hope their dlc plan is poor.

[gosox333]

http://kotaku.com/5051496/activision-boss-says-guitar-hero-is-jesus-christ-in-videogame-form

But hey, if there were 6 Rock Bands a year like the 6 Guitar Heros a year, then yeah, it'd probably be even...

Oh and Bobby Kotick once again comes off as a giant douche....stupid Activision

Doesn't matter. If you compared GH3's sales to RB1's, I'm sure GH would still be outselling RB by at least 3-1. It's the name recognition. Sales-wise, RB didn't (notice the past tense) stand a chance. Now that RB has it's presence known out there, let's hope it gets some name recognition of it's own.

[vandalizemenow00]

If they have 2000 people doing note charts, why do they have such a small amount of DLC? I plugged in GH 3 today since my bass pedal and guitar strummer are both broke and it took me about 2 milliseconds to remember why I love RB so much.

[ffwarrior47]

http://kotaku.com/5051496/activision-boss-says-guitar-hero-is-jesus-christ-in-videogame-form

But hey, if there were 6 Rock Bands a year like the 6 Guitar Heros a year, then yeah, it'd probably be even...

Oh and Bobby Kotick once again comes off as a giant douche....stupid Activision

what.
a.
douche.

lol he looks like the fat rich kid from pee-wee's big adventure (or something like that)

[Ryuzaki]

Most of it is probably due to GH's far superior marketing to the Wii, the lower cost, and the pre-established reputation (of "Guitar Hero", not Activision itself). Also, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith probably played a role in this too. Rock Band 2, however, will have a much more fair fight against Guitar Hero: World Tour.

The guy is a complete *******, though.

[Mex]

There is no point in comparing the two sales wise. As other's mentioned GH has the brand recognition, all their products to date have been much cheaper due to being single instrument games and even GH:WT will benefit from people already having RB instruments.

It's sort of like saying "A pro baseball player can hit the ball 6 times as far as a little leaguer".

Is that really something to be proud of?

[j_dub_rules]

There is no point in comparing the two sales wise. As other's mentioned GH has the brand recognition, all their products to date have been much cheaper due to being single instrument games and even GH:WT will benefit from people already having RB instruments.

It's sort of like saying "A pro baseball player can hit the ball 6 times as far as a little leaguer".

Is that really something to be proud of?

Yes, yes it is ;)

In all seriousness, I agree GH has all the advantages, except they have these cocky douche executives who seem to think no matter what they put out, as long as Guitar Hero is somewhere on the product, it will sell...Can't wait for they day said douches are unemployed cause people are sick of having 9 Guitar Hero's a year

[Mystlyfe77]

It probably mostly has to do with the fact that GH is available on PC/Mac and is available in something like 40 countries while Rock Band is only available in a handful.

[Dalren]

If they have 2000 people doing note charts, why do they have such a small amount of DLC? I plugged in GH 3 today since my bass pedal and guitar strummer are both broke and it took me about 2 milliseconds to remember why I love RB so much.
Because making DLC for GH3 would be dumb when GH:WT is coming.

[Lone Bulldogs]

I don't think it anything to do with brand rep. GH has made at least 6 different games not to mention the handhelds and the cheaper price. I'm sure the stats are skewed to say that ALL the GH games outsold Rock Band. BTW I loved GH2, still think it's a great game.

[TheKrazyKatzzz]

I also don't think it has anything to do with band rep.

Rock Band/Harmonix is trying to dominate the "next generation" but is in part abandoning the current generation. The reason Activision does well in releasing 6/9/11tybillion "games" a year is because when it does so, it sells the *entire game* *in stores*. Rock Band's strength is it's downloadable content; six "rock band" games have come out online if you think of it that way, but dlc doesn't sell the same way discs do. Why? Ps2 users and Wii users (aka THE TWO BIGGEST MARKETS) have no meaningful access to the dlc. Dlc is doing well way beyond expectations, but it still pales in comparison to having discs in the stores where people can actually buy them for the systems they actually own. I, like many others, bought my next generation console because of Rock Band. Almost no one, when you think in terms of the market as a whole, has the capacity to do that.

