Rock Band outsells Guitar Hero III on Xbox 360 in January

by Alexander Sliwinski { Feb 15th 2008 at 12:30PM }

IGN reports January's NPD data shows that the Rock Band bundle on Xbox 360 barely beat out Guitar Hero III in sales for the month. This would be the first time Rock Band has been able to catch GH III on any of the platforms it is available on. Although it would be easy to dismiss the accomplishment because GH III had already sold millions before Rock Band was even out of the gate, it does mean consumers don't think of Guitar Hero as the end all music game.

Despite Rock Band's higher price point for the full bundle, it appears gamers are willing to spend the extra cash for the "platform." Sales of the game have been steady and the the constant flow of DLC has come back to MTV/Harmonix in a river of cash. With the announcement by Activision of retail game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it's become clear that Activision and MTV/Harmonix have very different ideas on how to establish longevity for the franchises.

Tags: gh3, ghiii, guitar-hero-3, rock-band, rockband, sales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

whymog @ Feb 15th 2008 12:38PM

I'm surprised Rock Band caught up so quickly.

By the way, Rock Band's bundle is $170 on PS3 and Xbox360 and $160 on PS2. GH3 is $99 on Xbox360 and PS3 - that's a $70 difference. ;)

Tiptup300 @ Feb 15th 2008 3:20PM

I'm surprised that most people (like me) bought GH3 and then realized THEY BOUGHT GH3! So they sell that crud and buy the better game.

vidGuy @ Feb 15th 2008 12:43PM

You can find Rock Band sub-$150 if you know where to look. I don't understand why anyone would buy the game and periphs separate at that price.

I much prefer RB's format. More players = more fun, and there's more longevity with the different instruments. Plus, RB has much more consistent DLC to keep me going.

DVersion @ Feb 15th 2008 12:45PM

well this just shows that people get aren't slaves to franchises and that if a better product comes out, they'll get it.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 15th 2008 1:04PM

Ding ding ding!

Jack @ Feb 15th 2008 1:23PM

skate. is a good example too.

vidGuy @ Feb 15th 2008 1:57PM

Oh God yes. The Tony Hawk games got run into the ground with half-assed rehashes. skate is a great new take on the genre and deserves to sell better.

Mr.ESC @ Feb 15th 2008 2:47PM

"well this just shows that people get aren't slaves to franchises and that if a better product comes out, they'll get it".

Oh if only Madden knew this.

Mr.ESC @ Feb 15th 2008 2:47PM

I mean't if only Madden fans knew this.

Donald @ Feb 15th 2008 2:53PM

Not going to happen for a while with Madden, since they locked up the NFL license for another n years

Marty @ Feb 15th 2008 12:52PM

I think the plastic-instrument rhythm games have peaked out for now - too many more iterations and it's going to seem as bad as the whole Madden thing is. Same game every year with a new roster of songs, and a new guitar with all the improvements the last year's model should have had.

Burritoclock @ Feb 15th 2008 1:12PM

Which is why Harmonix made the decision to focus on DLC instead of yearly releases, and is why long term they will be viable and probably crush the bones of guitar hero. I have bought no GH DLC and will not be buying the Aerosmith edition, but I have bought every Rockband download that has release and plan to keep doing so.

copa @ Feb 15th 2008 1:12PM

You haven't been paying attention. The progression from Guitar Hero 2 to Rock Band is an ocean greater than what you got going from Madden 07 to Madden 08.

Rock Band will be well-supported going forward, but Harmonix is clearly not content to just ride out Rock Band for the next few years.

Just today, one of the project leads mentioned that Harmonix is experimenting with a hip-hop game concept, and with a collaborative music creation process that would look very different from what we are playing today:

http://www.oxmonline.com/article/features/presses/freezepop-oxm-interview

Activision will run Guitar Hero into the ground, but we are not out of ideas on the plastic instruments yet.

