I have gotten quite addicted to the rhythm games and have played both GH5 and RB2. Too me there was no comparison and my opinion is that RB is the quality game. The DLC (downloadable content) available is quite amazing and much more varied across all genres than GH.

I would recommend RB3 that came out last month as it is very good and introduced a keyboard, pro-guitar and pro-drums (which supports up to 3 optional cymbals). There has been much more innovation on the RB side.

Since you mentioned Rush, GH 6 (Warriors of Rock) did offer Rush's '2112' that RB doesn't have, but in the RockBand online music store you will find all of the 'Moving Pictures' album, 'Working Man' and 'Closer to the Heart'. Also RB3 DLC recently added 'Subdivisions' to showcase the new keyboard instrument. RB2 on disc has 'The Trees'.

DLC as of 10/26/2010 is not backward compatible with RB 1 and 2, so that is another reason to get RB3 over the older titles if you are just getting started. However you can also buy RB2, RB1, Lego RB, Green Day RB, or any of the track packs (ACDC) and pay a $5 or $10 export fee per title to bring all of the other titles content into your main library so you can play most of the songs without having to swap game discs. This is the real differentiator for most, that you can collect over 2000 songs currently all playable from just RB3 without swapping discs. The Beatles Rock Band is the only exception as its songs are not exportable to RB2 or RB3.

Oh, and the cost per individual songs online is typically $2 each. Some songs are $1 but most mainstream stuff is $2. I believe GH add on songs are also $2.

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Dave

M80s VP150 QS8s EP500s
ravenmanor.com/cinema/