Harmonix design director Rob Kay has once again had to defend the huge discrepancies between the US and UK prices of Rock Band.
"I don't mean to make excuses," he told Edge, "but there's VAT, prices in the US don't include tax, and things like that."
Kay did offer a cheap-alternative to spending nearly £200 on a videogame: "We wanted to give people a choice, though. Splash £50 on the game and use any USB microphone to sing."
So there's your answer, folks. You only need spend £50 on the game, as you can plug any old microphone in and... sing.
Maybe it's just us, but we don't think the microphone is necessarily the main appeal of Rock Band.
I just hope Activision are listening to all of this and will avoid the same mistake with GH4. Incidentally, I'm thinking of buying Rock Band and just playing the guitar portion with my GH guitar. Has anybody else done that and if so, is it worth it?
I work for Zavvi we got 30 copys of the full insturement in and 18 of the drum kit. We sold 2 copys of the full instrument and 1 of the drum kits... on friday. I guess its over priced. i know theres no way i was gonna spend £130 on the full kit. Drum kit was £70 but still not worth it as drums sound crap.
He can f**k right off if he thinks im going to spend nearly £200 on a videogame, especially when guitar hero costs £70 tops. That means they are pricing the drums and the mic at £110.
Let's get the original price down first: US Price = $186 (inc 9.5% sales tax) or £94 (excl 17.5% VAT)
Now the UK price: UK Price = $355 or £180
Now let's add VAT to the US price to check the difference: US Price plus 17.5% VAT = $217 or £101
That's a difference of $138 between the UK and US prices, even including VAT. I think somebody needs a better excuse.
...plus the fact that you can store thousands of copies of a normal (disk only) game in a single shipping container, but only a handful of the full Rock Band kits. Meaning it costs them vast amounts more per unit to get it into the country than any other game.
This is nearly as bad as people complaining that Guitar Hero cost £65. Big deal.
Let's get the original price down first: US Price = $186 (inc 9.5% sales tax) or £94 (excl 17.5% VAT)
Now the UK price: UK Price = $355 or £180
Now let's add VAT to the US price to check the difference: US Price plus 17.5% VAT = $217 or £101
That's a difference of $138 between the UK and US prices, even including VAT. I think somebody needs a better excuse.
...plus the fact that you can store thousands of copies of a normal (disk only) game in a single shipping container, but only a handful of the full Rock Band kits. Meaning it costs them vast amounts more per unit to get it into the country than any other game.
This is nearly as bad as people complaining that Guitar Hero cost £65. Big deal.
It all comes from China, so the shipping costs are pretty much the same for here as it is for the states, and I think you can fit more than a "handfull" of rock band kits into a shipping container.
...plus the fact that you can store thousands of copies of a normal (disk only) game in a single shipping container, but only a handful of the full Rock Band kits. Meaning it costs them vast amounts more per unit to get it into the country than any other game.
This is nearly as bad as people complaining that Guitar Hero cost £65. Big deal.
Considering that you can import a CAR from the US for just over £400 I don't think a few pieces of plastic kit are really gonig to bump up the price that much.
What they've done is the same as companies always do: convert the dollar price to pounds because they know there's nothing anyone can do about it. And people will buy it because they have no principles.
If nobody buys it at the launch price, they will have to drop it. Look what happened to PS3 sales after they dropped the launch price.
They are just clutching at straws. To start with we had the huge delay between the US and European release and now we also have a stupidly high price. Thanks but no thanks. If anyone is stupid enough to buy this then they deserve a good slapping...
It all comes from China, so the shipping costs are pretty much the same for here as it is for the states, and I think you can fit more than a "handfull" of rock band kits into a shipping container.
Considering that you can import a CAR from the US for just over £400 I don't think a few pieces of plastic kit are really gonig to bump up the price that much.
Shipping container = 40' x 8' x 8'
Standard game = 7.5' x 5.5' x 0.5'
That means you can ship 214,841 games in a single container (minus the cardboard boxes and polystyrene etc that they're stored in).
