Cheaper indie Rock Band DLC raised to standard price

by Kyle Orland on Feb 1st 2008 4:30PM

Update: It's been brought to our attention that Harmonix originally announced that these songs would be available "for a limited time ... at a special holiday price of $0.99." Joystiq regrets the implication that the price increase was unannounced.

Price-conscious and/or pretentious Rock Band fans were understandably giddy when Harmonix decided to release five downloadable indie tracks for the bargain price of 99 cents (or the equivalent number of Microsoft points) in late December. We hope those fans didn't procrastinate, though, because the price for all five tracks has been raised to the more conventional $1.99 as of yesterday.

~~While there was no indication at the outset that the lower price would be in any way temporary~~, (see above update) The increase has been rumored for a couple of weeks now. When Harmonix announced the Rock Band DLC program they said individual track prices would range anywhere from $0.99 to $2.99, but they also stressed that the "vast majority" of tracks would hit the $1.99 sweet spot.

Does this increase mean that future songs are less likely to be released at 99 cents? "I don't think that's necessarily what it means," said a spokesperson for MTV/Harmonix, though he added that future 99 cent releases would probably "be the same situation, with the discounted price for a limited time." We've asked for confirmation of the official policy on this score and will let you know if and when we hear back about it.

[Thanks, Keith]

Source

Tags: breakingnews, cost, DLC, download, money, music, price, PS3, rock band, rock-band, RockBand, songs, value, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (30)

As someone who's eagerly awaiting his Rock Band to be shipped: That sucks.

Prices should go down, not up.

It was a limited time holiday offer.

My Rock Band drums broke a couple hours ago. I dropped to my knees and cried out for the help of the Gods, but they didn't answer. They didn't answer.

My drum pedal broke the first day I had it...then I got a new one! Then it broke again yesterday:( And when I say broke I mean literally broke into pieces:(

Then stop stomping on the pedal. Rest your foot on it and pivot at the ankle.

Same here, broke it last week. http://www.chevaps.com/images/pedal.jpg

I blame Tom Sawyer, mostly.

Crono, unless your on easy or medium you can't rest your foot on the pedal and pivot at the ankle.

@Chrono

I know how to play a drum pedal, I've been playing the drums for over 5 years. The pedal broke right on the hinge that moves when you press the pedal down, this would be from using it to much or to fast since it broke from being worn down. Please don't act like your some kind of "Drum Expert".

Actually, the best way to keep your pedal in one piece is to hold the pedal down all the way in between hits. You release it only a bit right before a hit. That way you don't pound down on it so hard. Also, don't use your heel. You want to put pressure around the spring. If you put pressure anywhere else, it bends and cracks by the spring. Never come down on it with your foot in the air.

That being said, the pedal is a pile of crap. A real drum pedal doesn't have a spring under it. It has a chain that connects to a rotating bar, which has springs to hold it in position. When you push down, it pulls the chain, which rotates the bar and beater, and you're PULLING against the springs, not pushing. It feels completely different because of this. I rigged up a real pedal to the game and it is so much easier to get fast kicks in, and your calf doesn't get so tired or hurt so much. I also recommend getting some gum rubber to put on the pads. This gives them realistic rebound, which makes your arms do less work on rolls and gives you better accuracy in some cases.

Brandon - any more info on your kick mod? I'd love to be able to do something similar (hopefully without mangling my real kick pedal). Would be nice to have a mallet smacking into something. I already clued into holding the pedal down between hits (but I'm worried that eventually that spring's going to wear out being compressed so much).

Viridium: Here's a good tutorial on how to do the kick pedal mod
http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2967&sid=0fecbc5609276655ea72d67adfe3e72f

I did it slightly differently. I used an old pedal I had lying around (for now, got a better one coming through ebay) and the magnets from inside the official pedal. The way the RB pedal works is it has a magnet in the foot pedal itself, and under that panel you see toward the front. When the foot pedal magnet comes close enough to the magnet in the base, it registers. So I took the foot pedal off and grabbed the magnet inside (it's under the orange panel) and then opened the base (4 screws underneath the rubber slides on the bottom) and taped them up to my pedal. It takes a bit of adjusting to get the magnets placed right, but when you get it, it works much better. I recommend buying some better magnets (they have to be normally closed circuit magnets), but they're hard to find and the place mentioned in the tutorial has them listed as out-of-stock.

