Good news: Just a week after the release of
Guitar Hero II on the 360, a handful of songs from the original
Guitar Hero have now become available as DLC on Xbox Live. Crappy news: You can
pick up one of the three-song packs for the low, low price of ... $6.25! Hold on, we just choked on our picks.
In exchange for 500 points you can get one of the following three clusters, for just over $2 per song:
- Pack 1: "Bark at the Moon," "Hey You," "Ace of Spades"
- Pack 2: "Killer Queen," "Take it Off," "Frankenstein"
- Pack 3: "Higher Ground," "Infected," "Stellar"
Is that a fair price for songs that were released in 2005 and have already been played by a hojillion PS2
Guitar Hero fans? Or is that just the highest possible dollar figure that could be charged without causing people to involuntarily throw up on themselves? By this standard, the 48 songs of
GH (selling for $40 new on PS2) would cost you just under $100 on Live. We'd make a joke that this a great way to repay people for selling them
broken guitars, but
we already know that it's Microsoft's hand on the
insanity-dispensing Live pricing gun.
{ Apr 11th 2007 at 9:03AM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jay @ Apr 11th 2007 9:08AM
Buy the full song for a dollar from iTunes or another digital retailer and pretend to play it -- better than being ripped off. Geez, that's pretty exepensive ... let's do some comparison shopping: 5 GH2 songs, Castlevania SOTN or StarFox VC on the Wii ... which one isn't worth $10?
Anthony @ Apr 11th 2007 9:15AM
oh wow. we really gotta get the internet together and NOT BUY ANY OF THESE. If we can be heard and actually keep these songs from being purchased then maybe, just maybe, they will drop the price to something reasonable.
Tom Whitaker @ Apr 11th 2007 9:10AM
Absolutely fucking ridiculous. Was really looking forward to these, but no dice now.
Mike @ Apr 11th 2007 9:12AM
This is terrible. I hope no one buys these. Maybe the price will go down? I was excited to get the old songs, but like you said, I think I'll go throw up. Micro-payments, boooooooooo.
teknomusik @ Apr 11th 2007 9:12AM
Where's the Horse Armor song?
Modeps @ Apr 11th 2007 9:12AM
While I would have liked to see the prices lower for sure, I don't think they are out of the world overpriced. You can buy a song from iTunes for a buck (or for a little more with no DRM). This contains 4 difficulty levels of fret button mashing and the song and it costs about $2.
So maybe they already did this work before and released it to great success, but you don't have to buy it if you dont want it. Get over yourselves.
esperantinc @ Apr 11th 2007 9:34AM
6.25$ for three songs? I loved the original Guitar Hero, but no thanks, that's just ridiculous.
AirIntake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:16AM
That's fucking horrible. How can they charge that much for a cover song used in an old game? I was going to buy these downloadable songs, but not now.
RoroCo @ Apr 11th 2007 9:18AM
Sorry, but no thanks at that pricing. I have a hard enough time beating all the song I already have. At that pricing I would rather learn the stock songs and wait for GHIII.
Bad Mojo @ Apr 11th 2007 9:18AM
I do think it's a little expensive (so are some of the Wii's VC games too). At least let me pick the songs I want and then maybe, I'll suck it up.
As far as GH vs iTunes... at least iTunes you "own" the song and can make a CD of it or listen to it in more than one place, or shred with it and a real guitar... So I think there you get a little more bang for your buck (literally).
Karen @ Apr 11th 2007 9:23AM
Wait a second they aren't letting you choose individual songs! That's not right. I wouldn't mind $2 a song if I get to choose the song there's a lot of songs from Guitar Hero 1 I didn't like. But paying $6.25 for 3 they choose is gready.
R4B @ Apr 11th 2007 9:20AM
I would pay 500 points for the SIX songs, and do the same again for any similar packs released in the future,
BUT... 1500 points for 6 songs!? I'm not even going to bother.
I've paid £70 already for this game, and you want another £10 1 week after release? TOUGH shit.
First, they won't let Epic release there maps for free, now this abomination. I thought Microsoft was supposed to listen to gamers? My arse they do.
