Harmonix's Rob Kay Interview

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Eurogamer: But we're talking about a price difference of nearly GBP 100. A mark-up of more than 100 per cent. VAT is only 17.5 per cent - how do you explain the rest?

Rob Kay: I can't talk to the explicit pricing - how it gets split down between retailers and distributors and the whole chain - because I don't actually know that much about it. But I can say for sure, we've tried to set up a situation where people can not feel ripped off playing the game, and actually feel like it's well worth their investment. I'm going to sit here and say I think it's well worth the money.

Eurogamer: So if you weren't working on it, if you were a plain old gamer, would you pay GBP 180 for Rock Band?

Rob Kay: Yeah. Maybe I'd try it over at a friend's first, to see if I liked it or not. Rock Band is a fantastic game for playing at a party, so lots of people will get that opportunity, and maybe they'll want to take that opportunity before they invest the money. I wouldn't blame them; it's not a cheap game, it really isn't. But it's a game that delivers that much more in terms of its fun factor and the experience it gives you.

Eurogamer: Perhaps Eurogamer readers could pop round yours to have a little go and see if it's worth it?

Rob Kay: [Laughing] Yeah, give me a call...

Eurogamer: So what about the downloadable content? The Internet's been saying tracks will cost twice as much in Europe as they do in the US. Is that true?

Rob Kay: No. It's the same pricing, the exact same model as we have in the States. Most songs are 160 Microsoft Points, and some of them are 80 Points - generally if they're more like indie songs or something, we'll put them in at 80 Points. So you'll be paying the exact same price for DLC. There are two price brackets that we use globally, and the DLC will cost the same globally.

Eurogamer: Will the same DLC be available in the US and UK?

Rob Kay: Yes. On Friday May 23rd, the game will launch in the UK. We launch all our music weekly on Tuesdays so on the first Tuesday after that, you can go on there and have access to all 70-plus songs that are on there at the moment.

There are more songs coming in every week, so you've got this way of accessing new music if you want to. With 66 songs on the disc there's a lot to play with, and you'll probably be occupied for months just with those.

Pink hair, finger salutes - also very rock.

Eurogamer: How many new songs will be added each week?

Rob Kay: Typically, we've been adding three songs per week. That's only going to increase over time. I can't say for sure what the number will be in the future but it's definitely not going to go down.

We listen to what people are telling us about their experiences with the game on the Rock Band forums. We want to make people feel like they can get the songs they really love, because you emotionally connect so much better with music when you love it already.

Eurogamer: Which reminds me, are there plans to release any Steps tracks for Rock Band?

Rob Kay: Ah, no, not at the moment.

Eurogamer: Scooch?

Rob Kay: We have a thread on our website where you can put your song requests...

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