New prices are for old Rock Band kit

By Oli Welsh Published 2 March, 2009

EA "working on" Euro RB2 instruments.

Following Friday's announcement of new pricing for Rock Band instruments in Europe, EA has confirmed to Eurogamer that the prices apply to the original Rock Band 1 instruments only.

"We're introducing new, low price points for the original Rock Band hardware to make starting a band more affordable than ever," said the publisher in a statement.

There are plans to release the improved Rock Band 2 instruments in Europe, but they're not confirmed yet, and neither is the price. "We're also working on getting Rock Band 2 hardware to Europe and we hope to have more news soon," to quote the release.

The new, lower pricing for Rock Band instruments will come into effect alongside the March and April release dates for the PS2, PS3 and Wii versions of Rock Band 2.

Standalone drums will cost GBP 49.99, guitars GBP 39.99 and a full "instrument edition" set will set you back GBP 89.99. There will be official bundles of the hardware with Rock Band 2, too - these come in at GBP 119.99 for PS3 and Xbox 360 and GBP 109.99 for PS2 and Wii.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • foamy #1 3 years ago

    Drums \m/

  • Spielo #2 3 years ago

    For crying out loud, they're utterly useless! I've been waiting to buy the RB2 drums since November (their original press release announcing the release of RB2 on Xbox said that they'd be out in December!).

    Anyone who wanted cheap RB1 instruments had the opportunity to buy them when Zavvi was clearing out, there is little demand for the shoddy old instruments, people want the refined ones!

  • NotSoSlim #3 3 years ago

    Lol i was actually going to buy this as well. EA do suck

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 3 years ago

    I suspected that they want to get rid of all the stock before releasing the new instruments (the timeframe between RB1 and RB2 has been way too short due to all the delays).

    Hopefully we will indeed see the new instruments soon because I sold my old ones before RB2 was released to get the RB2 instruments. Obviously that was a big mistake since I don't have instruments at the moment and getting the RB1 ones seems a bit pointless.

  • Notez #5 3 years ago

    Yeah, I'd actually be quite willing to pay "Euro prices" for the RB2 drums, if there was any way of getting them.

  • linksdad #6 3 years ago

    Buy the guitar hero ones. At least they dont feel it is a favour to sell their products to you.

  • Derblington #7 3 years ago

    I'm tempted to import them from the States. It works out at about £200 for the full band set, inc delivery.

  • myiagros #8 3 years ago

    arse biscuits!!

    EA finally ave a game everyone wants to play, are they are trying there very best to kill it through bad deals and shoddy release schedules.

    Making us wait over 8 months for rock band pissed off a lot of people, making it temporarily 360 exclusive annoyed half of the remaining people. Now hanind us the hardware scraps could kill EA, MTV and Harmonix reputations inrepairibly.

  • dnimkrad #9 3 years ago

    ridiculous, just ridiculous

  • Doctor_What #10 3 years ago

    Bloody idiots.

    'We're also working on getting Rock Band 2 hardware to Europe'

    How about trying shipping them here? Sony said ages ago that hardware wasn't region locked, so any delay is purely voluntary on the part of EA. I'm seriously pissed off with EA's attitude to Europe in regards to RB. I feel sure that we're just the dumping ground for equipment that they can't shift in the US any more.

  • Linkified #11 3 years ago

    The prices are still outrageous even for old kit. Do they even use economies of scale for their manufacturing. MTV games this is all their fault. Take a hit on the hardware, make a profit on dlc

  • kinky_mong #12 3 years ago

    Fuck sake this is just taking the piss now.

  • Hog-lumps #13 3 years ago

    "There are plans to release the improved Rock Band 2 instruments in Europe, but they're not confirmed yet"

    "There will be official bundles of the hardware with Rock Band 2, too - these come in at GBP 119.99 for PS3 and Xbox 360 and GBP 109.99 for PS2 and Wii"


    These two statements seem to imply that the RB1 instruments will be bundled with RB2 games - surely this isn't correct? As a customer, I would expect an official bundle to come with the matching instruments and game......

