Guitar Hero v Kidz Beats
Earlier we mentioned that we bought Eli a toy guitar to carry for Halloween as part of his Guitar Hero costume. In the picture below you can see a Guitar Hero guitar/controller for the PS2 game on the left and Eli’s Kidz Beats guitar on the right.
They resemble each other, yes? But a closer look turns up some notable discrepancies.
| Guitar Hero Controller | Kidz Beats Guitar |
|---|---|
| 5 fret buttons | 8 fret buttons |
| No built-in songs | Many built-in songs |
| Chords must be manually played | Auto-chording mode |
| Annoying cord | Cordless |
| Black-and-white body | Rockin’ colors |
| $30 | $10 |
I had no idea Harmonix and Red Octane were ripping me off like this.
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Comment by Joyous
So when do we get to see pictures of the Halloween costume??
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Comment by Misty
There were no actual photos taken because I didn’t think they were going until the last minute. When Stephen and Eli returned from the 3 house spree, we had people over for the usual Tuesday night activities.
P.S. It was a t-shirt and jeans. No biggie actually.
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Comment by Sean
I am sure that Stephen already knows there is a wireless guitar controller available and that the song list for guitar hero 2 are out right?
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Comment by Stephen
I do indeed!
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 8:36 pm
Comment by Dan Shiovitz
Yeah, but just last week they announced Kidz Beats 2 will have laser controls, a built-in fog machine, and outfits to set your younger siblings up as roadies.
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Comment by Mark J Musante
Dan: You heard about the expansion pack too? The one that includes a documentary crew and your choice of controversial political stance?
Posted on November 3, 2006 at 9:07 pm
Comment by jov
another guitar hero hater
this is such a sad attempt at trying to make fun of guitar hero
Posted on September 2, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Comment by Ked
I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to disapprove everything you wrote on that Guitar Hero Blog. Allow me to begin:
1. In terms of the limited number of fret buttons, have you actually seen the new Double Range Freedom V controller? It has 10 fret buttons!
2. What do you mean there are no inbuilt songs? In the Entire Guitar Hero franchise, there are over 200 songs that are built into the game, and they aren’t nursery rhymes either.
3. Upset about having to play chords manually? Real guitarists have to, so get over it.
4. The latest controllers (including the one i mentioned earlier) are wireless as standard.
5. What where you thinking when you said that that kiddy guitar had “Rockin’ colours” ? I must have missed all the concerts where lead guitarists played guitars that looked like they had been designed by Fischer Price. No-one, and i mean no-one above they pre-school age would consider that the look of a Guitar Hero conroller is worse than the one you like. Its an insult to all the great guitarists to even think such a thing!
For shame!
6. Lastly, you can get guitar hero controllers cheaper that $30 on eBay
Thanks for your time, although i doubt you will let this one get through. Lets face it mate, its the truth and you know it.
See ya!
Posted on September 30, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Comment by Stephen
10 buttons is 2 more buttons than you need for a diatonic octave. I guess you could use the 10 buttons as two 5-button blues octaves, but blues is not rock.
And sure, Guitar Hero has all of these songs, but they’re not in the controller. I have to buy a PS2 and a TV! With the Kidz Beats guitar, I can play Old Macdonald straight out of the box with no extra equipment. In fact, thanks to it being packaged with some of the buttons accessible and with a TRY ME sign next to those buttons, I can play it in the box as well.
Posted on October 1, 2007 at 9:44 am
Comment by ked
sure, if you want to play nursery rhymes instead of grown-up songs like You Really Got Me, Sweet Child O’ Mine and Free Bird. Mate, seriously, its a bit embarrassing that you have that little to do with your time.
Posted on October 1, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Comment by Lance
hey don’t worry about that last post, you all right
Posted on October 1, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Comment by bob
eff u man , guitar hero rawks and purple and red are not rock colours
Posted on October 2, 2007 at 9:38 am
Comment by ked
see this bloke has the right idea! GUITAR HEROES BEAT NON-GUITAR HERO ZEROES! But red, along with black and white are the most prominent colours in rock. Pink AND purple on a guitar is a little too girly for me.
Posted on October 5, 2007 at 5:40 am
Comment by Jeff
Dude your an idiot, why not just spend 5 bucks on a fake guitar for the stupid costume.
Posted on October 25, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Comment by Stephen
Because fake guitars don’t pay Old Macdonald when I press a button!
Posted on October 30, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Comment by pat
so, what your saying is this kidz beats crap is better than guitar hero? yeah purple and red are really rockin right?
Posted on November 12, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Comment by katie barry
I am searching for the kidz beats guitar for my son. Where did you buy it? Can’t find it anywhere……..
Posted on November 23, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Comment by Misty
We found it at Target last year, but we haven’t really seen it since. Sorry we can’t help!
