Rock Band in bundle only until 2008

by Justin McElroy { Oct 15th 2007 at 9:50AM }

The last time we delved into the great mysteries of Rock Band, no other stand-alone accessories had been announced for the game. Now, Harmonix has confirmed that the music game will come in only bundles until 2008, with no individual guitars this year. We'll wait for the implication to sink in. Yep, that means that if you want the full guitar/vocal/drum/bass experience in 2007, you're going to have to buy a Guitar Hero controller. That seems kind of silly to us, but, hey, we're not the one's losing money.

Also, Harmonix says that the game will ship with between 40 and 50 songs. That, however, doesn't include unlockable tracks, so the final song count (like so many things Rock Band) is anybody's guess.

Tags: breakingnews, ea, harmonix, rockband

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Liquidize @ Oct 15th 2007 9:54AM

This just in: Harmonix and sony team up for market strategy. Harmonix excited by the prospect of losing lots of money very quickly .

copa @ Oct 15th 2007 10:04AM

Yeah, the difference is Harmonix has a plan. While Sony still has a consumer-unfriendly strategy 12 months in, Harmonix plans to sell individual instruments as soon as they have enough supply early next year.

derrickgott007 @ Oct 15th 2007 10:20AM

Go to hell Microsoft fanboy

Liquidize @ Oct 15th 2007 10:33AM

I hope that Harmonix can meet the demand for individual instruments. Consumers for video games are very short-spanned; once that initial appeal wears away we tend to move onto the next thing. I don't doubt the enjoyment of Rock Band, what I question is Harmonix being able to get enough casual or hardcore gamers to buy the individual instruments OR bundles after the holiday rush.

I think the Wii is an anomaly and most video games and systems cannot have the same kind of long term sustainability in the marketplace. Guitar Hero is a good example of that; Rock the 80's had a significantly less consumer demand then GH2.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:40AM

Thats because Rock the 80's was a full priced title for half the content. That and the track list was very much lacking. Rock the 80's was an obvious cash in and the market responded appropriately.

Shagittarius @ Oct 15th 2007 12:33PM

While I would like to believe it was the market responding to a half ass 80s cash in title the success of the Wii says otherwise.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 1:53PM

Just gotta troll, don'tcha.

Difference being: Perceived value of Rock the 80's was far less than its price tag, where as perceived value of Wii is equal to or greater than its price tag.

And will you please shut the hell up with the wii hate already. We all know. Its been written about in myth and legend: You hate Wii. Now shut the hell up.

FoolOnTheHill @ Oct 15th 2007 10:00AM

No single guitars? That definitely seems like a bad move. The only reason I could thing for this happening is if they're having trouble making enough guitars for just the bundles.

I guess the GH3 makers will be happy about this, at least.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:15AM

That is the most likely case. Even a fanboy can recognize the need for cheaper rock band packages.

gwangi @ Oct 15th 2007 10:01AM

My only question is will they sell the game by itself?

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 10:08AM

Did you not read? BUNDLE ONLY.

gwangi @ Oct 15th 2007 10:11AM

They said that they won't be selling the instruments by themselves this year, but nothing about just the game.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 10:41AM

From the linked article:

"When Rock Band ships this November it will only be available in one flavor, bundled. Done. Confirmed."

copa @ Oct 15th 2007 10:02AM

Harmonix is a software company, and they are no longer partnered with the hardware specialists, Red Octane. So we knew the big challenge for them was going to be designing, producing, and distributing all these instruments.

Thus, there won't be wireless 360 guitars at launch, and you can only buy 3-instrument bundles in a 4-instrument game.

And, oh yeah, baby, there will be shortages.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:04AM

That seems like it's really gonna hurt Rock Band as it tries to go up against Guitar Hero...

tcc3 @ Oct 15th 2007 10:09AM

Whatever happened to the argument: "We dont really expect everyone to buy all the instruments. Several friends buy one and team up for the band. Only the hardcore will have every instrument."

