Finally, on November 8, 2005, the world witnessed the birth of Guitar Hero, and it skyrocketed into popularity as one of the most well-known, accessible video games of its time. Harmonix quickly got to work on its sequel, which enjoyed equally high sales.

However, in June of 2006, massive publisher Activision bought Red Octane, and Activision’s rivals at Electronic Arts (EA) bought Harmonix in September. Of course, Activision and EA were not willing to work together on a third Guitar Hero game, so the Guitar Hero series continued under the development of Activision’s studio Neversoft. When Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released, it enjoyed high sales but suffered much critique from reviewers.

Meanwhile, a new competitor was emerging: the new game Rock Band, created by none other than Harmonix, original creators of Guitar Hero. In the agreement between EA and Activision, Red Octane (now under Activision) was allowed to keep the Guitar Hero name, but Harmonix (now under EA) was allowed to continue to create Guitar Hero-style rhythm games. Hence, Rock Band used guitar, bass, drums, and a microphone to simulate a full band experience, and received huge praise from the gaming community when it was released late in 2007.

This year, Red Octane has followed suit with a new game, Guitar Hero: World Tour, that uses the four-player mentality of Rock Band. World Tour and Rock Band 2 (the sequel), released mere weeks from each other this Fall, and their striking similarities in gameplay, have many people confused as to which one is a better buy. Reviewers have been praising Rock Band and its sequel for a whole year, but how can they explain the high sales and popularity of Guitar Hero, even after Harmonix’s separation from the franchise?

For those of you who remain confused, there are some simple comparisons that can be made between the two games. First, there is a distinct difference in their aesthetics: Rock Band uses a sleek, polished menu style, while Guitar Hero prefers a more over-the-top, glam rock style.

The songs included on the discs are also a big question. Where Guitar Hero has been known for relying heavily on metal and glam rock, Rock Band has a reputation for erring towards more soft rock tunes. Though these reputations still remain somewhat accurate, both games have been attempting to alleviate these criticisms by offering a greater variety of music. One way they have done this is by using a DLC (downloadable content) system wherein users pay a small amount of money (usually $2) per song to download and play the song on their console. Rock Band has been providing downloadable songs in great numbers since 2007, but Guitar Hero’s service has just started, meaning that Rock Band has many more songs to choose from at the moment. Still, World Tour boasts a fun, but admittedly cumbersome, song creation mode to increase variety.

Finally, it is very important to note that the people who developed Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II (the two most successful games in the franchise) are the same people who made Rock Band. Guitar Hero: World Tour is actually created by different developers, even though the name remains the same. In the video game industry, it is developers (Harmonix), not publishers (Red Octane), who truly shape a game’s design and style.

So, which game is better for you to buy this holiday? That is a question that I leave up to each individual person. If you get a chance, play one or both of the games before buying them, to get an idea of which one you like more.

If you have kids, they might not appreciate the more mature sensibilities of Rock Band, but they’re sure to have fun with Guitar Hero. If you’re an adult, you might want to hold out for a little bit until Harmonix releases their Beatles game (which runs on the Rock Band engine) next holiday season.

Regardless of the game that you choose, there is no evidence that the rhythm game fad will be wearing off anytime soon.

Evan Minto is a New Providence resident and freelance writer. When he's not melting his brain away watching Japanese cartoons and playing video games, he's writing about them on his web site, Ani-Gamers. You can reach him at Evan.Minto@TheAlternativePress.com.

First, let's get the strangest argument out of the way. Some orthodox religious groups have called developer Maxis and publisher Electronic Arts out on their purported goals of teaching Evolution to children through Spore. While I fully respect people''s opinions on the Evolution-Intelligent Design debate, I think most people who actually play Spore will agree: the game is more of an Intelligent Design Simulator than an Evolution Simulator. After all, the game shows that animals and plants cannot be created without an intelligent hand guiding them along the way. I don't quite see why there is even an argument here.

