Guitar Hero III Named Musical Game of the Year [1Up]

[fitbabits]

Fans of Rock Band and Audiosurf, get your soapboxes out and get ready to be pissed off.

The votes have been tallied and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has been crowned '1Up Musical Game of the Year'.

I thought for sure that Rock Band was a certainty for this. I guess the check from Electronic Arts got lost in the post. Anyway, there's a press release under here for those interested.

Will we see a press release from Electronic Arts congratulating Activision? Probably not - and nor should they.

[fitbabits]

SANTA MONICA, CA – February 21, 2008 – The ballots are in for the 5th annual 1UP Awards and the fans have chosen Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock as the “Best Music Game” of 2007. Celebrating the best titles of the year, the 1UP Awards allow the fans and community to vote for their favorite games in over a dozen categories.

Released in October of 2007, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the #1 title in dollars for the calendar year worldwide, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk. In the United States, the game became the #1 best-selling video game in units and dollars of all time in a single calendar year.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock offers the ultimate rock experience with new wireless guitars, freshly added content and features including a multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually stunning rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer modes allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true rock status as they riff through a star-studded soundtrack including master tracks by legendary artists such as Aerosmith, Guns 'N' Roses, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam, as well as original songs by guitar icons Slash and Tom Morello. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is now available and is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB.
Congrats to Red Octane, commiserations to Harmonix and Audio Surf (http://www.audio-surf.com/).

[Mdot23]

Bullshit.

/close thread.

[Zero]

This is bullshit covered in bullshit frosting, filled with bullshit goo, and served on a bullshit stick.

[Baron Samedi]

GH3 = over 8 million copies sold
RB = over 2 million copies sold

[Telefrog]

GH3 = over 8 million copies sold
RB = over 2 million copies sold

Seriously. How is this bullshit? It was a popular vote. GHIII was bound to win.

I know us EvAv'ers can have blinders on sometimes, but seriously... :rolleyes:

[biosc1]

GH3 = over 8 million copies sold
RB = over 2 million copies sold

I think a lot of people view GH3 as a lot more accessible than Rock Band. People view GH3 as an easier single player experience where they may think that Rock Band requires a group of people, plus the added cost.

[Grimmjow]

Seriously. How is this bullshit? It was a popular vote. GHIII was bound to win.

I know us EvAv'ers can have blinders on sometimes, but seriously... :rolleyes:

Thats what I'm trying to figure out lol

[IrishWhiskey]

Seriously. How is this bullshit? It was a popular vote. GHIII was bound to win.

I know us EvAv'ers can have blinders on sometimes, but seriously... :rolleyes:Its bullshit in the sense that the better game lost, not in that the result doesn't make sense.

I really do like GHIII, and think its great. But Rock Band is simply better.

[Telefrog]

Its bullshit in the sense that the better game lost, not in that the result doesn't make sense.

I really do like GHIII, and think its great. But Rock Band is simply better.

Well heck, as far as I'm concerned Audiosurf was better than both of them, but I know it had a snowball's chance in Hell of winning.

[Yeti2005]

GHIII didn't innovate at all. It was basically GHII with new songs and oh yeah crappy boss battles. Rockband on the other hand pushed the genre.

I guess what can you expect from a popularity vote though.

[fitbabits]

GHIII didn't innovate at all. It was basically GHII with new songs and oh yeah crappy boss battles. Rockband on the other hand pushed the genre.

I guess what can you expect from a popularity vote though.

Then you have Audio Surf (http://www.audio-surf.com/), that actually lets you ride your music. Made for a fraction of the cost of either GH III or RB, and costing only ten measly dollars, it's disappointing that it wasn't in with a shout.

That said, these awards are for 2007 and Audio Surf is a 2008 release.

I can't wait to see who wins 2008 Musical Game of the Year!

[Expugnare]

Then you have Audio Surf (http://www.audio-surf.com/), that actually lets you ride your music. Made for a fraction of the cost of either GH III or RB, and costing only ten measly dollars, it's disappointing that it wasn't in with a shout.