They charge us £40 a year to use the Live service, good value IMHO. £3 for 3 songs - they can take there guitar and Feck right off.
The sad thing is, plenty of people out there will pay this.
Surely though, they must be able to see that everybody buying for a low price will make more revenue than some at a high price.
Ah well, I'm starting to lose faith in the Live service. What's the point of having all these great things available, if you can't afford them?
Josh @ Apr 11th 2007 9:22AM
That's such bullshit. Nintendo and MS are going to price themselves out of digital distribution & microtransactions.
RYAN @ Apr 11th 2007 9:23AM
man, these price gouges are really starting to make me think twice about purchasing a 360. I currently have a wii, ps2, dreamcast, etc.... so this would be my first microsoft console. There's a lot of reasons why I want it....but this pricing is just making it apparent how little they care about their consumers, and how much they care about their wallets. Chill out, microsoft, or you will lose potential sales on people like me who are sitting back and waiting!
LMAO @ Apr 11th 2007 9:25AM
Are they just keys to unlocked what is already on the disc?
Now why wasn't this included in the game already?
Sad thing is that someone will keep buying it and they will keep doing it.
Great. Microtransaction.
baby sea tuna @ Apr 11th 2007 9:24AM
What a joke. Especially considering at least one song in each of those packs fucking sucks. Color me disappointed...
Oobgarm @ Apr 11th 2007 9:24AM
Wow. No need to purchase that 360 version now.
Neal @ Apr 11th 2007 9:25AM
Good play on Microsofts part... Build a huge fanbase of loyal 360 owners, then, once they've invested so much money into it, jack up the price on everything they would want.
PS3 > 360. I know it doesn't have the games now, but when it does... Its over.
Jake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:25AM
Quite disappointing. This is how I think the pricing should work.
(Cost of GH game only) / (Total # of songs on game) = Cost per song. You pay the same per song for extras as you do for the game itself.
Here is what I don't understand. Sure, MS can argue an iTunes song is $1 and doesn't have 4 difficulties of fret work programmed in. By that argument I think $2 is in the neighborhood (though on iTunes you buy the actual song, not a remake by a tribute band or a cover).
But wouldn't they stand to make more money selling the songs cheaper. Even at $1 per song, I would go home and download them all immediately, throwing my money at MS feverishly and uncontrollably. At $2 per song, I will not download any of them. I think 3 times as many people would buy it at a lower price.
Or perhaps they are going to do $2 for 2 months and then lower it. That would work financially for them as well. There might be licensing issues involved. But keep in mind most if not all GH songs are remakes and tributes by other bands.
Rappateng @ Apr 11th 2007 9:45AM
All nine songs for 500 MS points or packs of 5 songs would've sat better with me. I suppose this isn't highway robbery, it's just foolish. Thanks, but I'll be using my MS points for Boom Boom Rocket instead.
felixlighter @ Apr 11th 2007 9:26AM
And my fears have been officially realized... 3 songs for $6.25... So, if you would like the entire Guitar Hero 1 soundtrack you can get it for the low low price of $97.92! Why do gaming companies continue to rape their consumers when it comes to downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace? Gamers must be the worst consumers on the planet, if this ridiculously priced content sells well.
machine_monkey @ Apr 11th 2007 9:27AM
I was looking forward to buying all the songs from GH1, but I thought they would end up being the same price as the game was. Instead, at this rate, it'll be over twice the price. I tried posting about this at the Red Octane forums but they seem to be locked or something.
kornchild2002 @ Apr 11th 2007 9:28AM
I agree that these prices are just too much. I could see spending about $30-$35 for all GHI songs as that is about the price of the GHI PS2 disc. However, these three song packs are just too much. I will purchase one package because I have to, Bark At The Moon is a song that can't be passed up. As for the other songs, they are too high. I have a feeling that, once all the songs are released, they will have a $50 "value" package containing all the GHI songs. As for now, we are stuck spending $2-$6 a week until we get all the songs we want.