Where my promised Who's Next complete album I was promised? Where is the Wine? Dying on the vine...

March 11th. 1200 points. It's not confirmed but trust me.

He doesn't use points, he uses the almighty PS3.

Man my Xbox live account ran out and now I can't get to my Halo 3 clips from my PC. That sucks.

From the Rockband.com forum.

Harmonix and MTV Games want you to ring in the holiday cheer with a
special Rock Band gift. For a limited time, fans and
gamers can purchase tracks from platinum-plus-selling rock act 30
Seconds To Mars, pop-punkers All-American Rejects and Swedish new-wavers
The Sounds at a special holiday price of $0.99 per song (80 Microsoft
Points per track for Xbox 360).

It clearly says "For a Limited Time". I know it isn't pasted clearly on the packs themselves but meh, at least it wasn't a complete surprise. I knew the price was going to go up the week it came out. I just didn't know when.

I do agree with that, that's fair that there was a chance for us to actually know before they raised the price on these coveted "indie" tracks.

Hahahaha, indie...

As if, Sabrina the Teenage Witch...

Why screw with us Harmonix? Does this seem like it's a great way to get additional customers?

...i would hardly call any of these bands indie. the sounds maybe. i wish they would release some actual indie tracks.

I agree. Emo != to indie. The All American Rejects are exactly that. Where are The Shins, Kings of Leon, and Spoon? Not to mention that I would gladly welcome an Interpol track pack.

Oh my dear God, the lot of you speak my mind...Kings of Leon, Interpol, Spoon...that would be so amazing...Of Montreal for the drunk party goers even?

Vegnagun, you actually can rest your foot on the pedal and pivot your ankle for expert....that's what I do and I play expert.

No personal offense to the author intended, but this is a very poorly researched and constructed article. The songs that had their prices raised were not even half indie in any way whatsoever.

Also, in response to the inaccurate "While there was no indication at the outset that the lower price would be in any way temporary"...

it was announced THE DAY the songs were released in the Announcements forum at rockband.com by Harmonix that these songs were "at a special holiday price"..."for a limited time."

So yeah, this article could use a lot of "touching up," shall we say.

Ha, used to listen to an indie radio (gawd I was dumb), and they played AAR A LOOT. They played the other one occasionally.

Well, to people that didn't pick it up when it hit... What were you thinking? Unless you didn't have the game or something. It was just 80 points a song. A fricken steal.

I'm hoping that down the line, previous song packs/singles will get a "Greatest Hits" markdown or more of a package deal. That would be sweet.

Yeah these bands aren't indie, they're all on major labels. The 99 cent pricing was a "holiday present" and for a "limited time". Please get your facts straight before you post sensationalist stories like this. Being a blog doesn't excuse you from fact-checking.

Could this article be any more inaccurate?

Anyone who considers those bands to be indie rock deserves to have their ears ripped from their head. Maybe you should look up what indie means and realize bands in heavy rotation on MTV don't fit the bill.

That's unfortunate. I actually did download 2 or 3 of those songs when they were $1 each, but I wouldn't have downloaded any of them if they had been $2. IMO it'd be smart for the RB folks to release lesser known songs for $1 all the time.

Hi, I'm new to Rock band using a PS2 & am un-clear about were to go to download these DLC's???? I am assuming, witch I hate to do, that DLC stands for new stuff(Songs) released for this game??? I am really interested in what is avialable for this game & what web site sells addictional stuff??? I read Harmonix but don't see anywhere to buy, all I am finding related to this is forums. Can anyone help me out??? Thanks, Cunfused Rock Band Rocky

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Cheaper indie Rock Band DLC raised to standard price

Reader Comments (30)

Posted: Feb 1st 2008 4:34PM tcc3 said

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