Rock Band "won't magically get cheaper because you wish it so"

By Ellie Gibson Published 11 April, 2008

Harmonix disappoints Internet.

Harmonix has told the Internet there's no point going bonkers over the European price of Rock Band, saying the game is "not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so".

In a post on the Rock Band forums product development manager Greg LoPiccolo wrote, "We're not making a killing on Rock Band in Europe. We are incredibly sensitive to pricing issues. We are painfully aware that the higher the price we charge, the less copies we'll sell.

"We are strongly motivated to keep the price as low as possible. That said, we don't propose to lose money on it. The fact of the matter is, the costs of releasing in Europe are far higher than in the US, in some ways uniquely so for Rock Band compared to other game titles, because of the size of the peripherals."

LoPiccolo declined to reveal cost structure details - "That would probably get me fired, and rightly so." Instead he highlighted the extra cost involved with shipping a larger product box and doing so outside the US: "Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It's way more than you'd expect."

According to LoPiccolo it doesn't make sense to compare the manufacturer-recommended US and UK prices for Rock Band. He wheeled out the old VAT line, stating, "That’s not the whole discrepancy, but it’s a big chunk of it." LoPiccolo also observed that European retailers are free to cut the price of games, unlike their US counterparts. "So a reasonable price comparison is what you actually pay, not just the SRP, which means two different things in the two territories.

"We’re not gouging you, primarily because doing so doesn’t serve our interests," LoPiccolo continued. "We can only build our franchise if you buy our games. You may conclude that Rock Band isn’t worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it’s not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so.

"We’ve sold a ton of these in the US at a far higher price point than people are used to paying for a videogame, because it really is a new and different experience... Once you get a crack at it, you’ll know whether or not it’s worth the money. We think you might decide that it is."

Earlier this week, EA announced that the full Rock Band set-up - game, drum kit, guitar and microphone - will cost GBP 180 / EUR 240, compared to USD 169 (GBP 85 / EUR 107) in the US. Harmonix's Rob Kay defended the higher price point during a chat with Eurogamer - read the full interview to find out what he had to say.

Or for a real laugh, why not read this story from May last year.

Thanks to reader Machetazo for pointing us in the direction of Greg LoPiccolo's post.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (216) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Cyclone #1 4 years ago

    It may "magically" get cheaper when sod all people buy it at that ridiculous price.

  • sem1604 #2 4 years ago

    and i wont magically decide to buy it either

  • HiddenAway #3 4 years ago

    /gets riot shield up

  • BadBoyBonner #4 4 years ago

    Rock Band "won't magically get cheaper because you wish it so"

    At that price, the number of people who actually bother to buy it won't magically increase just because the developer and publisher wish it so.

  • Psychotext #5 4 years ago

    Was once guaranteed to purchase this... now I'm guaranteed not to.

  • Hunam #6 4 years ago

    What an arrogant fuck.

  • gamingdave #7 4 years ago

    The full setup has an RRP of £240 not £180. For the "full" experience you need an extra guitar for the bassist.

  • Dizzy #8 4 years ago

    I will just get a Wii instead.

  • KingOfSpain #9 4 years ago

    The more they talk the more trouble they get into. When will they learn to STFU

  • phantom516 #10 4 years ago

    What I don't get is that online companies like amazon and play are able to discount instrument + game to £139.99 incl delivery so why havn't EA put on a smaller margin and advertised it at this price. Yes, I know it's still loads more than the US but most people were expecting £120-£130 so I'm sure they wouldn't have had all this backlash ??

  • Quint2020 #11 4 years ago

    I didn't want it in the first place as i still don't really see the point in it, i mean how often do you have enough people at your house to use all the instruments?

    If it was cheaper i may have considered it simply for party use but to be frank, at that price they can fuck right off.

  • KillallHippies #12 4 years ago

    It would be funny if no one bought it...

    But that is unlikely to happen.

    Unless we wish it!

  • MrChuckles #13 4 years ago

    I'm now investigating the possibility of buying a copy off a mate who works for EA and can get games free through a 'points' system or via a mate who works in GAME and can get me 25% off.

    Jeez, never have i had to search this hard to make a game affordable.

  • FenderMaster #14 4 years ago

    if nintendo can manage to sell the Wii in Europe for less than 110% price increase, with a free game and still make a profit then why cant Harmonix, eh?

    the Wii has a bigger box too...
    Edited by 2 at 11/04/08 @ 11:39

  • asphaltcowboy #15 4 years ago

    Well, I'm not magically going to find £180 in my back pocket, so would you kindly go spin on it :p

  • JonFE #16 4 years ago

    "Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It’s way more than you’d expect."

    While I cannot comment on shipment expenses on a RB peripherals box, there's nothing stopping them to slap in a copy of the game as well before selling it for 169€-199€.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #17 4 years ago

    It's cobblers anyway. The price of shipping a SINGLE box the size and weight of a full Rock Band package over from the US is about £25. Shipping thousands of them at a time, with no particular need to do it quickly, the unit cost is going to come down hugely from that. So we're left with US price £90 plus VAT £15 plus shipping £15 = £120. (Which tallies with the price Play are offering it at, given they want to make some profit on it.) Where's the other £60 come from?

  • Xerx3s #18 4 years ago

    Rock Band "won't magically get cheaper because you wish it so"

    The internet "We won't magically buy your product because you wish it so."

  • Madafunkola #19 4 years ago

    @ JonFE +1
    Surely it's more expensive to ship the game disc and the instrument box separately - Save some of that money by putting the frakking disc in the box too!
    ROCK-TARDS!

  • afghan_jones #20 4 years ago

    And thats just the sort of arrogant pigheaded comment that means you can take that oversized peripheral box and jam it straight up your arse, sunshine.



  • chrisjm #21 4 years ago

    funny how so much cheap tat manages to get shipped over here so easily when its huge and still sold for peanuts. are they sending each one from china via UPS?

  • AwesomeWells #22 4 years ago

    Seeing as everyone else has done the 'magically' jokes, all I've got left really is to tell EA/MTV/Harmonix to fuck off.

  • the_dudefather #23 4 years ago

    Eurogamer has it all wrong, your supposed to say 'EA disappoints internet'

    positive story about rock band = harmonix, negative story = EA

  • Der_tolle_Emil #24 4 years ago

    "Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It’s way more than you’d expect."

    I can imagine. When I ordered a Hori Real Arcade Pro PS2 joystick from America and had it shipped to Austria it arrived three days later and cost 15$.

  • cjnic #25 4 years ago

    "You may conclude that Rock Band isn’t worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it’s not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so."

    I was still on the fence even after the delays, lies (Who's Next & Nevermind etc whole albums available for download within weeks of release?), pricing and more delays (PS3 owners get stuffed yet again).

    That statement has absolutely guaranteed I won't be buying Rock Band now.

  • AcidSnake #26 4 years ago

    Using this tone, regardless of what he's saying, is a really stupid move now...
    Consumers are feeling cheated and the last thing the developer or publisher should do is patronise them...

    Like so many other this went from 'must buy' to 'too bad, maybe when it comes down in price a lot' for me...

  • oceanmotion #27 4 years ago

    Wow, lying to us like that is even worse. I hope this product flops big time.

  • sarkster #28 4 years ago

    My yank copy of RB for PS3 cost me £120 SHIPPED(im sure shipping gets cheaper the more you have to post). Vat on that would be about £20.

    I dont see how he has a leg to stand on.

  • Quint2020 #29 4 years ago

    God i hope this flops so bad.

  • grandmaster Verified Director, Digital Foundry #30 4 years ago

    Aren't the instruments made in China or elsewhere in the Far East any way? Is it really that much more to ship to Europe rather than the US?

  • abcd #31 4 years ago

    LoPiccolo


    Great name, bad price.

  • Olemak #32 4 years ago

    That's no way to create a brand. Of course, they need to make a profit on Rock Band, but a lot of the long-term revenue in such a project lies in the DLC. They sold 6 million DLC thingis over in the states I think, or more. In order to do etablish such a business, you need to get a fair number of people in the door, and make sure that they like you.

    No-one in Europe seems to like these guys a lot right now, and none of the reasons they state for the unacceptable price sounds even half right. In essesce, what they get is a "gaming brand" that will continue to do very well in the US, the home market, and fail completely over here. Sort of the revers of Sing Star, in a way. That, EA, is a huge opportunity lost, and a very strong, fine brand (or franchise, I guess they call it) destroyed for the Euopean market. They might as wel spare the bother and not release a PAL version at all. In fact that would be smarter, as they'd loose less customer good-will over it, than releasing at this prive, with these lame excuses.

    Rock Band? More like "$uck Brand", haha.

  • Killerbee #33 4 years ago

    Quite frankly, this guy would have been far better off not saying anything than coming out with this arrogant and confrontational response.

    And the costs of shipping thing - I can accept there's a point there, but I really don't understand why it is quite so drastically different to shipping a bunch of consoles from one place to another. None of those are - as far as I know - manufactured in the EU, yet we still manage to sustain a greater degree of price parity than this.

  • TurboBailey #34 4 years ago

    So the complete price is the same as the f*cking console give or take a few quid?

    £240 (inc. extra guitar)
    My PS3 only cost £295!!

    But i get far more for the money with my PS3
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 11:45

  • Rirekon #35 4 years ago

    "Or for a real laugh, why not read <a href=http://www.game sindustry.biz/articles/nordic-game-rock-band-will-be-afforda ble-says-harmonix-exec>this story</a> from May last year."

    One of many reasons I read Eurogamer, you guys are excellent ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 11:46

  • Darren #36 4 years ago

    As others have said Play.com seem to have answered a few people's prayers by offering the whole thing for £140, some £40 less than the RRP...