That said, these awards are for 2007 and Audio Surf is a 2008 release.

I can't wait to see who wins 2008 Musical Game of the Year!
My guess: Guitar Hero: [insert number or edition here]

[Klunka]

GH3 = over 8 million copies sold
RB = over 2 million copies sold

This game is fun, I can do it without any actual numbers:

Hannah Montana had the highest album sales in 2007. Album of the year!

[Nura]

Also..

GH3 = released in the EU
RB = Not released in the EU

I know i know, we might not buy 6mill games, but i'm sure RB will sell.

[Elrik Murder]

I guess the superior hardware won in the end. :D

Results don't really bother me. I know which is superior...that'd be Rock Band by far. The only music instrument simulator that delivers on a promise to deliver weekly downloadable content. Also, they get points for not blocking their software to prevent using the "same" peripheral. Screw you Activision!

Would like to play Audiosurf. Sounds interesting!

[Mdot23]

GH3 is also $90 cheaper. Does that mean it's better too?

[Evil Avatar]

This is bullshit covered in bullshit frosting, filled with bullshit goo, and served on a bullshit stick.

With a side of bullshit.

How do we get bought off like that? 1Up just lost what little respect they had.

[Food Nipple]

Fans of Rock Band and Audiosurf, get your soapboxes out and get ready to be pissed off.

The votes have been tallied and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has been crowned '1Up Musical Game of the Year'.

I thought for sure that Rock Band was a certainty for this. I guess the check from Electronic Arts got lost in the post. Anyway, there's a press release under here for those interested.

Will we see a press release from Electronic Arts congratulating Activision? Probably not - and nor should they.

From the 1up website (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3166365):

The best games of 2007, as voted on by the 1UP Network readers.

Also, I'm not sure why audiosurf is mentioned, these are 2007 awards and audiosurf was released in 2008

[Zander]

Bullshit.

Unwashed masses voting does not a game of the year make.

[Deadend]

Democracy is crap.

[fitbabits]

Democracy is crap.

Never played it.

[UglyPimp]

Am I too late for Bullshit? No? BULLSHIT

[Blade]

More bullshit than religion or business.

[ResistanceAddict]

I guess what can you expect from a popularity vote though.

I guess I agree, otherwise Halo 3 probably wouldn't have won shit.

I love GH3, and yes it's more accessible, but regardless of sales, Rock Band obviously has more to offer.

[Disgustipated]

Rock Band is a better game, of course it deserved to lose.

[Talon-]

Halo 3 was GotY in this.

Yeah. Intelligence of the masses.

[Venkman]

Just played Rock band for the first time on Tuesday. Freaking awesome. I couldn't believe how much more it added over Guitar hero.

Worth it for the drums alone.

[Telefrog]

Halo 3 was GotY in this.

Yeah. Intelligence of the masses.

And this is why the MTV Movie Awards are such a joke.

[Wyrm]

Yeah, the drums are sick.

For me though, the thing that Guitar Hero hasn't captured, which Rock Band has, is the feeling that with a group of people, you really are playing that song, even though you're not. It's fucking brilliant.

Now we wait and see how bad they nickel and dime us. It's already begun with Guitar Hero (Aerosmith edition? Give me a fucking break), I think it's only a matter of time before we see more peripherals and add ons for Rock Band as well.

[GunnyMo]

I think a lot of people view GH3 as a lot more accessible than Rock Band. People view GH3 as an easier single player experience where they may think that Rock Band requires a group of people, plus the added cost.

Bingo! Exactly! GH is a well established franchise that is easier to get into and, I might add, much cheaper. Nevermind the fact that it is a great game.

[player_2]

"music games" don't really deserve their own category yet. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are the only serious big budget entries. The sing star games that were nominated were mediocre games, yet they are considered as viable game of the year candidates?