FidliousWong @ Feb 15th 2008 2:26PM

Rock Band needs better band system and keyboard...

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 15th 2008 12:52PM

sigh,

I think I'm just going to go with GH2, and then get GH3. Because while I feel that Rock Band is definitely superior to the Gh series, I don't see any point in having all those extra peripherals, especially when I don't have too many friends coming over my house.

dizzy @ Feb 15th 2008 1:11PM

definitely feeling you on your sentiment. Aside from the opening day usage with family over the holidays, I've stuffed all my RB peripherals into a corner and used my old GH II guitar =\

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 15th 2008 1:16PM

I regulary switch between guitar and drums, and my wife always sings, so I get good use out of all peripherals.

Chrysee @ Feb 15th 2008 1:32PM

My husband and I play, so that's alright. He'll play anything and I'll do anything but drums (I'm a wuss) so it gets pretty varied. I favor guitar though, and frankly the guitar parts are horribly boring (and easy) in Rock Band compared to GH2.

Rock Band is wearing on me though, if we visit friends to try to play with more than 2, there's almost inevitably more than 4 people present.

And you know how being around drunk people is not at all fun (and even excessively irritating) if you're not drunk too? Playing Rock Band with others is great, but not playing and having 4 people in the room playing makes me want to kill someone.

Matt B @ Feb 15th 2008 3:57PM

This is the exact reason why I don't have it and have GH3 instead.
At least I get to play some RB on friday nights and have to drive 40 minutes each way to do so.

Synergistic @ Feb 15th 2008 1:25PM

I just bought Rock Band at the beginning of this week.

I love the drums and love rocking out with my fauxhawk out!

Eric @ Feb 15th 2008 1:26PM

Rock Band is the best game i have ever bought. I have never had a game i play so much. Every tuesday I am playing again and again. It's expensive but i think its so worth it.

Randall @ Feb 15th 2008 1:35PM

For guitar playing, Guitar Hero can't be beat. I hate playing guitar on rock band because it just feels like it was never finished. Guitar Hero feels amazing. I also HATE the career mode for rock band. Why do I have to play say it ain't so by weezer several thousand times? I like the song but I'm kind of tired of it. Why is this set list with 3 songs from the easy section of tracks finished off with one of the impossible songs? Great I just lost 7,000 fans and there is no way of getting them back. Also, I don't know if this is a ps3 problem or what but the game hardly ever actually saves my progress. I'll start playing and be like "where'd those 50,000 fans I earned yesterday go?" and then realize that despite it saying it saved it actually didn't.

Eric @ Feb 15th 2008 1:41PM

I have the 360 version. I have never had a saving problem. I love the career mode and playing the same songs over and over again is what being in a band is. Think The Rolling Stones like playing "Give me Shelter" At every concert. I am sure they hate that song too but they have to because thats what there fans want.

vidGuy @ Feb 15th 2008 2:10PM

GH has harder guitar parts, but they are sometimes unnecessarily and unrealistically hard. Why do I have to play arpeggios on expert when the song is clearly playing a chord? Why do I have to play a three-button chord when the song is playing an Am, a two-string chord (non-barred)?

The career mode in RB is ridiculously repetitive when you are playing alone, but with a full group it is kind of cool to play everyone's favorite. Plus, real bands play the same song in different venues every show.

Doc @ Feb 15th 2008 1:39PM

I love rock bands decision to do the weekly rollouts of DLC! I hope that the GH camp is taking notes, because this IS how DLC IS and should be done. DLC is what makes me come back to this game, since if I get burned out on it I can take a week or two off and then check back and jam out with some friends or my daughter to some new songs.

Kizzle @ Feb 15th 2008 2:08PM

People still play Guitar Hero?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 15th 2008 2:18PM

I know. They shouldn't.

Crazy Vincent @ Feb 15th 2008 2:32PM

Any word on getting the Rock Band guitar to work with GH3? I haven't heard any news about that lately, I wonder what the status is.