  • trav #37 4 years ago

    Well, I've found a simple solution to all of this. Don't buy it. That's what I'm planning to do.

  • jaxon58 #38 4 years ago

    What a very patronising statement.

  • afghan_jones #39 4 years ago

    please dont anyone buy this.

  • Freelancepolice #40 4 years ago

    Flop over here or not, it's already done well in the states (see the top 100 best selling games of the past 12 months) so wishing it to flop over here isn't going to make them suddenly drop the price.

    As someone already pointed out you can pre order on play for £139 or whatever it is. I'm not condoning the price but I think you'd struggle to pay £180 even if you wanted to buy it for that price

  • UKLL #41 4 years ago


    The Play.com price is a fair price and what I was prepared to originally pay but I think I'm going to keep my cash instead now.

    I have to earn my money and EA and Harmonix have to earn mine.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 11:53

  • tonynibbles #42 4 years ago

    I'll say exactly what I said last time.

    Don't. Try. To. Justify. It.

    You're all cunts. Get over it. We hate you.

  • jlaakso #43 4 years ago

    Having played some 30+ hours of Rock Band already, we were determined to get it, but 240 euro is in no way acceptable. Luckily, we only need the drumset and the game, so it'll come in at around 150 euro. Absolutely outrageous for a set of plastic drums and a game, though, but affordable.

    They have absolutely no justification to make us buy the game disc at full price instead of a bundled copy with the instruments, though. That's just greedy and opportunistic. I can't help but keep feeling that the whole of Europe gets shafted, time and again.

  • 4thVariety #44 4 years ago

    We see what happens if sales magically disappear.

  • Malazan #45 4 years ago

    Yes, they can bugger right off.

    GHIII anyone?

  • gingerlink #46 4 years ago

    yeah, the basis of the argument this time is import costs, which just holds no water...

    mass import means it works out pretty cheap per item as pointed out earlier. The differential in prices is so much more.

    Also, if it's really that bad, find somewhere to manufacture it in Europe

    In fact, it's CHEAPER for us to import it ourselves, than use their hiked up price rates here, so them importing it is NO excuse...

    also +1 zing to BadBoyBonner (who was the FIRST to write the "won't magically increase just because the developer and publisher wish it so." comment)

  • StarchildHypocrethes #47 4 years ago

    Harmonix needs a PR representative, stat!

    Seriously, these guys are just making things worse each time they open their mouths.

  • Wayne #48 4 years ago

    As much as the price sucks, I bet it still sells well. The average casual gamer doesn't follow gaming news and track prices of games worldwide. They'll probably just accept the price and those who want it and can afford it will buy it.

    Internet forums/comment threads aren't a fair representation of the "average gamer" imo.

  • BadBoyBonner #49 4 years ago

    "Lesser dismissed rumours that the game will cost between USD 150 - 200, which emerged after a forum poster claimed to have taken part of a focus group for Rock Band.

    "Seeing as one of my specific orders was. 'Don't let anyone know anything about pricing,' I can't imagine that was true," he said. "Because of a lot of reasons that I can't talk about, but we're far from releasing prices at this point. So I wouldn't take any of that stuff too seriously." 18th May 2007

    As can clearly be seen, he's been a lying b*****d for quite some time now, we should have all known what was coming - the t***s.

  • Freelancepolice #50 4 years ago

    @malazan,

    I'd rather not thanks

  • polar #51 4 years ago

    If I were Greg I'd be more worried about my job stability, than what we think of the pricing. Absolutely farcical PR.

  • OllyJ #52 4 years ago

    I don't get this pricing, why not make no money on the actual product at all?

    sounds like a bad idea I suppose but then again the more people with the game the more DLC is being purchased.

    I'd even imagine making a loss on the box itself would be a wise move when you consider the amount you would sell and then the amount of DLC that would be purchased which they probably make a fair bit off.

    bad idea?

  • TheBoyChris #53 4 years ago

    Maybe he's telling the truth? The mark-up in Europe has always been more than the US, and since I doubt many people here are actually high level manufacturing or shipping employees I don't think we're entitled to call 'bullshit' every time the price is higher than we like.

    Still a great game, though I'll be clubbing together with mates to buy it.

  • BadBoyBonner #54 4 years ago

    Wayne "The average casual gamer doesn't follow gaming news and track prices of games worldwide."

    While that maybe true - gamers the world over track the price at the till they are asked to pay - flop predicted by me. Cue BSometer to kick in about how they predicted X sales for it and thats what they got and how happy they are with selling 10 copies of it etc.

  • phatb0y #55 4 years ago

    They would have been much better off just declining to comment.

    This has guaranteed I won't be buying Rock Band. Just on general principle. Even if I see a pallet load of them in Netto for £20 a punt in a few weeks time.

    Magically line his wallet? No thanks.

  • Rush2112 #56 4 years ago

    Surely these fuckwits realise people just aren't going to but their over-priced game?

    I know of eight people, including myself, who were going to buy it, but who are now saying 'no way'. That's a lot of money these pricks aren't getting.

    Now that's magic...

  • BadBoyBonner #57 4 years ago

    Olly J

    Not only is that a sound idea - you have just explained how most of the console business works.

  • brooza #58 4 years ago

    Rock Band "won't magically be bought because you wish it so"

  • sybs #59 4 years ago

    Like some have said, his comment about how it's really pricey to ship them over from the US isn't likely to hold. I''ll eventually have to buy it, and I bet anything that I'll read "Made in China" on every instrument.

  • WinterSnowblind #60 4 years ago

    That's fine. And I won't magically buy it because they wish it :)

  • JonFE #61 4 years ago

    @OllyJ:

    No, not a bad idea at all... However, the attitude on display here shows they are quite happy with the US installed base and won't give a rat's ass for EU...

    Well, as far as I'm concerned, the feeling is mutual...
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 12:12

  • thedaveeyres #62 4 years ago

    Are they.... telling us off?


    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  • neil_likes_bums #63 4 years ago

    I suppose this is where I stop wishing for a 25" dong then.

  • Paukl #64 4 years ago

    What an arrogant prick!

    Shove your peripherals up your sphincter, good sir.

  • Chufty #65 4 years ago

    Ship the peripherals to Europe?

    Surely they're made in a China anyway? By kids working for a few pence per hour?

  • VicViper #66 4 years ago

    I wanted this so badly for the durms and so I could play the portal song. I have my old xpolder GHII guitar which so work with it so I am still tempted by the just buying the game but the current price and their attitude has put me off, well this made me finally go pre-order GTA 4 at least something good has come out of it, I think I'll wait for a month or two and see what happens. Assuming I can keep from being tempted to get the game n drums (I was so looking forward to this too dammit)

  • MBar #67 4 years ago

    Listen, if you're going to be a cock about it on top of that price, you can quite seriously fuck right off.

  • Brogan #68 4 years ago

    Know who i blame. London taxi drivers. they charge yank EA employees 50quid to take them to the end of the street and then the yank sits there and thinks "well if a cab ride is fifty they won't mind paying a fuckton for some game now will they?" cockney cunts the lot of them

  • sanctusmortis #69 4 years ago

    They're not exactly selling this to people, are they? Their attitude seems to be "look, you wanted it, we're offering it, just pay already"...

  • JDub #70 4 years ago

    I magically wish to not buy it.

    /doesn't buy it

  • Andy247 #71 4 years ago

    Makes you wonder why they can't afford to sell it more cheaply than £180 for the bundle plus game, but Play can sell it all in for £130. It's great that Play.com has chosen to take a massive loss on every sale of Rock Band.

    Oh.... wait a minute.... what's that, Play.com is a business and is STILL making a profit. But that would make this guy a liar, surely that can't be the case!

  • yupyup #72 4 years ago

    You can reduce shipping costs by sending it on long distance freighters, takes weeks. They could have saved a bundle on shipping costs by sending it to Europe when the game was released 5 months ago :)

    I have played it Harmonix, and it is definitely not worth that amount of money. I wouldn't buy a console if there wasn't at least *5* games on it I wanted to play. This thing is the price of 2 of this generations consoles. So, no. Won't be buying it. Really hope this doesn't chart. Even if it doesn't hurt them in the pocket, a message will still be sent.

  • jlaakso #73 4 years ago

    Sure they care about Europe, I think we're roughly the same size as the US, altogether. (At least in consumer electronics, EU is a bigger market than the US.)

    Attribute it to what you will, but having to more than double the price to enter a new market with a ready product means there's something wrong with your business model. We're used to paying more than the Americans, that's to be expected, but the difference is just too huge to take in stride.

  • menage #74 4 years ago

    In the 6 months it took they could have shipped all units on their back while swimming.

  • Skywise #75 4 years ago

    It's not going to get bought even if you wish it to!
    All the other consumer electronic goods don't seem to suffer from your magic shipping cost to Europe that much!

    Congrats Harmonix, you've made yourself more unpopular than EA with me.
    I can't believe I was willing to buy your products at full price once, Frequency seems far away now.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 12:15

  • DaM #76 4 years ago

    Shipping by sea from China costs peanuts. Seriously, it's a few quid a box. I can't see how they make a profit on it unless the ships are crewed by Filipinos working for peanu.....oh wait a minute, they are!

    For the price difference here, you could get airfreight from China in 3 days and still have change.

  • corposant #77 4 years ago

    "Harmonix has told the Internet there's no point going bonkers over the European price of Rock Band, saying the game is "not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so".

    No, but the bad press and slagging off isn't going to magically disappear just because you wish it to do so. Companies failing to meet their customers expectations can expect to be bad mouthed. Too bad!

  • aldo_14 #78 4 years ago

    You may conclude that Rock Band isn’t worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative

    Done!