Morgon @ Apr 11th 2007 9:27AM
And to add insult to injury, only the third pack is worth anything, anyway. :P
Yeah, I'm starting to think that Microsoft is gonna go the 'Halo 2 Map Pack' route for everything. Overprice at the start, then either drop or reduce a few months later.
...So everyone just pretend they didn't see this news until, say... August, and if they do indeed drop price by then, post it as a new story and everyone will be all surprised and happy and overloading the download servers.
RYAN @ Apr 11th 2007 9:28AM
you mean "if" it does, neal. I, for one, hope they come around...but with a better attitude and not so much gloating!
baby sea tuna @ Apr 11th 2007 9:40AM
#12
That's kind of a silly rationale for not buying a 360. Nobody's forcing you to buy anything off of Live (some of which, is well worth the asking price) or any of their overpriced peripherals. Just get it to play a bunch of sweet sweet games, and you won't be as inclined to dwell on the other bullshit.
jsn @ Apr 11th 2007 9:29AM
yah, that's too much. I'll pay for one of them, just because I want Bark at the Moon, but it's still a ripoff. I won't be getting the other packs.
Ocho @ Apr 11th 2007 9:34AM
Between this news and yesterday's announcement of the PS2 release of GHIII, I'm glad I picked up GHI, II, and the guitar for the PS2 in January rather than waiting for the 360 version.
heretrix @ Apr 11th 2007 9:52AM
I can barely unlock the songs that came with the 90 dollar purchase. Fuck that. I'm all for these guys making their money, but you'd think that after spending 90 bucks on the fucking game they would at least drop the first packs on you for free. This is just fucking greedy.
J.Goodwin @ Apr 11th 2007 9:34AM
Microsoft only prices items for games that it publishes. This is not in their court.
tranjsaic @ Apr 11th 2007 9:35AM
Personally I think the 2 dollars per song is not too bad, I was kind of expecting $3. My problem's are...
1. They come in a stupid 3 pack
2. The songs are from the original GH
As for everyone complaining about Microsoft jacking customers thats BS. I think ALL game companies are guility of doing this. Look how much Nintendo is charging for their online games? Look how much Playstation is charging users to download their games?
These virtual downloads are expensive all together so if your gonna bitch out MS, you better be bitching out everyone else.
32_Footsteps @ Apr 11th 2007 9:35AM
Talk about late to the party...
Seriously, guys, this is nothing even remotely new. Anyone else ever look at the price of song packs for the Xbox DDR games? They're absurd, and more often than not contain lousier songs than any of these packs. And that's not even getting into the fact that DDR songs are generally between 90 and 110 seconds, versus the full-length GH tracks.
Simply put - rhythm game song packs have been ripping off console gamers for years now. And if you wanted to encourage MS to drop the price by not buying them, you should have started years ago by convincing all the DDR fanatics to not buy those extra tracks.
It's crappy, but complaining about it now is trying to put out a volcano with a glass of water.
AirIntake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:36AM
I'm better off buying a used PS2 and used copy of GHI to play these songs. That's ridiculous.
John @ Apr 11th 2007 9:37AM
Hey number #26, Microsoft does have a hand in what other companies charge for their downloads. They deny this but other game companies have called them out.
DanceMoveDestro @ Apr 11th 2007 9:40AM
Good Lord If your that upset about it go buy the original. The owners of the original didn't get these songs for free, unless they managed to somehow slip that ginormous box down thier pants and make it out of the store un-detected.
perfectchaos @ Apr 11th 2007 11:50AM
what they should have done is grouped songs by difficulty level (as in from the easy ones to the ultra hard fret burners or whatever...i forget what they were called now) and sold them for 5 bucks a piece or so. that way each song costs a dollar, and if you get them all you wind up paying what you would have paid for the ps2 guitar hero...and you'd have the upgraded graphics so i doubt people would be bitching like they're going to/are bitching about this crap.
AirIntake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:43AM
@DanceMoveDestro
Have they released the original on the 360? No? Well then I can't really buy the original (without buying another system), can I?
