[mrmicp]

I've been meaning to get one of these for a while but as christmas is coming the wife has asked if I would like rockband for the Wii. So whats the best in terms of quality of the equipment and game play?

I also have a PS3 but really want to get this for the Wii as I really only use my PS3 for media but if it's a lot better on the PS3 then I may have to go for that..

EDIT: Just to confuse matters i've also just seen band hero :-0

[AfxTwn]

Ah the eternal question I think it's safe to say that most people say that GH has the best quality equipment (especially the drums) but both games are fantastic. I own all of the GH series so far and have played on different consoles, I also have RB2 and The Beatles RB.

The songs on RB are a little easier in my opinion but they actually stick to the beat/rhythm of the song more than GH does in my opinion. Having said that, GH has a huge set list of songs to choose from and is a little more challenging. Both games are hugely enjoyable.

I think if you're gonna take the plunge and buy a band set (guitar, drums and mic) then go for either GH5 or GH: World Tour (you may be able to pick up a bargain in the pre-owned section of various games shops) and then buy RB2 on it's own as it works with the GH instruments.

As I said, both games have large song lists which can be extended by buying/downloading extra tracks online.

I'm sure whicehever you decide on, you'll love playing it.

[mrmicp]

Cheers AfxTwn, so I will go for the Guitar hero equipment and as you say purchase rockband at a later date! Just out of curiosity is the rockband perphials compatible with Guitar Hero?

[Amph]

RB peripherals on Wii NOT compatible with GH games. Click here for more info.

I've gotta echo Afx on this one, as someone in pretty much the same situation as he. The GH drums are so good. There were a lot of complaints regarding reliability but mine haven't been too bad. Wire came loose on one pad but soldered that back on myself (i have nearly no idea about electonics) and worked fine ever since. One thing I know is that the GH drums are far better than the RB drums. And if you can get a hold of the new style GH drums (might only be available on US import at the moment - not sure) then do it.

I sang the praises of GH for such a long time, like Afx owning all the games and pretty much being able to compete on all levels of difficulty for all instruments. However, recently got RB2 and suddenly I realised what I'd been missing since GH3 (GH3 is my fave of all GH games but alas, it's only for guitar-no drums/mic). RB2 is brilliant and IMO much better than GH:WT and GH5. It's much more fun to play. That doesn't mean GH is bad. I prefer the drum tracks on GH but prefer the guitar on RB.

Also, whilst there's alot of DLC available for both, I think the RB DLC is much more appealing. GH DLC seems mostly about stuff that the USA teens like. RB tends to cater for a wider audience and I think acnkoweldges that the rest of the world also buys this game, not just north americans.

Oh but don't take Afx too seriously though, he's from the dark side... WAIT, SO ARE YOU!

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Amph

RB peripherals on Wii NOT compatible with GH games. Click here for more info.

actually they are compatible with GH5 and Band Hero, just not the earlier titles

[Marc]

Originally Posted by mrmicp

I've been meaning to get one of these for a while but as christmas is coming the wife has asked if I would like rockband for the Wii. So whats the best in terms of quality of the equipment and game play?

I also have a PS3 but really want to get this for the Wii as I really only use my PS3 for media but if it's a lot better on the PS3 then I may have to go for that..

EDIT: Just to confuse matters i've also just seen band hero :-0

of all the games so far, Rock Band 2 has the best tracks by miles, and the best career mode. It also has the best DLC by miles. Band Hero has a pretty good track listing as well, if you like a bit more indie pop punk type stuff, the only downside being they've censored out half the bloody words. For instance in "Sugar we're going down" they censor the word bedpost in the line "i'm just a notch on your bedpost"

I'd avoid Guitar Hero 5 as it has 85 songs of which about 80 are crap, and also avoid Lego Rock band as it only has about 40 songs and a lot of those are rubbish as well.

[Crid]

I agree with the comments about RB2 vs GH. I started with GH3 and have worked my way through the series from there (don't have Band Hero at this point).

I've been enjoying RB2's career mode much more than the one in GH5. That's probably helped by RB2's selection of music being a bit more in line with my personal tastes than GH5.

Although I've got GHWT drums, I ended up buying some RB drums from my local Game for £23. They're not wireless, but frankly that's no big deal. While the GHWT drums technically work with RB2, the layout is rather awkward when using them in that game.

Neither game is a clear winner for me. I prefer the drumming in GH (although RB2 makes quite good use of fills to trigger overdrive/star power). Bass in RB2 doesn't feature open strums like GH does, but the multiplier for bass in RB2 goes up to 6x instead of 4x. I haven't tried singing, but from what I've read it sounds as though RB2 does that a little better.

Both games are great fun - especially with friends. I'll probably pick up Band Hero at some point, simply because there are a reasonable number of tracks that my fiancee is willing to sing in that game (a complaint she has made about GHWT, GH5 and RB2 - the tracklists aren't particularly "girl-friendly").

[PlexShaw]

Originally Posted by Crid

I haven't tried singing, but from what I've read it sounds as though RB2 does that a little better.

The vocal engine in the Guitar Hero is terrible IMO (and it gives me no pleasure to say that).

If singing is your bag, Rock Band 2 is by far the game to go for.