Rock Band with guitar, drums and mic = 12' x 36' x 48'
You can fit 160 in a single container. That's 0.07%. I'd say that constitutes a handful.
So if it costs 'n' to ship a container and they wanted to import 200,000 copies (which I doubt, but it's a nice round figure that fits in a container); it would cost them 1340.5n to import that many copies of rock back compared to a normal game. Meaning it's over 1000 times more expensive to import Rock Back packs than a normal game.
As for saying it cost the same to ship to the US as it does here. That's probably true, but it costs a lot less to ship in the US, than it does to ship in the UK (a sibling of mine works for a logistics company that is dealing with Rock Band in the UK* and can't believe how much the bills are for it).
Yes... I AM that sad and people posting about stuff they don't know about really irritates me that much.
Damnit! You drove me to doing maths!
*No, he will NOT steal you a copy... I've already asked.
Well i just used my XBOX headset and the guitar i got with GH 2 and all works fine, my brother did go out and by the drum kit which is pretty awesome, even tho i suck at it.
so basically i only spent bout 100 quid and i have all the gear u get with the 'band in a box'.
I bought GH2 and GH3 so I already have 2 guitars. I know a lot of other people also did this. So, if I only buy the disk and the drums (everybody has a USB headset/mic) then it STILL comes in more expensive than buying the full f**king thing from America. This is bulls**t...
I've got 2 GH guitars as well, so thinking of just getting the game (£40 for the game itself is normal price), will maybe wait and see if the drums come down in price later.
I never imagined Rock Band would be popular. Guitar Hero is one thing, but for grown men to be pretending to be in a band with Fisher Price toy instruments is simply embarassing.
I never imagined Rock Band would be popular. Guitar Hero is one thing, but for grown men to be pretending to be in a band with Fisher Price toy instruments is simply embarassing.
Its called having a laugh with you mates, perhaps you should try it sometime.
Its a great laugh all together, much more fun than guitar hero tho I'm not shelling out that kinda money.
what the point buying s**tty games like these any ways.... waste of money i dont even own guitar heroes either! its s**te... why not just learn the real thing... its cheaper as well hmmm ok maybe not cheaper .... but funner! and the ladies digs a man that plays a real guitar!
I never imagined Rock Band would be popular. Guitar Hero is one thing, but for grown men to be pretending to be in a band with Fisher Price toy instruments is simply embarassing.
Its called having a laugh with you mates, perhaps you should try it sometime.
Its a great laugh all together, much more fun than guitar hero tho I'm not shelling out that kinda money.
No, it goes way beyond that. Guitar Hero is having a laugh with your mates. Rock Band is taking it too far.
It all comes from China, so the shipping costs are pretty much the same for here as it is for the states, and I think you can fit more than a "handfull" of rock band kits into a shipping container.
Considering that you can import a CAR from the US for just over £400 I don't think a few pieces of plastic kit are really gonig to bump up the price that much.
Shipping container = 40' x 8' x 8'
Standard game = 7.5' x 5.5' x 0.5'
That means you can ship 214,841 games in a single container (minus the cardboard boxes and polystyrene etc that they're stored in).
Rock Band with guitar, drums and mic = 12' x 36' x 48'
You can fit 160 in a single container. That's 0.07%. I'd say that constitutes a handful.
So if it costs 'n' to ship a container and they wanted to import 200,000 copies (which I doubt, but it's a nice round figure that fits in a container); it would cost them 1340.5n to import that many copies of rock back compared to a normal game. Meaning it's over 1000 times more expensive to import Rock Back packs than a normal game.
As for saying it cost the same to ship to the US as it does here. That's probably true, but it costs a lot less to ship in the US, than it does to ship in the UK (a sibling of mine works for a logistics company that is dealing with Rock Band in the UK* and can't believe how much the bills are for it).
Yes... I AM that sad and people posting about stuff they don't know about really irritates me that much.
Damnit! You drove me to doing maths!
*No, he will NOT steal you a copy... I've already asked.