The Awards are bogus, the category should be called the "Guitar Hero" category because it has no serious competition. I have seen the Audio Surf demo but I see that enjoying cult success at best, (Rez HD was cool and what about lumines that has a score that is affected by the blocks you drop.) But none of the games in the category are the phenomenon that is Guitar hero. Until some more big budget, serious entries are developed that do more with the genre than ape what Guitar Hero is doing will "Music Games" merit a category.As of right now it is just the "Guitar Hero" category. (Rock Band is like Guitar Hero Deluxe for the less dexterous.)

[donkeydrop]

GH3 = weak rehash of previous games

Rock Band = innovation, 100x the fun for a group of people

As far as GH3 being more accessible, that's ridiculous. The difficulty is cranked way up. Not only is RB guitar easier to play (both because of the better note charts and the guitar design), you have the choice to play drums (less finger dexterity required). Even a complete non-gamer can jump into RB, no controller required, and sing along.

[Rock Bandit]

Pfft, who cares. That's the game of choice for the 1uptards. Rock Band is number one with the crowd that really matters.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/glasschives/f1up.jpg



p.s.

Activision will suck your cock for a dollar.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/glasschives/guitarheropocket1.jpg

[icronic]

The best games of 2007, as voted on by the 1UP Network readers.

I think that quote needs to be put up again, as most people here seem to not get it.

It's not, and never was about the better game. It was about the most popular game, and everyone should know that's GH3.

What I really don't get is why people are saying Rock Band is less accessable. Except for the higher price, it's far more accessable than GH3. Hell, even though the real bulk of game is in the multiplayer, you are in no way forced to play it. While in GH3 you can't even unlock all the songs without playing multiplayer. Except the multiplayer mode doesn't have all of the songs either. The only way to actually play all the songs in either multi or single is quickplay, which if I recall correctly doesn't even bother to record scores. Combined with idiotic boss battles, and songs that are far harder than they should be or need to be. How does any of this make GH3 more accessible than Rock Band?

[ResistanceAddict]

I think that quote needs to be put up again, as most people here seem to not get it.

It's not, and never was about the better game. It was about the most popular game, and everyone should know that's GH3.

What I really don't get is why people are saying Rock Band is less accessable. Except for the higher price, it's far more accessable than GH3. Hell, even though the real bulk of game is in the multiplayer, you are in no way forced to play it. While in GH3 you can't even unlock all the songs without playing multiplayer. Except the multiplayer mode doesn't have all of the songs either. The only way to actually play all the songs in either multi or single is quickplay, which if I recall correctly doesn't even bother to record scores. Combined with idiotic boss battles, and songs that are far harder than they should be or need to be. How does any of this make GH3 more accessible than Rock Band?

By accessible, I think we (at least I do) also mean by what you get with it. I sure as hell can't fit all the crap that comes with it into my little apartment right now. The guitar from GH3 barely fits where I want it to. And yes, the price has a LOT to do with it as well. Do people forget how important money is? While ATM money isn't a huge problem for me, it is for a lot of other people.

[bardockkun]

Maybe it would've won if people had found out this is in the pipe line for DLC...

http://www.rockband.com/rockers_blog_entry/hmxsean/216671?redir=1

[Mdot23]

Look at us still talking when there's science to do...

[mister_slim]

Yeah, the drums are sick.

For me though, the thing that Guitar Hero hasn't captured, which Rock Band has, is the feeling that with a group of people, you really are playing that song, even though you're not. It's fucking brilliant.

Now we wait and see how bad they nickel and dime us. It's already begun with Guitar Hero (Aerosmith edition? Give me a fucking break), I think it's only a matter of time before we see more peripherals and add ons for Rock Band as well.

Rock Band feels like a band, which is the key for me. If I'm drumming, the bassist had better be pulling his weight. Maybe the singer is trying something out of his comfort zone, so I need to keep an Eye on him and help him out if he needs it. And when timing Energy use I need to see how much everyone else has so I know whether to go for it or wait a bit.

JAL, great post.