  • OmagnusPrime #79 4 years ago

    I have no issue in believing that shipping costs to Europe are higher than to the US. I recognise that VAT also plays a role in the higher costs too. However, as others have pointed out, the cost for shipping a big box full of instruments versus a big box full of instruments AND the game, would be just the same, so why can't I pay £130 for the lot? If Play can afford to slash the price to £140 and still turn a profit then there's no good reason for the RRP to be £180. Greed is the pure and simple answer.

    Because of that greed, arrogance and ignorance on display I will not be buying this game, not until it sees a significant price drop - whether that's caused by magic or market demands, I couldn't care less.

  • SwedBear #80 4 years ago

    Anyone have a clue how the DLC will work if you "import" a UK och German version of the game to Sweden? I definitely won't get the full game now but might pick the game up plus drums when I pass Germany in June. Bit worried that they will lock out people from outside UK/Germany/France from getting DLC. Tru, you can alsways create a "German" account but not sure how it works with paying stuff then ..

    They really should shut up now though and pray that the retailers lower the price for them. As many have noted their excuses does not really compute. We in Euroe are used to some markup but this is absurd.

    I'm pretty sure they will loose sales on this. Both me and my sister were planning on getting this (the full box) but now we probably will only share the game and a set of drums and use our GH2/3 guitars and a USB mike. I personally also wonder if they are not dangeorous close to pricing them out of the casual gamers market. It's one thing paying 600-700 SEK (~50£) for singstar or GH3, another thing to pay the full price for this. I guess they hope the casuals will at least buy the game and maybe one periphial.

    I definitely thought they wanted to earn money on the DLC and would accept not making much money on the game. Maybe there is a deal where Harmonix get the money earned on the game/hardware while MTV get most of the dough for the DLC ...?

    /B

  • crazyhorse174 #81 4 years ago

    "Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It’s way more than you’d expect."

    Why dont they manufacture it in Europe then?

  • dieseljunkie #82 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:42:38 15-12-2011

  • back2funk #83 4 years ago

    This is total crap. If you imported a single copy of the game and the extra controllers yourself, it would still not cost as much as they are charging over here.

    No sale. Not even when the price 'Magically drops' because no one is buying it. That would be like someone attempting to rob me but failing, then settling for just half the contents in my wallet to which I just had over.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 12:23

  • GitSomE_UK #84 4 years ago

    I'm not buying it, now that's magic!

  • Eighthours #85 4 years ago

    The VAT issue is 17.5% of a 100% price difference.

    His definition of "big chunk" is obviously different to mine.

  • fragpig #86 4 years ago

    I've read the us import review, will eurogamer be doing a uk review, obviously with the price coloring the final score?

  • CheapSheep #87 4 years ago

    If it costs so much to ship things to Europe, why not - just say! - build a factory in Europe?

    It's a fairly big region, you know. It might just be worth your while.

  • toythatkills #88 4 years ago

    So, shipping costs now is it? How come Activision can ship Guitar Hero III and a guitar and have an RRP of £70, when the exact same package for Rock Band is £110? Are they shipping them by private jet, individually?

  • Peew971 #89 4 years ago

    I had a preorder with Play as it was priced fairly I thought but I've just cancelled it because of this arrogant piece of sh*t. If I do buy it, that will be far later this year when it will actually get cheaper.

  • sd99 #90 4 years ago

    Ahhh I see, so now it's all down to shipping costs. That's the reason why the guitar and game costs £110. That's obvious, I'm so silly that I didn't think of that before. I guess that explains why GH3 also cost £110 with a guitar... oh wait, no it didn't - it cost £69.99

    So the first excuse/lie was VAT
    Second excuse/lie was shipping costs
    What's the next excuse/lie gonna be Harmonix?

    Tossers

  • Les #91 4 years ago

    Yeah, this really helps...

  • Monkey_Puncher #92 4 years ago

    I have hope that this won't sell well at all, it's not the sort of price where most people will turn around and think "Ahhhh fuck it, it's a one off purchase". The price is an utter joke and as fun as the game looks, there's no way they'll even tempt me with this insane price. Even a single drum kit and the game would cost me over £100, which is more than the whole fucking set costs in the States. I know we get charged more over here for stuff, but there's no way in hell it should be nearly 3 times the price! Packaging the game seperatly alongside the instruments is like rubbing salt into already gaping wounds, you really dropped the ball with this one EA.

  • Frandroid #93 4 years ago

    Am I the only one not entirely shocked by the pricing?
    Standard games in the US are $60 while Rock Band is $169 or marginally less than 3 standard games.
    Games in the UK are typically £50 so I was anticipating a price of £140-150 for Rock Band. Admittedly it's come in at slightly more than that but is already available for £132 from Play.com which is what I was expecting to pay.
    I'm not sure what the basis behind his comment that "European retailers can discount" is, whether MRRPs have more weight in the US or something. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if UK (speaking from personal experience here) retailers expect an MRRP that gives them a large margin so that they have room to discount from the word go.
    Essentially, there's no point arguing about the MRRP. The actual price paid is a much more valid point for discussion and I find £135 to be expensive but not prohibitively so. Then again, I'm just desperate for the first game in the history of the universe that may actually get my wife to join my son and I. :o)

  • Ciaran #94 4 years ago

    Complete, utter BS. Arrogant too. What the hell is wrong with these people? Did they take PR lessons from Sony?

  • InsoFox #95 4 years ago

    Oh, don't patronise us. Of course you wouldn't price it like that unless you had reasons which are probably almost valid.

    But if that's the case and it's still too expensive, you have to start looking at ways of making it cheaper. It'd probably be more cost-effective for them to pay someone to manufacture the peripherals in europe, lower the price that way and sell more copies.

    Maybe not, I'm no expert, but the point is, if the current way doesn't work, then you figure out a better way, you don't just shrug and say, 'well, that was the best we could do given market realities and blah.' Anyone who says there isn't a way to make this cheaper is either lying or extremely unimaginative.

  • Toothball #96 4 years ago

    I'm still buying it. Was worried that I'd miss a spot on the pre-order list as I've not been able to get to my local games shop, but I don't think that's going to be a problem.

    I also bought Steel Battalion without flinching, so that might give something away about my state of mind.

  • Rodafowa #97 4 years ago

    Maybe he's telling the truth? The mark-up in Europe has always been more than the US, and since I doubt many people here are actually high level manufacturing or shipping employees I don't think we're entitled to call 'bullshit' every time the price is higher than we like.

    This.

    VAT, shipping, generally higher wages and costs in Europe (so pricier distribution, warehousing and so on), the fact that EA/MTV can't remotely bank on the dollar remaining at its current ludicrously low value... Anyone expecting RB to cost less than £120 was living in dreamland. I was expecting somewhere between that and £150, so Play/Amazon's £133-140 is right there or thereabouts.

    That's an awful lot of money to spend on one game, no doubt. If I wasn't paying for it with poker profits I'd probably pass. But I'm genuinely not sure you can argue that we're being excessively gouged.

    "Slightly gouged" I might give you, though.

    The guy says right there in the article that RRP means different things in the US to Europe. When was the last time you paid the full £49.99 RRP on even a brand new XBox game, f'rinstance? They obviously set the RRP at £180 in the knowledge that in the real world people would be buying it for at least 20% less, even at launch. So why are people focussing so intently on the £180 that absolutely nobody is going to pay?

    Remember when Street Fighter II was launched on the SNES? Sixty quid for a 16-bit game. Now THAT was the golden age of blatant profiteering.

  • superted #98 4 years ago


    cheeky arsehole... no way am i buying this

    amazing how quickly they've turned into sods since EA took over

  • FenderMaster #99 4 years ago

    the idea that EA might soon buy out Take 2 is more worrying than ever

    i still remember walking into a shop and picking up GTA:VC for just 40 Euros on release day when all other new games were 50-60

    EA will put a stop to that though...

    i say we all buy Shares in Take 2, whos with me?

  • bslsimes #100 4 years ago

    The comment about retailers and MSRP is just yet more bull. High street retailers in the US sell at or near the MSRP, yes, but then so do the ones in the UK. The online retailers tend to give bigger discounts in the UK, and yes, so do the ones in the US. He seems to forget we can just type "amazon.com" into our browsers and check this.

    Yet more dissembling. If you pile up enough lies, eventually everyone will find something which they think is true.

    Oh, and Steel Battalion was certainly pricey, but it wasn't marked up over the US price by over 100%.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 12:45

  • yupyup #101 4 years ago

    @Peew971

    Don't you mean when it gets 'magically' cheaper ;)

  • Blackthorned #102 4 years ago

    Again, the opposite of damage limitation from Harmonix.

  • neilka #103 4 years ago

    Two pages and no "lolpiccolo"?

  • sd99 #104 4 years ago

    LOL check out the reviews on amazon.co.uk for the instrument pack. be sure to add your own too...!!

  • Katsumoto #105 4 years ago

    Maybe i'll buy an actual guitar and amp instead. For less.

  • Mr_Dodger #106 4 years ago

    Where's this £130 complete package on Play.com? I can see 4 entries for Rock Band:

    Instruments - £99.99
    Solus - £39.99
    Drum Kit - £69.99
    Guitar - £59.99

    /confused

  • NthSimulachum #107 4 years ago

    BUT IT COSTS LOTS TO SHIP FROM CHINA!!! CHINA TO USA, THATS JUST TEH PACIFIC, BUT CHINA TO EUROPE THEY HAVE TO SAIL VIA THE MOON, THROUGH THE ARTIC CIRCLE, BEFORE OUTWITTING SCYLLA AND CHARYBIDIS...

    The mark up is due to EA's love of money, and fears the dollar/£ rate might suddenly snap down to 1:1.5. It has fuck all to do with shipping or VAT.

  • Stu #108 4 years ago

    A surprisingly aggressive response from Harmonix. Still, Harmonix/EA have been subjected to an absolute torrent of invective from all corners of the internet, so it's understandable.