  • ZuluHero #14 3 years ago

    Too little too late. GHWT got it right by including the game WITH the instruments. then I just picked up a cheap copy of RB2 - borrowed RB1 from a friend and paid the fiver to import the track list.

    No to mention that the GHWT guitar is better than the rock band one as well.

  • Pinewood_Groves #15 3 years ago

    Absolute cocksuckers.

    I gave up on my RB1 drums today after breaking three pedals - the third one breaking with ONE press.

    Bastards.

  • MikeN #16 3 years ago

    It's hard to imagine how much more of a mess EA could make of marketing RB in Europe. It really does seem like they're just trying to dump the old RB1 kit here.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #17 3 years ago

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

    Can it be that difficult to provide a product to a considerably worthy market in terms of financial gain, especially when they are fully aware of the demand for the revised products...?

    Anyone thinking of picking up these instruments at a reduced price should seriously think again before handing over your hard-earned cash for second rate equipment.

    After bailing out the US gamers for faulty equipment, you would think that they would have thought twice about releasing identical (faulty) equipment on a region that had to wait months to get their hands on them in the first place but noooooooooo... Idiots.

  • oasismark #18 3 years ago

    Unbelievable.

    Totally UNBELIEVABLE!!!

    You have truly killed the Rock Band brand, no wonder Guitar Hero is killing you in Europe.

    I have waited since Sept 08, (7 months) to get the RB2 kit, i have money sat waiting, i will not be buying the RB1 kit even if it was £1.

    However you are EA/HMX/MTV, YOU ARE IDIOTS!

    When you have gone without something for so long you start to wonder if you even need it any more!!!!
    Edited by 3 at 02/03/09 @ 14:22

  • Hamflank #19 3 years ago

    Which instruments are better, Guitar Hero's or Rock Band 2's?

  • Ignatius_Cheese #20 3 years ago

    @ Hamflank - Guitar wise? Most will say GH guitars are far superior (and I would agree); Drum kit wise? It's debatable but generally understood that the RB2 kit is a better prospect than the GH:WT one.

  • Jez360 #21 3 years ago

    So the bundles are going to come with the old instruments? Seemed like a good deal before but now I'm just pissed

  • brooza #22 3 years ago

    £50 for the instrument pack at ASDA now - they all seem to be out of stock of 360 bundles though

  • ZuluHero #23 3 years ago

    @ Ignatius_Cheese

    And even then i'll believe that when i see it. In current real and existing fake plastic instruments - GHWT has the edge :)

  • Kyle #24 3 years ago

    This is oh-so slightly ridiculous.

  • MusePT #25 3 years ago

    This is an absolute JOKE!!!!

  • Toothball #26 3 years ago

    Has anyone seen much of the Rock Band 2 disc at all? Haven't seen all that many of them since three friends and I managed to buy all the copies that Gamestation had left on launch day at 9:30 am.

  • Emth #27 3 years ago

    Truly shocking service from the legends that are EA.

  • fragglefart #28 3 years ago

    What a monumental fuck up.

  • stubbs99 #29 3 years ago

    WTF! It's getting absurd now. I'm glad I was able to get the Ion drums as my Xmas present. I use the WT guitar and Logitech Vantage mic.

  • dr_lha #30 3 years ago

    I'd say the RB2 drum set is superior to the GH:WT one, if only because much like the breaking drum pedal of the RB1 drums, GH:WT has an issue with the cymbals breaking. I actually quite like the RB2 guitar too, which I own alongside a GH3 Les Paul for the PS3, oh joys of living in the USA! I played the RB1 guitar at a friends house and didn't like it, the RB2 one is definitely improved.

  • schoozzzmmii #31 3 years ago

    This is an absolute joke. But it was reported a while ago that we should be getting the GHWT drum kit stand alone soon so i'll be buying that. Sure the RB2 drum kit might be a bit better but i'm actually going to cut off my nose to spite me face in this case coz I'm not putting any more money towards Rock Band, they've treated Europe with such contempt.

  • andywilkie35 #32 3 years ago

    I want to get the RB2 drum kit to replace my RB one but as many of you have said, they're taking the piss. If the GHWT drum kit comes out as standalone first then I'm getting that instead