You do know that ' when used after a number indicates Feet, and not inches. And a handfull would be about 5-10. Also a shipping container is a hell of a lot bigger than you seem to think, just imagine the deck of a cargo ship, all those big metal boxes are containers, you could easily fit a couple of cars in one. Internal shipping price comes down to fuel costs, but it doesn't add more than pennies to the total price.
im not defending this farce, but i did read they had to ship the stuff from china to the usa, re pack the boxes with the european instructions, then ship theem here.
to be honest i think they made so much profit in the US that they dont really care how it sells here.
My girlfriend doesn't 'get' me playing games, GTA, COD4, etc, she don't get it, but when I told her about Rock Band and it's instruments, our shared love of all things rock brought her, me and videogames together as one. Now because of this extortionate pricing, Rock Band will not be making it into our household, and the videogame barrier once again exists. It's sad that a game that would unite me and others is being denied because developers/publishers think they have the right to rip British consumers off, vote with your wallet by not opening it and make Rock Band the flop it deserves to be.
im not defending this farce, but i did read they had to ship the stuff from china to the usa, re pack the boxes with the european instructions, then ship them here.
to be honest i think they made so much profit in the US that they dont really care how it sells here.
Well then that's their idiocy then isn't it. We shouldn't have to pay so much more because of that. It's their fault.
He can f**k right off if he thinks im going to spend nearly £200 on a videogame, especially when guitar hero costs £70 tops. That means they are pricing the drums and the mic at £110.
It's not too hard to find Guitar Hero III (with wireless guitar) for less than £50 these days...
what the point buying s**tty games like these any ways.... waste of money i dont even own guitar heroes either! its s**te... why not just learn the real thing... its cheaper as well hmmm ok maybe not cheaper .... but funner! and the ladies digs a man that plays a real guitar!
It requires alot more effort and money to learn the real thing. Obviously you don't understand the fun factor behind games such as these. The whole point is to make your average joe feel like a guitar hero/rock star and simply enjoy themselves while strumming along with their fav tune.
I never imagined Rock Band would be popular. Guitar Hero is one thing, but for grown men to be pretending to be in a band with Fisher Price toy instruments is simply embarassing.
My thoughts exactly!! I am waiting for some people somewhere to bring out a single that they 'made' on Rock Band...
I bought GH2 and GH3 so I already have 2 guitars. I know a lot of other people also did this. So, if I only buy the disk and the drums (everybody has a USB headset/mic) then it STILL comes in more expensive than buying the full f**king thing from America. This is bulls**t...
If you think about it though you probably ended up spending even more money on the lot having of bought the two previous games, though I've heard that the GH guitars are supposedly better than the RB ones.
I wouldn't feel great about spending £140 on a title that I'd only play every now and again. Buy GTAIV or COD4 for £40 and you can play on your own very easily almost any time you wanted, but to get the full enjoyment out of Rock Band, you'd need your friends or family around all the bloody time to make it worth the price!
Not that it's worth it to start with, a friend of mine recently make a point that all they seemed to do with the price is replace $ with a £ more or less.
what the point buying s**tty games like these any ways.... waste of money i dont even own guitar heroes either! its s**te... why not just learn the real thing... its cheaper as well hmmm ok maybe not cheaper .... but funner! and the ladies digs a man that plays a real guitar!
Oh god, here we go again.
I refuse to argue with some one who uses the word "funner".