[Wyrm]

Rock Band feels like a band, which is the key for me. If I'm drumming, the bassist had better be pulling his weight. Maybe the singer is trying something out of his comfort zone, so I need to keep an Eye on him and help him out if he needs it. And when timing Energy use I need to see how much everyone else has so I know whether to go for it or wait a bit.

JAL, great post.

It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who gets pissed when someone in my band is sucking.

[Intruder]

Just adding my calls of bullshit. GH3 may be more popular, but it is far from a better game.

[Adam Blue]

Well, to be fair, GHIII offers much more difficulty which is better for the younger crowd that has the time to play. My lil bro and sis wiz through RB, but found more of a challenge with GHIII.

[TheFlyingOrc]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/theflyingorc/luthor.jpg

[CES]

Simple reason GH3 won: Harmonix are cockbags of the highest caliber. Maybe if they thought to, you know, release the game worldwide they might have won the award. GG Harmonix.

[SilentScreams]

Guitar Hero is to Rock Band what FIFA is to Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven).

Rock Band and Pro Evo are by far the better products, but somehow they keep getting outsold by a game that is simply living on it's long established popularity.

[ElfShotTheFood]

I love how this site never passes up chances to bash Guitar Hero III and praise Rock Band.

[51|RandoM]

How do we get bought off like that? 1Up just lost what little respect they had.

It was a reader vote, lol.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I love how this site never passes up chances to bash Guitar Hero III and praise Rock Band.

I own both. Rock Band is superior in every way except that I prefer the circular notes.

[Sloth]

at first glance i'd say rock band should have won, but the more i think about it, I can see the reasoning for GH3.

[nixpayn]

how could GH3 not win?

it had really poor character graphics and animation (the corpse from Weekend at Bernies was more animated than the GH3 drummer), boring same old shit multiplayer, rehashed characters from the other GH games, and .. oh ya, nothing in the way of innovation other than its the original.. oh wait.. no the franchise was purchased, so really, its the cash-in whore of the original that they quite obviously dumped a bunch of new tracks in,. 50% of which are bad covers, and 40% i hated as songs anyway, and somehow made the graphics worse, to rush it out. top that off with a poor selection of download tracks.. and you've got a winner!

somehow.

sure, that deserves to win.

[ascl]

From my point of view I definitely agree GH3 is music game of the year 2007. Maybe I'd say RB is music game of the year 2008....


Its simply not available in most of the world now, let alone 2007. Hence its obvious which one a reader poll would pick.

[51|RandoM]

Look at the sales numbers, then ask yourself a very simple question:

How many 1up readers who only have Guitar Hero 3 would vote for Rockband?

[yerok]

did nobody click on the link from bardockun? not a single comment about impending JC goodness on RB? If they can put up a 3-song pack of just JC stuff (skullcrusher and re: brains, please), I'll buy it twice.

[TrackZero]

Pfft. It's simple. There's more tasteless teenagers who own the cheaper GH3 (and prefer it's childish slanted content) who have time to be voting in on things like this. It's no better than an MTV poll. Fact is, Rock Band is by far the musical game of the year, anything else is a joke by comparison. /thread

[SubversiveJustin]

AudioSurf is pretty cool I guess, but no way did it or should it stand a chance against GHIII or Rock Band. I love both of those games, and I back the fact that GHIII won. I think it's my favorite GH game so far.

Edit: after thinking it over, I guess I did play WAY more Rock Band than GHIII. I still back the fact that it won.

[Evil Avatar]

Pfft, who cares. That's the game of choice for the 1uptards. Rock Band is number one with the crowd that really matters.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/glasschives/f1up.jpg




Awesome job, Jal. This is how we will pick the Game of the Year next year for the Xbox 360. Most Played = Best. It is simple, it only represents our readers and not the general population and it you can't stack the deck by voting twice.

Call of Duty 4 as Game of the Year? I'm good with that.

