They are keeping the Guitar Hero Name, so people will know the brand name.

I think they're competing with the franchise, not just the first game. Also, Harmonix has had a very aggressive campaign from the beginning. It's kind of eye-for-eye. Not to mention, This is all the information we have for Rock Band 2:

Rock Band (Video Game)#Sequel

So they can't really compare to a game that's not announced yet.

 In no way shape or form is Rock Band better than what Guitar Hero: World Tour promises on the Wii. There is no custom character creater, no custome insturment design, and no custom song maker. More importantly to most people I imagine is that online is entirely absent from Rock Band while it is fully supported on the Wii. It also offers more songs for a comparable price, with the possibility for an infinite number of songs for every instrument save the microphone for the retail price.

 As to the topic itself, it will depend on how you enjoy the games. From a straight comparison of features, then it is easy to see that the Guitar Hero game is clearly superior. Anything beyond that though will come down strictly to personal preference. I tend to find Rock Band songs a bit too easy, and didn't particularly care for the drums. Others will love the drums and microphone (I don't sing) while not wanting songs that make your hand spasm for an hour after finishing them (fuck you Dragonforce). The placement of the notes is also faily different, and likely you will find one feels better than the other. So I would say it is impossible to judge on anything other than a relatively meaningless comparison of the special features of each game.

GH 3 was better than rock band... so I hope so.

GH3 guitar was easier than Rock Band. The only reason it could be considered harder is mroe notes thrown at you. The area of acceptance on note hits was outrageous on GH3. You could be almost 1/4 of a beat behind and still register. GH2 is better than GH3. The songs in GH3 are lamer too, they are more popular of course, but easy and lame. Rock Band shit is hard too. Try playing Blackened on the drums. I do not see people paying for both sets of drums. The peopel who wanted a drumming game got Rock Band, and I do not see them double dipping. Rock Band also delivers new songss every week, GH releases an entire new game of what should be downloadable content. I find that rubbish.

You obviously haven't been following the development of the Wii version....

 You have never spent a serious amount of time with GH3. Play Through the Fire and Flames on even the Hard difficulty setting and come back. There is nothing even close to comparable to that song on Rock Band. For the other instruments the comaprison is mostly invalid as those insturments tend to be more difficult base, and equivalents do not exist with the Guitar Hero franchise curently. The guitar portions were miles easier on Rock Band though. I was beating most Rpck Band songs on expert long before I got through even hard on Guitar Hero 3.

Well, I found GH2 songs more difficult than GH3. Sure TTFF is hard as fuck, but that is one song, and the only song I could not beat on expert. You can look me up if you like, my gamertag is JaggedSac. Not sure how my scores have held up since I had the game(I traded it in and kept GH2) but I think I did fairly well on all the songs.

Edit: I do not give a rats ass about the Wii version. From a rythm standpoint, the RockBand guys know what the hell they are doing.

yes im thinking it will be better

Also they know that most people believe the Guitar is the most important and influential instrument in any band, which it is, on stage or in studio. In rock and roll, that is. Other instruments always will be second fiddle and I know it pisses people who play those other instruments off, but this isn't a fanboy thing, the guitar is the leading man in rock and most music. Second would be the singing, third the drums, and a distant fourth is bass.

That's why having bass hero, drum hero, and Singstar, while cool, aren't univerally appealing like a guitar centric title. That's why it's called guitar hero, and that is why is was respected by members of the music community way after less universally appealing dance and karaoke.

Now, you can try to tell me that in a band, the singer or guitarist is the most important member, but other than that your kidding yourself. If you tell me the drummer is the most important member, I'm gonna ask you, "Is he also the lead singer" cause again, guitar is cool, guitarists are legends, and rock is founded upon that instrument, along with vocals.

However, rock legends play guitar or sing with an excellent rock legend guitarist as backup. There are no drum heros. Not mainstream ones anyway.

I'm not saying the drums take any less skill to play well, I'm just saying that the leading instrument in a rock band, and the one everyone(when I say everyone, I mean the vast majority) wants to play, is the guitar. Why do you think there are guitar solos in virtually every rock & roll song ever made, lol? Singing and guitar give inflection to songs, while bass and drums play rythym.

Now, most modern MTV music, I understand "Rock Band." That isn't what Guitar Hero is about though. It's about rocking, lol. You do that with a guitar.

^^Well dude, you obviously don't listen to Tool, Primus, or Rush, the guitar parts are definitely not the highlight of their music.