Too those who are thinkin of purchasin this game i bought the game and i love it! made from the creators of the guitar hero franchise i'd say personally its better than gh3 (activision f**ked that up)and the guitars are so much better too. we had ma 9yr old niece singin away and ma bro on guitar and me on drums and it was a right laugh! plus the fact that its basically 3 games n oneas well because you can do solo mode for all three instruments aswell as tour mode for multiplayer
i have the previous guitar hero games and thinkin about it i paid more for all three than i did for this although i got the first 2 for ps2 so i cudnt put the guitar on ma 360 and the gh3 guitar i think is sh*t personally. the guitar for rock band is soooo much better too the buttions take up the whole fret and arent just buttons in the middle of a plastic board like the last ones. the five bittons at the bottom of the fret board are a godsend too because in solo mode u dont even have to press the trigger plus with the added bonus of it kinda lookin like ur doin the solo. the ,ic is standard nowt special. the drums tho are quality they all i have been playin all weekend there strong and study and can take a bit of hammer which was a problem with the american ones but u do need a bit of co ordination tho otherwise u will be all arms and legs everywhere and liable to accidentally slap one of ur mates while playing it. make sure u wear deoderant before having a big session on these tho you work up a bit of a sweat lol
the only problem with this game at the mo is that my dad keeps coming up in my room complainng he can hear me banging the drums downstairs but hes an old git lol and i think hes pmt-ing lol
so i love this game and to all those gh fans its a damn good buy especially if u loved the multiplayer.
I initially just bought the game on its own as I already had both GH guitars. It was excellent just like that...
then I had a zavvi voucher and mate with a student discount card so i thought it'd just be plain rude not to get the drums. All i can say is they're worth every penny! Sturdy and fun, just allow an extra £15 for drum silencers
oh and for everyone bitching about the price, yeah its expensive, yeah its BS that its so much more than the US price etc. But seriously, game + drums = £100 if you shop around. That is only £30 more than GH(with guitar) was when in first came out. £30 for something the size and complex nature of the kit is diddlysquat.
one last thing i was playing creep by radiohead on the drums and i was maxing out ma rock meter and the crowd starting join in singin! special touches like that make a game. worth every penny.
im not defending this farce, but i did read they had to ship the stuff from china to the usa, re pack the boxes with the european instructions, then ship theem here.
You read wrong, then. It's amazing the garbage EA apologists will spew to try to justify the unjustifiable. Not believing it is the best policy in most cases, until you've seen the figures yourself.
They ship the hardware from China to Europe, and there's no extra packing involved. The games, which is where the manuals are different per region, are pressed in Europe.
Shipping to Europe is roughly the same cost as shipping to the US. Someone over at the Rock Band boards went so far as to get a quote for shipping, and for an individual without the benefits of bulk and connections that EA must have it worked out at around £6 per copy of Rock Band with all instruments. That's not close to explaining the price difference we see.
Shipping costs are a lot higher per mile within Europe and the UK than the US, but there are fewer miles to cover. And again, this is no different to many other products that don't have this sort of ridiculous markup.
The worst thing about the whole process is that it's Harmonix that are being left to carry the can for the whole thing. They're the developers for crying out loud. Sure, they want us all to buy their game, because they get a cut of it. But they're not the ones who set the price - they're the cowards at EA who don't even have the balls to make a statement on the pricing at all. How about C&VG goes after a quote from the people who are actually responsible for the price? And if they won't give one, run that as a story, pointing out what it implies - that EA have no viable excuse for the pricing and they're just doing it because they think they can get away with it.
Probably will work out the same or more than Rock Band here actually given that muppets are still paying for Rock Band at this price!
Would be a mistake by Activision if they did that - if they price it reasonably instead, then they'll just blow EA out of the market in Europe. When by rights it should have been the other way round - without the bad case of greed that EA came down with on this one, Rock Band would be the standard long before GH4 arrived, nobody would want to buy a second set of hardware, and they'd be rolling in money from downloadable content while Activision cried all the way to the bank.
Now, though, it looks like EA have managed to reverse that for themselves - they're driving customers away from Rock Band in hordes, and those customers are now going to be waiting for GH4. I certainly know I am.
I would be willing to bet that most of the people who are such vocal critics of this game and the unfortunate overpricing in the UK are people who would never play this game even if the game and all of the instruments were provided to them free of charge. Why the hell are you even reading this thread if you aren't interested in the game to begin with? You may as well go away because you're not killing my buzz.
I would be willing to bet that most of the people who are such vocal critics of this game and the unfortunate overpricing in the UK are people who would never play this game even if the game and all of the instruments were provided to them free of charge. Why the hell are you even reading this thread if you aren't interested in the game to begin with? You may as well go away because you're not killing my buzz.
unfortunate overpricing
? So your happy to be ripped off are you? It's d!cks like you that cause us to pay so much for games in the first place. But you don't care, I suppose Mummy and Daddy will be paying for your copy then?