[Mex]

Brand recognition definitely has SOMETHING to do with it. Do you know how many people I've spoken to that don't what Rock Band is? Then I say "Ok, you know Guitar Hero? Like that but with the full band"....then I get "Ooooohhhhhh".

How many casual players will know the difference between GH:WT and RB? How the songs are charted, how DLC is released for each, which has peripheral problems, etc. Not many.

The more hardcore gamers will know these things and make a decision based on the game itself.

Everyone else would just see GH:WT in the store beside Rock Band and buy the one they recognize thinking the other one (RB) is a cheap knock-off.

[Renrock]

Brand recognition definitely has SOMETHING to do with it.

Definitely. Most non-hardcore gamers and parents ask for Guitar Hero because it's the more established brand name , not to mention that lots of people think Guitar Hero the original game that Rock Band just ripped off.

I've played Rock Band in my store on numerous occasions , but 80% would just be wow'd that i'm playing GH.

It's like how all systems used to be called Nintendo by the non-gamers. It didn't matter if you were playing a Sega. It's the brand they know , and what they'll ask for.

[Mex]

Brand recognition definitely has SOMETHING to do with it.

Definitely. Most non-hardcore gamers and parents ask for Guitar Hero because it's the more established brand name , not to mention that lots of people think Guitar Hero the original game that Rock Band just ripped off.

I've played Rock Band in my store on numerous occasions , but 80% would just be wow'd that i'm playing GH.

It's like how all systems used to be called Nintendo by the non-gamers. It didn't matter if you were playing a Sega. It's the brand they know , and what they'll ask for.

That reminds me of when I was a kid and the parents would take us on road trips over the U.S. border into Buffalo to do some shopping. One year my parents bought me a game for my Genesis and on the way back into Canada the customs guy wanted to know if we'd bought anything. My mom let him know that we bought a "Sega Game" and he just gave us this blank look.

"Uhh...that like a Nintendo or something?".

Yes. Ha ha.

[Cpt. Overkill]

My cousin calls everything a Nintendo.

[ELDUDEARINO69]

Brand recognition definitely has SOMETHING to do with it.

Definitely. Most non-hardcore gamers and parents ask for Guitar Hero because it's the more established brand name , not to mention that lots of people think Guitar Hero the original game that Rock Band just ripped off.

I've played Rock Band in my store on numerous occasions , but 80% would just be wow'd that i'm playing GH.

It's like how all systems used to be called Nintendo by the non-gamers. It didn't matter if you were playing a Sega. It's the brand they know , and what they'll ask for.

Considering we both live in TN, & people are ******ed. I completely agree with everything you said lol. 100%. Normally I mention Rock Band & people know what it is, but they start naming off songs that aren't on the game. Then I correct them & tell them its on Guitar Hero, but they should play Rock Band. RB just has a better flow & songs. ;). And it seems every time I go into Gamestop I always get in a discussion how GH is better than RB just because it has better songs. That's a fun arguement.

Them: Oh its got so & so on it
Me: Can you ever pass the song
Them: I can on easy or medium, but I still like the song.
Me: You should try Rock Band. It feels more natural than Guitar Hero does ;).

But who knows if they'll ever play it

[pmpboarder]

But people are having more fun with Rock Band 100:1. I prefer our odds.

[macdaddy3598]

we have close to 2000 people just dedicated to the Guitar Hero note tracking

Wow. There's a quote. 2000 people and they can't get a product out more often than every 4 months?

I hope they sell more than RB... Cause they have about $80,000,000/yr worth of paychecks to sign.

[afterstasis]

Wow. There's a quote. 2000 people and they can't get a product out more often than every 4 months?

I hope they sell more than RB... Cause they have about $80,000,000/yr worth of paychecks to sign.

exactly.
6:1 in sales doesn't look so good if it's 10:1 in paid staff members, and that's not taking DLC into account.