Posted on November 25, 2007 at 7:42 am
Comment by Charles Riley
Ked hit the nail on the head.
A) Rockin’ Colors? Even a 1st Grader might consider that gay.
B) 5 notes on the neck can scale every nessesary note on a guitar
C) I totally want to play nursery rhymes instead of any of the guitar hero’s 350 available songs.
D) If you want a rip-off, look at the characters from GH III then look at the earlier ones. But don’t bitch about the guitar, it was made perfectly.
Posted on November 27, 2007 at 1:47 am
Comment by Stephen
While it’s true that five buttons will allow you to create Schoenberg-like five-tone row compositions, that also is not rock. However, you do have a point: those rockin’ colors are extremely happy.
Posted on November 27, 2007 at 9:57 am
Comment by kiz
did you get that fisher-price toy from the same place you got your shampoo?
Posted on November 30, 2007 at 4:03 am
Comment by ked
dude this message board is getting old, Stephen, give up! Guitar hero is now and will always be BETTER than your girly kid beat baby toy
Posted on December 14, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Comment by Mark J Musante
ked: Some day guitar hero will be old and decrepit but kidz beats will be, and this is the point, STILL A KID. I think there’s a clear winner here.
Posted on December 15, 2007 at 5:54 am
Comment by ked
whatever, baby! u know im right and that hunk of junk will be forgotten long before guitar hero will be. what was its name agian?
Posted on December 22, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Comment by Robert
dude youre comparing a video game to a kids toy video games are played on TVs, kids toys are just toys, this is just stupid, you cant compare the 2, plus who wants to play old macdonald, with the press of one button. what are you 4?
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Comment by Robert
and stephen, have you even played any guitar hero in your life or have ever even seen a video of guitar hero? it actually takes SKILL to play unlike your one button old macdonald kiddie guitar
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Comment by Robert
AND lastly did i mention that guitar hero already had 3 successful games already with 2 new ones coming up this year (guitar hero aerosmith, and guitar hero 4)
while kidz beats
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Comment by Robert
has only one game* i accidentally clicked submit comment
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Comment by Jota
Thanks Robert! I was about to run out and buy a Kidz Beats guitar before I saw your comments. Now I’m going to get my nephew a Guitar Hero controller instead! I am hoping that maybe next year his parents will get him a Playstation as well.
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Comment by Robert
Jota, i didnt mention this before, but an old ps2 goes for maybe 70? im not sure, it was 50 for christmas but the newer models are like 100 i guess,any of the games will run like 30-50 depending if its new or used, and for the ps2 4 GH games are out for it , Guitar hero, Guitar hero 2, guitar hero rocks the 80s, and guitar hero 3. Guitar hero aerosmith will be coming out for ps2 on june 29th ‘08 and guitar hero 4 im sure will be out for ps2 , in the fall, i hope i helped
Posted on April 13, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Comment by Stephen
Clearly there is only one way to settle this: a Yngwie Malmsteen-style shred-off. We will each play until we make a mistake or our fingers fall off. Thanks to the one-button Old Macdonald feature, I can play flawlessly all day and all night, at least until everyone goes insane from hearing Old Macdonald over and over.
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 7:49 am
Comment by Geof F. Morris
:cackle: I love commenters who have busted Sarcasm-Meters™.
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 9:19 am
Comment by Jota
Robert: I don’t think they can afford to get him both the Playstation and the game. Which one do you think it would be better for him to have to go with his Guitar Hero controller?
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 10:38 am
Comment by Chris Hubbs
This comment thread is a thing of beauty.
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 11:04 am
Comment by Robert
all i can say is just get a used ps2 like i said theyre cheap, and pick up a 20 dollar copy of guitar hero 2..
and to stephen, if u wanted the thing for a stupid costume then i mean in the long run the little oldmacdonald guitar can be used by future children, but the guitar hero guitar looks way more like a real guitar, i like the les paul the best but seriously you cant compare the 2
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Comment by Jota
I shopped around a little bit, and I did find a store that was selling a used Playstation 2 and a copy of Guitar Hero 2 as a bundle. That one just had the disc by itself (no controller). It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I went ahead and picked it up anyway on your advice.
I didn’t have enough money left over to buy the actual Guitar Hero guitar to go with it, though. Do you think the Kidz Beats one will work alright with the game if we plug it into the PS2?
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Comment by Robert
no, the kidz beats one is just a toy, no wires involved, it wouldnt work
Posted on April 15, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Comment by Jota
Oh. But I spent all my money on the Playstation and the game. Can he play Guitar Hero without the guitar controller? I can’t afford to buy that too.
I hope I haven’t ruined little Timmy’s birthday. It’s his very first one.
Posted on April 15, 2008 at 3:51 pm