You do know that ' when used after a number indicates Feet, and not inches.
Yeah, put that down to me not paying enough attention.
Obviously the dimensions for a normal game and rock band should be " rather than '. But those figures ARE correct. That is the size of a shipping container and you can only fit in 160 units.
a shipping container is a hell of a lot bigger than you seem to think, just imagine the deck of a cargo ship, all those big metal boxes are containers, you could easily fit a couple of cars in one.
I've lived within 3 miles of a large shipping port for the last 22 years and my girlfriend's father works there (How do you think I got the dimensions?).
Run the figures yourself if you don't believe me.
12" x 36" x 38" (Rock Band)
fits into
480" x 96" by 96" (Shipping container)
269.47 times. However that's only by cutting the top and side layer of boxes in half. Getting in only boxes (that haven't been chainsawed in half) fits 160 units per container.
And a handfull would be about 5-10.
Unless dealing with literal terminology of an actual "handful" (where in this case that would be 1 as the boxes are so large) a handful is used as a relative term based on the normal amount.
Internal shipping price comes down to fuel costs, but it doesn't add more than pennies to the total price.
It's not just fuel. It's vehicle maintenance (plus MOT, TAX etc), paying the people driving and checking them at the different checkpoints not to mention the bonus they get because they're dealing with such large items.
When are people going to learn that it costs substantially more to do almost ANYthing in this country that it does across the pond?
I would be willing to bet that most of the people who are such vocal critics of this game and the unfortunate overpricing in the UK are people who would never play this game even if the game and all of the instruments were provided to them free of charge. Why the hell are you even reading this thread if you aren't interested in the game to begin with? You may as well go away because you're not killing my buzz.
unfortunate overpricing
? So your happy to be ripped off are you? It's d!cks like you that cause us to pay so much for games in the first place. But you don't care, I suppose Mummy and Daddy will be paying for your copy then?
And no, it's "d!cks" that use bootleg/illegal downloads games that cause "us" to pay so much for games.
And now I'm bored. Off to work now anyway! Thankfully it keeps me suitably distracted from forums etc and normally prevents me from getting involved in these near-pointless debates (I blame the Bank Holiday! ).
WOW. I agree that the game is extremely pricey and more so than in the US but um...that's the case with everything isn't it? America gets EVERYTHING cheaper than Brits...I wonder how people would react when they know Americans pay about $50-60 for NEW releases (which is £25-30) and Americans still complain about it being to expensive.
I've argued about pricing so many times in other forums etc and the Americans argued that while everything may be cheaper for them they also earn less than British people.
Don't get me wrong, NO WAY am I defending this price but I would rather see our cost of petrol or something like that drop to match the US price rather than Rock Band. I mean if you're going to start an angry mob about pricing differences in America let's do it over something a little more worthwhile than one video game
Another thing...you can play Rock Band perfectly well with just a guitar from Guitar Hero...it makes it feel like a sequel to Guitar Hero...only without the god awful "music" that tends to be in the GH games. Then if you feel it's worth your money...or when the price lowers why not buy the drums?
BTW. The Rock Band game own it's on is £40 out Argos
So your happy to be ripped off are you? It's d!cks like you that cause us to pay so much for games in the first place. But you don't care, I suppose Mummy and Daddy will be paying for your copy then?
Yes it is a rip off, but if you want the game, and all the shiney toys then you pay for them.
Can I just add a few little points to the general moral crusade against high prices. Why stop with games? I know this is a games forum but why just focus on the one thing. Lets get some perspective.
We in the UK are all ripped off. For almost everything.
Do you have a new TV?... you were ripped off on the price. Stereo?... guess what? Ripped off. Drive a car? buy petrol much? Butt F*&ked. Smoke? Do I have to say it? Ripped off, socially ostracised with good chance of cancer thrown in. Even food, do you eat? then your part of the problem, not the cure.
