I know I’m very late to the party on this, but I just played Guitar Hero over my sister-in-law’s house for the first time today (she has an Xbox), and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.
I currently have no videogame system. I would like to buy one for the express purpose of playing Guitar Hero. I see that it is available on a variety of different systems. Which one do I want? If Guitar Hero is pretty much the same on all systems, which system do I want assuming I will eventually want to play other games? If it matters, I have three kids at home, the oldest is almost 7. None of them have been asking for videogames yet, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of weeks.
Also, do I want Guitar Hero I, II, III, or Rock Band? Or all of the above? Or something else?
Given the ages of your kids, I’d suggest a Wii. But the Wii doesn’t have Guitar Hero I or II, and only Guitar Hero World Tour (the “full band” version of Guitar Hero) has downloadable content. But since this is for Guitar Hero only, with the kids as, I guess, just a tie breaker*, probably not a Wii.
*I’d suggest thinking more long term than this, though.
You can get all of the Guitar Hero games (as well as Rock Band) for the Playstation 2, which can be found very inexpensively these days. OTOH, if you’re interested in getting other, newer games, you might want to get a more current system (like a PS3 or Xbox 360).
I would say first get a PS3, and I suggest that for a couple reasons…
I am a complete homer for Playstations, and personally I just love em more than Xboxes.
Two words Blu-Ray. I love having a Blu-ray via my Playstation.
When it comes to which game to get, I would suggest either World Tour or Rock Band because the multi instrument aspect is more fun than just the guitar, plus since you have kids as they age you can play together and it would give you a fun thing to do as a family. With Rock Band there are WAY more songs to download online so you can find some favorites and buy em there.
Do you have a HDTV and need (and find value in having) a Blu-Ray Player? If the answer is yes, you probably want a PS3.
If you don’t want Blu-Ray, you’re probably going to want to choose between the PS2 and the Wii, particularly given the demographic you’ve outlined (small children and not enough of a gamer to have a console already pretty much rules out the 360 compared to those two).
The advantages of the Wii are:
Current gen system, with “it” factor and with new games still coming out
Most kid-friendly library and very easily accessible to all ages
Downloadable songs, though in a more limited fashion than PS3/360
The advantages of the PS2 are:
Last-gen system with probably the most extensive game library of any console system, ever.
Everything will be cheaper - the system, the game, the peripherals, everything.
As others have mentioned, all of the old versions of the GH games are available on the PS2 as well.
Each of those is a pretty good choice as long as you’re aware what you’re getting. For the record I have a PS3 and I have the full Rock Band 2 set. Oh, yeah, that reminds me:
Guitar Hero Series vs. Rock Band series: GH is the original that started it. Virtually everyone will agree that quality-wise Rock Band is the better game. Probably the most important thing, though, is the songs you’re getting. So check Wikipedia for a song list before you purchase!
Just for the record, I have an HDTV, but I also already have a Blu-Ray Player. So having something else that plays blu-ray movies is not something I need.
But I guess that brings up something else I hadn’t thought of before – do any of the systems discussed look better / more vibrant on an HDTV than any of the others.
Thanks for all the advice so far. One thing that isn’t clear to me from reading the posts so far – is Rock Band available on the Wii, or only PS2/3?
I’ve heard that Wii is not very good on HDTV, especially bigger ones. My friend sold me his Wii when he got an HD monitor, in favor of buying an XBox 360.
You can get Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero Aerosmith and Guitar Hero World Tour on the Wii (with the full band).
You can get Rock Band and Rock Band II on the Wii.
You can play Rock Band II with Guitar Hero World Tour instruments (and, from what I’ve read, they’ll be compatible from here on out). Here’s a Compatibility Matrix
The Wii doesn’t have the best graphics, in fact, it’s only slightly better than previous generations in that respect.
Rock Band is available for it, though.
I have a Wii and a 360, and I probably play my Wii more. Games for the Wii tend to be cheaper, and as everyone else has said, more kid-friendly.
A PS2 would probably be the cheapest solution, but it lacks the wireless controlers of the next gen consoles, and is obviously less future proof.
Having younger children, I’d say probably get a Wii, unless you see some games that really strike your fancy for the 360 or PS3, though the PS3 is probably going to cost you a bit more (Though I’ll admit I haven’t checked the prices for consoles recently)
Your choice should definitely be between a Wii and an Xbox 360. The PS3 shouldn’t even be in the discussion if the system is for Guitar Hero for you and the rest of the time for three children under 7. It’s way too expensive and lacks the games that kids (all of the best exclusives for the system, barring LittleBigPlanet, are rated Mature) would want to play.
Basically, it comes down to a few points…
The Wii will look adequate on your HDTV
The Xbox 360 will look beautiful on your HDTV (although GH is not a graphical powerhouse, so this only applies to other games)
The Wii will have a ton of games your kids want to play
The Xbox 360 will have a decent selection of games your kids want to play
The Wii and the Xbox 360 are comparably priced (especially if you have no interest in getting online and buy the hard driveless Xbox 360 Arcade Edition)
However, if you do get online, both the Wii and Xbox 360 have stellar selections of downloadable games
From what you’ve said, and the points, an Xbox 360 or a Wii is almost a coin toss at this point. You (and your kids) would likely be happy with either.