[Bahamut]

Maybe it would've won if people had found out this is in the pipe line for DLC...

http://www.rockband.com/rockers_blog_entry/hmxsean/216671?redir=1

Frankly, I'm not impressed by Rock Band's DLC content so far. I've only bought Number of the Beast, Juke Box Hero, and the Metallica song pack...nothing else looked good at all.

I own both. Rock Band is superior in every way except that I prefer the circular notes.

Except for the guitar controller for Rock Band and the song selection - there are only a handful of songs worth singing to on there (Highway Star, Don't Fear the Reaper, Run to the Hills, Foreplay/Long Time (? whatever the Boston song was called), Tom Sawyer).

[Granteezy]

This game is fun, I can do it without any actual numbers:

Hannah Montana had the highest album sales in 2007. Album of the year!

Very well put. Guitar Hero is great, but that is f***ing ridiculous to rate it higher than Rock Band. Rock Band brought together different gameplay mechanics to build an amazing multiplayer experience that is unrivaled in my opinion.

Anyone who disagrees probably doesn't have at least one friend to play Rock Band with! ;)

[alienhead]

I have Rock Band and went through the guitar pretty quickly, honestly not too much of a challenge. So then I though I would get a GH game. I by passed GH3 for 2 even though 3 had the wireless controller. GH3 is a mess of a game and by far the worst of the series.

[blackzc]

I dont know which i like more, i bought rock band before i had played GH3. But after playing GH3 on PC with a rock band guitar hack, GH3 is pretty damn good.

Ive been getting much better playing GH3 and FOF for the post week, This may make rock band more fun when i go back to it since i wont be getting stuck so much.

[Headcase]

how could GH3 not win?

it had really poor character graphics and animation (the corpse from Weekend at Bernies was more animated than the GH3 drummer), boring same old shit multiplayer, rehashed characters from the other GH games, and .. oh ya, nothing in the way of innovation other than its the original.. oh wait.. no the franchise was purchased, so really, its the cash-in whore of the original that they quite obviously dumped a bunch of new tracks in,. 50% of which are bad covers, and 40% i hated as songs anyway, and somehow made the graphics worse, to rush it out. top that off with a poor selection of download tracks.. and you've got a winner!

With a little plagiarism I can make a GH2 review.

boring same old shit multiplayer, rehashed characters from the other GH game, and .. oh ya, nothing in the way of innovation other than its the original.. so really, its the cash-in whore of the original that they quite obviously dumped a bunch of new tracks in,. 95% of which are bad covers, and 40% i hated as songs anyway. top that off with a poor selection of download tracks.. and you've got a winner!

Oh but wait, GH2 was made by Harmonix, so obviously it was good (just like Rocks the 80s, which was also made by Harmonix).

Sorry, but I can damn near guarantee that at least two thirds of people who hate GH3 would have liked it if the word "Harmonix" was on the box.

Now I haven't been able to play any RB yet (none of my friends here own it :( ), all I can say is that GH3 is my favourite GH and I find it really surprising that so many people liked GH1 and GH2 but for some reason do not like GH3.

Seriously, I must know, what was so special about GH2 that was lost in GH3? If it's the music... matter of opinion. What else even separates those two titles (keeping in mind that almost all of the innovation was in GH1)? Maybe I shouldn't ask because someone will point something out and I won't be able to forget it and it will kill my enjoyment of GH3, but please answer anyway.

[mister_slim]

My problem with GH3 was that Neversoft (and also whoever did the PS2 port) fucked up the strumbar sensitivity. I actually strum it (I blame my limited guitar lessons from many years ago) and GH3 frequently registers false strums on the return to the neutral position. Also, Activision are bitches.

[Rock Bandit]

Seriously, I must know, what was so special about GH2 that was lost in GH3?

