Last night I sat down and finally got through Hanger 18 on expert. Fun song and I am actually pretty good at it up until about 75% of the way through the song goes psycho crazy with the guitar solo from hell and I kept falling apart.

But finally got there with decent crowd appeal and some star power to carry me through to the end.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get past 25% on Misirlou =P

This makes me want to play GH2 again. i need to borrow it from my friend, he never plays.

I've never played GH, but my son has at a friends and wants GH3 for the Wii.

At any rate, I don't think there was ever any expectations for RockBand to dethrone GH. However GH lovers may well end up getting RB as well for the added fun of a 'band' - when they can afford it.

I think it's a big mistake that this isn't out for the Wii, as both games appeal to both sexes, and really, I bet we all know some girls who would like to sing or play guitar or drums on RB, and would likely prefer the more social aspect of a band over more solitary play on GH (yes, it can be play competitively...), but as most female gamers are buying Wiis, they only have GH3 as a choice.

GH3 will outsell Rock Band, no doubt about that.

I make it a point to not buy any EA products....so......

Rock Band will have Welcome to the Jungle. That was the song played in the first vid of Rock Band!

GH3 will outsell RB on sheer availability alone. First and foremost it has a head start with a huge installed base with the first two games. Millions of people don't need a guitar to play. And the title is shipping a month earlier.

RB is coming out in a large, bundled version for the same reason Sony priced the PS3 so high at launch -- they're going to sell ever last copy they can make! Who cares if you won't buy it? Someone else will. And demand will probably be high enough to ensure that it'll be one of the harder to find holiday gifts this year.

(For the record, I own GH1 and the 80's expansion for the PS2, but not GH2. I have no plans to buy GH3 or RB this holiday season.)

Grabbed the Wikipedia song list for GH3 for anyone interested to know what to expect:

  1) "3's & 7's" – Queens of the Stone Age
  2) "Anarchy in the U.K." – Sex Pistols
  3) "Avalancha" – Héroes del Silencio
  4) "Barracuda" – Heart
  5) "Before I Forget" – Slipknot
  6) "Black Magic Woman" – Santana
  7) "Black Sunshine" – White Zombie
  8) "Bulls on Parade" – Rage Against the Machine
  9) "Cherub Rock" – The Smashing Pumpkins
  10) "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" – Blue Öyster Cult
  11) "Cliffs of Dover" – Eric Johnson
  12) "Closer" – Lacuna Coil
  13) "Cult of Personality" – Living Colour
  14) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" – Charlie Daniels Band
  15) "Even Flow" – Pearl Jam
  16) "Generation Rock" – Revolverheld
  17) "Go That Far" - Bret Michaels Band
  18) "Helicopter" – Bloc Party
  19) "Hier Kommt Alex" – Die Toten Hosen
  20) "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" – Pat Benatar
  21) "Holiday in Cambodia" – Dead Kennedys
  22) "I'm in the Band" – The Hellacopters
  23) "In the Belly of a Shark" – Gallows
  24) "Knights of Cydonia" – Muse
  25) "Kool Thing" – Sonic Youth
  26) "La Grange" – ZZ Top
  27) "Lay Down" – Priestess
  28) "Mauvais Garçon" – Naast
  29) "The Metal" – Tenacious D
  30) "Minus Celsius" – Backyard Babies
  31) "Miss Murder" – AFI
  32) "Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
  33) "Monsters" – Matchbook Romance
  34) "My Name Is Jonas" – Weezer
  35) "The Number of the Beast" – Iron Maiden
  36) "One" – Metallica
  37) "Paint It, Black" – The Rolling Stones
  38) "Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
  39) "Pride and Joy" – Stevie Ray Vaughan
  40) "Radio Song" – Superbus
  41) "Raining Blood" – Slayer
  42) "Reptilia" – The Strokes
  43) "Rock and Roll All Nite" – Kiss
  44) "Rock You Like a Hurricane" – Scorpions
  45) "Ruby" – Kaiser Chiefs
  46) "Sabotage" – Beastie Boys
  47) "Same Old Song and Dance" – Aerosmith
  48) "School's Out" – Alice Cooper
  49) "The Seeker" – The Who
  50) "She Bangs the Drums" – The Stone Roses
  51) "She Builds Quick Machines" – Velvet Revolver
  52) "Slow Ride" – Foghat
  53) "Story of My Life" – Social Distortion
  54) "Stricken" – Disturbed
  55) "Suck My Kiss" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  56) "Sunshine of Your Love" – Cream
  57) "Take This Life" – In Flames
  58) "Talk Dirty to Me" – Poison
  59) "Through the Fire and Flames" – DragonForce
  60) "Welcome to the Jungle" – Guns N' Roses
  61) "When You Were Young" – The Killers

 Might be more songs yet, not 100% sure.

Several FPSs arguably just as good as Halo have come along since its debut, but its the public's familiarity with the franchise and snowballing word of mouth that has primarily made it excel where its peers can't. I feel the same will hold true for Guitar hero. Rock Star will seem neat and many will love the idea, it will probably even be a much much better game, but the practicality of all those instruments and having the people to play them all to fully experience the game alone will make it intimidating and limit its sales, Guitar Hero, as the already familiar franchise of choice by that virtue alone will have the advantage.

 Sorry but if I require all those people and instruments to get the full experience I consider that a game flaw. 

With that said I am pretty sure you can play solo in Rock Band, but it doesn't focus on the guitar which is actually what I enjoy the most with GH (ie practicing solo guitar). My friend and I enjoy going back and forth encouraging each other to constantly get better.  Playing different instruments just doesn't sound that appealing to me at least.

But I am looking forward to some of the head to head online stuff as its fun to match skill vs skill, but I don't really want to form a band with some guy who lives in Panama.  Nothing personal against him, but if I was going to form a fake band I would want it to be with friends that I know in person =P