 It's been about five years since we've seen either a Guitar Hero or a Rock Band game, and yet somehow by coincidence this October there's going to be both a new Rock Band 4 and a new Guitar Hero Live. What's interesting though is both companies are taking the same formula and doing a little bit of a different twist on it. Some admittedly more than others. Let's talk about Rock Band 4 first because it probably looks closer to its predecessor than Guitar Hero Live. Rock Band 4 has kind of the same instruments, maybe a little sturdier, but it is the same guitar, same drums, same microphone. What is different though that Rock Band is playing up is that there are new guitar solo modes. It's actually kind of promoting improvisation. At certain sections when there's like a guitar solo that you would expect, instead of giving you the notes, it's going to basically guide you along certain patterns, and by playing those patterns you're kind of adding your own element, unique twist, but it does feel like a fun little challenge. It is tough. It is tough to make something sound good. As long as you're plucking the right rhythm and not doing too much crazy stuff, simply holding down the right notes will give you pretty cool scale patterns. And those who like really love metal, you can double tap too. That is the big difference. Drums have a little bit more of a fill system that's less improvisational than games past, but it is better. It makes for a tighter, better sounding experience. Rock Band 4, however, is doing the big thing of making almost every single song from Rock Band 3 and before backwards compatible. If you bought it on your Xbox One account or you bought it on your PlayStation account, it's going to be there. So that's Rock Band 4. It's really taking what everyone loved about the last game, quite literally bringing it over to the new one. Guitar Gear Alive is not doing any of that. Guitar Gear Alive is a fresh start for the franchise. There is no compatibility because the guitar itself isn't the same. Instead of the normal five large buttons in the neck, it's actually now a 3x2 grid. You can think of it as three frets and two strings if you're trying to compare it to a real guitar. That's actually not that bad. It takes a little bit like you're used to, but otherwise you are kind of playing the same game. Maybe it feels a little more like guitar chords, and I did feel that, but otherwise you're going to get the same experience after a learning curve. But the big new feature, and the one Activision seems most proud of, is Guitar Hero TV. And you can really think of it as a series of 24-hour music video channels. It's kind of like MTV2 if you grew up in the 90s. Only difference is you can now hop in and play Guitar Hero along with the song whenever you want. There's a series of different channels based on musical taste. Some of them will be premium if you want to unlock challenges or actually pay real cash for it. And what's really cool about it is the exact same stream for everyone at the same time. So if you're playing Monsters and Men in New York, the same person in LA is playing the exact same song. So you can actually compare scores and you kind of get ranked globally, which is a really cool experiment. So that's Guitar Hero Live with Rock Band 4. Two actually different takes of the other game genre come into next generation consoles for the first time this October. But the question I have is, where is my DDR revival? Where is Dana Stans Revolution? Because I really, really miss Five Nine and Sandstorm. Please make that happen. What's the rhythm game I want?
 It's been about five years since we've seen either a Guitar Hero or a Rock Band game,
 and yet somehow by coincidence this October there's going to be both a new Rock Band 4
 and a new Guitar Hero Live.
 What's interesting though is both companies are taking the same formula and doing a little
 bit of a different twist on it.
 Some admittedly more than others.
 Let's talk about Rock Band 4 first because it probably looks closer to its predecessor
 than Guitar Hero Live.
 Rock Band 4 has kind of the same instruments, maybe a little sturdier, but it is the same
 guitar, same drums, same microphone.
 What is different though that Rock Band is playing up is that there are new guitar solo
 modes.
 It's actually kind of promoting improvisation.
 At certain sections when there's like a guitar solo that you would expect, instead of giving
 you the notes, it's going to basically guide you along certain patterns, and by playing
 those patterns you're kind of adding your own element, unique twist, but it does feel
 like a fun little challenge.
 It is tough.
 It is tough to make something sound good.
 As long as you're plucking the right rhythm and not doing too much crazy stuff, simply
 holding down the right notes will give you pretty cool scale patterns.
 And those who like really love metal, you can double tap too.
 That is the big difference.
 Drums have a little bit more of a fill system that's less improvisational than games past,
 but it is better.
 It makes for a tighter, better sounding experience.
 Rock Band 4, however, is doing the big thing of making almost every single song from Rock
 Band 3 and before backwards compatible.
 If you bought it on your Xbox One account or you bought it on your PlayStation account,
 it's going to be there.
 So that's Rock Band 4.
 It's really taking what everyone loved about the last game, quite literally bringing it
 over to the new one.
 Guitar Gear Alive is not doing any of that.
 Guitar Gear Alive is a fresh start for the franchise.
 There is no compatibility because the guitar itself isn't the same.
 Instead of the normal five large buttons in the neck, it's actually now a 3x2 grid.
 You can think of it as three frets and two strings if you're trying to compare it to
 a real guitar.
 That's actually not that bad.
 It takes a little bit like you're used to, but otherwise you are kind of playing the
 same game.
 Maybe it feels a little more like guitar chords, and I did feel that, but otherwise you're
 going to get the same experience after a learning curve.
 But the big new feature, and the one Activision seems most proud of, is Guitar Hero TV.
 And you can really think of it as a series of 24-hour music video channels.
 It's kind of like MTV2 if you grew up in the 90s.
 Only difference is you can now hop in and play Guitar Hero along with the song whenever
 you want.
 There's a series of different channels based on musical taste.
 Some of them will be premium if you want to unlock challenges or actually pay real cash
 for it.
 And what's really cool about it is the exact same stream for everyone at the same time.
 So if you're playing Monsters and Men in New York, the same person in LA is playing the
 exact same song.
 So you can actually compare scores and you kind of get ranked globally, which is a really
 cool experiment.
 So that's Guitar Hero Live with Rock Band 4.
 Two actually different takes of the other game genre come into next generation consoles
 for the first time this October.
 But the question I have is, where is my DDR revival?
 Where is Dana Stans Revolution?
 Because I really, really miss Five Nine and Sandstorm.
 Please make that happen.
 What's the rhythm game I want?