Guitar Hero 5 Snaps UK #1 From Beatles: Rock Band

[John Funk]

Guitar Hero 5 Snaps UK #1 From Beatles: Rock Band

The fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series seems to have beaten even the mighty Fab Four to the draw: GH5 leaped to the top of the UK charts upon its release last week, while Beatles: Rock Band took fourth.

Are you tired of endless installments of Guitar Hero? If you live in the UK, you're apparently in the minority - Activison's Guitar Hero 5 took first place in the weekly UK all-formats chart on its debut. GH5's top position is slightly surprising considering that last week saw the release of a very high-profile competitor: The Beatles: Rock Band, which entered the charts at the fourth spot.

Considering the popularity of the Beatles worldwide and the novelty of their music being playable in the rhythm game genre for the first time ever, this is slightly surprising. Also interesting is the fact that this is the first time a Guitar Hero game has ever nabbed the top spot in the all-format chart: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero World Tour had both entered the list at fourth place in their respective debuts, previously the series' best.

Though it may have failed to best Guitar Hero 5, The Beatles: Rock Band's fourth-place showing was - similarly to Guitar Hero - the best of the series thus far, outperforming the first Rock Band, which had entered the list at sixth. That's the silver lining in EA's cloud, though - after all, The Beatles set Viacom back a not-insignificant amount of cash [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94318-Viacom-Promised-Big-Money-to-Beatles-Rights-Holders].

I guess Courtney Love just might be drumming up some unintentional publicity [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94589-Courtney-Love-Enraged-At-Guitar-Hero-5s-Cobain-Cameo] for the game. Anyway, here's the full chart from last week:

* 01 Guitar Hero 5
* 02 Colin McRae: Dirt 2
* 03 Batman: Arkham Asylum
* 04 The Beatles: Rock Band
* 05 Wii Fit
* 06 Wii Sports Resort
* 07 IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
* 08 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
* 09 Mario Kart Wii
* 10 Ashes Cricket 2009

(GI.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/guitar-hero-5-beats-the-beatles-rock-band-to-uk-number-1])

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[tehroc]

I'm surprised, as a whole I found GH5 soundtrack to be the most abysmal yet. I returned it to Gamefly within a week. Not a Beatles fan either so I will have to stick with RB2.

 

[scotth266]

I haven't been a fan of the GH franchise since the second one.

On the other hand, I'm a huge fan of The Beatles.

 

[fix-the-spade]

My dad saw Beatles rock band, he rang me up and said "do they really expect me to pay a hundred quid for that? It didn't even have all the albums on it,"

I wonder if there was some miscalculation on the number and average age of Beatles fans vs their willingness to spend lots of money on games that are only partially about the music...

 

[level250geek]

I find it mildly insulting that The Beatles: Rock Band was outsold by Guitar Hero 5. I find it doubly insulting that this happened in the UK. I'm not even that big of a Beatles fan.

If something like this happens with the inevitable (I hope) Led Zeppelin: Rock Band up against Guitar Hero *, I think I'll just quietly cry to myself and bemoan the death of music.

 

[Ophiuchus]

That surprises me, really, and I didn't contribute. I have The Beatles Rock Band and it's the most fun I've ever had with a plastic guitar game, which is really saying something when you consider I'm forced to use an old guitar that has more quirks than working features. Haven't actually got around to buying GH5 yet, though I suspect I'll do something about that at some point this week.

It's even more surprising when you consider that GH5 comes bundled with the terrible GHWT guitar if you buy it from anywhere but GAME.

 

[Rainchild7]

This actually doesn't suprise me. Being in my 20s I never really got into the Beatles, not saying their music was bad, but I guess Im from a different generation, however I do have a few friends my age who do love them so their music does transcend generations. Guitar Hero 5 though bloated and overrated would probably have a lot more variety than being forced to only play Beatles songs. Guitar Hero 5 has a little something for everyone, country, rock, metal, indie.

I'll put it simple not everyone is a Beatles fan.

 

[MetaKnight19]

Neither of them have really interested me, for the moment I'm sticking with GH:WT and RB2

 

[messy]

Even if you revoloutionise music, you'll still loose to a billionaire dressed as a rodent.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

"Ashes Cricket 2009" Really? Really?

 

[Bladecatcher]

I dont understand why these developers (especially those for GH) feel the need to come out with a new game almost every year. Ill admit, RB-Beatles is a damn good idea and im shocked that it didnt sell as well as that seemingly half-assed GH. But im perfectly content with having only RB2, and unless they come out with "Guitar Hero- Legends of Death Metal featuring Carl Sanders", it looks like its going to stay that way.

 

[Valiance]

"Ashes Cricket 2009" Really? Really?

Yeah, I was laughing so hard when I saw that, glad I'm not the only one who was like "Wow, really? Rofl."

But yeah, Guitar Hero 5 is the most hyped yet least substance-filled (from what I've seen) game in the series. Honestly, I really liked GH3, and I'd like a game based on the WT engine with songs from 1 and 2. I'm not sure how it got to number 1.

Spoiler

I was extremely excited about the inclusion of Dire Straits, but then when announced it was only one song, and of course, it was Sultans of Swing (Which isn't a bad song, don't get me wrong, I love it, (yet it's overplayed and such) but it again shows where the franchise is going - the songs they pick are for classic nostalgic feels/popular hits, not challenging...)

So I just watched a youtube video of it and played along with it and realized that I'd 5 star it in 1 play-through, and FC it in maybe 3-4 attempts depending on how consistent my snake is at that speed. Which I know I'm able to do them faster from previous songs, but I digress.

Anyway, my point was GH5 has some big names, but not the names that people who want to play challenging music/songs will like. But considering how 'big' guitar hero has gotten, many of those sales are most likely misinformed/gift sales, but even if they're not, congrats to the GH team. The music is probably more varied/interesting than Beatles: Rock band.

 

[Kiutu]

People complain about Guitar Hero and Rockband like they sued to complain about WW2 games. They do this while still loving them and playing them. However I dont see anything wrong with them keep going. You buy the instruments once, then each game is just a new set of songs.

 

[orangeapples]

I'm surprised that Guitar Hero Greatest Hits isn't on any top selling list. It is full of the songs everyone loves from previous GH games, and it has all the instruments. when I get the money I'm picking that one up.

 

[FinalHeart95]

I'm not a big fan of the Beatles, but the Guitar Hero soundtrack flat out SUCKED. If I had to pick one, it would be Beatles: Rock Band.