Individual instrument bundles FTW.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 10:11AM

"I don’t know if I can say we’re cheaper or more expensive but remember, where as in other games they adjust the tracks for one or two guitars, in Rock Band it’s vocals, drums, guitar and bass on multiple difficulties. One thing we will do is give the gamer options. You can buy an album, or if you only want one or two tracks you can purchase those items separately."

That sounds to me like individual tracks will be more expensive than a third of GHII's 3-song pack. Full albums may be priced like an actual CD or even more expensive because of the added content.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:19AM

I hope not, but you're probably right.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 10:44AM

The unwashed gamer masses are a hard-to-please bunch. If whole albums aren't at most $5 or $6, they will throw a hissy fit, even though the actual CD would probably be at least $12 in a brick-and-mortar store.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:11AM

Even though more work goes into a Rock Band album release than a CD release, the CD release has more value (to me) because I can take it anywhere, and listen to the tunes anywhere. By tying and album to a game, you can no longer even listen to it, but have to play the game to enjoy the content.

Thats why I think it should cost less. It has less value as music when tied to the game.

That said, I don't think 10 dollars is too much for a full album, but if you get much more than that, then it becomes a deal breaker.

Shagittarius @ Oct 15th 2007 12:35PM

Theres no way an entire album for Rock band is going to cost less than 24.99.

Shagittarius @ Oct 15th 2007 12:38PM

I don't expect full albums to be any cheaper than 24.95.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 1:10PM

Is there an echo?

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:17AM

pretty dumb

also "one's" shouldn't have the apostraphe

jsn @ Oct 15th 2007 10:19AM

not really a big deal.. you could hardly find a stand alone x-plorer controller around here for months after GH2 was released. It's no big deal, most people who are going to go balls out and get a full set like that would already have a gh2 guitar to use anyway.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 10:30AM

I don't, as I never got GH2 for 360 (I have it on PS2). But thats ok, since nobody ever plays Bass anyway, and I'll probably be on drums.

Blue_Falcon @ Oct 15th 2007 10:27AM

I was planning on buying the bundle anyway, so this doesn't bother me.

Sean @ Oct 15th 2007 10:29AM

Darn.

Quastor @ Oct 15th 2007 10:43AM

This really is a non-issue.

First, the majority of people who are going to be picking this up on the day its released (and it will sell out, have no doubt about that) are 360 owners who already own GH2. So they've already got the Xplorer and don't need an extra guitar anyway.

Also, via the transitive property, it's been determined at least on the 360 that GH3 and RB guitars are compatible (Xplorer works in GH2, Xplorer works in RB, Xplorer works in GH3, Les Paul works in GH3, Les Paul works in GH2, therefore Les Paul works in RB). If the majority of people are going to end up owning both games anyway, why limit the number of full bundles you have out in the market to cater to that small segment who somehow won't have a second guitar?

And if you own a PS3, well, you're used to suffering already, so this shouldn't sting too much.

Finally, remember: A mini-fridge is more important than a bassist.

Groovemerchant @ Oct 15th 2007 10:44AM

I found it stand alone on bestbuy online for the people who already have two XBOX 360 guitars. I'll probably wait to buy the drums next year and just buy the game in Nov.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8368036&type=product&id=1177718175971

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 10:49AM

They don't even list the bundles on the site. This is more than likely a forecast. Best Buy assumed that the game would show up as a standalone title and set up a pre-order page. There is no full bundle page because they haven't updated the site with new pricing info. Watch this particular page disappear and be replaced by a bundle pre-order page.

gwangi @ Oct 15th 2007 10:52AM

Just checked Amazon, they have the full bundle and just the game for release in November. The individual instruments, like stated in this article are listed for 2008.

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 11:02AM

Yeah, because Amazon has NEVER had to change their product listings before to reflect delays....

Burritoclock @ Oct 15th 2007 10:49AM

This sucks, but it is only a very small tiny monority that does not already own another guitar, or know someone who does. I already have a few for II and will be picking up GHIII at the end of the month anyway.