    Don't forget, no matter how outraged you may be by the price, they are entitled to charge whatever they like. If you don't agree with the price, don't buy it - that's your right as a consumer.

  • NegativeZero #109 4 years ago

    "We’ve sold a ton of these in the US at a far higher price point than people are used to paying for a videogame"

    However the price they're expecting us to cough up is more than people are used to paying for a whole fucking console.

    Did someone at Sony send Harmonix their book on how not to do PR or something? Treating your potential customers like they're idiots isn't generally a good approach.

  • Psychotext #110 4 years ago

    Rodafowa: We're used to a 50% markup or less... that's pretty standard. This is over 100%.

  • sd99 #111 4 years ago

    @Stu - A surprisingly aggressive response from Harmonix. Still, Harmonix/EA have been subjected to an absolute torrent of invective from all corners of the internet, so it's understandable.

    First rule of business is if you start becoming aggressive, you've already lost the argument.

  • lennon #112 4 years ago

    Guess I will stick to Guitar Hero then.

  • ColdShoulder #113 4 years ago

    As one of the hardcore GH players who've completed all games on expert, I'm totally over what i thought was going to be an incredible game. They could bundle it free with a can of Pepsi and I wouldn't give a monkeys.

  • furrfu #114 4 years ago

    So it costs £80 per box to ship Rockband to Europe? Maybe they could find a cheaper shipping company.

  • mingster #115 4 years ago

    I'm gonna play Air-Guitar Hero instead its free.

  • iapetus #116 4 years ago

    TheBoyChris: "Maybe he's telling the truth? The mark-up in Europe has always been more than the US, and since I doubt many people here are actually high level manufacturing or shipping employees I don't think we're entitled to call 'bullshit' every time the price is higher than we like."

    The mark-up in Europe has always been roughly 50% more than the US price. You can check that on the price of consoles (except X360) or comparable games (such as Guitar Hero III). Once more for those who haven't been paying attention, the mark-up on Rock Band is 110%.

    Greg says that they've sold plenty of copies in the US despite it costing more than a normal game. How much more than a normal game? 2.8 times more.

    How much more than a normal game are they asking in the UK? 4 times more.

    So again the numbers come down to this - the Rock Band game should be included in the instrument pack in Europe, which would bring the game into line both in terms of typical mark up over US prices and in terms of its price compared to other titles on the market within its own region.

  • MisterSlimm #117 4 years ago

    Are we really supposed to believe that the RB peripherals are manufactured in America and not China?

  • Psychotext #118 4 years ago

    @MisterSlimm: Maybe they have to go to America first to go through EA's legendary quality control.

    /sides split

  • Lebowski #119 4 years ago

    I was only going to get the game alone anyway, and use my GH3 guitar. But i don't feel like giving EA my money as a point of principle now, in support of gamers who wanted to play the full version without being absolutely ripped-off.

    So massive rods to EA / Harmonix. Another -1 sale.

    PS - And God forbid they should only make cost / small return on the instruments, because it's not like Rock Band enjoys a steady and healthy profit through constant DLC, is it?

  • Kryon #120 4 years ago

    I'm genuinely curious to see if this rip off actually sells at that price... I hope not.

  • bozman #121 4 years ago

    Give me break!

    Why is it that residents in the USA can sell this to UK buyers on ebay for £125 AFTER:

    Their markup
    Shipping
    Duty & VAT upon importation

    (I know because that's where mine came from ;o) )

    and EA/Harmonix can't? Be under no illusions - this is EA's doing, the price of their products (across the board not just this) to retailers and customers is just getting ridiculous.



  • ArtOfLife #122 4 years ago

    I remember when Turok Dinosaur Hunter on the N64 cost £70. Seventy pounds! And I paid it, like a fool. Then again I was only 12 years old.

    Anyway, surely the thought has crossed the publishers' minds that selling their game at £180, telling lies and using exaggerations to try and justify it, and then issuing an arrogant statement in an attempt to silence perfectly justified customer anger, has done nothing except put off huge numbers of their potential customers. Surely well over half. Going by the comments on this and indeed most game websites, I'd struggle to find even ten people per site out of the hundreds and hundreds of comments, who are still on for buying the game now. But since we can't judge the general public's feelings on this, let's say as an example that only half the potential customers have been lost.

    How is selling the game at £180 and inevitably selling a hugely reduced number of copies, in any way preferable to selling it at a cheaper price to a much larger customer base and making more money overall? I really fail to understand the publisher's logic. If they'd stuck a £130 or even £150 price tag on the box they'd make £30-50 less but sell to a huge number of people, maybe twice or three times as many as they're going to with the £180 charge. So why deliberately limit your number of future customers?
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 13:42

  • Nithron #123 4 years ago

    This is crap. It costs a lot less to individually import it from another country. So then, if they can make a profit on it, a shop can make a profit on it, and charge shipping and import costs, then why exactly does it suddenly become incredibly expensive when more than one person is doing it?

  • JonFE #124 4 years ago

    @Mr Dodger:
    Add these two together and apply promo code "experience08" for an extra 5% off (if that still works - haven't tried it myself):
    Instruments (£99.99) - Solus (£39.99).

    On the other hand, where is that Amazon's £140 people are mentioning?
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 13:49

  • Bumhug360 #125 4 years ago

    Reading that thread in the rock band forum is great, people are actualy defending the price with arguments like this

    "Fuel costs will play heavily into the price.

    Realize this...in the U.S., we buy our fuel by the gallon. Y'all over in Europe buy it by the liter."

    Yes, thats going to make a huge difference in the cost....

  • silver-jon #126 4 years ago

    Harmonix have simply decided to box the lot as a sale item rather than allowing people to choose (say) the drums. And they could easily have sourced a manufacturer in Europe. The import/shipping/VAT costs are not £100 - that's absolute nonsense.
    So balls to 'em.
    We supposedly live in a consumer-led society. Therefore we have the power to choose whether or not to buy. And I, for one, am hitting the "no purchase" button for Rock Band.

  • Rodafowa #127 4 years ago

    Where's this £130 complete package on Play.com?

    Intruments plus game = £140. Promotional code "experience08" gives another 5% off, so £133. Apparently you can use Quidco for another fiver off as well.

    Not great but like I said, pretty much what I expected.

  • sd99 #128 4 years ago

    Has anyone done a poll to gauge public opinion? I started one here http://ww w.gamer.tm/forums/showthread.ph... but that's not really on a huge scale.

  • kristo #129 4 years ago

    I dont buy the shipping costs line at all. From the sweat shop in asia where it is built, assembled, packaged and shipped from, it would be roughly the same cost to ship to the US as to Europe I reckon. The only difference will be import duties and stuff like that but I can't imagine it being so high. If they ship it first to the US and then on the Europe then they truly are tards.

    VAT is the only thing they can truly blame and they've gouged. Plus the arrogant cocksuckery of his post just assumes people will just go "yes sir, 3 bags full sir".

    Fuck them.

    Plus, don't get me started on the fact you buy it off ebay, get it sent via ups express and its STILL cheaper.

    EDIT: Just to add one more thought, or question really. What in hemorrhaging fuck is their business looking like for this game? Surely the goal is to get the h/w into the punters hands cheaply so that they can be milked with the DLC? If you price the h/w out of reach, NO ONE buys the DLC (which I can imagine is margin-tastic for them). Surely even breaking even or a very slight profit on the actual h/w and the slow milking is better than....um.....NOTHING?

    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 14:07

  • mooseman721 #130 4 years ago

    Prick. Overrated rhythm action game. 185 pounds is a home system on its own, It costs more than a bloody wii!

  • Dynamize #131 4 years ago

    Wow. Day Two - Escalation!
    This is turning into quite the scandal and uproar. I wonder what further twists and turns the story could take.

  • bdaggers #132 4 years ago

    Well magically fuck you, ya patronising shit head.

  • mazk #133 4 years ago

    I've had a go on one of the guitar controllers and it's total crap. The drums are amazing and worth buying, but get it for your 360 so you can use your guitar hero controller.

    Still, what an arrogant little twerp. With PR like that why even bother releasing the game? Those outrageous comments are totally ridiculous. 'Stop moaning about the astronomical price and just buy my product proles!'


    Also. I love him saying;
    ''Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It's way more than you'd expect."

    Sounds like a hustler trying to squeeze a bunch of rubes to me.

  • stepneg #134 4 years ago

    Yeah thanks Greg your just as much of an arsehole as Rob, quite why two developers have felt the need to come out and defend this blantant price gouging is beyond me? You both say you don't really know why it is so high yet it is still worth it, where is someone who actually set the price, can't they speak for themselves?? Whole thing stinks of cowardice and damage control, stick a couple of devs in the firing line the game geeks wil probably take it easier on them... Nice way for your masters at EA to treat you, a bit like how you are treating the European fan's of your games, c*nts.

    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 14:36

  • Weezer #135 4 years ago

    There are few things I wish for in this world (lottery win excluded) but please Jeebus/Superman/Jim'll Fix It please, please please, make sure RockBand sells fuck all in Europe and the greedy twat that set the retail price loses his job.

    Do all this and I promise I'll stop doing that thing you disapprove of... you know.

  • CunningLinguist #136 4 years ago

    I haven't bought an EA game in years, and I'm not "magically" gonna start doing otherwise

  • AwesomeWells #137 4 years ago

    How's this for an idea Eurogamer?

    As the instrument bundle and the game are seperate SKUs, maybe you should review them individually? I'm sure a couple of totally-useless-on-their-own products would receive interesting scores...

  • MikeN #138 4 years ago

    Thanks Weezer - you very nearly made me spit my tea all over my keyboard in work. At least this price-gouging is good for some laughs.

