Top 5 Reasons to Buy Guitar Hero III Instead of Rock Band

Music is my thing. Clearly. But there are also several other things that I delight in; movies, camping trips, peanut butter M&Ms, comfortable chairs, my dog "Doggums," and video games. Whenever I get the chance, I like to merge more than one of these joys into one super joyous activity. In addition to eating peanut butter M&Ms on comfortable chairs, this also means that I am a huge fan of music video games. It is for this reason that I'm incredibly hyped for the 2007 holiday season, when both Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band (without a doubt the two most ambitious music rhythm games ever) will be released. Each game has their own strengths, style, and soundtrack, but both essentially cater to the same audience (the type of person who probably can't afford to buy both). So sit back and prepare to read what is probably the single-most important list you'll ever read (today). These are the Top 5 reasons to buy Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock instead of Rock Band.

#5: Muse - That's right folks. If you recall, a few months ago I had a list of songs that should be on Guitar Hero III. Now that most of the tracks have been announced, it's pretty clear that none of my suggestions were implemented. In fact, only one band that I suggested even made the cut. That band is Muse, and even though the song might have been different from what will actually be in the game ("Knights of Cydonia"...RAWK), the fact that I'll be able to pretend to be playing a Muse song on a fake guitar is still a dream come true! Better yet is the fact that "Knights of Cydonia" will be a master recording featuring the band's original performance and Matt's actual vocals. I'm giddy with excitement that doesn't translate easily into words. Aren't you?

#4: Minimal Hassle - Unlike Guitar Hero III, which releases on October 28th, if you want Rock Band you're going to have to brave the madness that is November 23rd. That's right! The game's official release date is BLACK FRIDAY! I don't know about you, but I don't even leave the house on Black Friday. What's the point? You can't go anywhere to do anything because every place is packed with bargain hunters and idiots galore! I want Rock Band as much as the next guy, but if it means that I'll have to wait outside my local Best Buy for 23 hours, then I'll gladly wait until after the holidays to pick it up.

#3: No Singing - In February, I stopped by Best Buy after work to pick up something for my father. I was surprised to find that when I walked in the door, I was not greeted by the douchey guy that usually does the greeting, but by the horrendous sound of 15 year old girls playing SingStar: Pop, a karaoke game for the PS2. There are definitely some games that shouldn't be on display at the store, this is one of them. Let's face it, some people just can't sing for crap. I'm friends with a few of them. The last thing I want to hear as I'm shredding on my fake guitar or playing on my fake drums is my friend standing next to me butchering Radiohead's "Creep." Singing video games have never been all that great, and unless Rock Band has implemented some auto-pitch function into their game, then I'm sad to say that this portion of the game might not be all that hot either.

#2: No 2nd Mortgage Needed - So far, the only price revealed for Rock Band is a bundle that costs $170. Who really wants to spend that much on a video game? Hell, you could buy a PS2 for half that price! Let's say you just want the game and a guitar, or the game and the drums; well, you'll have to wait until 2008 before all that is made available. For 2007, the only way to get your hands on Rock Band is to bend over and shell out the $170. No thank you! I'll take my $60 Guitar Hero II over that any day...especially Black Friday.

#1: More Songs - At the launch of the game, Rock Band will come with 45 different songs to rock out on. Guitar Hero III? Oh, just over 70, over half of which will be master recordings! You know, nothing special. Guitar Hero II had 74 tracks and you know what? I'm still playing it! So sure, I may be a little upset that I probably won't be playing Rock Band until 2008, but at least I'll have plenty of Guitar Hero III to keep be busy until then. Right? Right!

Don't fret, fans of Rock Band. Next week I'll list the Top 5 Reasons to Buy Rock Band Instead of Guitar Hero III. How could you miss that?