[Tunesimah]

It's ironic that Harmonix is such a victim of their own success...

Does this 6:1 business make Rock Band like an indie label or something...

[killer_roach]

Honestly, Activision is kinda becoming the Infogrames of music gaming.

For those who don't know, French publisher Infogrames years back bought the shell of the intellectual property of Atari, then changed their name to Atari, hoping to market the name to sell their product in nothing more than a naked cash grab that had nothing to do with the Atari of old.

Hmm... where does that sound familiar from?

[Magnet]

First off, that quote is extremely nonspecific. "We're outselling 6:1." What's "we're"? Guitar Hero 3? GH:A? GH:OT? All Guitar Hero games? Is it referencing the last week in sales? The last month in sales? The duration of the entire Guitar Hero franchise? Because if it's the entire franchise, that's not a terribly impressive number. That includes four Guitar Hero games on many different platforms before Rock Band was even on the market.

By the way, it was nice to give that figure just after RB2 hit the market, before they have time to factor in initial sales of that game into their statistics.

Finally, note the omission of DLC stats in his quote. Rock Band downloads: currently over 21 million. Guitar Hero downloads: currently over 20 million. So much for dominating the category.

[killer_roach]

Finally, note the omission of DLC stats in his quote. Rock Band downloads: currently over 21 million. Guitar Hero downloads: currently over 20 million. So much for dominating the category.

To say nothing of how many of GH's 20 million downloads were the freebies... my guess is they amount to half, if not more, of that :)

[chillzatl]

nonsense, Guitar Hero:Aerosmith is a flop.

VGChartz.com is all you need to use to figure out that since Rock Band was released, it has pretty much either outsold GH3 or been neck and neck with it. He's just blowing smoke.

[sweet-t310]

2000 people dedicated to Guitar Hero note tracking...and they're still overcharted as sh*t?

I've lived in 3 different markets since RB came out, and each time I meet someone who learns I have RB, I get a "WHOA! Can I come over and play!??!"....If I do have people over and they see the Guitar Hero III case collecting dust in the corner of my tv stand, I've never had anyone want to play. I would love market research to be done and to look at the age of people purchasing these games. If you found research from ages 16 and under, I am willing to bet that those numbers are even more skewed, closer to even 15:1, based on parents unwillingness to pay $180 for a full RB set, but would shell out $90 for GH. Going from say ages 21 and up, I am guessing it's close to even across the board.

[CaptainPasty]

nonsense, Guitar Hero:Aerosmith is a flop.

VGChartz.com is all you need to use to figure out that since Rock Band was released, it has pretty much either outsold GH3 or been neck and neck with it. He's just blowing smoke.

Where do you get that? According to VGChartz.com here are the Rock Band numbers:

ROCK BAND
=====================================
XBOX360 - 1.83m - Last Updated: Feb 21 2008
PS3 - 0.77m - Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008
Wii - 0.45m - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2008
PS2 - 0.61m - Last Updated: Dec 19, 2007
=====================================
TOTAL: 3.66m

GUITAR HERO III
=====================================
Wii - 3.21m - Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008
XBOX360 - 3.39m - Last Updated: Sep 3, 2008
PS3 - 1.54m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
PS2 - 4.24m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
=====================================
TOTAL: 12.38m

Ratio: 12.38 / 3.66 => 3.4 : 1

That is only for GH3 vs. Rock Band, not including Aerosmith or On Tour. Activision is atleast doubling them on the 360, and Harmonix is missing out on a huge market on the Wii.

[Bullseye]

Does anyone really care about this? As mentioned earlier the 6:1 figure is fairly vague and has no bearing on which franchise is more successful. GH will always have the name recognition, as it pretty much redefined the whole rhythm game genre, so people see any game w/ plastic guitars and call it Guitar Hero.

