Well, some of your information you have is a little off. I have been following this match up for some time now here here is what I have for comparison:
1) All DLC from the RB1 is playable in RB2. DLC from GH3 will be available in GH:WT. DLC for RB is a consistent weekly event. GH3 has only been increased do to RB's success with it. Track history for GH:WT looks bleak compared to RB2. Personnally RB can put together much better tracks and a lot of them with a promised 500 songs available for the game by the end of 2008.
2) GH:WT will have a new mode to 'compose' your own songs. Drums, Guitar and Bass (sorry no vocals). Sorry nothing here for RB2. So, if you are a composer (and don't like to have a singer). GH:WT is better in this regard.
3) Drums... Wow there is still a lot of stuff to know about this, but in the last week or so this has flip-flopped a couple of times. GH:WT will have a 5 pad drum kit, plus a pedal, plus another petal optional (double bass). It also declares the RB drums will work in GH by dynamically making the song chart switch to 4 notes and the pedal. And you can plug in a digital set (generic?) and use it in the game at a whim.
RB2 will be compatible with the RB drums. Now word on if it will work with the GH:WT drums. It also has available a new updated drum kit available plus 3 optional additional cymbols you can add. In game it will double for the pads, by external to the game can double as a digital set. Or you could also buy a compatible Ion digital exclusive drum kit. It also comes with a training mode that will teach drumming as well, and this isn't the cheap 3 quick tutorials like RB one had. RB2 boasts 78 different drum patterns to train on, plus drum fill training, as well as a free style mode, along with 4 different virtual drum kit setups.
How does this compare really... GH:WT has a 5th pad... thus probably harder from a game perspective, but appears to be optional in the first place. Both have options for having real digital drum kits... GH's appears to be more generic though so you won't get stuck with the proprietary Ion drums. Who knows though if RB will counter this time... but there you have it. Confused yet... I thought so.
4) Guitar's are a toss up more than likely. GH guitar has a new 'touch strip' allowing quick finger slides to play notes. However the 'strip' on the GH guitar must be gimmicky or you wouldn't be able to play this game with a GH3 controller... so you either need to buy two new guitars or that feature is void in GH. Compatibility of the guitars is still sketchy, but it appears everyone is going to play nice this time around. Thus it comes down to looks and which one you have played more on.
5) As far as the main setlist is concerned, Activision has locked in two bands, Van Halen and the Eagles. GH:WT hasn't released their setlist, but they promise 85 songs. RB2 comes on the disc with 84 the full list has been revealed. Though both RB2 and GH:WT says the main setlist will all be MASTER tracks, so no difference there. RB2 also promised 20 FREE songs off of DLC at release time... that brings the total up to 104 songs if you buy the game at release.
It appears RB though has genres across all of Rock (1960's and up)... GH...? well they still haven't told us. Depending on what GH does the tracklist might be just as varied or more Heavy metal rock, less variety. Be that good or bad depending on your tastes.
6) Cost of RB2 and GH:WT will probably be $60 out of the gate (game only) for anyone with RB1 drums (seeming they are compatible now). The prices of full kits are still unknown as for now. I'm not sure if each game publisher will sell their peripherals separately.. but if they do you can now mix and match as you choose.
7) VOID... See point 6. The prices use to be different for those already with RB1, but now it doesn't matter. This point use to be the following: "For all the money I saved from case #6, I could download another 50 songs or so, basically doubling the setlist for the same price (which would be the point of getting both RB2 and GH:WT). I bet there are also some overlap in the main setlist between the two. thus the value would be better for picking one and going with it. Those that already have RB can see the value of sticking with the brand." Now of course this point is VOID.
8 ) GH is famous for being HARD. that doesn't make it as good of party game unless all your friends are nuts like us and play really well. But then again they did say the 'difficulty' is being 'fixed'. That could be extremely good or really bad... So this point is a toss up depending on your circumstances...
9) GH:WT is stating how customizable all the characters will be and what not. Taking the Tony Hawk character creation utilities and enhancing it is how they are pulling off this feature. RB2 seems silient for the most part regarding this... This is because RB already had the customization GH:WT is touting...
RB2 will have a bigger list of items to buy and customize with than it already had in RB1. The screen shots posted on the RB2 page already show new face shapes than the 4 or so that were in RB as well as new atire. RB2 also goes over the top for allowing you to send in your band or character profile and buy all sorts of thing you put on your person for real.
10) I'm still looking for a good comparison for online modes. E3 has shown us the following. Battle of the Bands for RB2, which is a tournament of bands, which Harmonix has promised with have a big set of online tournaments and different challenges. They also have Band Head to Head. Along with Band World Tour Online this time.
GH:WT has only revealed the 'Band Head to Head' equivalent of 4 on 4 band battle mode... The typical one-on-one score and tug of war modes I believe are a given in both... but only RB has confirmed it in RB2.
11) GH:WT says the base will have a 6th note, by doing an empty strum. RB2 hasn't said anything of the nature yet. The 6th note will probably add more difficulty to the Bass, something most RB players have complained about. So if you like bass, or wished RB1 would have been harder, that is a positive for GH:WT.
12) Sequel history: RB to RB2 seems to be a good step in the right direction. GH3 - GH:WT as well, but then you have GH:Aerosmith, Metalica, and 'Metal'... one brand seems to be stringing you out on the name. Would you trust such a company?
However if you are from the UK or Australia RB1 just came out (some places it hasn't yet in fact)... and here comes talk of a sequel... RB2 seems to be a quick release to counter GH taking over the 'band' game market. Is RB2 the beginning of the 'band game' milking GH has already done with the Guitar rhythm games?
In the GH:WT E3 preview it was quoted 'This year it is about playing in a band' ... this year huh? That's worrisome. Especially with all the off shoots of the GH name. RB appears to say, we are the RB name. RB1, DLC, RB2 - compatibility across the board... it looks like one of these names is around for the long haul and one isn't.
13) Depending on how the 'main tracks' of RB1 get integrated into RB2, new comers to RB2 might get BOTH track lists for the cost of a rental... But the jury is still out on this one. It IS confirmed though that RB1 songs will be playable in RB2 (not just DLC, we are talking main tracklist here) and disc swapping is OUT! So RB1 fans still get all of the music goodness of the first playable in the second...
14) If you ONLY own a Wii... it has been announced that RB2 will be for the Wii, but no one is even asking about it. I personnally think Harmonix wants you to buy another console; One with storage space and a really good online system. GH:WT will humor you.
15) The Tracklist of available songs for RB2 already surpases 200 songs. GH:WT I believe is about half of that. With about 5 or so songs every week coming for RB and RB2 until release, RB2 easily will have more available music to play (500+ by the end of 2008 ).
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So in conclusion...
Depending on what you want out the game a lot is up to you to decide. Almost everything is still up in the air now that the peripheral compatibility issue has been solved. Fans of the game genre are the winners I believe now that BOTH games are available to someone already with RB for $120, less than the game and peripherals for just one of them alone.
I'll leave off my own personal take on each point seeming I'm trying to compare this objectively... so now that you know the features (for the most part) you decide. And did I miss anything?
One thing I would like answered... to play BWT online for either, will everyone playing from the same console need to have their own XLive Gold account? Or one per machine?
I will probably be getting RB2 right away and pick up GH as necessary to fill any void RB2 doesn't fill (maybe the music creator?)
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