I still don't know if I'm buyin' this. Has it been made known if the GH:WT instruments are cross compatible with RB2? Cuz I'll probably buy the game just not sure which instrument set to buy.

sandal-hat17

And I'm very much looking forward to most of the songs announced and just making my own music with out having to drop at least $3000 to do it. That was the major draw for me and makes me glad I held out for this kind of game.

GrrSnort

@AuraHACK: If you want heroin addicts, then maybe you should keep your fingers crossed for Jimmy Chamberlin (the drummer).

GrrSnort

Am I the only one that enjoys these games because I get to pretend I'm a rock star? I go into the character creator and make myself, or make what I wish I could look like if I didn't have to have a real person job. Then I pretend to rock out and watch my fake self live my rock fantasy.

Ive never wanted to pretend I was Billy Corigan pretending to rock.

mxmarks

I thought James Iha or whatever was their lead guitarist. I might be wrong as I'm no Pumpkins expert.

Zenrick2.0

This video is kind of pointless. It doesn't go into any of the mo-cap stuff enough. It's just Billy going on a PR rant.

OtherAdam

"Music people actually listen to"

That's the problem with Guitar Hero. A lot of the songs I like to listen to just aren't fun to PLAY in a rhythm game.

I'll trade "Hey I know this song!" for "This is fun!" anyday.

TRT-X

To be honest, even tho I'm a GH fan and dying to get my hands on GHWT, I could care less about celebrities being in and whatnot. I care about the songs that are in, the gameplay and the track editor. My friends, who come over every once in a while to play GH3, tho, are always "ooo cool! slash! I wanna play with slash!" or "look, that guy looks like jimi hendrix!". So I guess this idea will resonate well with a large part of the audience.

solar_tf

@jackburnt: He looks like a cross-dressing vampire in real life, too, so I'd say the devs are doing a pretty good job of capturing his likeness.

Dukeman330

@Stalkumi: I agree. Its like a Pixar picture vs. a Dreamworks picture. Let it speak for itself, rather than pasting X, Y, and Z celebrities to sell your product. Bah. Activision killed the Guitar Hero...Star.

awwyeadatsright

Activision just won't let the game speak for itself. They have to ram all this high profile song / celebrity garbage down our throats. Seems like they are really trying hard to catch Rock Band. Which isn't what GUITAR Hero is supposed to be anyways.

Stalkumi

@BStu: because thats how he looks

teh_joe

I love the inclusion of an actual venue instead of generic fantasy venues that plagued Guitar Hero 3. One of my favorite aspects of Rock Band is actually the imaginative stage design. So far from what I've seen, Rock Band still exceeds in that aspect.

gameware

Why is he wearing a dress?

He looks like a vampire in the game. A cross-dressing vampire.

jackburnt

LOL his in game character looks like the infected from I am Legend.

Game_Munkee

@BStu: It's the art style :/ The god awful art style. Hopefully it's not as worse as Guitar Hero III. The last thing I'd want is for every musician in the game to look like heroin addicts.

AuraHACK

I can love the Smashing Pumpkins all I want, this still does nothing for me. They seem to be playing catch-up really well but Rock Band still separates itself from being just another music-rhythm game.

That, and I'm not paying out the nose for another drum kit. One that has a stupid control scheme, at that.

AuraHACK

Okay, am I alone in thinking they made him bizarrely skinny in the game? I know the game's characters are all caricatures but with the elongated torso here he just looks scary.

BStu

Voldemort with a hippie dress up on stage.. lol

Shachihoko

i still dont know why everyone is hating on guitar hero. i think they make better instruments than rock band, which is probably what kept me with guitar hero. also, i do play rock band a lot, but i felt the guitars in rock band were a bit boring. just rhythm stuff, some of the songs were fun like reptilla and are you going to be my girl, but i got tired of playing the four same chords throughout a whole song. guitar hero gave a me a challenge, which i nearly beat until i reached raining blood. worst song ever.

mentalboy11

that's pretty much exactly what he was wearing when I saw SP last month

...then he took his shirt off for the encore
*shudders*

yoagner

@GrrSnort:

Junkie or not, Jimmy Chamberlin is a disgusting drummer.

CaptLtrl

I love me some Pumpkins, but MoCap'ing does not make a good game. Focus on the core elements, the music, gameplay, note charting and total band experience...if you miss even one of those aspects the game is no fun.

Lazlo

Yeah fairly certain James Iwa was guitar with Darcy on Bass, research people....research. Then again maybe Billy is the lead guitarist in the most recent version of the band which is really only him doing pumpkins songs.

Hengst2404

I think it'd be far funnier, actually, if no matter what avatar you created as a singer, they have to dress up in the tin foil skirt whenever they sing a Smashing Pumpkins song.