Rock Band, on the other hand, is setting a whole new standard of game support and endless add ons. While the sales results are not as visible, the quality of game is. So let these people pat their own backs and grind their products and fans into the ground. I feel that EA and HMX are treating me as a customer pretty fairly by providing a $60 game upgrade that is fully compatible with my original investment. GH has alienated me with an inferior quality product, lack of DLC and instrument incompatibilities. I'm sure their 6:1 sales ratio will more than make up for the one sale they lost in me.

[macdaddy3598]

First off, that quote is extremely nonspecific. "We're outselling 6:1." What's "we're"? Guitar Hero 3? GH:A? GH:OT? All Guitar Hero games? Is it referencing the last week in sales? The last month in sales? The duration of the entire Guitar Hero franchise?


No no... he means Activision. Activision as a whole is outselling Rockband :D

Seriously though, who would believe GH's target audience even cares about a quote like this? I don't think this statement does much more than piss off hardcore fans of RB and stroke the ego of the GH hardcore fans.

In retaliation, an MTV Games exec should put out a press release: "Rockband has 2:1 music content as all of [our competition] products combined... On 1 game disc. Oh yeah, and for music industry connections... we're MTV."

[afterstasis]

ROCK BAND
=====================================
XBOX360 - 1.83m - Last Updated: Feb 21 2008
PS3 - 0.77m - Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008
Wii - 0.45m - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2008
PS2 - 0.61m - Last Updated: Dec 19, 2007
=====================================
TOTAL: 3.66m

GUITAR HERO III
=====================================
Wii - 3.21m - Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008
XBOX360 - 3.39m - Last Updated: Sep 3, 2008
PS3 - 1.54m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
PS2 - 4.24m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
=====================================
TOTAL: 12.38m

Ratio: 12.38 / 3.66 => 3.4 : 1


why are the rock band numbers not updated nearly as recently as the GH3 numbers?

[Colt_Steele]

Train kept a rollin......

Coke outsells Pepsi, but I still prefer Pepsi's taste. Doesn't mean I won't drink Coke, but sales do not dictate my taste preferences.

[Mystlyfe77]

nonsense, Guitar Hero:Aerosmith is a flop.

VGChartz.com is all you need to use to figure out that since Rock Band was released, it has pretty much either outsold GH3 or been neck and neck with it. He's just blowing smoke.

Now you're just blowing smoke. Over similar launch periods, GH3 absolutely dominates Rock Band. While GHA is a distant 3rd, it's only been out 1/4 as long (and is actually doing better than RB week-for-week on PS2 and dead-even on Wii).

On 360. (http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Guitar+Hero+III%3A+Legends+of+Rock+-+X360&reg2=All&game2=Rock+Band+-+X360&reg3=All&game3=Guitar+Hero+Aerosmith+-+X360&weeks=50)
On PS3. (http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Guitar+Hero+III%3A+Legends+of+Rock+-+PS3&reg2=All&game2=Rock+Band+-+PS3&reg3=All&game3=Guitar+Hero+Aerosmith+-+PS3&weeks=50)
On PS2. (http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Guitar+Hero+III%3A+Legends+of+Rock+-+PS2&reg2=All&game2=Rock+Band+-+PS2&reg3=All&game3=Guitar+Hero+Aerosmith+-+PS2&weeks=50)
On Wii. (http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=Guitar+Hero+III%3A+Legends+of+Rock+-+Wii&reg2=All&game2=Rock+Band+-+Wii&reg3=All&game3=Guitar+Hero+Aerosmith+-+Wii&weeks=50)


GH3 has sold 1.54 million more units on the 360, .76 million more units on the PS3, 3.62 million more on PS2, and 2.76 million on Wii. It has MASSIVE leads on Wii and PS2, and about double sales on PS3 and 360.

[Colt_Steele]

GH3 has sold 1.54 million more units on the 360, .76 million more units on the PS3, 3.62 million more on PS2, and 2.76 million on Wii. It has MASSIVE leads on Wii and PS2, and about double sales on PS3 and 360.

Those figures do not lie, but I wonder how many of us would not have bought GH3 originally if we'd known how it turned out. Probably not enough to make an impact in the standings per se, but I know I certainly would have skipped it had I known how terrible it was going in.