So to all those TV watching, stereo listening, car driving, smoking, food eating bastions of capitalism out there... we are dicks!
Isn't the issue that Rock Band (plus instruments) costs £200 because they can get away with it. At the moment it is a 360 Europe wide timed exclusive and has no competition. Once the PS3 version hits maintaining that price point will be harder as, like has already been pointed out, you can import the US version much cheaper.
When the Wii and PS3 version are eventually released here there will be more competition as Guitar Hero 4 with a similar multi-instrument set-up won't be far away and no doubt Rock Band 2 only months (in the US at least) after that too.
Here's a cool idea; why don't you actually buy a real guitar or drums set. Rock band just shows how lazy the world is that they can't be bothered to learn to play an instrument.
£180 is unreasonable, but you can get it for £140 which i think is fair enough, Being Brits you should be use to paying more.
I bought it for £140. Which i think is ok considering what you get. GH4 was £70, and i do believe you are getting double the experience by getting drums. So i don't mind paying that.
Just a couple of points that people defending the price always seem to miss - you'd think they'd have learned by now...
1) The issue isn't that the game costs more than in the US. The issue is that rather than the normal 50-60% more, it costs 110% more.
2) We know that you can get the game for less than RRP. This would be the case if it were sold at the traditional markup as well. The price that places like Play are discounting to is still higher than the price that they should be discounting from.
3) The issue is not just whether you can afford Rock Band. The issue is whether you're happy to tell EA that it is reasonable to mark the game up by 110% instead of 50% with no good reason. Because if you buy the game, then what you're telling them is that you're willing to accept that sort of extra charge on all games in the future.
Here's a cool idea; why don't you actually buy a real guitar or drums set. Rock band just shows how lazy the world is that they can't be bothered to learn to play an instrument.
Yes but you could argue the point that this game may actually influence people to go out and learn to play the real thing once they've dabbled with this artificial reprsentation.
Here's a cool idea; why don't you actually buy a real guitar or drums set. Rock band just shows how lazy the world is that they can't be bothered to learn to play an instrument.
So with that rationale I should go and buy an Enzo Ferrari and tear up the streets of London PGR style?
I think you missing the point that these are meant to be "games" in which you play out those things you cannot or will not do in real life.
I can play the guitar a little... but that doesn't mean I'm going to be a rock and roll star does it.
May I suggest starting a real band? I read in a review that not everyone will ever get the chance to do it in their lifetime.
Bollox, if you can get enough people to form a fake band in front of the tv then you can make one in the real world. If you have the rhythm and dexterity to play these games, or the tuning for the singing then you can learn to play an instrument.
I'm in a couple of bands, and play guitar hero as it's good practice for rhythm (and it's fun), but f**k buying 'Rock Band.' Rock music was all about sticking it to the man, it's funny how things change.
As mentioned before, you could buy fender squire for the same price and get a s**t load more value from that. People aren't impressed by being able to pretend to play Dragonforce with a piece of plastic, they are impressed by real musicians....oh and the hoosiers apparently.
Here's a cool idea; why don't you actually buy a real guitar or drums set. Rock band just shows how lazy the world is that they can't be bothered to learn to play an instrument.
Well, I've been on holiday this weekend, so ten minutes ago I strolled along to Game to pick up my pre-ordered copy. £130 price stickers all over the "Instrument Edition", yet the sales assistant brings it to the counter and (in a "one hundredth time today" kind of way) asks sheepishly if I want the game with that. WTF?! Of course I told them where to stick it. What sickens me though is the thought of the father going to the counter with his kids expecting to pay £130, then caving in and forking out the extra £45 for the software when his son starts sobbing. Everyone involved in this ridiculous pricing policy should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Essentially we're being asked to pay over £100 for a set of s**t plastic drums (many of which apparently bear all the hallmarks of being refurbished US returns) and a sub-standard mic, given that you can pick up GH3 with guitar for £60-£70. Utterly ridiculous and inexcusable. Sales tax my bottom. I will never buy another of their games so long as I live, and I hope plenty of others are with me.
