Admitting my mistake, I was wrong and HMX was right!

[Razer151]

Social D said it best “I was wrong.” I complain occasionally, like we all do from time to time. I even publicly stated I think HMX may have finally met their match with Guitar Hero World Tour. But what looked good on paper didn’t necessarily translate to reality and thus after reading ign’s review, amongst others, that stated GH:WT didn’t measure up to Rock Band (and we are talking Rock Band 1 not even 2) and having played it myself, I must say, congrats HMX on wooping their butts in this game wars. We complain a lot but we don’t give you credit enough.

I must say as my DLC cost began adding up and my investment in gear went up I started worrying I chose the wrong side, I’m glad I was wrong to worry.

P.S.- I still stand by my comment that on disc tracks were better on GH:WT then Rock Band 2 but that seems a stupid point I guess with the killer playlist I have from hand picking DLC. :p

P.P.S.- it’ll still be interesting to see if the masses know which one is a better game and which outsells which this holidays.



Did anyone else think GH:WT would have higher average review ratings then Rock Band?

[exittoanywhere]

no i never thought it woul be reviewed bette at all.

gh is just too cartooney and activision/neversoft/ whoever screwed that game up.
harmonix keeps it classy.
been with them since frequency.

[elykatupac]

i agree, since i got rock band i have turned my shoulder on GH, i find rock band easier, more enjoyable, and overall way more fun

[ZodiacKilla707]

You shouldnt have NEVER doubted HMX!I will always be the first to say RB is the SH*T!!!!

[OnAFriday]

I knew from the gate I would like RB2 better than GH:WT. I am kinda surprised though that the game is getting such mediocre reviews, especially for Wii owners. Also, I am really disappointed in the band interface... it looks really bad! Guess GH should have stuck to the guitar only game this time around. I am really glad I decided to hold out for RB2 on wii, despite have NO idea when it is actually gonna drop! =)

[Flawless]

Surprised anyone on these boards could admit fault.

Nice job.

I never had any doubts, the only thing I was worried about was the music creator since so many of my fellow gamers were excited about it. Luckily, it looks like I called it right.

[ZigZag2005]

I'm sure GH:WT will outsell RB2. But that in no way infers which is ultimately the superior product. Of that, there can be little doubt. :)

[Razer151]

Hehe, Apples your quoted line was the exact line I remembered when I typed this post.

My apologies!

[Fennz]

GHWT had a lot to prove to compete with RB2 and they failed. I thought they could have pulled it off, but they didn't.

[Der_Lex]

I was also wrong, and HMX was right. It is indeed not possible to fit more than one drumstick in each nostril.

On the other hand, it did improve my drum rolls a little.

[chico76]

Wow... we're only in Day 2 of GH:WT's market existence and we're already convinced of the end-game for the battle between RB2 & GH4? I think we've got to get through the holiday season and see how well they both fare...

[Apples]

Hehe, Apples your quoted line was the exact line I remembered when I typed this post.

My apologies!


You have nothing to apologize for, I just read your comment and thought of my own. Figured it was relevent to the topic. ;)

[FickAwesome]

Wow... we're only in Day 2 of GH:WT's market existence and we're already convinced of the end-game for the battle between RB2 & GH4? I think we've got to get through the holiday season and see how well they both fare...

Actually, most of us are conceding that GHWT will probably outsell RB but as we've seen over and over, higher sales does not a better game make.

[Der_Lex]

You have nothing to apologize for, I just read your comment and thought of my own. Figured it was relevent to the topic. ;)

Translation: Apples likes to brag. ;):D

[Apples]

Translation: Apples likes to brag. ;):D

Not so much bragging as saying "Ha ha. I was right. I called it six months ago."

That's more of a gloat than a brag. And there's some pretty serious distinction between the two. :p

[mememe]

Well duh, they're working on 1 million gh games at once, you honestly expected them to make a better game than HMX? HMX = musicians + businessmen, Activision = businessmen. Oh and music creator has been shot since it was announced, you can't even make a song longer than 3 minutes or more than 2000 notes. It sucks that no one who's buying the game knows that. I said it a million times that it would suck and it always will. HMX can relax and stop releasing dlc now at least with no competition.... Damn.... I was hoping gh would force them to continue this awesome dlc streak....

[Bearclaw]

I would have though GHWT would be comparable to Rock Band 2, but it doesn't even hold a candle to Rock Band 1. I was really disappointed, but at least I know I put most of my eggs in the right basket.

[baldassbat]

I love HMX and RB, but I still doubt the war is over. The holiday season will prove a lot. I don't doubt that RB is a superior game, but superior sales for GH could still hurt HMX badly.

GH has brand recognition and can bank off of that. GH is also committed to releasing more games more often. If they make all the games and DLC cross-compatible in the style of RB they may have a stronger marketing edge.

Also, WT and RB2 have not been out long enough to truly evaluate the quality of the new peripherals. We know RB1 kits had quality problems (though I just barely wore out the blue pad on my first drums). I'm hearing of quality problems on WT drums but it may be overblown.

Regardless of reviews, this war is not over by any means. Very few gamers actually read reviews. And some of us who do will often ignore them if we expect the game will be great anyway. Hell, sometimes reviews are wrong. The Force Unleashed got tons of praise but was really just a mediocre ahck n slash with lightsabers.