[loser21]

2000 people working on note charting? why does it suck then?

[illgreen]

Plus, consider the fact that when GH was created, HMX was in charge of it. Most people out there don't know this. RB is a far superior game.
Hopefully RB2 will get the marketing it deserves.

[MooTrain]

Those figures do not lie, but I wonder how many of us would not have bought GH3 originally if we'd known how it turned out. Probably not enough to make an impact in the standings per se, but I know I certainly would have skipped it had I known how terrible it was going in.

I bought it on 360 with gift cards after Christmas... but I got it for the guitar for Rock Band.

GH3 was such a mess in every way imaginable. From the product placement (I wouldn't be surprised if in GH:WT your first venue is a Starbucks), to the horrendous note charts (I'm playing guitar, now I'm playing bass, now I'm playing the organ, now I'm playing bass again at the same time as guitar), to the terrible difficulty curve, to the WTF achievements (turn off the sound and play; Play with a standard controller!) to the fact that they have a bunch of douchebags working for them (when's the last time you heard a Harmonix employee talking smack about the competition?). They know they're the inferior product, and that's why they're acting like a schoolyard bully.

[MooTrain]

2000 people working on note charting? why does it suck then?

2,000 McDonalds Employees trying to make a cake will not make as good a cake as one gourmet chef.

[freakonate]

2,000 McDonalds Employees trying to make a cake will not make as good a cake as one gourmet chef.

:D

Best. Quote. Ever.

[BrownSurpriseBassists]

the giutar hero world tour has such ****ty songs. me and my bf were going to buy it and then realized that theres only a few good songs that isnt worth the buy.i think buying it would be a waste of money.

[killer_roach]

2,000 McDonalds Employees trying to make a cake will not make as good a cake as one gourmet chef.

In defense of the moron squad at Activision, while that may be true, you'll also get a huge amount of "good enough" results...

[Bullseye]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MooTrain View Post
2,000 McDonalds Employees trying to make a cake will not make as good a cake as one gourmet chef.

In defense of the moron squad at Activision, while that may be true, you'll also get a huge amount of "good enough" results...

More appropriately, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference or care...cake is cake.

Still doesn't answer the question of with that many chefs, why so few cakes?

[MooTrain]

More appropriately, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference or care...cake is cake.

Still doesn't answer the question of with that many chefs, why so few cakes?

One thing large organizations don't understand about software development - when you throw MORE people at a problem, you don't get linear results. If (for example) five people can create the note chart for one song a week, fully tested, then fifteen people should get 3 a week, and five hundred people should get 100 a week.

Unfortunately, what you do get is more bickering about minor crap that doesn't matter such as 'should that single note be a yellow note or an orange note'? And you also get 'There's nothing to do in the first 2 minutes of Baba O'Riley. Can we chart the organ?'

(Note: I'm also assuming that of those 2,000 people, many are QA.)

[Colt_Steele]

(Note: I'm also assuming that of those 2,000 people, many are QA.)

I'm also assuming that that figure includes the guy who sweeps the floor of the test rooms, the guys who helped bring extra tvs in there, the pizza delivery staff, etc. :p

But really, yeah, those 2k of human bodies must be in a frenzy working on stuff that they will dish out once World Tour is on the streets. I think that's the real secret they've been hiding....the full setlist was just a swerve.

[Ferocious Q]

DAMN GH!! i hate them soo.

brian bright haunts my dreams. :eek:

[Maggot_Brain]

It takes 2000 people to massively overchart everything!

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

Well, when you whore out a franchise you need a couple thousand people to help you with it.