Second is a debate that most casual gamers planning on buying the game are unlikely to hear about. Every Spore disc has been programmed with a Sony DRM (Digital Rights Management) software called SecuROM. DRM is one of the most hotly-debated topics in computer software at the moment. Apple is the greatest champion of DRM, with their iTunes service restricting song use to up to five computers.

In similar fashion, SecuROM allows only three installs for Spore. That all sounds good if you are only using one computer, right? However, how about when that computer dies and you lose your data, or when you want to install the game on a second computer in the house? Now you've used up your other installs, and your Spore disc is, for all intents and purposes, useless.

By now, you have probably figured out why so many people have raised objections to EA's DRM "solution." Angry gamers wrote scores of negative reviews of Spore on Amazon.com, most without actually buying the game, and the saddest part is that Spore will likely sell extremely well regardless. The game''s disappointing (but still fairly lofty) review scores aside, buying into this (frankly) screwed up plan will simply convince EA that they can continue to encode their games with SecuROM, and gamers both hardcore and casual will have to deal with the repercussions of a highly-restrictive DRM plan for many games to come.

In this monthly column, I will discuss the latest in video gaming news and releases, and relate that information to anybody who isn't part of that infamous gaming niche (and maybe a couple of you who are a part of it).  Hence, I will be writing to the "everymen" of gaming: the "everygamers."

Now that you know what this column is about, how about who I am?  I am Evan Minto, the Editor-in-Chief of long-running anime and video game website Ani-Gamers, where I write under the name "Vampt Vo."  I have been playing video games since before I can remember, and writing about them for nearly as long.

This month, the big topic of discussion is a huge video game trade show in Los Angeles called the "Electronic Entertainment Expo," or "E3."  At this event, the "big three" console manufacturers (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony) as well as various smaller publishers, showed off their latest titles to the gaming press.  Sony and Microsoft were happy to advertise their heavy-hitting "hardcore" games, but at this E3, in the aftermath of the crushing success of the casual gamer's trophy, Nintendo's Wii, there was an underlying desire from those two companies to compete on the casual stage.

Microsoft held their press conference first and showed off various triple-A titles.  However, they also announced a major update to the Xbox 360, which includes digital movie rentals from Netflix and, most notably, a new feature called "Avatars," which, like Nintendo's "Miis," will serve as digital representations of each player on the console. 

In Sony's court, the Playstation 3 is being furnished with a couple of nice new offerings, including digital movie rentals and purchases from a smattering of major studios and dozens of brand new pick-up-and-play downloadable games from their online store.

Last, but certainly not least, is Nintendo, which was the first of the big three to move their focus almost exclusively to the casual demographic.  On the Wii, players will be happy to learn that a new Wii Sports, entitled Wii Sports Resort, will be coming to stores this Spring, featuring games like frisbee, wave racing, and swordfighting.  This one will come with an attachment called the Wii MotionPlus, which Nintendo claims will make the Wii's motion control track motion exactly as you perform it.  

On the music side of things, Nintendo finally unveiled their Wii Music project, which will attempt to bring music games to those who aren't really in on the Guitar Hero loop.  In this game, players will choose from over 40 instruments (all played using the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and/or Balance Board), and either freestyle or select a song to play through.  Sadly, this game has no real element of competition, and features very little actual musical control for the player.  It's a disappointing showing, but perhaps Nintendo will sweeten the offer in the coming months.

The last interesting bit of information that Nintendo revealed was their new entry in bestselling simulation franchise Animal Crossing, titled Animal Crossing: City Folk.  In addition to the primary Animal Crossing elements, this game will feature online play, and the ability to voice chat with friends through this online play.  This is made possible with a new attachment for the Wii, called the "WiiSpeak."  It is a group microphone, so that all the players in the room can talk to others online.

This is sure to be a contentious issue for many parents who want to protect their children from bad influences online, though everybody should remember that Nintendo protects players from encounters with strangers though its extensive (and often cumbersome) friend code system.  

Overall, this E3 was generally considered to be a severe disappointment for so-called "hardcore" gamers.  They forget, however, that this year's E3's casual focus is sure to be a boon for the "everygamer" in the next fiscal year.