The fun. Yahtzee explained it best. (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2716-Zero-Punctuation-Guitar-Hero-III)

When did things go wrong for Guitar Hero? Exactly 37 seconds into this. (http://www.gamesradar.com/video/v-20070706135057322005)

That's why the note charts seem needlessly complicated and Tier 8 flat-out smacks you in the face with it's dick. Lacking any experience in the rhythm game genre they hired some Frets on Fire kids who are more interested in making self-masturbatory note charts meant to show of their own 1337ness and max pwnage of brightly colored button mashing than crafting an experience that was fun. I like my games to be enjoyable, not a fucking chore.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Frankly, I'm not impressed by Rock Band's DLC content so far. I've only bought Number of the Beast, Juke Box Hero, and the Metallica song pack...nothing else looked good at all.



Except for the guitar controller for Rock Band and the song selection - there are only a handful of songs worth singing to on there (Highway Star, Don't Fear the Reaper, Run to the Hills, Foreplay/Long Time (? whatever the Boston song was called), Tom Sawyer).
Well, yeah. I can see how you can say that if you don't like good music.

Guitar is probably better for Rock Band if you aren't used to the other. It took me a while, but I'm about equal on both now.

However, the quality of the peripherals is definitely better with GH. Great replacement program for RB, though.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Seriously, I must know, what was so special about GH2 that was lost in GH3? If it's the music... matter of opinion. What else even separates those two titles (keeping in mind that almost all of the innovation was in GH1)? Maybe I shouldn't ask because someone will point something out and I won't be able to forget it and it will kill my enjoyment of GH3, but please answer anyway.
The music is more Wild 'n Crazy (tm), and has less focus on GOOD songs.

No Freebird, no Sweet Child of Mine, no Carry on My Wayward Son.

Much greater focus on Metal in GH3.

Boss battles kinda sucked.

[Headcase]

All right, good answers, guys. Obviously it's a matter of opinion then.

Gotta admit no GH3 song touches Sweet Child of Mine, but overall I found the selection to be just as good as GH2, personally. I must admit I like most music though.

As for the charts, well I guess that's In The Groove syndrome, putting most of the work on harder charts and leaving most players in the dust. I found GH3 really forced me to learn the mechanics of pull-offs, among other things, much much more than GH2 did. All I can say is that from the POV of someone who has played a lot of rhythm games (including all of Harmonix's), I like these charts. It's the easier stuff that feels like a chore to me.

I will say one thing I think they screwed up on was HOPOs (hammer-ons \ pull-offs) in the Hard charts. In many songs in Expert, there will be one long, smooth, continuous string of HOPOs. In hard though, they'll remove, say, every 4th note to make it easier. Well that's fine, except whenever they do that, the note afterwards is not a HOPO, so many Hard charts require more strumming and in come cases have spots that are harder to combo than their expert counter-parts.

While on the subject, here's a tip with pull-offs: there are two things you must do for every pull-off: let go of one fret, and push another. You can do it in either order (and even push in the fret before strumming the last one, remember that for any note you can hold higher frets without penalty unless it's a chord), but it's when you do the second one that determines the timing. So you can push in and then pull off, or you can pull off and then push in, it's your choice.

However, if you're stuck on World 8 in <difficulty>, why not play some early tiers <difficulty+1> and go back to it later? World 8's supposed to be hard, remember Mario? :)

Also, the boss battles start to make more sense in Expert if you play that far. They are really more of a "challenge" than a head-to-head "battle" though. Lou on Expert... you just have to hope he doesn't get the lefty flip at the wrong time, learn how to get those items, and stockpile them for your section, but damn it's hard... for those of you who have made it this far, don't even bother with this battle until you can 4\5 star lots of songs.

My problem with GH3 was that Neversoft (and also whoever did the PS2 port) fucked up the strumbar sensitivity. I actually strum it (I blame my limited guitar lessons from many years ago) and GH3 frequently registers false strums on the return to the neutral position. Also, Activision are bitches.

Yes, I noticed something like this too, if I hold the strum bar to the very top (not the bottom) and then let go it will spring back and get another strum.

I don't do this naturally (and will do it deliberately even), but it sounds like this is a big problem for the strummers out there. That sucks because it's really the most "proper" way to play.