[Maggot_Brain]

Where do you get that? According to VGChartz.com here are the Rock Band numbers:

ROCK BAND
=====================================
XBOX360 - 1.83m - Last Updated: Feb 21 2008
PS3 - 0.77m - Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008
Wii - 0.45m - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2008
PS2 - 0.61m - Last Updated: Dec 19, 2007
=====================================
TOTAL: 3.66m

GUITAR HERO III
=====================================
Wii - 3.21m - Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008
XBOX360 - 3.39m - Last Updated: Sep 3, 2008
PS3 - 1.54m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
PS2 - 4.24m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
=====================================
TOTAL: 12.38m

Ratio: 12.38 / 3.66 => 3.4 : 1

That is only for GH3 vs. Rock Band, not including Aerosmith or On Tour. Activision is atleast doubling them on the 360, and Harmonix is missing out on a huge market on the Wii.

Good info. Also: You're comparing the GH3 standalone or guitar bundle against the whole Rock Band 1 bundle. What I really want to see is how RB2 and WT stack up. I really wish RB did a better job with Wii and PS2.

[rocketmanpwns]

I would love to punch that guy in the face

[sphere]

Well the overcharting makes sense now, each of those 2000 people charting needs to put at least one note in each song ;)

[ghandibob77]

Also probably helps that they seem to have a way better marketing department, at least here in the UK. Went to the pictures last night (to watch Tropic Thunder), and they were advertising GH:WT in there with the trailers already. Kinda sucks, when i know RB is the better product, but even disregarding the extra cost, RB is gonna get trounced when World Tour is released. In fact, i'd be suprised if i'd seen more than one advert for RB over here, in all the time the first one's been out...

[chillzatl]

Where do you get that? According to VGChartz.com here are the Rock Band numbers:

ROCK BAND
=====================================
XBOX360 - 1.83m - Last Updated: Feb 21 2008
PS3 - 0.77m - Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008
Wii - 0.45m - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2008
PS2 - 0.61m - Last Updated: Dec 19, 2007
=====================================
TOTAL: 3.66m

GUITAR HERO III
=====================================
Wii - 3.21m - Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008
XBOX360 - 3.39m - Last Updated: Sep 3, 2008
PS3 - 1.54m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
PS2 - 4.24m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
=====================================
TOTAL: 12.38m

Ratio: 12.38 / 3.66 => 3.4 : 1

That is only for GH3 vs. Rock Band, not including Aerosmith or On Tour. Activision is atleast doubling them on the 360, and Harmonix is missing out on a huge market on the Wii.

I should have clarified. I know it's winning by a large margin overall and on the Wii, but on other platforms, that simply is not the case. After its initial surge on the 360 and ps3, it has performed at the same level, slightly below or slightly above RB on a week to week basis. Considering the price difference between the two, that's impressive.

[Gatorguy91]

2,000 people and it's still horrible?

ROFL.

[Metal_Man]

Where do you get that? According to VGChartz.com here are the Rock Band numbers:

ROCK BAND
=====================================
XBOX360 - 1.83m - Last Updated: Feb 21 2008
PS3 - 0.77m - Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008
Wii - 0.45m - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2008
PS2 - 0.61m - Last Updated: Dec 19, 2007
=====================================
TOTAL: 3.66m

GUITAR HERO III
=====================================
Wii - 3.21m - Last Updated: Aug 22, 2008
XBOX360 - 3.39m - Last Updated: Sep 3, 2008
PS3 - 1.54m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
PS2 - 4.24m - Last Updated: Apr 5, 2008
=====================================
TOTAL: 12.38m

Ratio: 12.38 / 3.66 => 3.4 : 1

That is only for GH3 vs. Rock Band, not including Aerosmith or On Tour. Activision is atleast doubling them on the 360, and Harmonix is missing out on a huge market on the Wii.




WOW

People can be real suckers

i mean look at guitar heroes soundtrack it's nothing compared to rock bands
but yet guitar hero is selling it's ass off i mean.....

oh wait it's guitar hero 3 compared to rock band 1 without dlc
...

nevermind

[HiAperture]

This is definitely a case of better marketing and brand recognition over gameplay, aswell as prices.

Sure guitar hero sells more, it has twice as many products out on the market, it has marketed MUCH better to the wii market, it has a recognized name (most buyers [especially on wii] don't have a clue who harmonix is), and obviously costs a lot less.