Well, I've been on holiday this weekend, so ten minutes ago I strolled along to Game to pick up my pre-ordered copy. £130 price stickers all over the "Instrument Edition", yet the sales assistant brings it to the counter and (in a "one hundredth time today" kind of way) asks sheepishly if I want the game with that. WTF?! Of course I told them where to stick it. What sickens me though is the thought of the father going to the counter with his kids expecting to pay £130, then caving in and forking out the extra £45 for the software when his son starts sobbing. Everyone involved in this ridiculous pricing policy should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Essentially we're being asked to pay over £100 for a set of s**t plastic drums (many of which apparently bear all the hallmarks of being refurbished US returns) and a sub-standard mic, given that you can pick up GH3 with guitar for £60-£70. Utterly ridiculous and inexcusable. Sales tax my bottom. I will never buy another of their games so long as I live, and I hope plenty of others are with me.
Amen..........lest anyone forget, brought to you by EA games. 'Buy everything'
Anyway, Guitar Hero is far better, Rock Band is ripping it off...
Um Harmonix, developers of Rock band, actually pioneered Guitar Hero's development with both the original and sequel being released in there name. If anything Guitar Hero 3 and 4 have been Activisions attempt to rip off Harmonix. Surprise, surprise they have announced a drum peripheral for GH4, who didn't see that coming.
Here's a cool idea; why don't you actually buy a real guitar or drums set. Rock band just shows how lazy the world is that they can't be bothered to learn to play an instrument.
As has already been pointed out, it's about having fun and not taking things seriously. I play 3 instruments at a professional level and am part of a band, so I know how the real thing works. Yet I don't think it's lazy to play these types of games. Besides, it's well known now that if you can get through the drum sections on expert, then you pretty much know your way around a basic real kit. Where's the laziness in that?
I'm totally torn on this. On one hand, I completely agree, the pricing of this is a farce, and it should RRP at AT LEAST 40 quid less than it currently does.
On the other hand, I SO want this game, and the 140 quid package from play.com does seem a lot more reasonable... Dammit.
I paid less than £125 for the game and all the instruments together. Zavvi have the bundle for £137 and you get 10% discount with Virgin credit card or student card. Although still a lot to play one game properly I do not feel that I have been ripped off at this price as it is about the same mark up as we pay for all our good compared to the US.
A friend of mine got Rock Band from Play (it is/was £140 for the game and instrument pack). I played it yesterday, and while the drums were fun the overall presentation of the game lacks something. GH is more vibrant, and I think i'll try to hold on for GH4 for my drumming funs.
I'm totally torn on this. On one hand, I completely agree, the pricing of this is a farce, and it should RRP at AT LEAST 40 quid less than it currently does.
On the other hand, I SO want this game, and the 140 quid package from play.com does seem a lot more reasonable... Dammit.
I'm in the same position, but the only sane choice seemed to be not to buy the game. The thing is, not only does it cost a lot more than it ought to (by the price of the game, as it happens) but it seems clear to me that this is a test to see whether people in the UK are willing to pay over the odds for their games.
If you buy it, you're not just getting ripped off once. You're sending a message to EA that you're willing to be ripped off in the future. And if that's what they want to hear from me, they can go and do something anatomically improbable with a broken Rock Band guitar controller.
I'm totally torn on this. On one hand, I completely agree, the pricing of this is a farce, and it should RRP at AT LEAST 40 quid less than it currently does.
On the other hand, I SO want this game, and the 140 quid package from play.com does seem a lot more reasonable... Dammit.
I'm in the same position, but the only sane choice seemed to be not to buy the game. The thing is, not only does it cost a lot more than it ought to (by the price of the game, as it happens) but it seems clear to me that this is a test to see whether people in the UK are willing to pay over the odds for their games.
If you buy it, you're not just getting ripped off once. You're sending a message to EA that you're willing to be ripped off in the future. And if that's what they want to hear from me, they can go and do something anatomically improbable with a broken Rock Band guitar controller.
