Gamestop prices Guitar Hero: World Tour bundle at $189

by Griffin McElroy { May 25th 2008 at 1:30PM }

In order to remain competitive with Harmonix's pre-existing multi-instrument rockstar simulator, Activision's upcoming entry in their insanely lucrative franchise, Guitar Hero: World Tour, needs to match the price of the game it so closely resembles, Rock Band. According to a recent listing on Gamestop, it'll do just that -- the game alone will cost $59.99 on PS3 and 360 ($49.99 on Wii and PS2), a "guitar kit" bundle will run you $99.99, and the full band kit (which we assume will contain a guitar, a mic, and a drum kit) will run you $189.99 on 360, Wii and PS3, and $179.99 on PS2.

If these prices are accurate, you'll be paying $20 more for Activision's bundle than Harmonix's -- perhaps their five-piece drum kit costs more to produce than Rock Band's four-head. We don't mind shelling out the extra Jackson to get our hands on Activision's new skins -- the thousands of dollars we'll spend expanding our living room to contain two fake drum kits and four fake guitars, however, may have a noticeable impact on our finances.

[Thanks, Hashbrown Hunter.]

Tags: activision, bundle, drums, gamestop, guitar, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-world-tour, guitarhero, price

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

FSK405K @ May 25th 2008 1:33PM

More $ for a copy? No thanks.

Knight Marquise @ May 25th 2008 4:18PM

More $$ for what appears to be a far superior version.

brandon_r87 @ May 25th 2008 5:16PM

Superior hardware maybe, but Harmonix makes the better game. I felt the same way about GHIII and Rock Band. The Les Paul was the better controller, but Rock Band was a much better game. It looks better and has much, much better song choice, plus much more DLC for those who want something a little different. Don't get me wrong, I want GH World Tour, but I don't think my dorm room will have the space. Budget is another concern. Forced to choose, I'm sticking with Rock Band. I know Harmonix will eventually make better hardware for sequels.

Bakkster @ May 25th 2008 1:41PM

Isn't that $20 more expensive? Rock Band lists for $170 for 360, this price is $190.

griffinjoystiq @ May 25th 2008 2:02PM

Good catch -- it would have been $10 more expensive if we used Rock Band's launch price, but it is, in fact, $170 now. Thanks.

Odog4ever @ May 26th 2008 12:48PM

Is nobody factoring in that Rock Band will probably have another permanent price drop around GH4 launch? The game would have been out for almost a year at that point, correct?

I'm calling it right now, Rock Band will be around $150 by then. So it will be $40 cheaper at least.
And don't be surprise if Harmonix releases a bunch of triple A, DLC they've been sitting on around that time either.

Roto13 @ May 25th 2008 1:41PM

Is the fact that the Wii version costs the same as the PS3 and 360 versions a good sign?

Tiptup300 @ May 25th 2008 2:13PM

Yes, this one includes stereo.

LeChuck @ May 25th 2008 2:17PM

I don't know about that but the fact that they have said the Wii version will have DLC and created track trading, and the fact it's not done by the same dev team making the PS2 version are definitely good signs.

DBuck_Eye @ May 25th 2008 8:22PM

I was wondering why the Wii hardware cost $10 more to produce than the PS360 hardware.

Pam @ Jul 7th 2008 9:02PM

I think that the fact that the Wii costs the same as 360 is a good sign. The rockband for Wii was cheaper but it was terrible all of my friends returned it after they brought it and told everyone that it sucked. This means that the capabilities would probably be the same.

Rob Accomando @ May 25th 2008 1:41PM

quickly running out of space in my living room.

Drowning in console peripherals.

mattgreene @ May 25th 2008 1:45PM

maybe because all of the peripherals are wireless.

mr mobius @ May 26th 2008 6:50AM

And isn't it a good thing they are. This generation we've replaced a multitude of tangled controller wires for a multitude of guitars and drums taking up more room. If we'd both it'd be a nightmare. Slightly harder to untangle two drumkits than two controllers.

Brian @ May 25th 2008 1:47PM

$190 for a game that will release DLC once every 6 weeks if we're lucky? No thank you.

ComradeTrotskii @ May 25th 2008 1:54PM

I wonder how this will translate to a UK price?

2[US price + made up taxes] + transport costs + hookers and cocaine for Activision board = £250

(Please note that this price will fluctuate based on future exchange rates)

Jomolungma @ May 25th 2008 2:03PM

price will probably fluctuate based on the quality of the hookers and coke as well...

voodoo_craig @ May 25th 2008 6:26PM

See Activision are always second best.

Harmonix are using their extra European takings for heroin and pre-op transsexuals.

Vcize @ May 25th 2008 2:03PM

Didn't the Rock Band bundle officially launch at $179.99 but most places had it for $150 within the first week? Hopefully this will follow the same pattern.

Or, better yet, hopefully they release a drum/game combo. I have plenty of plastic guitars at this point.

Tiptup300 @ May 25th 2008 2:15PM

Who says any of them will be compatible.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 25th 2008 3:08PM

That is a good point considering the new Guitar Hero IV guitar has 10 neck buttons... taking yet another page directly from rock band.

brandon_r87 @ May 25th 2008 5:21PM

I'm getting sick of the amount of new guitars released. It will never happen because Activision is the new EA, but they should all get together and come up with a standard configuration that any can use and build upon while still keeping compatibility. I think Harmonix has been open to this since the beginning. Hopefully the people at Konami are in also, since they have a game coming soon.

