GH2 songs on Marketplace

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Wired has a better price comparison:

By comparison, the game itself, which includes a hardware controller and 70 songs, costs $90.  If they were priced the same as the add-on bundle songs, the included songs would cost about $146 dollars -- $56 more than the whole game does.

 

[TheMissingLink]

LOL

[disarm]

as much as i've been looking forward to the downloadable songs, i'm in no hurry to get them at the current price.  it's ridiculous that they've set a price that would result in all the original GH1 songs for the 360 costing twice as much as the entire original game.  add in the fact that they're in predetermined packs that look to include one good song and two others most people want care about, and there's no way i'm jumping to make the purchase.  GH2 has more than enough content to keep me busy right now, so i'll be waiting to see if they realize the error of their ways...

[Kobra]

Now I'm glad I held back the temptation to trade in my PS2 version for the 360.  I'm perfectly happy with I & II, 80s edition should be reasonably priced, and I just might consider the PS2 version of GHIII when it comes out.

Of course, all this willpower will vanish if they release a David Bowie pack on Live.

My thoughts exactly..  I plan on sticking with the PS2 versions as long as possible, those prices are a ripoff.  BTW where is the 80's edition? I have heard NOTHING about it since the original announcement.

Looks like the PS2 GH's will be mainstay around here until MS gets their live pricing in line.

[unbreakable]

That's kind of always been my concern regarding on-line distribution.

Since their costs are so low, they end up having zero incentive to lower prices.  Ever.

With B&M, they are motivated by the need to clear shelves and get rid of existing inventory.  When you have no shelves and no inventory... you charge what you charge, and the customer either buys it or doesn't buy it.

I've been watching Steam as my measurement case, and prices don't seem to fall too often on Steam.  HL2 is still the same price as it was on day one, but you could say the value-add is that the amount of content in the higher end packages keeps increasing.

Is this a good test case, since Steam doesn't have much competition yet?  Maybe, maybe not.  It sounds like Microsoft is going to start heading in that direction on the PC with their Live service, however, so maybe the added competition will drive down prices.  I doubt it, but it seems like a hard thing to speculate on.

[Cleric7]

Blatant ripoff.

[denoginizer]

BTW where is the 80's edition? I have heard NOTHING about it since the original announcement.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/26500/Guitar-Hero-III-set-for-autumn

[Travis]

Awful deal.  I can't believe some extra tracks would cost so much considering how much they pumped the Live content.

Travis

[Kevin Grey]

If they see a bazillion sales for GH2 and very few song downloads from the Marketplace then Microsoft will get the message that these songs are too expensive.  The best way to make a statement is not to buy them.

These prices are set by the publisher (and influenced, certainly, by the people who license the music for various uses), not by Microsoft.  Gears of War is a different issue as it's published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Are you sure?  Everything I've read indicates that MS has some say in all content pricing, at least to the degree that they can mandate what's free and what isn't and otherwise make "recommendations" on what to charge for each piece of content.  IIRC, Marble Blast Ultra was prohibited from distributing add'l content for free and they aren't published by MGS. 

[Thin_J]

I already bought one pack and I may yet buy one more.

*shrug*

[Calvin]

I already bought one pack and I may yet buy one more.

*shrug*

But we already know you consider your income to not be something that keeps you alive, rather something that feeds your gaming's life 

[DamageInc]

If they see a bazillion sales for GH2 and very few song downloads from the Marketplace then Microsoft will get the message that these songs are too expensive.  The best way to make a statement is not to buy them.

These prices are set by the publisher (and influenced, certainly, by the people who license the music for various uses), not by Microsoft.  Gears of War is a different issue as it's published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Are you sure?  Everything I've read indicates that MS has some say in all content pricing, at least to the degree that they can mandate what's free and what isn't and otherwise make "recommendations" on what to charge for each piece of content.  IIRC, Marble Blast Ultra was prohibited from distributing add'l content for free and they aren't published by MGS. 

Exactly. It is widely known that MS has "control" over what prices can be set at. Basically, MS has to approve the price point or it won't put it up.
I am sure there is revenue sharing in the mix as well, but I haven't seen any specifics. This may be why people feel things are over priced.

[Kobra]

BTW where is the 80's edition? I have heard NOTHING about it since the original announcement.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/26500/Guitar-Hero-III-set-for-autumn

Thats GH3, not the 80's edition that was promised for spring.

[denoginizer]

BTW where is the 80's edition? I have heard NOTHING about it since the original announcement.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/26500/Guitar-Hero-III-set-for-autumn

Thats GH3, not the 80's edition that was promised for spring.

I thought they were one in the same.

No?

[Pyperkub]

I had hoped for 400 points for a 5-song set (kind of like the sets on easy), with the 5th effectively an encore that had to be unlocked by passing the others, and possibly partially secret (teh intarweb would tell you, if you looked for it).  At this rate, I'll likely wait, as it seems (and GH 1 people may need to chime in here) as if they are trying to fob off songs in bundles with 1 or maybe 2 good songs at most.

[Knightshade Dragon]

BTW where is the 80's edition? I have heard NOTHING about it since the original announcement.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/26500/Guitar-Hero-III-set-for-autumn

Thats GH3, not the 80's edition that was promised for spring.

I thought they were one in the same.

No?

Nope!  Different product.

