Hi again, gamers, just curious as to if anybody else here plays Guitar Hero/Rock Band? Any of the GH titles works, as its essentially the same idea the whole time, same applies to Rock Band.

I personally play (duh) and have enjoyed it since I figured out what the hell I was doing. First time I tried, I sucked hard at it. I played for a long while, and couldnt even beat easy. Since then, ive figured out the various things, and I now play on expert. Ive beaten nearly every song on all 3 of the GHs (dont have the expansions cause, well, they kinda suck), as well as in Rock Band. This doesnt include the ridiculously stupid Fire and Flames song, or the battle songs. But I have managed to beat every downloadable track for both GH3 and RB, as well as all the regular songs for RB.

I sit at a general 95-98% rating on expert, tho there are some songs where im significantly lower (Blood Rain, anyone?) and some where im just barely hanging on (took SO long to beat One on Expert, as well as Green Hills on RB). Ive found I enjoy a lot more types of music and styles now more than ever before.

Favorite song on GH3 is My Name is Jonas by Weezer, while on Rock Band its Hysteria by Muse (baseline = amazing fun).

So, how are each of you, and what are your favs?

Heh, second post, but hey, I had a second thought as well.

Which do you prefer and why?

I think GH3 has a better feel than RB, with its marks easy to distinguish between what is a hammeron/pulloff compared to a slightly smaller bar as is found in RB. While most times that doesnt matter, there are still times when frantically going up and down the board with every few notes or so being an actual strum, and its those times where it becomes glaringly obvious.

As for the track lists, Rock Band wins in that category. Theres just so much out there. Sure, to be able to get it all, youre gonna need a nice wad of cash, but once you get it youll have an amazing library of songs right there for your use.

As for controls, I guess the only real competiton is the guitars, since rock band is the only with drums/mic. In the guitar category, the RB one might look better and have the neat sound distortion effect, its positive attributes are relentlessly crushed by the negative ones. First, the damn thing breaks by simply using it in the fashion it is meant to be used in. You can tilt it the wrong way, and suddenly youre having to send it in for replacement. Im on guitar #3 and ive owned the game for 2 months. A bonus positive is that the strum bar makes no sound! No more will people giggle at the constant clicking of your strumming. But wait, that same positive is turned negative when the damn strum bar stops working half the damn time, and when youre forced to upstrum if you want anything to count at all. And while the strumming no longer makes noise, the buttons clack twice as loud as the GH ones, making them your replacement sound. Not that big a deal, till you start playing faster songs and the rhythm of the clacks throws off your own timing. Then it just gets frustratingly annoying.

As for the Guitar Hero 3 controller, its made just right. Sure, you dont get the sound altering thing (which I think is the coolest part of the RB one), but with all honesty you really dont need it. The buttons are responsive and silent (as they should be) and the strum bar is solid and works just like you want it to. Sure, you get the click noise every time you strum, but it actually helps your timing when you get to things like No More Sorrow by LP or One by Metallica. You get used to how many times youre strumming by sound as well as feel, and you can keep your own rhythm with it. It has a solid design and takes a beating without problem. RedOctane did an excellent job with the guitar, I can wholely attest to that as ive had my GH3 guitar since November and not had a single problem with it yet.

The one drawback to the GH3 controller is putting it together. If dust gets in that thing, you can tell instantly cause one of your damn buttons wont work and youll be halfway to swinging the damn thing at the television before realizing what happened. If it does happen, disconnect the neck from the body and blow on it (yes, the magical dust removal method of the original NES has been revived!) and voila, you should be set.

So if you havent purchased this yet, my best bet for you is to buy Rock Band by itself (since its sold seperately now) and get ahold of a Guitar Hero 3 controller. Course, if you get the Wii or PS3 version, you cant get away with this, but the XBox360 version you can use the GH3 controller for both games.

I just played Rock Band for the first time yesterday (for Wii) at a friends house. I definitely like the guitar for GH3 better than the rock band one. Strumming was a pain with the RB guitar, as well as the spacing of the buttons- it's hard to distinguish the right one in the midst of a song. It takes time getting used to and they are harder to push down than the GH ones. The RB tracklist (from what my friend had unlocked) was cool with new hit songs, and some older ones too, while GH has a lot of classics. I own GH3 for PS2 and I've only played it for a few hours, but I liked playing in the "band" setting with my friends. I got 90 percent as the singer almost every time. Drums were okay, I was pretty quick to catch on and was playing hard difficulty.