[Marc]

i don't agree about the vocals, i think they're just harder in the GH games, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 100% a song on expert on Rock Band and you feel really good about yourself until a mate comes round and just mumbles along to the same thing and gets 97% or something.. To get a good score on GH Expert, you do actually have to be an expert! Maybe not so good if you are playing it for scores but if you actually want your scores to have meaning then it's better..

[PlexShaw]

Originally Posted by Marc

i don't agree about the vocals, i think they're just harder in the GH games, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 100% a song on expert on Rock Band and you feel really good about yourself until a mate comes round and just mumbles along to the same thing and gets 97% or something.. To get a good score on GH Expert, you do actually have to be an expert! Maybe not so good if you are playing it for scores but if you actually want your scores to have meaning then it's better..

The GH vocal engine is only harder because it is more restrictive in terms of accuracy, which forces the player to sing like a robot (or simply hum) to do well and is terrible at giving the player with any meaningful indication of how well they are doing on a phrase or provide useful feedback to help adjust your pitch to better match the line. As a result, fast phrases with quick pitch changes are almost impossible to combo on Expert (heck, they're tricky even on Easy!).

IMO, RB has a much better challenge-to-fun ratio than GH (regardless of whether doing well at it carries any "meaning" or not).

And it's not as though RB vocals are always that easy - Free's All Right Now, for example, says "Hi"!

[AfxTwn]

I seem to remember The Gadget Show on Five addressing the vocals issue in these games. I think they had a sing off with Jason Bradbury and Beverley Knight I think and it may have been on a GH game but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, the result was very interesting as when Beverley sung her own song in the normal way she did badly, whereas when Jason, no sorry I've just remembered it was Ortis Deley, when Ortis sung the same song but in line with the game's on-screen display, he did much better and beat her score. Thus proving that in that particular game you needed to sing in a certain way to match the game's pre-dertimned pattern in order to do well.

This of course could all have been a dream I had/lie I made up (whichever one backs up my arguement) but I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one!

[Amph]

Originally Posted by Marc

actually they are compatible with GH5 and Band Hero, just not the earlier titles

Ah bugger. Just assumed they hadn't improved on their stance. Glad they have though.

[Crid]

I've also been enjoying Beatles Rock Band. I'm not the world's biggest Beatles fan, but even the tracks I'm unenthusiastic about are better than some of the tracks I dislike in RB2 (and GH5).

I thought I got a good bargain a couple of weeks ago when I picked up a copy from Amazon for £23. I now see they're selling it for £14.99! (That's the standalone game with no instruments, natch).

This week I finally made the jump from Medium to Hard (on bass), having previously played on Medium since GH3. I haven't tried the hardest tracks on TB:RB yet, but so far it's seemed pretty straightforward compared to the bass difficulty in RB2. I think I read in a review somewhere that TB:RB isn't terribly difficult because the band were more about writing catchy tunes than showing off incredible technical ability. (X-Play's review of the game also said that Ringo was a far better drummer than they'd ever given him credit for).

Favourite track to play on bass on Hard so far - Birthday.

[AfxTwn]

Well done for making the leap from Medium to Hard (even if it is on Bass) Crid. I'm still playing all my guitar-based games on medium as I'm appalling on Hard. I'm just not quick enough and I can't be bothered practicing the same song over and over to get it just right. I have too many games and not enough time to play them all!

TB:RB is a great game, in fact I'd be tempted to recommend that to completely new players to the rhythm-game genre. The songs are relatively easy, most people will know them and they are just good fun. It's a fantastic introduction to the games and a great way to learn how to play them.

[Crid]

Part of my reason for buying TB:RB was that pretty much everybody knows at least a few Beatles songs. While people with instruments stand a chance of sight-reading their way through an unfamiliar song, it's not so easy to do that if you're singing.

(I don't sing, but I bought the GH/RB games for when I have friends round).

I'll admit there are two songs in the game that I didn't realise were Beatles songs.

[Crid]

I think it's fair to say that TB:RB is easier than RB2 - on bass at least. Considering I've only made the move up to Hard in the last 10 days or so, I was a little surprised to finish playing through all the tracks on bass on Hard last night. I got through every single track on the first attempt. I can't imagine me managing THAT in RB2.

The difficulty bars seem a little random in places. Some of the tracks with the highest difficulty were "as advertised", while some others actually didn't seem all that horrendous. I guess it depends on whether you consider fast(ish) arpeggios to be the same difficulty as having to slowly move your hand back and forth between GRYB and RYBO.

[AfxTwn]

I'm currently playing through RB2 on medium guitar and then I'll give hard a go. I don't like having to keep going back to the same countries over and over to do longer set lists in order to progress further in the game and unlock new songs.

Having said that, I really like how the songs have solo-specific sections were you can get extra points and they aren't too mad. In the GH games, a lot of the songs tend to hype up the difficulty hugely (especially in said solo's) rather than increasing on a slow curve so you get used to it.

[Crid]

I don't mind the different setlists. The thing I don't particularly like are the Make Your Own setlists, simply because it's TOO open. I think there should be some kind of criteria that limits your choices of tracks - say only 80's tracks for one, or particular genres. It would make it a bit less repetitive.

[mrmicp]

Right then, I think I've made a decision.... gonna go for band hero as it appears to be the cheapest all in one set and the equipment seems solid. So am I right in thinking that it will also work with previous guitar hero games and some rock band games??

[Crid]

Yup. That'll work in the GH games and RB2 (but not 1). The mic and drums won't work in GH3 because that's guitar-only.