  • grussbarbar #139 4 years ago

    "Can someone confirm that the Rockband instruments are not manufactured in the United States? I guess they are manufactured in China or some other cheap manufacturing country and in that case the shipping costs do not matter at all. Also, unless you fly them in by plane shipping by a large freight ship is not expensive at all. If the shipping is too blame, why can I buy everything from large plasma television to washing machines for the same price as they cost in the United States or Japan?"

    I second this, dieseljunkie. Someone from the U.S. please check their Rock Band peripherals and report on us whether they are made in the U.S. or not. If you could post pictures, that would be most helpful. If it's B.S. (and I fully expect it to be), then let's expose it.

  • jambolio #140 4 years ago

    Having spent much of the previous few days fuming about the frankly shocking decision to market this product at the price originally quoted, I am now starting to feel that at £140 it's not so bad. I don't think I'll be buying it yet, until I can afford to move out into a slightly bigger flat/house and then, probably only if I see it drop another £10 - £20 quid.

    The thing that has seriously riled me though is just how thick the EA/MTV/Harmonix lot have been, this has been a fucking disaster on all fronts, the only reason I haven't completely written it off has been due to the Fat Texan Moron who co-owns my beloved Liverpool. Actually using one of his quotations "It's not necessarily about winning, it's about brand loyalty and fan divotion" kind of shows up Rock Band. From having a rabid bunch of supporters eagerly awaiting it's release, they have lost an awful lot of people who were going to rush out and buy it on the day of release, who are now actively pissed off and going around tarnishing the reputation of an already flawed product (see dodgy peripherals) telling everyone they know about how much of a rip it is and posting online retailers detailing why not to buy it.

    Power to the people, If the product does magically decrease in price I am sure there are many who will pick it up still (sorry for this unpopular view).

  • FTM #141 4 years ago

    the shipping arguement is cobblers

    they do not ship stuff to europe 1 container at a time

    they will manufacture the peripherals in china..put them into a container which will stand at a dockside somewhere then be shipped to europe with hundreds of other containers containing all sorts of items, for next to nowt in business terms..the amount these ships can carry is astronomical these days and the shipping costs reflect this..this is why so much stuff is manufactured and shipped so cheaply in the first place!


    they are robbing us blind is the simple truth
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 14:55

  • agparrot #142 4 years ago

    I anticipate Harmonix will next point out that Rock Band ships with TWO FREE AIR GUITARS, which also adds to the shipping costs.

  • FTM #143 4 years ago

    and they can kiss my hairy buttocks if they think I am going to stump up the money for this...its taking the piss far too much

  • jebus #144 4 years ago

    @phantom516"What I don't get is that online companies like amazon and play are able to discount instrument + game to £139.99 incl delivery so why havn't EA put on a smaller margin and advertised it at this price."

    Becuae Amazon are cutting their own margins because they are scared of having a load of unsold stock and useless platic instruments lying around so are prepared to take the hit just to get rid of the thing I assume and EA - or rather MTV are just greedy.

  • promoted2001 #145 4 years ago

    A few factors to the price here:

    Petrol - USA petrol is much cheaper than European petrol (they still bitch about it)
    Tax - 17.5% vat added to selling price, USA tax added to price seen by consumers
    EU Shite - The EU adds random small stealth taxes to products (cause they can)

    Still too rich for my blood, they need to reduce factory costs before release then they'll get more success
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 15:06

  • turnget2005 #146 4 years ago

    @Rodafowa

    come on mate!! i understand what you are trying to say, but if they really were trying thier best to keep the price down they would have at least made the GH guitars compatable on both consoles.
    plus the average difference in price for electronical good between the us and eu is 20-25% not 115%.
    and that would apply for guitar hero aswell would it! of course not.
    how is it that i can import it my self for a fraction of the price! and with the amount that these guys will be importing they will get it at a fraction of the price as i would on my own.
    not to mention the fact that if i DO decide to import im not going to be able to have the DLC from the EU store, that again would have been nice from them to allow.
    buisness is buisness at the end of the day, and if they think that they xcan sell the game at a £1000 they would.
    please dont mention higher wages!! i can almost garentee these things are mage in a sweat shop out in china or the likes.
    if they wanted to prove them selves to be honest they would release the pricing break down for us, and if what they were saying is true we would all STFU!
    but they wont cause they are chatting shit!
    i thought that EA were meant to be under a new ethos of not ripping people off!!! seems old habbits die hard!!!

    i for one was looking forward to this game, but i will not be bent over lubed up and shafted like they think i will!!!

  • iapetus #147 4 years ago

    I can't help thinking the reactions to Greg are a bit on the harsh side (and the article title doesn't help with that, being the most unfortunate words in the whole thing pulled kind of out of context...). I was quite happy to hear from Greg, and it was nice to see some sort of semi-official line, even if it isn't a satisfying one. Greg was speaking for himself, and he didn't have to.

    That said, the numbers still don't add up. He talks about the massive cost of shipping, but someone over on the Rock Band forums actually went to the effort of getting a quote on a shipping container suitable for shifting 450 copies of Rock Band to the UK - it came in at about £4 per copy. I'm sure EA could get a better deal.

    turnget2005: "come on mate!! i understand what you are trying to say, but if they really were trying thier best to keep the price down they would have at least made the GH guitars compatable on both consoles."

    That's nothing to do with EA/Harmonix - they did provide a patch. Activision blocked it, which is why it never made it onto the PSN (and why I haven't bought a single piece of Guitar Hero DLC...)

  • dahsif #148 4 years ago

    What a condescending tone.
    It may come as a shock to you, but we're not 7 anymore.
    OH, and I will not buy that game. I'd much rather get myself a real beginner's guitar at that price point.


    *Puts on some Bob Dylan tracks*

  • promoted2001 #149 4 years ago

    How about a demo to kinda smooth things over a bit? Anyone know if the GHIII guitar will work with it on the 360? Could search but I'm lazy

  • turnget2005 #150 4 years ago

    @iapetus

    maybe thats true and i should have checked before admitedly,, but the rest of my rant is bang on!

    everybody knows that there is something seriously amiss here! so why do they even bother with these week ass statements.

  • iapetus #151 4 years ago

    Yeah, I pretty much agree with most of the rest of what you said. Though I will say that the typical mark-up for gaming goods is closer to 50% than 25%. Still doesn't mean that Rock Band isn't way beyond the norm - if it were priced up in the same way other products are then it would cost £130 RRP for the full bundle.

  • Marviewarvie #152 4 years ago

    Just posted this on the Harmonix thread started off by that Greg bloke:

    Hi Greg, hi everyone.

    Just to clarify some of the gaps left by the official statement I thought I'd fill the gaps to calm down all of the very undeserved treatment that Harmonix/EA/MTV have been receiving over the justifiable price of Rock Band.

    First off, due to the amazing equal opportunity employment strategy from Harmonix/EA/MTV, they only employ within their packing plants people who are born without fingers, which unfortunately means that they are unable to open the instrument bundles and place a copy of the game within the exceptionally large box.

    However, despite the generous employment offered to anyone without fingers, placing a copy of the game in the exceptionally large box is sadly a moot point as each DVD (which is printed in double density lead) would make the ships sink and planes fall out of the sky, and we don't want that do we my wealthy European friends? Extra shipping costs have sadly had to be incurred by hiring out hot air balloons without any ballast, which in turn causes more costs as each of the hot air balloon pilots are now charging a premium for this dangerous and harrowing task.

    It also a good time to mention just how Harmonix/EA/MTV have saved money by keeping the weight down on each individual plastic instrument filled with Radon by reducing the size of the manufacturing label on the back of each instrument. The full label should read "Made In China.................Town USA", which should also clear up the common mistake that cheap plastic instruments containing small parts of electronics, and then of course filled with Radon are usually made in Asia. This sadly does have a knock on effect on production costs sadly as each of the production plant employees based in the land of the free are given a company car and dental plans, the cost of which is passed on to the consumer (please note costs are only passed to non-US citizens).

    I would like to finish just briefly explaining why European citizens who don't work for logistical departments in rather large multi-billion dollar companies can import a full US bundle of Rock Band for around £30-50 cheaper than the RSP. Of course as many of you have mentioned, a lot of the money you people are saving is due to the cheaper shipping costs that aren't incurred by multi-billion empires who want to do everything in bulk. The people you are buying from are actually sailing to Europe themselves in little yellow rubber dinghy's with just enough food to survive and a copy of Rock Band. When hitting mainland Europe, they are then being redirected to England where they can then claim Asylum. So by importing Rock Band, you are actually adding to the housing crisis that the once proud nation of England is currently suffering from, and I know you don't want that my money burning European chums.

    I hope this clears up a lot of the grievances that so many of you are feeling.

    *Please note: Not buying Rock Band on European release means you are supporting terrorism.

  • CaptCastle #153 4 years ago

    Now maybe it DOES cost that much to get the box of instruments to us europeans. Maybe* he's being entirely honest.

    However, surely the development costs of the software have been recouped many times over by now (why else would $100 million dollar bonus cheques by flying about the the Harmonix offices?). If that's the case, why not give us the software for the actual cost of the physical media (how much is a mass produced DVD nowadays?)? Maybe throw it in with the instruments, you know since it's kinda vital to the experience. There will still be profit on the plastic instruments, no loss for shipping, no loss on the game disk, just a load more people clammering over DLC and great big smiley EU buying Rock Band for a more reasonable £130/140.



    *I said MAYBE!

  • Marviewarvie #154 4 years ago

    And roughly 2 minutes after I posted on the Harmonix thread, they've locked it straight after some monkeyboy working for the firm put up another post.

    Dunno about you people, but I read into that as "we're right, you're not, now fuck and bother someone else"

    Hence me posting here not there.....