Xbox 360 and Rock Band 2 is your best bet. PS2/Wii versions aren’t capable of using the downloadable content as I understand it, and Rock Band has 300+ songs available that way. You could get a ps3, but (not intending to start a flame war because I totally don’t care) the xbox 360 is generally better and cheaper unless you want the blu-ray functionality.
Rock Band 2 is vastly superior to guitar hero: world tour, and having the whole band experience is much more interesting than just guitar - drumming is actually way more fun than guitar for most people.
I’ve got to agree with everything SenorBeef said. The best platform for Rock Band/Guitar Hero is Xbox360. The downloadable content keep the game fresh for modest cost, the online community is the largest, meaning if you want to play with people online you’ve got the best chance of finding someone to play with. On the Rock Band forums, the Playstation people are always complaining that they have to wait for DLC for a couple of days after Xbox gets it, and there are peripheral issues for the PS3 as well. For instance, the Ion drums came out for Playstation months after they were available for Xbox.
Don’t underestimate the online play/downloadable content. It’s very addictive.
One other thing you might consider, though - do you have friends with gaming systems, who might want to play online? If so, it’s worth thinking about getting the same system they have.
Just to chime in on two things here. The Rock Band downloadable store is nearing 600 downloadable songs and Guitar Hero: World Tour is just as capable of being a full band game game as Rock Band is.
The games are functionally identical, choose which one you want based on song selection (Wikipedia has full song lists) and which version your friends have as SamStone said.
Another one coming in to say Xbox360 and Rock Band 2.
Bit of background: Harmonix created Guitar Hero. After GH 1 and 2 they went alone and created Rock Band and someone else created GH 3 and GH: World Tour. Many long-term players feel that RB has a better feel for the songs than the newer GH games. Many complain about the patterns on GH3 and WT not matching the music as well as they do on RB. The later GH games also have “boss battles” which purists often feel are gimmicky and go against the flow of the game.
But definitely get a machine with a harddrive. The Wii may be fun (and I do love mine) but it is a pain for downloadable content. There just isn’t enough space. It comes with only a half gigabyte of storage space whereas the 360 comes with 60GB these days (I think - I just upgraded to a 120 GB drive) and the PS3 is somewhere around 60/80 GB as well and can also be upgraded.
You will want to download songs.
Also, if you buy Rock Band 2 and can pick up Rock Band cheaply then do it. For a small fee to cover licensing (5 USD or something) you can import 99% of the songs into Rock Band 2.
As a person who doesn’t have a console and (I assume) hasn’t for a while, I think the Wii is your best bet from a more general perspective. It’s really designed for people who aren’t hardcore gamers, whereas the other systems (it seems to me as an outside observer) have their best games pitched to people who play a lot, and are concomitantly skilled.
One other point – I believe the Guitar Hero mic, guitar and drums will work with Rock Band, but not the other way around, if you plan to get both games.
If you get Rock Band, the Wii version is inferior to the XBox/PS3 versions. The Wii version has far fewer downloadable songs, and (last I heard) you cannot customize your “avatar”. I own a Wii and a PS3, and bought Rock Band 2 for the PS3 for those reasons.
Agreed with the others who said go with what your friends have, platform included, if that’s an issue. I can’t play Rock Band with an online friend because he has an XBox. And definitely check out the song lists via Wikipedia; dunno about Guitar Hero, but I know that Rock Band has multiple lists - what songs come on the original game discs vs. what songs can be purchased via download.
Well, it’s just my opinion, but RB2 does everything better than GH3. The looks, interface, features,note charts, etc. I bought GH:WT the day it came out, played it for about 2 hours, and put it away since then. If/when I get bored of RB2 I’ll probably try it out.
My main gripe won’t affect most people though - they failed to take advantage of Ion drum kit (like people that already bought an Ion are going to downgrade to their crappy kit) and their 5 instrument drum charts are pretty boring.
The Wii version of Rock Band 1 had more of these types of problems. Rock Band 2 allows you to customize your characters, and has downloadable songs. Currently not all the back catalog of downloadable songs from the other consoles are available for the Wii, but they will all be made available. New songs are being made available for the Wii at the same time as the other consoles.
The storage space is definitely an issue though on the Wii. You’ll need to get an SD card for downloaded songs. This is only a few bucks, but it’s still not as smooth as on the other consoles.
In addition to the DLC bonus, if you subscribe Netflix and a high speed internet connection to your XBox, you can watch a whole bunch of movies, including some high-profile new releases, and TV shows on your TV instantly, for free.
I’ve played only a little bit of RB, but I’d agree with that comment on the more recent GH games (3, Aerosmith, WT from what I’ve seen of it). It sometimes feels like you’re just mashing buttons that have little to do with what the song’s doing.
You might want to find out how much you could sell your current bluray player for. The extra money might make getting the PS3 version the economical choice.