I've beaten every GH (1,2,and 3) song on expert. I have played Rock Band before and beat the Green Grass and High Tides song on expert.

I like playing Guitar hero better than Rock Band.
Or maybe I just like the controller better

Oddly, I find the Rock Band guitar much easier to use than the Guitar Hero one. I also much prefer the overall look and feel of Rock Band to GH3; I love how customized the avatar is, and how well it fits in with the concert. (i also get a kick out of seeing the same bandmates with me when I play several songs in a single session. nice touch.)

I play Rock Band at my friends' house fairly often...but I always either play drums or do vocals ("sing" isn't the right word for what I do....). I've never found the guitar parts (or Guitar Hero) to be particularly enjoyable-the controllers hurt my hands.

Oh, appearancewise Rock Band wins hands down. Being able to customise your character with not only his look, but with what he/she wears is phenominal. Not to mention that each has several different attitudes they can exibit on the stage makes the customization on this factor second to none. Also the fact that your bandmates can do the same and you can literally make a wholy band look about it is just plain cool.

The animation on RB is far smoother and much much more dynamic than that of the GH3 look. In GH3 the drummer looks like a stiff doing the drums, and the singer's mouth makes Mick Jagger's seem almost normal. The visual effects given off during start power, tho, are quite neat. Problem is, you prolly wont notice them for a long while until you know what to look for.

The fretboard for RB leaves something to be desired, it being clear and can be frustrating when a lot of action is taking place behind it, making it harder and harder to read as you go. The GH3 ones can be frustrating (the devil has a terrible fretboard) but there are also good ones. Im more speaking about how the notes go. The circular notes in GH3 are far easier to read the difference between regular note and hammeron. The reg notes are black outlined around the center, while the others are white. The RB one's smaller lines can just be frustrating.

I am happy to throw stones at the original offering of RB's tracklist, but their DLC has more than made up for the skimpy setlist. The GH3 one, conversely, has a really really good starting offering, but they seem more focused on making sequel games based around specific bands (GH: Aerosmith and the upcoming GH: Metallica are examples of this) than putting it directly into their game. This is disappointing as RB has been more than happy to put full CDs of bands onto their DLC (Judas Priest, The Cars, and The Pixies).

Now, while Aerosmith did a good job of reproducing their songs and some from other bands, its still not the same as just making the whole offering as DLC and not forcing us to buy a brand new $50 game.

I also like that, with very few exceptions, Rock Band uses the original songs, rather than a cover.

I played Tom Sawyer, but then I found out that it was a cover...
I was like, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! No one can dream to do his voice."

The best thing I like about Rock Band, other than customizable characters, is the fact that the strings move when your character attacks them in the game.

As I've said before, I don't personally own the game so I'm not able to practice as much as I should. I've been playing for literally, a few days more than one year. I can [easily] beat almost any GH3 song on hard, minus a few parts of a few specific songs where it was the same three notes over and over (Yellow-Blue-Orange-Yellow-Blue-Orange and such) as I can't get the timing quite right. I haven't played every song, but I'm very good at most. Another obvious exception to this is of course Through the Fire and Flames. Ridiculously hard and twice as long as any others. If played on Medium, it's almost as hard as any other midway song on hard. I do know two guys from the camp I was at just a few days ago, they can pass that song easily while playing on expert. Personally, I think they have way too much time on their hands. Another guy asked "Well what! Are they supposed to read a book?!?" I was very tempted to say Yes since that was what I thought.

Both GHII and GHIII are at our church, where I got to play. A few months ago, someone donated the Rock Band equipment. I don't have any desire to sing at all. I can, but I'm usually an octave lower than anyone else, and I'm usually out of tune. I can play guitar on Hard and sometimes Expert for several songs, and I can play the drums on Medium.

Both are great games though I still wish I owned one of the two.

As far as guitar preference I like several aspects of both guitars for several reasons, and prefer the other for several as well.

Pros:

Guitar Hero:

Smaller
Lighter
Frets come out of the guitar as very visible buttons

Rock Band:

Larger
Heavier
Cordless
Frets are inside the guitar, making a slightly more realistic feel
The white thing you strum is hardened rubber and doesn't click loudly every time you strum

I had size and weight for both because it's good to get used to variants. I was suckish at the Rock Band guitar when I first used it. I got better.