PositivelyGreg

I really couldn't care less about all these digitized celebrities Activision has been trumpeting. Neversoft's art team always makes them look creepy weird. Plus the motion capture of the "stars" is usually lackluster and not as dynamic as the imaginary characters, who seem like they began with more dynamic physical performances and were then also tweaked and exaggerated for effect by animators. I remember how jazzed I was to play as Slash in GH3, only to find he barely moved. And the less said about the zombie muppet versions of Aerosmith in their game, the better. Am I thrilled at the prospect of a creepy digital Ozzy moving just like his current, drug-addled self in GH:WT? No thanks.

I prefer Harmonix's approach in Rock Band. There's a simple, clean aesthetic in the design of the characters, and all the animation/motion capture looks great. The idea they've got that it's edited footage of multiple performances like a vintage concert film is terrific, and makes for a really fun presentation. I actually enjoy watching the band in Rock Band (and am looking forward to the new Jukebox performance mode in RB2). I can't say the same for the GH games since Neversoft took over.

MrBungo

@GodKiller0:
Nope, you are correct sir. I'm a seven year veteran and that song still makes me shake my head...

Lazlo

Yay! I've always wanted to play as a tool!

thegreatseal

Bah guitar hero...Pumpkins yeah!!!
They really rock, if the song Jellybelly was in the game, with the real drum parts, almost no one could actually play it. Hell, I've been a drummer for years and I still can't play it has good then Jimmy Chamberlin. If your a drummer and you never heard this song, you absolutely have to.

GodKiller0

@Zenrick2.0:
[www.aperfectcircle.com]

Juthan

@jackburnt: The world is a vampire.

@GodKiller0: Jellybelly is their best song IMO.

tofoomeister

@Hengst2404: I would probably consider Billy the lead. James was basically a live guitar player who was really only there because Corgan could only play one guitar and had to sing. Everybody knows the Pumpkins were essentially Corgan and Chamberlain. The other two are merely hired guns.

@CaptLtrl: Fo' real.

PollockRoc

@Shachihoko: @thegreatseal: lolz

CHU BOI

@thegreatseal:

oh no you didn't!

j/k

but seriously... ad hominem!

Maudite

@tofoomeister:
I'm kinda partial too Disarmed myself, but that would probally be better suited for Cello Hero or Violin Hero.

Game_Munkee

In-game Billy looks like Batboy.

00000000

I personally think Rock Band has better animation then GH:WT.

@00000000: I know right, I see that the guy is a bit pale but seriously give him some facial hair then.

Quicksilver4648

@mentalboy11: It's a good song, but not as good as Dimebag stuff. Hope they will be able to have Dimebag/Pantera DLC. Try playing cemetery gate.

Jestersage

Billy looks like Jack Skellington. In the game and in-person.

dystopika

Somebody give poor Billy a sammich. I mean, I know times are tough since the original SP breakup, but the man's gotta eat! He's wasting away!

Katsu

im buying this game. yes its because corgan is in it, and because of everlasting gaze as DLC. sue me :)

ShatteringLast

@PollockRoc: from mellon collie onwards, james iha played the majority of the lead stuff, although the balls to wall solos were still corgan territory.

though corgan always was the principle songwriter, this band we're seeing here is the mere shadow of what the smashing pumpkins used to be. evidence to the contrary of what you're saying about iha and d'arcy being hired guns. i've been listening since the early 90s, and you can really hear that those two are not there.

bialia

@AuraHACK: "They seem to be playing catch-up really well but Rock Band still separates itself from being just another music-rhythm game."

Actually I think Rack Band is much more cemented as "just another music-rhythm game" than GH:WT. See, GH:WT has a music creation mode where you can create your own custom songs (except for singing obviously) which I think puts it a step beyond "just another music-rhythim game". Other than that they both have very similar features:

Guitar: check
Bass: check
Singing: check
Drums: check
DLC: check
Online play: check

What else is there really to separate them from eachother other than their featured songs.

NeoAkira

@Juthan: [music.yahoo.com]

Zenrick2.0

@Ashkihyena: PREACH ON BROTHER!

Also, why the hell have they not released the full track list. Is it going to be that bad? From what HAS been confirmed it looks like total ass waste. And it's getting 0 hour here, they have less than 2 months to release the game. Plus I just spent the points to transfer my Rockband songs to be playable to Rockband 2. That means my current playable song count for Rockband 2 is going to be 188.

Kymarak

Activision can go straight to Hell for all I care.