LeChuck @ May 25th 2008 2:15PM

Operative words: IF THESE PRICES ARE ACCURATE

How often are GameStops pre-announcement price listings accurate? Remember when there early listings for Rock Band and accessories added up to $300? And everybody thought the bundle would be $199? No way of knowing for sure until Activision says.

colin17 @ May 25th 2008 2:19PM

i don't know, if they release just a drum kit one I'll buy because I mean this actually looks like a drum set and plays like a drum set (from videos). Songs, Songs, Songs that'll be the decision maker for me.

Sam406 @ May 25th 2008 2:23PM

All I care about is the fact that it's coming out on the PS2.

Here in Venezuela those Guitar controlers are hard to find (as in find one not obscenely over-priced). So fate decided to give me a PS2 guitar (Which is cool, I got to play Guitar Hero 1, that I understand is not on 360)

deaftly @ May 25th 2008 2:29PM

I wanna say no way in hell im buying this, but I prob will :(

Alex @ May 25th 2008 2:31PM

I'd be more interested in a copy of the game and the drums, but I don't need another guitar, my GH3 one works fine, I hope that wouldn't cost more then $100, but I dunno if drums are the same price as a guitar.

Hoffer @ May 25th 2008 2:32PM

I really like the looks of the GH drum set. It is wireless, I like the 2 cymbals and I've read it is more sturdy. Hopefully the guitar for GH4 improves on the already awesome GH3 Les Paul. It will make buying the full game worth it that much more.

DeadPlasmaCell @ May 25th 2008 2:42PM

I can't believe this is actually an issue. If you're already going to spend almost $200 to buy a game, Does it really matter if it's $10 or $20 more than the competition?

Jomolungma @ May 25th 2008 2:53PM

Having over 100 songs in my personal Rock Band library, and a high probability that I will have many more by the time GH IV comes out, there is no way I will just abandon the money I've put into RB to play GH IV. And since I won't have two drum sets in my house, I think I'll just be waiting for the inevitable RB II announcement. Only way this would be different is if the GH IV drums are compatible with RB, which is unlikely.

Hafk @ May 26th 2008 1:36AM

You don't have to abandon Rock Band to play GHIV.

You can play both. Kind of like I play DDR and Guitar Hero on my PS2.

Schweppes7T4 @ May 26th 2008 9:37AM

at the same time?
...i really want to do that...

Mr Khan @ May 25th 2008 2:53PM

Milk the Music game genre fans for all they're worth

But at least they seem to be putting effort into the Wii version, which is more than Harmonix can say

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ May 25th 2008 3:11PM

Just curious, wasn't the same thing said about Guitar Hero III? That was before the game caught a bad case of Mono.

Mr Khan @ May 25th 2008 3:45PM

True. All that is said about this game is tentative for the Wii version, since they're not willing to commit. They've made the claim of being "First to use dlc" but they could always renege that claim, or just outright lie.

Assuming we can trust them (which is a big assumption) it's an admirable effort.

Jim Halpert DM @ May 25th 2008 2:57PM

*Sells Car*

nmmalone @ May 26th 2008 12:02PM

*Sells Arm*...Leg is next

Monkeydog @ May 25th 2008 3:00PM

Looks like someone isn't going to college this year.

giantenemycrab @ May 25th 2008 3:10PM

Guitar Hero is officially dead.

Hafk @ May 26th 2008 1:44AM

That statement is dead.

Deck @ May 25th 2008 3:16PM

To remodel the house I begin!

To me this really has potential, I just really want to know about the initial songs and their plans for DLC.

Martez @ May 25th 2008 3:26PM

No way this is a day 1 buy. I'll wait to see how often DLC comes out.

Also, I want to see what the deal is with Rock Band 2 first.

DCBlack @ May 25th 2008 3:37PM

Depending on the track list, I'll probably just buy the disc alone and just stick with the guitar and maybe the mic on party nights, if any old usb mic will work. One drum set is plenty for me. I have too many guitars already as it is!

GoonieGooGoo @ May 25th 2008 3:59PM

Sorry....no way am I getting this....
1) HARMONIX is the real geniuses not ACTIVISION...they need to learn that releasing 2+ GH games a year is driving the brand into the ground.
2) I have no desire nor a compellling reason to purchase instruments that will only work with the GH Series
3) If Activision was smart...they would make their game compatible with Rock Band peripherals...and still market their bundle for newbies.
4) Guitar Hero's track selection was really poor IMO for GH3 and their downloadable packs are lacking.

Noxat @ May 25th 2008 4:07PM

This plastic instrument craze is getting out of hand. How many games with plastic guitars and drums do we need on the market, and where does it go from there? Personally, I'm waiting for Orchestra Hero.

bearxor @ May 25th 2008 4:13PM

I think it's pretty sad that the next game in the series isn't even out yet and here we are talking about the game after that.

You'd think the Activison PR machine would be trying to chrun up news about GH:A instead of GH4, I guess they're wanting to get as many people as possible that might be interested in RB to hold their purchases.

Hashbrown Hunter @ May 25th 2008 4:13PM

You're very welcome. Two thanks in one week from you guys.

Now I don't feel so lonely inside...*sniff*

eldee @ May 25th 2008 4:17PM

To be fair- since this price is just the unofficial gamestop 'speculative' price, you should compare it with what gamestop originally claimed rockband's full kit would cost $300.

So that would actually mean that the guitar hero bundle is $110 cheaper! Circular logic, right? Well that's about how much sense comparisons like this makes.