Rock Band to be Xbox exclusive in Europe – PS3, Wii owners wait
At last, Rock Band is heading for Europe, and before the end of May too. Unfortunately, Harmonix has decided to screw PS2, PS3 and Wii owners royally by making them wait a few months longer to give the Xbox 360 a timed exclusive.
I’ve been waiting for this game for ages now, having played all of the Guitar Hero games to death. Unfortunately, Europe is getting rather a shocking deal with the Rock Band franchise because of two ludicrous decisions by game developers Harmonix, and publisher EA.
Firstly, the May 23rd release date for Europe only applies to the Xbox 360, with the game being a timed exclusive for the console. PS2, PS3, and Wii owners have to make do with a rough release date of Summer 2008 instead.
Then, as usual with games, Europe gets hard done by when it comes to pricing. Rock Band, which retails at $169 for the game, a guitar, a microphone and drums, is set to cost £180 or the equivalent in Euros across Europe. In other words, double the cost!
Harmonix has tried to defend both of these decisions. Firstly the Xbox 360 exclusivity. In an interview with Videogamer, Rob Kay, director of design at the company said:
“We want to say that while we’ve got this MS period of exclusivity on their platform just for a little while, when the PS3 version comes out it’s identical. You’re going to have exactly the same experience with all the downloadable content. The whole Rock Band experience is there and it’s fully fleshed and fully blown.”
“We love all the platforms. This is not us having a beef with any platform, we just want to get the Rock Band experience out there so people can enjoy it. It’s coming.”
As for the absolutely preposterous price difference between the US and Europe, Kay said, in the same interview:
“There’s no existing model to compare Rock Band to with other games. It’s not like other games where you pay your £50 and you get your disc and that’s all you get. So what we’ve tried to do is put a pricing structure in place where people can chose how much they want to invest in the game.”
“It is more expensive, when you just straight to straight convert the prices you see on the website for the US version but there’s a myriad of these little differences that all add up. One thing is VAT, which is included in all the UK prices, 17.5%. There’s no tax included in the US price because tax is different per state. There’s a bunch of little reasons that add up to the price difference. We’re not trying to screw people.”
This whole situation stinks, and I can’t understand why Harmonix seems to be trying to ruin the relationship it has built up with loyal European gamers.
The Xbox 360 exclusivity deal is bad enough, but the price differential is just a spiteful kick in the nuts. Part of me now wants to avoid the game, and call for others to avoid it too, but unfortunately I’m too hooked on the concept to do so.
Harmonix should beware however that my loyalty is not guaranteed forever, and until it starts treating its customer base in Europe fairly, there’ll be a lot of people who aren’t happy.
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13 Responses to “Rock Band to be Xbox exclusive in Europe – PS3, Wii owners wait”
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April 10th, 2008
So Dave has a PS3 only? I guess that explains your biased posts.
See that’s what differs you from Triston and Johnathan. They leave their bias aside in their posts, and are much better authors than you.
April 10th, 2008
Did I say I owned a PS3? I just think the decisions over release and pricing are disgusting, and it has dampened my excitement for the game.
Triston and Jonathan leave their bias aside? Are you reading the same site as me?
They may be better writers than me though, that I can accept.
April 10th, 2008
Blam Microsoft for that. But on the flip side 360 owners will be happy. Too bad for the compitition you’ll just have to wait. But I do agree that europe gets shafted on the price difference.
April 10th, 2008
sucks for the eu guys. this game is really fun. it’s odd tho, i could have SWORE the fanboys said the EU was “sony country”…
April 10th, 2008
if you want to play an instrument, play an instrument, dont play it on a games console, its just simple logic. Sure its easier to play it on a console, but how pointless…seriously.
April 10th, 2008
jd – not fair. as a 25 year guitarist, i used to think the same thing about guitar hero. until i played it, realized it’s NOTHING like playing a real guitar and just enjoyed the game for what it was… DDR on a guitar…. i love flying games. doesn’t mean i want to spend $50k to get my pilot’s license.
April 10th, 2008
Kevin,
Sales-wise, the PS3 is doing better than the 360 in Europe. This has nothing to do with Rock Band’s timed exclusivity. Microsoft paid Harmonix to give them a small window of exclusivity, in order to boost European interest in the 360. This, sadly, may have backfired on them, since the ridiculous price tag will likely result in (at best) lukewarm sales. Once the price drops, sales will spike, but by then the game will be available on competing consoles.
Of course, there is still a chance that this could be a major boost for the 360. Europeans may be more inclined to drop hundreds on one game than Americans, since they’re not currently going through an economic recession.
Rock on, and keep gaming alive.
-Arvis
April 10th, 2008
well thats my point exactly, ironically i fly a bit and im taking my pilot lisence soon. i play games that take me away and let me do things i usually dont/cant do. Thats why i bought gta, resistance, graw:2 etc. so why pay £135 for rock band or whatever is coming out when u can get lessons or a real guitar?
April 10th, 2008
I know people who think just like JD and when they try it there whole opinion changes right away.
April 10th, 2008
Theres such thing as individual differences CDA not everyone will think that way. Im one of those people. i wont try it,i’d rather just pick up a real guitar and attempt to play.
April 10th, 2008
musicians play guitars, but gamers, game.
April 10th, 2008
arvis – north america is the biggest market for a reason. we buy more games, thus are willing to pay more. proven. don’t try to judge sales before they happen. the 360 has done nothing but suprise in the game sales department, especially against a competitor as big as sony.
April 11th, 2008
Good point, but that’s not really what I’m talking about, Kevin. Sales of the 360 in European territories is fine. I am just asserting that this small window of Rock Band exclusivity will be hampered by the insane price tag, and ultimately won’t push many consoles for Microsoft. Or anybody else, for that matter.
You seem to actually agree, since you state that it’s the NA territories that drop the most revenue on games, which I believe is correct. So the fact that a smaller market is being charged over twice as much for the same product will, I believe, not go over well.
- Arvis