The absolute crap part is I was going to buy another drum set for the head to head :(

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:00AM

well you can wait til next year, to see if it's any good anyway :)

ThornedVenom @ Oct 15th 2007 4:19PM

I don't have a guitar. Why? Because I could have been one of those people who could have tried this type of game for the first time, thus expanding their audience.

Hey Apples @ Oct 15th 2007 11:15AM

This is totally a product of the instrument shortage at launch. The same reason that Europe was delayed into '08.

Give it a few months to ramp up hardware production and it will sort itself out.

bounchfx @ Oct 15th 2007 11:16AM

so all of you people that are getting the game don't know ANYONE else that is also getting it, or already has GH2? then who do you have coming over to fill in those other 3 spots?

I fail to see how this is a real problem. everyone hates bass. :)

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:20AM

i like bass when it's a primus or rush song :)

Burritoclock @ Oct 15th 2007 12:02PM

My friends that are looking forward to this and will be enjoying it with me either can't afford it or won't spend the $180 on it. I am in the position where I can so I don't mind, and as ridiculous as my spending on entertainment is even I probably can't convince myself to spend another $180 just for a second drum set... (Well I probably would if not for the insane releases all coming out over the next three months...) I do however want the wireless so I was going to have to wait for that anyway.

My house is usually the hub where my friends get to live out their bachelor, debt free, dreams, heh.

Groovemerchant @ Oct 15th 2007 11:17AM

This article is talking about peripheral bundles. Almost every mainstream site has it sold both ways.

http://www.amazon.com/MTV-Games-Rock-Band/dp/B000TT2D0M/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/104-2167746-5847146?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1192461002&sr=8-4
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=200307
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2841320

Kael @ Oct 15th 2007 11:30AM

For me, this is a major bummer. The only thing in Rock Band I care about is the Drum set. You could say I considered the game to be Drum Hero... but now I have to wait until next year to avoid buying controllers I don't want?

Surely I will be able to buy the game and drums 'al a carte' directly from the manufacturer's website. If they simply can't make enough, that's one thing. If they're making a play for money they didn't earn, that's another.

Engan @ Oct 27th 2007 7:13AM

Hi!
I saw you only wanted the drums. How about I buy the guitar from you. Cause I only want the guitar.
Will you buy for ps3 or 360?

megaStryke @ Oct 15th 2007 11:32AM

So, does this settle it people? Guitar Hero III will be the rhythm game champ this year in terms of unit sales?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 15th 2007 11:47AM

I think that goes without saying for having an ealier release date, alone.

blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 15th 2007 12:08PM

and rock band will have supply problems too

timnc @ Oct 15th 2007 12:09PM

"... you're going to have to buy a Guitar Hero controller. That seems kind of silly to us, but, hey, we're not the one's losing money."

Wouldn't the vast majority of people buying this game already have one (or 2 in my case) Guitar Hero guitars? By the time this comes out I'll have 3 with the new one in GHIII. Mmmmmmm wireless bass guitar.

whymog @ Oct 15th 2007 1:04PM

Well, on the bright side they just announced "Flirting with Disaster" by Molly Hatchet. Harmonix has a great habit of picking songs most people haven't ever heard and having them be awesome.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/827/827329p1.html

Note: The Ignorant Sluts are still some of the worst Rock Band players I have ever seen. Their singer is appalling.

Chad @ Oct 15th 2007 4:15PM

Well in the UK we are still waiting for individual x-plorer guitars and the only way still to buy GH2 for 360 is in a bundle. No stand alone guitar and no game on its own. And that didn't hurt having the bundle sell out everywhere for months. Luckily this time GH3 wil be available as a game only as well as the bundle.

Though I'm gonna have to import rock band from the US as we don't even have a confirmed release date yet. Sometime next year last I checked. That's gonna be one expensive shipping charge! Welcome to gaming in the UK

Werbal @ Oct 15th 2007 4:36PM

Bundle only? Lame. I just want the new songs to play on my old GH controller. I couldn't care less about the drums or microphone. Lead guitar is still the star of the show.

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