This fall/holiday seasons is going to be a monster for the rhythm based music games.  Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 will both cause some hurt to wallets and cause indecision on what to buy.  On top of all this Konami is planning on releasing "Rock Revolution" this year as well.

After the release of Rock Band last year Activision and Guitar Hero had to fire back and go all out with instruments and a microphone to even the playing field.  Now they are quite similar though there are still some key differences.  So that brings me to the question, what should you or even myself buy? 

I don't own Rock Band yet, though I do own Guitar Hero 3.  That is something I will have to take into consideration when weighing my choices on which to choose.  I am not going to buy both as I see no point in two sets of instruments taking up that much space.

Let's take a look at some of the key features of each:

Guitar Hero World Tour


Pros:
- Track creation mode for beginners and high end users alike
- 3 drums, 2 cymbals
- Quieter than RB drums, also pressure sensitive drum pads
- Compatible with GH
- New guitar with touchpad keys
- All characters from GH2 & 3, plus new real rock stars
- Massive custom character & instrument creator
- Online & offline band career mode
- Room for 100 custom tracks, can download 200 custom tracks and upload five at a time
- Set list including Van Halen, Linkin Park, Sublime, Foo Fighters, Billy Idol (over 85 songs)

Cons:
- Creation lacks ability to use vocals
- Not compatible with Rock Band
- GH3 downloadable songs not compatible with GHWT
- GH3 DLC came in a slow stream, will it improve for GHWT?


Rock Band 2


Pros:
- Downloadable content is backwards compatible
- Improved instruments, less noise
- Old RB instruments will work with RB2
- Rumored Band World Tour online
- Massive library of DLC already, 156 songs
- Rumored solo mode for various instruments
- Full album downloadable content
- Rumored songs include Cheap Trick, Megadeath, System of  Down, Linkin Park, (at least 80 songs)

Cons:
- No user created track mode
- No confirmation of wireless 360 guitars (yet)
- Delayed release for PS2/PS3/Wii, 360 first, others later

Some of the Rock Band 2 details are still a bit skimpy as it was just announced and is supposed to previewed at E3 next week.  I will probably revisit this later on in the year when the final details are out.  On a side note both new games promise to deliver all master recordings.


So with all this being said, what should we choose?  It seems for people who own Rock Band, thanks to the DLC at backwards compatible instruments may want to stick with Rock Band 2.  That is unless you really, really want the user creation mode on GH World Tour.

If you don't own Rock Band the choice probably comes down to the massive DLC catalog for Rock Band, or your desire for the user creation mode.  Or you could have a GH3 guitar you want to use with Guitar Hero World Tour. 

We haven't seen the new Rock Band 2 drum kit yet, but they have their work cut out for them after seeing the GHWT kit featured at the top of this blog which looks amazing.

Personally I am leaning towards Guitar Hero World Tour at this point unless some incredible DLC is shown/promised/released by then; say some Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, Beatles, etc.  None of the current Rock Band DLC seems like must haves for me at this point, and I already own a GH3 guitar which I could use with World Tour. 

Much of all this debate could be tossed out of the window if both of these companies would bury the hatchet and allow their instruments to work on each others' game.  The big money isn't made off of the instruments, it is off of the games, and the downloadable content.  If these were compatible you could be free to get DLC from which ever game you wanted, buy one music set, and buy the other solo game increasing each company's sales.

It could all change between now and then.  Rock Band 2 is set for a Sept. 30th release on the 360.  World Tour should be out in October according to current rumors.  I will keep you cats posted with updates in regards to either game and help point out details which may help you choose one or the other for those who can't or won't pick up both.

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