Simple concept, I've seen a ton of people ask this already and it really isn't even a tough choice if you don't have any major hatred for one game or the other. If you do hate one game, then this isn't for you, you've made up your mind already.
First , I'll start with a list of Guitar Hero: World Tour features I put together based on the IGN preview, most of these features are already implemented in the game, but read the preview for more details on which is which.
- Create your own Characters
- You can customize a few features or dig in deep and fully customize your look.
- Create your own tattoos to add to your characters
- Tons of clothes to buy so you and your band can look like Rock Stars.
- All Characters from GH 2 & 3 will be back and they're also adding more famous rockers to the lineup (no specifics yet).
- Create your own band
- Form your own mega-band and create your own songs and albums
- Create your own art for your albums
- Write your own songs in note for note detail or mix together existing songs.
- Can be comprised of online or offline friends (its unclear if you can mix them)
- Customize your own instruments
- Guitars/Bass extremely customizable
- Drums moderately customizable
- Microphone slightly customizable
- Bass now has a new note, the "open" note, which is just strumming with no buttons held down.
- Drums are velocity sensitive - the harder you hit it, the louder it sounds
- Slide neck on the Guitar allows you to control the bass and drum lines in edit mode and in addition you can add quick commands to the whammy bar like a symbol crash
- Tilting the guitar changes the pitch of the note you're playing
- Star power button is repositioned so its much easier to hit without messing yourself up
- New difficulty level added - Beginner - its for folks who found easy a bit tough (don't laugh I know someone).
- Editor also includes an arpeggiator (sounds awesome)
- DLC from GH3 won't work because of the changes but you can DL songs from tens of thousands of other users and they will have a rating system to allow the cream to rise to the top.
- Full featured careers for every instrument as well as the multiplayer co-op for the entire band.
- When you're playing on your character (even with other people) you will get cash for playing gigs regardless of the mode (except practice obviously).
- Boss battles are back but aren't done as a battle mode anymore (although Battle Mode is still around). Instead you play back and forth at each other (think Dueling Banjos)
- Over 85 songs without the custom or DL songs.
If this list is even half true the fully featured Rock Band game will more than likely be outdone by World Tour but the Wii version of Rock Band is lacking literally all online play which is simply unacceptable for a game like this. But World Tour doesn't just meet the standard of quality set by the fully featured version of Rock Band, it adds incredible features like the music editor which as you saw above(especially if you read the preview) is shaping up to be fairly robust but is also accompanied by the ability to make albums for your band and even cover art for your Albums etc...allowing you total customization...if you're into that sort of thing.
On the instrument front the Wii Drums being wireless is certainly a major plus as is the fact that the drums are velocity sensitive and are set up more like a drum kit would be with two raised cymbals for a combined total of 5 pads plus pedal. Not to mention they are said to have better bounce and make less noise on impact which will be nice for those who want to practice with headphones or just don't like the rapping noise while they play with friends. The guitar especially looks great as they are finally increasing the size a bit giving it a bit more authentic feel (I know I feel way different with a GH/RB guitar than I do with a real guitar) and the Star Power button is in a phenomenal position this time around allowing much easier access.
I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons I could point out but the bottom line is that in just about every area possible GH:WT has met or exceeded the features of RB, but this is especially true for Wii owners. And before the RB fans get upset with me it is fair to point out that this is because they are releasing after RB and have the massive advantage of learning from RB and finding out what works. I totally agree with this and I fully expect that RB2 will incorporate most if not all of the WT features as well as adding their own, and if they do then RB2 will be the clear choice.
A lot of folks in responce to this line of reasoning have made comments about how Harmonix had the original idea for the genre or how GH is copying the features of RB by adding Drums, etc... And I have to say as far as I'm concerned none of this even remotely matters to me. As a gamer I want the best game possible and if that means they are going to compete back and forth each using the best ideas of the other then I'm more than happy to be the beneficiary of that competition. When the dust finally settles I'll be playing the game of the developer who consistently does the best job. In short I look forward to the competition and I truly hope RB2 is a stunning masterpiece that is better than World Tour in every way, its a win-win to me. But until then World Tour is a clear choice for pretty much everyone, but its beyond obvious for Wii owners.
Thats my 0.02 VG$, whats yours?
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