I had respect for Harmonix before. After the catastrophy that is also called Rock Band & The Breaking Instruments (and its sequel: Rock Band & The European Release), I'm not. They've shown that they don't give a s*** about the customer.

So, in turn, I won't give a s*** about their games anymore. And as I don't like the way how Neversoft & Activision handle Guitar Hero nowadays, I'm not interested in World Tour either.

But hey, at least I'll save tons of money when I don't have to pay for some toy drums.

I'm not sure which (if any) side you're trying to support cainkid, but if they're smart they'll offer everything piecemeal, it encourages people to stick with their product without forcing anyone to upgrade anything they don't want to. They've got the first to market advantage and they should use that for all the leverage its worth, and from what we've been told so far that's exactly what they're doing.

They may have the songs that come with the game available for DLC too, but if the manage to pack at least 20 or so good ones on the disk then the incentive to just pay $30 or so more to get the songs you want, plus some so-so songs, plus the new visuals. You've already got the old peripherals so that's all you need. But if they actually do improve the peripherals significantly then maybe you'll hold on to the old ones just long enough to save up some money to swap them out one at a time for the new version as you save money. And as long as they upgrade both the game and the peripherals enough to be equivalent to what Guitar Hero: WT is putting out then there won't be much inventive to spend $200(?) to get a whole new system when you can upgrade your current one a little at a time, getting only the components you feel are worth it.

If they're really smart and can keep track of such things they'll make the RB2 content available as DLC from day one, but every time you select one of the songs it will say something like "This song is included as part of Rock Band 2, available in stores now for $##.##! If you purchase this song now and upgrade to Rock Band 2 later we'll refund any included songs for credits good towards the purchase of other DLC!"

eggmanimn - agreed, the apparent problems with GH:A go beyond just being a gameplay rehash. I like Aerosmith, prefer their older stuff, but I can't see myself enjoying a game centered around their music, especially with so few songs and no DLC opportunities. I think if they really want to continue with a line of "spinoff" games, they should make them genre-specific, not band-specific. For example, the rumored Guitar Hero: Metallica is cool, but I'd rather just have Guitar Hero: Metal.

Which reminds me, I'm still waiting for some Megadeth and Pantera in Rock Band. Somebody, make it happen.

I'm sure they will sell the game with no instruments but the quality instruments coming with Rock Band 2 that don't break, wear down quickly or have other flaws should've been the instruments that came with Rock Band.

Guitar Hero seems to be evolving, even if it is becoming more like Rock Band. After World Tour, it will be interesting to see if they continue to keep it fresh.

I'm glad to see they're letting my downloaded songs work for the sequel.

"Innovation (that is, the idea that every new entry MUST have some new gameplay addition) RUINS music games. All they need is a solid mechanic to start with and new music to keep it going."

Right. I'd be perfectly fine with just getting more downloadable content.

With Guitar Hero upping the ante with World Tour, Harmonix would be hard-pressed NOT to release a sequel. Here's the full interview. It doesn't reveal everything, but it goes more in-depth than this article suggests. They're adding a lot of new features and gameplay, as well.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/885/885195p1.html

Personally, I don't care one bit about buying a sequel. At least I don't have to buy all-new instruments to enjoy the game, and I can keep the small collection of DLC I already have.

And eggmanimn: there has been very little innovation in the Guitar Hero series (in what has been released to this point, I mean), and from what I can tell, that's the biggest complaint with the fifth iteration, GH: Aerosmith. Same game, new songs. That's doesn't cut it, imo. You have to build on the formula to keep the game fresh. If Rock Band 2 delivers on Teasdale's promises of "new ways to experience your music library" and expands the series' horizons, I'm all for it.

I'll be blunt. Innovation (that is, the idea that every new entry MUST have some new gameplay addition) RUINS music games. All they need is a solid mechanic to start with and new music to keep it going.

Already? Say hello to the new Madden. Same thing year after year with slight improvements. Not saying the game is bad, but I thought that Harmonix would actually care to innovate with each new entry, rather than update, and I'm suspecting that a new title this early isn't going to be anything but a face-lift.