Burritoclock @ Feb 15th 2008 2:38PM

Not gonna happen anytime soon, but that would be awesome and I might actually play GHII a little if it did.

Dr. @ Feb 15th 2008 2:43PM

Activision can't just have their software be compatible with other controllers! They require compensation!

Lone Starr @ Feb 15th 2008 2:38PM

"Although it would be easy to dismiss the accomplishment because GH III had already sold millions before Rock Band was even out of the gate, it does mean consumer don't think of Guitar Hero as the end all music game."

I'm not sure this is a fair inference.

Even though RB seems to be better than GH, now will be when Activision will start sweetening the GH deal, given the potential of RB.

Purple Haze @ Feb 15th 2008 2:41PM

I think rock band will continue to sell well based on word of mouth, much like guitar hero did at first.

Ryan @ Feb 15th 2008 3:00PM

I really like the direction and approach Harmonix has taken with Rock Band with the extra peripherals and focus on DLC.

However, I wish the gameplay (specifically the guitar) were just more fun. All that stuff kind of takes a backseat when I just don't have as much fun playing the game. I dunno what it is, but when I play the guitar on GH it actually feels like I'm rocking out, when I play it on Rock Band it feels like I'm pressing some random buttons while some music that has little to do with it plays in the background.

I think what happens is that since Rock Band has all the instruments they stay true to the original song. GH seems to artificially inflate the sounds of the guitar more. It's less "authentic" but just more fun to play.

Another part of it is that since Rock Band has all those instruments it keeps you playing your "real" instrument in the song. If you're playing lead guitar alone it only lets you play the lead guitar part of the song, which results in a lot of sitting around while you hear perfectly good notes but see a blank screen and think "why am I not playing this right now?". On GH you switch between lead and rhythm, etc so you're not just sitting around as much. I swear sometimes in GH you're playing sounds that aren't even made by a guitar, which is much better than sitting there picking your nose while the music plays.

I guess if I were more of a music purist I would like Rock Band more, but as someone who just wants to have fun with the game most of those songs are boring to me, which is odd because Rock Band has a lot more songs that I like than GH does but I still have more fun with the GH songs.

Eric @ Feb 15th 2008 5:22PM

See i am the exact opposite I loved GH I and II, I hate GH III. It is like GH To the extreme. There are chords that are even not in the song just to make it harder. I hate that.

The reason I love rock band is it's made by musicians who understand music, and being a musician you appreciate it. Being in a band means doing your part and not whats best for you whats best for the band. My buddy Andy the other day was complaining about the drums on "We care alot". He said its the something over and over again. I said "yeah, your the drummer, you keep the beat.....and that beat serves the song Its called rock BAND not rock ANDY."

Being in a band means that you serve the music not your ego and thats this game nails and I Love it.

jake18oly @ Feb 15th 2008 7:13PM

I have to agree with Eric on this one. Guitar Hero 3 seems like button mashing and Rock Band feels like you are playing along to the music. I play the drums in real life so I love Rock Band. I am not a big fan of the Guitar Hero series after GH2. It seems like Activision is going to drive the series into the ground.

Gwan101 @ Feb 15th 2008 3:13PM

If Rock Band was more difficult, I'd switch over to it. Now that I've beaten -every- song on GH3, Rock Band just feels too easy.

I want some more DLC or a more difficult Rock Band... Please? D=

Truckondo @ Feb 15th 2008 7:17PM

I just got Rock Band 2 weeks ago. I haven't even touched GH since then. We had a "marathon" session on Chinese New Year at my girlfriends house and my 360 was on from 2pm to around midnight. I'm bummed now that my 2nd 360 just RROD'd. My Best Buy is out of them but they are getting some in tomorrow so I will be able to swap it out. I'm not feelin a whole game dedicated to Aerosmith. I like variety and the games that are out now offer that.