DanceMoveDestro @ Apr 11th 2007 9:45AM
@34 Then I guess you're up the creek untill you shell out $100.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 11th 2007 9:46AM
Stop bitching. Companies like money.
the real steve @ Apr 11th 2007 9:47AM
wow, some of you people will live longer if you settle down. I'm not telling you not to be angry, but suggesting.
I bought guitar hero II. It was $90. I'm not paying 6 more dollars for 3 songs. Period. I'm perfectly fine with the 70 that came with it.
And if anyone who has any leverage over the pricing of the songs happens to ever read this page. $1. At that price I would pick up every song, even if I had never heard it before. maybe $1.50 for a song I knew or liked. at $2 each, there is no way in hell I am buying songs I don't know.
Sambo @ Apr 11th 2007 9:48AM
so, do you get multiplayer versions (at the same time) of these GH1 songs? that would make it a little better, if i could be FLEA on higher ground...
AirIntake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:49AM
@DanceMoveDestro
That was my point. Jeez.
Oh well, they would have got $30-$35 from me if they would have released them all in one pack, but now, they will get nothing. Sucks to be them, I'll just play the songs in Frets on Fire with the GH guitar. Suckers.
Bill @ Apr 11th 2007 9:49AM
I'd gladly pay 175 points for a single song versus the 166.67 points per song they're charging for the stupid 3 packs. I hate being forced to buy something I don't want to get what I do want. Why not let us download three songs of our choice? I'm glad I got a free 1600 point card from Circuit City when I bought the game, otherwise I wouldn't even bother buying any of the songs.
Jake @ Apr 11th 2007 9:51AM
Neal,
You are comparing the 360 pricing scheme to some figment of your own imagination. Cute.
The funny thing is, that as a 360 owner, I hope to god the PSN takes off and Sony offers these things cheaper. MS would have no choice but to match prices.
The failure of the PS3 thus far to do anything online is hurting 360 owners, though not as much as the few gameless PS3 owners out there.
I get a chuckle off the fact that you probably believe Sony would never and has never overcharged for downloadable content. Didn't they sell a demo once? Oh wait, they called it a mini-game, lol. ;)
If Sony had no legitimate gaming competitor, relating to online service and downloadables, they would be charging the exact money amount that they calculate would yield the highest income, just like MS is doing. It is called business :o
But, if the two have to compete and price gouge one another, we win and they lose. Console fanboys unite!
And my one fanboy comment would be that I'd rather have a game on 360 with optional downloadable content than have no game on PS3 with no optional downloadable content. Hell, if MS makes its money off of people who buy all the accessories and downloadable stuff, then that is great for me. I typically just buy great games and gamefly rent not so great games, spending very little on downloadables.
JZ @ Apr 11th 2007 9:52AM
Wow. I was thinking maybe $20 for the entire song list on the original game. Forget that.
*goes back to play PS2 version*
Josh @ Apr 11th 2007 9:53AM
I thought Live Gold Members where supposed to get perks for paying $60 a year. like free content... the PS3 is looking better and better to me... it's good to see M$ is getting Back to there old tricks...
RussBond @ Apr 11th 2007 10:37AM
What a buncha crap. Microsoft is ridiculous and loves to nickel and dime its customers to death.
"This is blasphemy, it's madness!"
"THIS..... IS..... SPARTA."
Id love to kick some of those EXECS in to the Spartan Pit
Jason @ Apr 11th 2007 9:56AM
Content released on internet not for free, gamers piss and moan.
shase @ Apr 11th 2007 9:56AM
remember what MS, major nelson, peter moore said "its all about choice". Well the x360 owners are the ones who paved the road for ridiculous price gouging acts like these. If owners stopped paying for high priced microtransactions in the beginning this wouldnt have happened. So my conclusion is there are enough dumb people or people with too much money out there paving the road than people who actually think rationally and not fall for it. Remember: every ridiculous microtransaction sale = more encouragement to continue it.
ANt @ Apr 11th 2007 9:57AM
Now I am glad that I have had two broken guitars (had t oreturn the last one for my money back because EB-GS won't have any in for 3 f@#king weeks!!)
This is the icing on the cake!! F@#K YOU RED OCTANE, I don't care how great your game is, you can suck my balls!!