  • CaptCastle #155 4 years ago

    Yea, and he even had a lame excuse about localised-bundle-language-overstock-malarky.

    If only someone had come up with a way to get different langauge versions of a DVD into a larger box LIKE THE HOLE IN THE GH3 BOX FOR SLIDING THE DVD CASE IN AT THE TILL!

    But alas, no one has ever come up with such a system LIKE THE HOLE IN THE GH3 BOX FOR SLIDING THE DVD CASE IN AT THE TILL!

  • hiddenranbir #156 4 years ago

    Three words for Harmonix.


    YAH TRICK YAH!

  • bslsimes #157 4 years ago

    I guess nobody told them that you can have more than one language in the same manual.

  • grussbarbar #158 4 years ago

    @promoted2001
    Just wanted to say that you shouldn't look at petrol costs in this discussion. It is true that European gas prices are higher than American gas prices. But there's also far less transport overland needed in Europe. Most places in Europe (especially in the UK), are far closer to the coast/ports than inland destinations in the U.S., and thus far less petrol is needed in Europe. Because of that, there's actually a possibility that transportation costs in the US could be higher than in Europe.

  • iapetus #159 4 years ago

    There are still threads for discussing the Europe/UK pricing issues on the Rock Band boards. They've just closed the announcement thread. I actually felt Greg's closing comment was one of the most useful things that's been posted by Harmonix/EA in the whole discussion. It confirms the shipping is direct from China to Europe by ship for the peripherals, and that the games are pressed in Europe - information that people had been asking for. He makes a pretty good case for why the game and peripherals are sent to retailers separately rather than as a single ready-boxed item. I don't believe this should force the price up, but it does address the specific issue he's talking about.

  • stepneg #160 4 years ago

    @CaptCastle

    LOL, your dead right, it's another lame excuse and then lock thread before anyone can argue the point. Everytime one of these Harmonix devs speaks more corperate shit spills out. It's funny how they seem to know a lot about possible reasons why it might cost more but won't actually say this is why, come on Harmonix let's see an actual breakdown of costs and how much profit you stand to make on each bundle sold, prove us all wrong and I will even buy it for £180!

  • CaptCastle #161 4 years ago

    "He makes a pretty good case for why the game and peripherals are sent to retailers separately rather than as a single ready-boxed item"

    That's one of the things I wasn't impressed with. It's almost like they didn't bother trying to solve the issue. Activsion solved it months ago, but even that didn't inspire EA. Maybe they though Activision might get them into trouble again like with the PS3 guitars ;)

  • rinks #162 4 years ago

    Fuck off, Rock Band.

  • slivir #163 4 years ago

    Wankers, I still haven't seen a valid excuse besides the piss poor VAT comment...

  • Feanor #164 4 years ago

    I bet Rock Hero won't cost this much.

  • PotajiTo #165 4 years ago

    This is non sense, I can import it and don't pay 100% more.I dont think it will get more than 30%

  • dk_rare #166 4 years ago

    I bet Harmonix wants us to magically spend 30 pounds each on download content for Rock Band too then.

    Sorry (and excuse my foul language) but I will scoop my eyeballs out with Margaret Thatchers frozen nipples before I ever consider paying this much for a game. It's not even the fact that we are paying more than twice as much as our American cousins (although that is bullshit too), but I simply can't afford to spend that much money on a game! That is almost the same as two months of my share of the rent for nipples sakes!!!

  • hahayou #167 4 years ago

    Nice. That's my attitude changed from 'unimpressed' to 'actively hostile.'

  • Spynde #168 4 years ago

    First I laughed. Then I was disappointed. Then sad. Then angry. And now I'm laughing again. This has to be a joke. It has to! I was prepared to pay 170-200€ for this. I thought it through when I saw US prices: "OK, 169$ usually is 169€. Then you can add 20€ just for euro-fun. In worst case it'll be around 200€ but not more."
    I bet they are testing in UK, FR and DE how much they can ask for RB, and afterwards release it in the rest of Europe.

  • witchdrash #169 4 years ago

    That's ok, we wont magically buy it either cause you want us to.

  • smelly #170 4 years ago

    >I still haven't seen a valid excuse besides the piss poor VAT comment...

    Erm..

    If you READ the words he's saying.. you know.. reading.. that thing you'll learn when you reach school age..

    You'll see that he HAS explained the pricing. And again, as i've been saying.. there's no way they'd purposefully sell it at a higher price and lose sales..

    You guys.. you think somehow the world revolves around you.. I guess it must be the curse of being sad lonely teenagers..

  • smelly #171 4 years ago

    "This is non sense, I can import it and don't pay 100% more.I dont think it will get more than 30%"

    *sigh*

    Are you guys REALLY this dumb?

    Do you not understand even the simplest of math? FFS, and they say games are dumbing kids down...

    1. There's the obvious shipping costs
    2. then the import duty
    3. then there's the distribution costs (going to be more in europe due to higher petrol costs)
    4. then there's the warehouse costs (going to be more in europe and it's a big product)
    5. then there's the cut the shop takes (going to be more in europe)
    6. then there's the tax

    etc etc.

    I'm not sticking up for htem.. i just wish you dumb asses would do a bit of simple math before putting fingers to keyboard..
    Edited by 2 at 11/04/08 @ 21:18

  • interceptor #172 4 years ago

    My copy of Rock Band will magically be staying on the shop shelf.

    Let's just see whether the price comes down when they don't meet their sales targets, eh?

  • Spynde #173 4 years ago

    @smelly:
    Why your list doesn't affect other products? Big and expensive. Like... I mean... Bah. I guess I'm just dumb 9-year-old. Sorry.

  • toythatkills #174 4 years ago

    Smelly, please, if you don't know what you're talking about it's best to just keep quiet, rather than pretend.

  • bslsimes #175 4 years ago

    @smelly: People have been doing the maths, here and elsewhere, and that's why they've been coming to the conclusion that it doesn't add up. It doesn't add up because no matter what category of goods you compare Rock Band to, other games, other consumer goods, other bulky and heavy goods, none of them get the same degree of markup in the UK vs. the US as Rock Band.

    I grant you it's possible that they're paying vast amounts of money for shipping, but when other goods don't suffer from the same problem, what that means is that they screwed up on their shipping deal. And possibly their warehousing deal as well. Seems unlikely, given the experience EA has of shipping stuff into Europe, but it's possible. If so, however, that was their mistake, but now they're asking their customers to pay for it.

    Maybe you should consider that some people actually *have* thought about this and whether or not it makes sense rather than just throwing insults around. It says a lot more about you than it does about the people you're referring to.

  • smelly #176 4 years ago

    "@smelly:
    Why your list doesn't affect other products? "

    It does (ever wonder why you pay more for tv's, etc?)

    If you're saying "why doesnt it effect other games", other games come in dvd boxes and are small.. this comes in a fucking huge box.

  • smelly #177 4 years ago

    "Rock Band to, other games, other consumer goods, other bulky and heavy goods, none of them get the same degree of markup in the UK vs. the US as Rock Band. "

    Other consumer goods?

    How much does a big mac cost in the uk? How much in the us? 100% markup.
    How much does a tank of petrol cost in the uk? How much in the us? MORE than 100% markup
    How much does an american car cost in the uk? How much in the us? Again more than 100% markup

    I could go on.. but i'm afraid of making you look stupid.

  • Spynde #178 4 years ago

    @smelly
    Nice trolling.
    Really. We don't pay over double for X360s either. They come in big boxes too. And i'm too lazy to check prices on TVs right now, but I'm confident they don't cost 110% more here, and TVs come in big fking boxes too. Point being: Consumer electronics aren't THAT much more expensive in Europe.

  • toythatkills #179 4 years ago

    "How much does an american car cost in the uk? How much in the us? Again more than 100% markup"

    HAHAHA! That's perfect. Really. As if confirmation were needed that you're talking out of your arse.

  • bslsimes #180 4 years ago

    @smelly:

    You could try:

    TVs - less than 100%.
    Fridges - less than 100%.
    Other video games - less than 100%.
    Cars: Equivalent model of Jag XK - $75,500 (£38326) vs £60995. 60% markup. Less than 100%
    Edit: Just throw in an actual american car, before you start to try and wriggle through that loophole:
    Dodge Caliber 1.8SE. $14580 US (£7401), £13005 UK. 75%.

    Oh, and you're wrong about the big mac, too. Thanks for proving my point about the insults, though.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 22:39

  • Shuya #181 4 years ago

    I Love how they are continuing to use this Unique experience crap, AGAIN, its nothing new, its Dance Dance Revolution & Singstar Combined, intellectual property theft mirite?

    this guys pretty much saying, fuck europe, we got the yanks, and thats all we need.

    Still not buying it.

  • toythatkills #182 4 years ago

    @bslsimes

    It's more the hilarity of smelly comparing an American car (manufactured in America) to Rock Band, which is manufactured in China. Of course it'll cost more to ship from America to the UK (a lot) than it would to ship from America to... America (er, nothing), so the markup is natural. Comparing it to something that has to ship from China into America as much as it ships from China to Europe is mental. Pathetic.

    And then petrol! Ho ho! Have you seen the size of America recently? Of course petrol's cheaper there, I imagine they need a lot more of it to get from A to B. Which also makes his previous point about distribution costs being more here because of petrol prices look a bit stupid. Think about it.

    And a nice mention of Big Macs but with no source as to their price. Anyone can make up numbers, slightly harder to back them up, though.

    Smelly, I warned you, if you don't know of what you speak, do not speak, for you shall end up ridiculed by all and sundry.

  • Shuya #183 4 years ago

    "Rock Band to, other games, other consumer goods, other bulky and heavy goods, none of them get the same degree of markup in the UK vs. the US as Rock Band. "

    Other consumer goods?

