Rocking the Christmas tree

Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour
battle it out for best game this holiday

CAPTIVE CLAUS: Video game reviewer Erik Leijon and helpers

by ERIK LEIJON

Not since Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad battled it out for the last Turbo Man action figure in the 1996 Christmas caper Jingle All the Way have two titanic behemoths fought for holiday season supremacy. Rock Band 2 ($190) and Guitar Hero World Tour ($200) are the biggest players in the increasingly bloated music rhythm video game genre.

Both are meant to simulate the live band experience for even the most tone-deaf of game players, and increase seasonal feelings of camaraderie as four people can tackle their favourite rock tunes at once. Each kit comes with the game, a guitar, a microphone and a drum set (a second guitar must be purchased separately if your band wants another guitarist or bassist).

Coloured notes will pass along the television screen, and players must press or hit the corresponding button on their instrument to recreate the sound. RB2 comes with 84 songs and GHWT with 86, and new songs can be downloaded for a couple bucks each (depending on the song). RB2 currently has the longer list of selections.

LET THE JAMMING BEGIN

Since both titles are so similar, it’s difficult to unequivocally recommend one over the other. The first two Guitar Hero games were developed by Boston-based Harmonix Music Systems, who jumped ship before Guitar Hero III to release Rock Band with Electronic Arts.

Since GH publisher Activision still had the rights to the GH name, they enlisted Los Angeles’s Neversoft Entertainment to helm the popular series. This is the first Guitar Hero game to include the drum and singing features (Rock Band did it last year) and this year’s version also made some big changes to the guitar itself. The guitar has five additional touch-sensitive buttons meant to resemble the tapping style of guitar playing.

Let’s face it though, all anyone really cares about is how much fun four friends can have after one too many eggnogs. RB2 has some good selections for fans of new wave-y music like Squeeze (“Cool for Cats”), Talking Heads (“Psycho Killer”) and Elvis Costello (“Pump It Up”); GHWT should appeal to those into long-winded jamming from Mars Volta (“L’Via Viaquez”) and Tool (“Schism,” “Vicarious” and “Parabola”). Both seem to have an affinity for Dinosaur Jr.’s “Feel the Pain” and teen-punk poppers Paramore, but a few interesting exclusives are RB2’s “Uncontrollable Urge” from Devo and GHWT’s “One Armed Scissor” by At the Drive-In.

Both drum kits can thankfully take a beating, although Rock Band’s felt a bit more stable. Guitar Hero’s wireless guitar was larger and slightly heavier, feeling more like a real instrument. The USB microphones are exactly the same. Both require a pretty big investment in terms of cash and living room space, but either title will bring plenty of Christmas cheer or a solo guilty pleasure when it comes time to perform the Panic at the Disco cuts. They’re available on the Microsoft XBox 360, Sony Playstation 3, Sony Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii.

RIVAL YOUR IDOLS

Rock Band and Guitar Hero aren’t the only ways to get creative with your console this holiday season. Those only interested in becoming the next Canadian Idol can pick up Microsoft’s Lips ($70) for the XBox 360. Insanely simple by comparison, Lips is exclusively a karaoke game featuring two wireless motion-sensitive microphones. Although light with only 40 tracks, presenting them with their original music videos and giving players scores based on correct pitch ensures Lips will provide more challenge than your average karaoke machine. Playstation 3 owners have their own killer karaoke series, called SingStar Volume 2 ($60) and the self-explanatory SingStar ABBA ($40).

If there happens to be an Asian school girl on your shopping list, Dance Dance Revolution: Universe 3 ($70) is available on the XBox 360. Dance Dance is the home version of the popular arcade machine where players step on a platform and follow a pattern—matching their movements with the beat—with a transportable plastic mat instead of the huge metal arcade cabinet. The home pad responds well to contact, stays firm to the ground and the soundtrack is nothing but the finest, cheesiest Eurodance and J-pop. As fun as it is exhausting.

NO INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED

Ubisoft has a trio of yuletide treats. Shaun White Snowboarding is Ubisoft Montreal’s foray into the popular sport for literally every console imaginable ($30–$60), Tom Clancy’s End War ($30–$90) is a turn-based military strategy game for the PS3, X360, PC and the portable Nintendo DS and PlayStationPortable (PSP), and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party marks a return of those dastardly multiplayer game-loving critters for the Wii ($50) and DS ($30). Shaun White and Rayman for the Wii both utilize the Wii balance board peripheral, which comes packed with Wii Fit ($100). Wii owners can also check out the family-friendly Guinness World Records ($40) and skateboarding balance board game Skate It! ($50).