[PuckJunkie]

Well duh, they're working on 1 million gh games at once, you honestly expected them to make a better game than HMX? HMX = musicians + businessmen, Activision = businessmen. Oh and music creator has been shot since it was announced, you can't even make a song longer than 3 minutes or more than 2000 notes. It sucks that no one who's buying the game knows that. I said it a million times that it would suck and it always will. HMX can relax and stop releasing dlc now at least with no competition.... Damn.... I was hoping gh would force them to continue this awesome dlc streak....

Point of clarification, for my own education here, not trying to correct you. Is Harmonix analagous to Activision here? I thought that Red Octane was the developer, like Harmonix, and the game was published by Activision, which would be like EA. Is that wrong?

[jeccaneko]

I had lost faith in Activision after GH3. So much so that after only a couple of weeks of owning it I sold it. Fairly recently, within the last few months, I decided I wanted to give GHWT the benefit of the doubt. It wouldn't replace Rock Band, but I thought it would be fun to play with the song creator, maybe see if I can make characters a bit better in the character creator, and have fun with the non-Rock Band songs. Then Brian Bright came along and started acting like a jerk. Then people reported that the Ion Kit isn't really compatible. Now I hear other features aren't as good as I would've hoped.

I'll still give it a rental, but yeah... I don't expect to be impressed or to buy it.

I have too much invested in Rock Band between DLC and peripherals that no matter what Rock Band won't be replaced. If I had bought it, it would've just been to mess around with, Rock Band being my more serious rocking out game.

[BYC]

HMX is owned by MTVGames. Red Octane is owned by Actvision. Neversoft is owned by Activision.

HMX developed Rock Band and Rock Band 2. MTVGames is the publisher. EA is the distributor.

Neversoft developed Guitar Hero World Tour. Activision is the publisher and distributor.

MTVGames seems to let HMX do their thing more than Actvision with Neversoft. This is partly due to profits as Guitar Hero still makes more money than Rock Band. Activision obviously wants to milk the franchise, but they do want to make a good game. It seems like Neversoft is hiring programmers, while HMX hires musicians and programms (or musicians who can program). We can see it the in charts. Interface is more puzzling since being a musician doesn't necessarily give a better idea of user interface. Regardless, it's clear that HMX makes a better product.

Remember, sales does not equal quality. If so, all those boy bands and young hot girl popstar are some of the best musicians of all time. At the same time, just because something sales well, it doesn't mean the game/music/whatever sucks. Sometimes reviews reflect the sales, sometimes it doesn't.

[ClassicCarraway]

Everyone keeps saying GH:WT will blow away RB2 in sales, but I'm not so certain. GH:3 did do this to RB1, but there are a number of factors that were completely different this time around.

1) Point of entry price difference. RB2 and GH:WT cost about the same now, instead of $90 for GH3 and $180 for RB1. This makes a huge difference when it comes to "impulse buys" during the holidays.

2) Release date and shipping numbers. GH3 was released over a month before RB1, so alot more units were shipped by the time the Black Friday sales rolled around. Stock should be a bit more even this time out (at least in the States, GH:WT will kick RB's ass overseas)

3) Advertising/name recognition. The RB2 (and now RB:AC/DC) commercials are on all the time. I've only seen a couple of GH:WT commercials one-two times (though the last one was good). Rock Band has had a year to build up its brand name and good press, and has done so successfully. GH has proceeded to oversaturate the market with products considered by and large as mediocre, which has been known to backfire (see Sonic the Hedgehog?).

4) Returning fanbase. I'd say it's safe to guess that around 85% or more of the RB user base purchased GH3 before or right after they got RB. Heck, that number may be much higher. I think it's also a safe thing to say that this year, the number of consumers who purchase both games will be significantly lower.

So, I think the domestic numbers for RB2 and GH:WT will be very close, possibly in RB2's favor. However, once you throw in the overseas numbers, GH:WT will probably take a slight lead.

[Thom1234]

I haven't got either RB2 or GH:WT, although I'll have both by the end of November (I WILL, won't I HMX?) Judging from the several videos on YT, I think:
-RB's characters/character creator >> GH:WT's
-GH:WT's venues >>> RB2's (those WoW griffins are pretty cool)
-RB guitar charts >>> GH:WT's (although NS has gotten better at charting, they still have nothing on HMX.)
-GH:WT bass >>> RB2's (The open notes are a fantastic idea and make the bass more fun to play.)
-RB drums gameplay > GH:WT's (Hitting both cymbals to activate OD is annoying, although sustained notes are a nice touch.)
-RB Vox >> GH:WT's (The vox display for GH:WT is ugly and isn't as intuitive as RB's)
-RB Instruments >>>>> GH:WT's (Seriously considering canceling my pre-order: No bass pedals, terrible pads, faulty touch strips/ strummers; W-T-F?)

Overall, I'm very embarrassed at my dissing of HMX :o Keep up the great work!

[Bosco32]

I would have though GHWT would be comparable to Rock Band 2, but it doesn't even hold a candle to Rock Band 1. I was really disappointed, but at least I know I put most of my eggs in the right basket.

I want to be fair because I haven't had a chance to get deep into the game yet, but so far that is my opinion as well. More than being disappointed, I'm kind of shocked that it's not a better game than it is.