    How much does a big mac cost in the uk? How much in the us? 100% markup.
    How much does a tank of petrol cost in the uk? How much in the us? MORE than 100% markup
    How much does an american car cost in the uk? How much in the us? Again more than 100% markup

    I could go on.. but i'm afraid of making you look stupid.

    i fucking lolled.

    Big Mac is £2, its MAYBE $3 in the states. its more expensive here because they use british beef. the sound MUUHHHHH comes to mind at this point in your post.

    Petrol is almost £1 per Litre, $3 per Gallon in the states, more expensive cause we have to buy it from companies like shell which are hiking up the prices because they induced an oil scare.

    No one buys american cars, cause no one is stupid enough.

    You could go on, only to make yourself seem more stupid.

  • smelly #184 4 years ago

    >Really. We don't pay over double for X360s either.

    Sigh.

    Yes.. Now do i REALLY need to explain to you that consoles are sold at a loss too?


    "Smelly, I warned you, if you don't know of what you speak, do not speak, for you shall end up ridiculed by all and sundry."

    I know what i speak of. Just trying to explain simple things to a forum full of nerdy little shits who all think that just because they all think the same they're right - is like trying to explain to a room full of westlife fans that their music sucks balls.

    I live in the states nowadays and have done for the last year (thus the reason i'm out of date on whichever shitty pop act are popular at the moment - so i defaulted to westlife, who probably are all dead by now). I can state quick frankly that pretty much everything is MUCH cheaper here (sometimes more than half the cost in the uk), you can sit there going "oooh ooh.. no he's wrong.. i win at the internet (even if i dont have any friends and no girls at school will kiss me)!", doesnt make you any more right.
    Edited by 1 at 11/04/08 @ 23:25

  • smelly #185 4 years ago

    Oh.. and it's worth reading his FULL post which explains everything from his pov... Especially read down to the RSP which i didnt know about...

    --
    Hi, I’m Greg. I run product development at Harmonix, and have some insight into the RB European pricing controversy. I haven’t been authorized by my corporate masters to comment on this topic, so these comments should only be attributed to me. Here’s what I’d say in response to the Euro pricing complaints if I were so authorized.

    First of all, we pay close attention to all the customer and fan comments that come our way, in the forums and elsewhere. We are in this for the long haul, and we know that customer satisfaction is the key to our long-term success. We can’t keep everyone happy all the time, but be assured that we all show up every day and work hard to make Rock Band as good as it can be in every way that we know how. This isn’t corporate BS, this is how we really feel. So:

    We’re not making a killing on Rock Band in Europe. We are incredibly sensitive to pricing issues. We are painfully aware that the higher the price we charge, the less copies we’ll sell. That is true of any nonessential commodity; it’s not rocket science. Given that our ambition is to establish Rock Band as the premier music game title in Europe, we are strongly motivated to keep the price as low as possible. That said, we don’t propose to lose money on it. The fact of the matter is, the costs of releasing in Europe are far higher than in the US, in some ways uniquely so for Rock Band compared to other game titles, because of the size of the peripherals. Oh, before you ask: no, I’m not going to share details of our cost structure. That would probably get me fired, and rightly so. This is just general information collected and presented for your convenience. Some specifics :

    --For a box the size of the RB box, shipping costs are really high, and far higher than in the US. Why so high? I have no idea; I make games for a living and have no deep knowledge of the world of European shipping. But it’s a fixed cost that doesn’t apply to conventional games, for which shipping costs are a far smaller percentage of the retail price. Seriously, I was shocked to learn how much it costs us to ship an RB peripherals box to Europe. It’s way more than you’d expect.

    --It is a bit misleading to compare the US Suggested Retail Price (SRP) and the UK Suggested Retail Price as apple-to-apples, in two key ways.

    1. The European SRP incorporates the VAT tax, but AFAIK, there aren’t any further taxes piled on at retail. In the US, the SRP doesn’t include state and local sales taxes. These vary from state to state, (and don’t exist at all in a few states), but a reasonable rule of thumb is that US customers are paying an additional 5% on top of the SRP. So the appropriate full-bundle US price to compare against isn’t $169.00, but more like $177.50.

    2. Another key distinction between the US and Europe: games generally sell for the SRP at all retail outlets in the US. Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Gamestop, etc all charge the SRP for games, with rare exceptions. It is my understanding that European SRP incorporates a hefty retail markup, but that European retailers are free to discount if they so choose. So European retail customers have a reasonable chance of paying less than the SRP, unlike US customers, almost all of who paid the full SRP plus sales taxes. So a reasonable price comparison is what you actually pay, not just the SRP, which means two different things in the two territories.

    --This is probably already well understood by folks on these forums, but the built-in VAT tax boosts the price by an additional 17.5% in the UK, and more elsewhere in Europe. That’s not the whole discrepancy, but it’s a big chunk of it.

    To recap my main point: we’re not gouging you, primarily because doing so doesn’t serve our interests. We can only build our franchise if you buy our games. You may conclude that Rock Band isn’t worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it’s not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so.

    Final point: is it worth the money? You can all be the judge of that once you’ve had a chance to play it for yourselves. Obviously, we’re biased at Harmonix; we live and breathe this game. But we’ve sold a ton of these in the U.S. at a far higher price point than people are used to paying for a video game, because it really is a new and different experience that you have to experience to believe. Once you get a crack at it, you’ll know whether or not it’s worth the money. We think you might decide that it is. OK, I’m going back to work. Thanks for listening.



    ***UPDATE***

    There have been some questions on this thread about why we didn’t simply ship full bundles including the software in Europe, as we did in the US. It is a good question, and the answer isn’t totally obvious. Like the last post, this is my unauthorized personal opinion, and carries no official weight. That said, here are some reasons why:



    1. The peripherals are manufactured in China, but the software is manufactured in Europe (Mike?). In order to bundle the software, we would need to set up a bundling facility, ship all the peripherals to it, open each box to insert the software, then re-pack it into containers and route it to the distribution centers. This is very expensive to do in Europe, and we are actually focused on trying to keep costs down; see earlier post. It isn’t really possible to do the bundling in China, since the peripherals shipping is done by boat (airfreight would be insanely expensive for boxes that big), and the peripherals need to leave China before the software development is complete.

    2. The game disc and peripherals are identical for all European territories, but the manuals have to be localized for each country, so in practice the software package is different for each country. That means that for each territory that we launch into (currently UK/France/Germany), we’d need to build and track separate bundles. If we were to launch into additional territories in the future, then we’d be obliged to track even more unique bundles. This also has big inventory-management challenges. For example, if the game ends up selling really well in Germany, but not in France, then we’d have a warehouse full of French bundles and no inventory for Germany. For a region like Europe, it just makes more sense to treat the software and hardware separately. This wasn’t an issue in the US, since it’s one giant (mostly) English-speaking country.

    3. Given that the game is expensive (which we acknowledge), we want to provide some alternate options for purchase than the entire bundle at one go. If you already own a USB microphone, it will probably work with Rock Band. Depending on the console you own, other controllers you own may (OR MAY NOT! See lengthy commentary elsewhere on this forum) work with Rock Band. Providing standalone software and peripherals may give you an opportunity to get into Rock Band at a lower price, depending on your situation.



    I hope this helps to clarify that specific point.
    ---

  • toythatkills #186 4 years ago

    @smelly

    So your argument is "I know what I'm talking about BECAUSE I DO AND EVERYONE ELSE IS STUPID!"

    Er, I'll be putting you on ignore now, fool.

  • Bursk #187 4 years ago

    Would someone please let us know if Greg LoPiccolo magically gets cancer?

  • OmagnusPrime #188 4 years ago

    @Bursk: There's no need to get like that. The guy didn't really answer much, but he did provide some information and wasn't a bastard about it, so don't cross that line.

    @smelly: Don't bother responding, I have you on ignore, as you've been called out with clear and precise evidence that shows you are wrong. Other items - be they similar, smaller, larger, more expensive - do not suffer a similar level of markup, plain and simple. You're a brainless troll, nothing more, so do the other people here a favour and stop posting your drivel.

    Sadly there's one truth to Greg's reply, the price won't get cheaper. Even if we're right, and there's some dodgy number work going on here, they've dug their heels in too hard to back down now. I can only hope that other people resist purchasing Rock Band until it's on sale for a reasonable price, because there's no way I can justify to myself £180, £140, or £120 for a game, even if I can afford it.

    On a side note, having read through various threads on the Rock Band site, and elsewhere, one thing that has depressed me more than the pricing of Rock Band is the reaction of some Americans (not all, just some). I hardly think that if the shoe were on the other foot they'd be keeping quiet or taking everything Harmonix et al say at face value.

    Just one massive disappointment at the end of the day.

  • NthSimulachum #189 4 years ago

    EVERYTHINH ISEH HUNDERT PERSENT CHEEPER IN US LOLZ BIG MAC BIG MARKUP LOLZORZ111!!11!Elventy"'; break; return false;
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/08 @ 00:34

  • whaler #190 4 years ago

    I could have paid a high price if it was the same worldwide... I could have accepted even a 1:1 EUR/USD change...
    But 240/107 EUR is a real theft, it's more than double the prize... and all the lies they have found to justify such a robbery?
    I feel really offended as a european citizen.

    And IF ROCK BAND will SELL WELL IN EUROPE, every publisher will be authorized to think that WE WILL ACCEPT EVERY PRICE they will drop on us: this is not only a protest, this is the first FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS.
    We can't lose this fight, so boycott Rock Band, EA & MTV!
    Tomorrow I WILL BUY GUITAR HERO!

  • dk_rare #191 4 years ago

    Maybe this is out of Harmonix hands? Maybe there really is a "sniper" watching Harmoixs every word ready to fire his arse if he slips up.