Cons:

Guitar Hero:

Clicks loudly every time you strum
Smaller
Cord
Lighter

Rock Band:

Stick that controls distortion constantly gets in the way when using the whammy bar no matter the setting. Not the best spot.
Frets are inside the guitar making shifts much more difficult.
Frets have no color
Shifting position can be tedious, but sometimes my fingers need a rest, or I shift to make shifting between frets easier. Not very good at that yet.
Frets are actually slippery. My fingers always slipped out of position.

Again, it is good to learn variance. I'm now adept at using both guitars and switching between the two isn't a problem. It can be though, and using one right after the other can be a problem.

I have never used practice mode in any music game and I never will. Practice is for real instruments. You play these games to jump in and have fun, not to work technical exercises for half an hour ever day. Once my guitar lessons start up again, I'll probably be spending at least 1.5 hours every day practicing (I also play clarinet, which I practice 1 hour per day. Guitar will add another half hour.) After all that, I have no desire to practice a music game.



That switch in almost the same place on a real Strat, you know. It doesn't control effects though. Since you can spin the whammy bar around without worrying about it coming unscrewed, just move it to a different position. Also, the frets do have colors, but they are on the side of the button instead of being the whole button.

I don't really like Rock Hero or Guitar Band, though the latter is more interesting due to certain multiplayer capabilities.

I don't use practice mode either. What I meant was that I don't have as much time to actually play the game as others who own it. I got to play a few songs once a week, if that.

I know they have colors as well. I just meant that they don't have them on the top/the whole button as opposed to the Guitar Hero guitar. And I've tried moving it to a different position. Since my hold doesn't keep the bar very still, I'll tend to hit it even if it's as low as it can be on the guitar.

OK, let me clarify... not practicing and then feeling bad about about it is for real instruments.



Instead of gripping the bar in your hand, just cup your hand slightly and push down on the bar letting the spring push it back up.

Whilst I've played GH2, I didn't particularly like it - I much prefer playing my bass in a real band

(not that I have a problem with those who enjoy GH/Rock Band)

Indeed, that right there is one of my biggest complaints between RB and GH3; I much prefer the strumming in Rock Band. Feels a lot more natural to me than trying to hold it.

I do not like GH3 at all. Mainly it's the hammerons that bother me, because it is so amazingly simple to hit them. I definitely like RB a lot better, mostly because it brings something new to the table. Rather than having the same old controller with the same old setup you actually get something new to work with. And character customization is fun, especially when you need a break.

Hammerons for me were and still are a little more difficult. What I do is I strum when I need to play the notes, so not strumming and trying to press the fret at the right time instead of a little early usually messes me up. That's what prevents me from passing songs like Knights of Cydonia or One.

When I'm using the whammy bar, I keep it between my fingers with my index finger on the bottom, and the rest on top. This lets me push it back up (Rather unnecissary though) while still keeping control of the bar. Usually, that's where the problem comes in.

Songs like The train keep a rollin are impossible for me. I am extremely good with hammer ons and pull offs but that song is hard, it is on Guitar hero: Aerosmith by the way.

I don't mean to brag but I can play most songs on expert

I just played GH4 at my dad's workplace. It's gonna be crazy. I can't tell you anything about it though. It's all classified.
For some reason, I feel like I'm waiting more eagerly for Rock Band 2...

And what a rousing endorsement that is!

Hi,


I don't play guitar hero. I heard a legend that all the idiots being too stupid to hold a guitar correctly and learn the riffs must play guitar hero, so that women get on them. The legend is very old and I don't know if it's true. It's from the 16th century I guess. I just heard it in a dream. A princess kneeing in front of me blowed me that.
Anyway, here's a video showing myself (yes, the famous Count) how I practice the guitar everyday. Maybe you learn something.

-Greetings. You have listened to the astonishing voice of the famous Count. You can breath again now.



My daily practice

I'm actually not surprised how many people can be rather clueless when it comes to Guitar Hero. I was watching a video about some people who did a test. They threw four girls (Three maybe?) into a room to see how they'd do at Rock Band. Took them several minutes to get the console on. Several more to get started, and several to get everyone signed in. The singer was singing into the PS2 controller. Pop-up window showed up saying "Note, this is not a microphone."

Guitar players: "Note the realistic strumming motion."

Took them a heck of a long time to get going and I don't even remember what happened after that.