Ashkihyena

Does this mean we can use GHWT's music creator to ghostwrite songs for Courtney Love?

supercrap

@bialia: Thank you, as a former Illinois resident and Pumpkins fan, I agree that James and Darcy were important and their absence is noticeable. SHoot I didn't even like the album where Mellisa Auf Der Maur did the bass instead of Darci

Hengst2404

the motion looks like uncanny valley to me.
as for the instruments, there's no certainty to how sturdy they actually are.
and for the music creator, it's just a perfect excuse to copy other songs from scratch, which will kill their DLC. think about it, do you want to create an actual new song? or just a song you didn't want to pay DLC for? and how is that gonna work online?

AlphaUltima

Billy Corgan's in game character looks like the mutated people in I am Legend...

Oomingmak

Lots of fanboysm in those comments.
Not much a Smash Pumpkins fan, but I think it's nice to bring musicians to the game scene.

I also don't like much the idea of "one game one band", but I think it's a goldmine for fans...
I'd love a Ozzy, Metallica or Dream Theater-only game. *drools*

I'm at least waiting and willing to try both Rock Band 2 and GHWT before sprouting useless rants every single new topic Kotaku or any other blog releases about them.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

I know for a fact im buying this AND RB2, but Rock Band 2 still has me a little more on their side of the fence.....though i will admit Billy Corgan being in GH: WT does help my interest in it alot more. But still, too impress me greatly they would need a helluva setlist.

DarthMetalHope

I would have rather seen him try to play one of his songs on GH

gamecrazychris

@Kymarak: Maybe because they're just waiting to announce it? They announced enough to get me interested, and now they've got us wanting the rest of the list. So... it's working?

I wouldn't go the song count route, since GH:WT has, well, unlimited songs. Yay free DLC from your neighbors!

Saxboy

not a big fan of the shiny skirt but i can live with it

kingme

They effed up Tom Morello, and by that I mean that he wasn't as hardcore as he is in real life. Well... I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but when he's performing he is the ultimate Badass. No smiles, all Awesome.

excaleranth

Yeah D'Arcy and James played an important part in the first albums. Then on Adore and onwards, they mostly felt like hired musicians. And ever since then, I would say it's a little less...dirty, garage band rock. I like the old stuff a little more, but I think it's nice to see a band doesn't stay in one spot and experiment a bit. I think that's what a real band is, they grow.

GodKiller0

@supercrap: +1 for you!

@Hengst2404: i agree completely. though it was corgan who played most of the bass on machina. he always said d'arcy helped keep him in check- machina left no room for doubt.

say no to crack, kids!

bialia

Has a release date actually OFFICIALLY been announced yet?

Anyway, I can't wait for this game. Will have to wait to get RB2, GH comes first.

Dalren

Out of curiosity, does anyone else think the motions in GH games look slightly odd? I'm not trying to flame the game here, but even with their motion capture there's a certain amount of rigidity in movement--especially in the drummers--that Rock Band doesn't seem to have.

Once again, totally not trying to pick sides in a rhythm war. I know GH3 had a godawful drummer, but I noticed it in Aerosmith as well. Something's just not right, even by game standards.

Testamonium

@Hengst2404 Actually Darcy left after they recorded Machina

UshaAlcyone

@Game_Munkee: Ha! Maybe this is what they were going for. Or, maybe Billy Corgan is infected...

deadpanwalking

Until Rock Band 2 gets a release date for the UK im afraid i will have to go back to guitar hero, which i sad cos i love rock band and HMX, if only they would cater for people outside the US!

lost_in_hollywood

@Testamonium: SOmehow video game Aerosmith looked creepier than the real thing. The GH Steven Tyler would make Pinhead cry.

I don't care much for GH's animations. They look lifeless. Remember the singer for most of GH? His mouth just flapped, but not to any of the lyrics. None of the avatars had much life, in fact. RB isnt miles better, but they seemed to react to the music more.

I dunno....I don't like the GH branding. I don't wanna pretend I'm Billy Corgan. That turns it much more into a "game". At least I feel more in the fantasy if I can make my own person. It's not clear yet if you HAVE to play these characters at any point or they're just options. I WILL give credit for getting real venues, though.

Mal-Content

@mxmarks: Amen to that. Rather make my own creepy bald guy and buy him a dress.

Not looking forward to the drums in this game at all. Something about having to jump up to the right cymbal to do a drum fill doesn't quite flow well to me.

thermodynamo

Apparently no one at Activision noticed how fat Corgan has gotten over the years. Oh, and lets all thank Corgan for ruining the Pumkins.

BONERJAM

@Kymarak: Actually, its not as much as I hate Guitar Hero as I hate Activison for what they've done, so they pretty much guaranteed a Rock Band 2 purchase from me.

Ashkihyena