    EA are the money grubbing bastards, they are the ones who should be just as accountable as Harmonix

  • PhoenixMDK #192 4 years ago

    The Internet to Harmonix: "The Internet won't magically start supporting your ludicrous pricing because you wish it so."

  • iapetus #193 4 years ago

    Shuya: Actually, petrol is so much more expensive here because of the tax on it. smelly knows this, but still puts it forward as a comparison point because he's intellectually dishonest. We know the taxes/duties on Rock Band, and they're nowhere near as skewed.

  • juho #194 4 years ago

    What a load of BS about the freight costs, unless that arrogant prick is personally delivering each Rock Band box to Europe one by one as his hand luggage. I know his plastic toys won't magically get up his ass because I wish it so, but that sure doesn't stop me from trying.

  • FenderMaster #195 4 years ago

    my 2 cents

    about the 360 not having a 100% mark up, yes its true, MS do sell 360s at a loss in europe... but they also do in the U.S.

    as for the Wii, its sold at a profit, but it doesnt have a 100% price mark up does it Smelly?

    big mac prices vary from state to state in america, as does tax, as someone already pointed out some states (Oregon) dont even add tax to products

    smelly, ive held off on the personal insults so far (unlike you), but im done now, you are a sad condascending little man who belittles everyone who doesnt agree with him (hom many of us adults have you referred to as sad teenage losers?) get a life

    no one would miss you if you left these forums. alot of us would be happy to see the back of you...

  • YourMessageHere #196 4 years ago

    Nice work LoPiccolo, there go some more sales, lost to insulted fence-sitters. Have you considered working for the olympic committee of the Chinese information ministry? You'd fit right in with bullshit of that magnitude.

    I would ignore smelly but he's too "so crap it's hilarious" funny.

    EDIT: Oh, and re: that "We can't possibly open the boxes and put the game inside" crap - I don't think it's really necessary for you to put the game inside the box. The point is not to have it included in the box, it's to have it included in the price. Would anyone really mind if the game arrived taped to the outside of the instrument box, as long as they didn't have to shell out for it seperately?
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/08 @ 20:41

  • THEGREATMADMAN #197 4 years ago

    Too expensive to ship the accessories is it?

    Then make them in Europe. This is going to flop worse than the titanic, do they honestly think anybody is going to buy it at the price? they'd be better off just not releasing it at all
    Edited by 1 at 12/04/08 @ 23:58

  • FortysixterUK #198 4 years ago

    Rock Band "won't magically get cheaper because you wish it so"


    Wot a tosser

  • Bumhug360 #199 4 years ago

    If the accessories were made in Europe it would cost even more, making in China and shipping to Europe is still cheaper than producing here.

    Where anyone defending Harmonix falls flat is in the comparision to Guitar Hero 3. Yes the instrument pack is bigger but the Wireless Guitar on its own is about the same size and its here where its plain to see we are getting ripped off.

    Rock Band Wireless Guitar SRP £59.99
    Guitar Hero 3 for Xbox 360 with wireless Guitar SRP £69.99

    So Activision somehow manage to import their guitars from China, have the same problem with price of fuel and VAT, and the same warehouse problems faced with the size of the controller. Not only that but they also manage to pack a localised copy of the game that retails on its own for £44.99 into the controller box for only £10 more than it costs EA/MTV/Harmonix to ship a controller.

    As for Microsoft making a loss on 360's sold, they dont, and havent done for over a year.

  • daz_john_smith #200 4 years ago

    Add to all this crap that their overpriced guitar peripheral only works with Rock Band. Still no compatibility with Guitar Hero.

  • 3william56 #201 4 years ago

    Any chance of some Twisted Sister tracks on rock band? Like, oh, "We're Not Gonna Take It", maybe?

    BTW Didn't a certain games mutinational "magically" make weapons free in a certain shooter a couple of days ago because people wished it? Jeez, miracles do happen.

    Genius thread guys. Funniest in ages.

  • iapetus #202 4 years ago

    Eurogamer: While comments from Harmonix are entertaining, any chance of you getting hold of someone at EA, where the pricing decision was actually made, to have a laugh at watching them try to justify it?

  • OmagnusPrime #203 4 years ago

    @iapetus: I would bet they have been trying to get hold of EA. I also bet EA currently have their fingers in their ears pretending Europe doesn't exist (do not too different to usual I guess).

  • smelly #204 4 years ago

    "Ok idiot, explain to me why everything in Europe that's large doesn't receive this kind of markup compared to the US?"

    LOL.. IM the idiot?

    You lot should read your posts.

    EA are a GAMES studio.. They're whole distribution network is set up to handle items in dvd boxes.

    They're not used to selling something big/expensive.

    .. Oh brother.. I dont know why i'm bothering - the internets have spoken - all the geeky little spods are in agreement, so anyone who tries to explain how things work to them is in the wrong.. Despite that person being a GROWN UP and having more knowledge of stuff.

    As I KEEP saying.. yes it's expensive.. But I dont think EA would be stupid enough to charge that kind of price without a good reason.

    And you dont HAVE to buy the whole package.. I'm sure you can pick up a usb mic (For example) much cheaper from a 3rd party (for obvious reasons.. Actually, reading some of the dumb ass posts on this thread it's probably not that obvious to some of you f-wits).


    Oh .. And HELLO TO EVERYONE WHO KNOW HAS ME ON IGNORE.. That's a BRILLIANT way to show everyone how much of an f-wit you are! "Bah.. he doesnt have the same opinion as me.. he's trying to TEACH me stuff.. I know i'll stick my fingers in my ears and go 'lalalalalalalaa' and hope he goes away.. then i wont need my opinion changing by anyone"...

    Ignoring someone just because they have a different opinion to the "mob" opinion? Great sign of intellect that..

  • smelly #205 4 years ago

    "Add to all this crap that their overpriced guitar peripheral only works with Rock Band. Still no compatibility with Guitar Hero."


    SHOCK!!!

    And xbox 360 games dont work on the wii!! What bastards they are!

  • iapetus #206 4 years ago

    smelly: Sorry, not seeing any sign of you being a 'GROWN UP' - nobody's ignoring you because you're trying to teach them things. They're ignoring you because you seem incapable of taking on board any of the points people are making, because your idea of a convincing argument is to insult everyone who disagrees with you, and because you really don't have as much of an insight into the issues as you seem to believe you do.

  • FenderMaster #207 4 years ago

    @smelly

    people are ignoring you because your a condascending asshole who thinks hes the only adult/intelligent person here.

    your not

    and thats a damn good reason to ignore you
    Edited by 1 at 13/04/08 @ 23:03

  • iapetus #208 4 years ago

    Aspic: "Big companies have been stupid before, and I'm sure EA is not impervious to it."

    I'm sure EA thought they had a good reason when they tried to charge for downloadable weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company. :)

  • Skywise #209 4 years ago

    @smelly: Think twice before you post something and insult people who are far smarter than you are,
    by which I mean practically everyone around. You are clearly not educated.

    You talk to people who have you on their ignore list, how stupid can you be?

  • JonFE #210 4 years ago

    "I guess it must be the curse of being sad lonely teenagers.."

    "Are you guys REALLY this dumb?"

    "i just wish you dumb asses would do a bit of simple math before putting fingers to keyboard.."

    "I could go on.. but i'm afraid of making you look stupid."

    "...trying to explain simple things to a forum full of nerdy little shits..."

    "...all the geeky little spods..."

    "That's a BRILLIANT way to show everyone how much of an f-wit you are!"

    @smelly:
    If people wanted valid reasons to put you on ignore, you sure have provided plenty in this discussion alone...

  • smelly #211 4 years ago

    "@smelly

    people are ignoring you because your a condascending asshole who thinks hes the only adult/intelligent person here.

    your not "


    Well when you get to a certain point in your schooling.. You'll have learned the difference between "your", and "you're"

    Kids...

  • keviinmc #212 4 years ago

    I dont think the shipping costs are too far fetched. I live in the US and was going to buy Rock Band online, but it would have cost me almost $30 USD on average to ship, which translates to about 20 EUR just to ship it 500 miles(800km). Now turn that into a 3000 mile(4800km) trip from New York to London and you get the increase in price, and that's assuming they ship from the East Coast. So say/assume it's 20 EUR for every 500 miles, which translates into about 120 Euro to ship from the closest point in the US to London. Now add that to the 107 Euro(based on US price) and you get 227 EUR. Also factor in the cost of all the middle men that get it to the shops. So it's possible they are overcharging, but I don't think it's by much. I'm not trying to be preachy here, it's just why I think you guys are getting screwed. They would be smart to set up a factory in Europe along with the Guitar Hero people, given that the drums etc. are probably being made in China anyways and are just being sent to the US for assembly.

  • keviinmc #213 4 years ago

    I stand completely corrected. For the record, to ship from the US to Great Britain or Ireland would cost 46 pounds via the United States Post Office. So I stand corrected, but also beware of the game b/c the guitars are breaking......
    [link url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/bu yer-beware/rock-band-guitar-controllers-failing-325595.php
    ]    http://ko taku.com/gaming/buyer-beware/ro...[/link]

    If I were you I would wait until they sell the drums individually and just buy those.

  • Lamb #214 4 years ago

    Won't buy it. Find a good bulk rate shipper and sell at a fair price or forget it. We are already inundated with bad games that they charge £40.00 full price on the high street. For that much money get a real guitar, piano or musical instrument.

  • iapetus #215 4 years ago

    keviinmc: Speaking of Kotaku, how about this article? Sounds too good to be true, but it would be nice to see sanity at last. If it's true, my pre-order's in the moment online retailers adjust.

  • iapetus #216 4 years ago

    It can be as clever a trick as they like, as long as it's true. I'd have bought straight away at £130 RRP originally, and I'll buy straight away at £130 or less now.