I've pretty much made my decision on this now anyway. While it does pain me, I'm not going to buy it unless it recieves a SIGNIFICANT price drop. The cheapest I've seen it is for £137 (instruments plus game) from zavvi.co.uk (thanks to a poster above), but even that is a lot. On top of this Guitar Hero 4 is round the corner, and their drums look a s**t stack better. If this is the same price as Rock Band, then it should do much better. Better still, it could always be cheaper.
Gotta say though, there's a lot of good tracks on Rock Band - something that previous Guitar Heroes have been lacking. GH3 had about half a dozen great tracks and a whole lot of mediocre...
If you own a ps3 you can just import the game from the US as the game is region free. If you have a 360 import the full kit, ditch the game then buy the UK disc. It will stillm work out cheaper.
If you own a ps3 you can just import the game from the US as the game is region free. If you have a 360 import the full kit, ditch the game then buy the UK disc. It will stillm work out cheaper.
Not a good idea unless EA are honouring warranties on the US hardware over here. Reliability is horrible, with plenty of people reporting hardware broken out of the box - and there are rumours over on the Rock Band message board that some of this broken kit is making its way into the European market as refurbs. Classy.
I would be willing to bet that most of the people who are such vocal critics of this game and the unfortunate overpricing in the UK are people who would never play this game even if the game and all of the instruments were provided to them free of charge. Why the hell are you even reading this thread if you aren't interested in the game to begin with? You may as well go away because you're not killing my buzz.
unfortunate overpricing
? So your happy to be ripped off are you? It's d!cks like you that cause us to pay so much for games in the first place. But you don't care, I suppose Mommy and Daddy will be paying for your copy then?
Oh my, are we throwing a temper tantrum like a spoiled-rotten little girl? Better not let your mummy find out or you'll get a time out, for sure. Actually, if it's something I want and know that I will get a large amount of entertainment from it, then I buy it. Do you ever go to concerts (other than maybe The Muppets On Parade)? If you do then you are paying out the ying-yang for being thoroughly entertained. Money, is a relative thing compared to the amount of pleasure something bought by that money can bring a person. If you don't feel that this game is worth it to you, then don't buy it and STFU. I actually bought, not one, but two of the games with the full instruments included. One for the Xbox and one for the PS3. I would do it all over again without a second thought as the game has brought me many hours of fun and has allowed me to make Rock buds all over the world. You go ahead and stick it to da man but I'll be having a good time while you're crying your eyes out to mummy.
I would be willing to bet that most of the people who are such vocal critics of this game and the unfortunate overpricing in the UK are people who would never play this game even if the game and all of the instruments were provided to them free of charge. Why the hell are you even reading this thread if you aren't interested in the game to begin with? You may as well go away because you're not killing my buzz.
unfortunate overpricing
? So your happy to be ripped off are you? It's d!cks like you that cause us to pay so much for games in the first place. But you don't care, I suppose Mommy and Daddy will be paying for your copy then?
Oh my, are we throwing a temper tantrum like a spoiled-rotten little girl? Better not let your mummy find out or you'll get a time out, for sure. Actually, if it's something I want and know that I will get a large amount of entertainment from it, then I buy it. Do you ever go to concerts (other than maybe The Muppets On Parade)? If you do then you are paying out the ying-yang for being thoroughly entertained. Money, is a relative thing compared to the amount of pleasure something bought by that money can bring a person. If you don't feel that this game is worth it to you, then don't buy it and STFU. I actually bought, not one, but two of the games with the full instruments included. One for the Xbox and one for the PS3. I would do it all over again without a second thought as the game has brought me many hours of fun and has allowed me to make Rock buds all over the world. You go ahead and stick it to da man but I'll be having a good time while you're crying your eyes out to mummy.
Yes but money is 'relatively' scarce if you have commitments such as children and mortgages and aren't some stuck up child marauding as an adult as you so obviously are.
What the hell did you buy two lots for? are you that 8 legged freak off the channel 4 doc or something?
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