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.

I honestly don't remember the first time I saw Toonami. My first anime was Pokemon, being shown on KidsWB if I'm not mistaken. When I found out about Toonami, I still didn't know what this "anime" thingy was; all I knew was that Dragonball Z was the most awesome thing my young eyes had ever chanced upon. Every day I would rush home after school to see a new episode, and sometimes I would check out a different show before dinner. Maybe it was Outlaw Star, or Rurouni Kenshin, or Gundam Wing. Modern anime fans might say that these were lame, cheesy shows, but when we watched them, that's not what we were thinking about. Whether we were young fourth graders or bored high school students, we all wanted to catch that new, "edgy" cartoon show on Toonami.

Naturally, hearing about the "fall of Toonami" was a little heartbreaking. We all knew that the block was essentially gone ever since it started losing its anime programming and went with a new aesthetic inconsistent with its previous styles, but having it cut out on us like it did was pretty emotionally stunning. The day after the final broadcast, I literally spent hours looking up the old videos from the block's heyday. Looking back on those old promos and ads, a more grown-up mind can see why we all loved Toonami. It was really really cool.

The bit of attitude that Tom had, the stylish mechanical designs, the great voice acting. All of these things were the sorts of things that we growing anime fans understood as "cool." After all, we were into these crazy Japanese cartoons because we found in them things that we couldn't find in American ones: characters who weren't all good or all evil, inspired designs and ideas, and great production values. (The same things that Toonami featured!) Toonami didn't just show us anime series - it did its very best to become one.

Let's not forget the dedication of the people who worked on this block. Unlike the execs at Adult Swim, who seem to have their hearts bent on showing less anime, the men and women who brought us Toonami had a love for what they were doing. You can just see it in the way anime was presented on the block, and in the sheer number of series that got airtime. There was a dedication there that we as young fans probably didn't notice. We all saw the montage video "Mad Rhetoric," using scenes from various action anime, but never did we give thought to the fact that some Toonami guys must have sat down and worked their butts off on that video, merely for the sake of giving us something cool to watch.

I was surprised to hear from Steve Blum (voice of TOM) in Ani-Gamers Podcast Episode #006 that he and some other people actually teared up a little when they recorded TOM's final lines. You don't cry about a fictional character unless you've got some serious dedication to your work!

So, I invite everyone to sit down and think about what Toonami meant to you. Better yet, go to Toonami Arsenal, a fantastic site that hosts old Toonami videos, and relive your past anime experiences. Remember, friends: anime is a growing medium here in America. Just as we have passed out of the age of VHS fansub trading, I believe that we may have now passed out of the age of anime on television. Those of you who rushed home with me to watch Dragonball Z, look back upon Toonami not just as a simple programming block on Cartoon Network, but as the important historical and emotional landmark that it was. And of course, remember the final words of our after-school buddy TOM as he soared off screen:

"Until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."