[wonderpug]

And it just hit me, if they do indeed offer 80s edition for download on Live, they're going to have egg on their face no matter how they price it.  If they match the PS2 price, their other DLC songs look overpriced.  If they keep their current pricing plan, they give everyone an even more obvious PS2 vs. Live pricing comparison that shows DLC to be overpriced.

[Farscry]

Hey, nice catch there, Wonderpug!

[Calvin]

And it just hit me, if they do indeed offer 80s edition for download on Live, they're going to have egg on their face no matter how they price it.  If they match the PS2 price, their other DLC songs look overpriced.  If they keep their current pricing plan, they give everyone an even more obvious PS2 vs. Live pricing comparison that shows DLC to be overpriced.

Unless they issue a public "our bad, we screwed up" I am not sure they can introduce them at a lower price point now without making themselves either look bad or screwing with their 360 vs PS2 sales. Bad position they put themselves in.

[IkeVandergraaf]

Nah, they can always decide to lower prices.

[Calvin]

Nah, they can always decide to lower prices.

Well of course they can Ike, but they need to do it now rather than lowering them when the 80s content is released else piss of people that blew 90$ on this old content vs less for NEW content. Its not just whether the market will support the price change, its how much do you want to piss off the market for downloadables.

[Gratch]

My guess is that the prices for the GH1 DLC will stay the same until either GHIII or the 80's version (if they're different things) are released.  Then we'll see them drop back to something more in line with the PS2 version, while the new stuff sticks to the current bundlefuck pricing plan.

It'll be interesting to see if they release GH3 on disc at all for the 360.  Would look pretty silly to have the disc version for $50 while they continue to try and gouge those who choose to get them through XBL.  Or have the 360 disc version at $100 sitting next to the PS2 version at $50.  Messy situation they've put themselves in.

Oh, and I decided I need to incorporate "bundlefuck" into my vocabulary on a more regular basis.  What a great word.

[Azhag]

I figured I'd buy one pack to get my thoughts on it.  I must say, the cover of Stellar was pretty bad, so I was annoyed I spent that much on a pack when my favorite song from it was done poorly. I assumed for their first downloadable content it would all be well done. For now I think I can get plenty of fun from the content in the game unless something really intriguing comes along.

[Gratch]

MS gives the middle finger to the customer...er...defends their pricing model.

"It's not like you go to iTunes, and you're buying the same thing," he said. "There's testing that's involved, and there's also licensing involved. There's a lot of elements involved. When there's music involved, that brings up a lot of licensing issues. ... It's roughly about $2 a song that you can play over and over. You can't get interactivity with a song on iTunes, and I don't want to defend it: it is what it is." He then added, "We worked with RedOctane to work on prices that make sense, and they clearly can't sell it at a loss. They have to pay the rights licensing."

Bull.  Shit.  Why did you only charge $50 for GH 1 & 2 on PS2 then?  You really expect us to believe that testing these new songs - the songs that had already been created and are done on existing software - somehow doubled their cost?  Yeah right.

Just come out and say the truth:  "We're a bunch of greedy bastards, so tough shit for you.".   

[ATB]

It'll be interesting to see if they release GH3 on disc at all for the 360. 

Well, there are a ton of people who don't have live.  So they'd lose those sales if they didn't put it out on disk.

[Roguetad]

MS gives the middle finger to the customer...er...defends their pricing model.

"Bunch of PR spin and "it is what it is."

Bull.  Shit.  Why did you only charge $50 for GH 1 & 2 on PS2 then?  You really expect us to believe that testing these new songs - the songs that had already been created and are done on existing software - somehow doubled their cost?  Yeah right.

Just come out and say the truth:  "We're a bunch of greedy bastards, so tough shit for you.".   

What exactly does the widely popular expression it is what it is actually mean?  I'm not really sure, and I don't think a lot of people that use it really know.  In the context I hear or read it most often it seems to imply, "that's the way it's gonna be, you're not changing it, so suck it up and deal with it."  I think there's an alternative meaning for the expression too. "I don't really have a f*ng clue about <insert subject>, so it is what it is."  It's almost like the Seinfeld yada yada expression.  We're trying to really gouge our customers while the game is still hot, so yada yada, it is what it is.   

[denoginizer]

It is what it is. 

Until it isn't. 

Then it's not.

[coopasonic]

MS gives the middle finger to the customer...er...defends their pricing model.

"Bunch of PR spin and "it is what it is."

Bull.  Shit.  Why did you only charge $50 for GH 1 & 2 on PS2 then?  You really expect us to believe that testing these new songs - the songs that had already been created and are done on existing software - somehow doubled their cost?  Yeah right.

Just come out and say the truth:  "We're a bunch of greedy bastards, so tough shit for you.".   

What exactly does the widely popular expression it is what it is actually mean?  I'm not really sure, and I don't think a lot of people that use it really know.  In the context I hear or read it most often it seems to imply, "that's the way it's gonna be, you're not changing it, so suck it up and deal with it."  I think there's an alternative meaning for the expression too. "I don't really have a f*ng clue about <insert subject>, so it is what it is."  It's almost like the Seinfeld yada yada expression.  We're trying to really gouge our customers while the game is still hot, so yada yada, it is what it is.   

Well ya see, Transformers are more than meet the eye. "It is what it is" describes all the stuff that is not Transformers.

[ATB]

Well ya see, Transformers are more than meet the eye. "It is what it is" describes all the stuff that is not Transformers.

Close the thread. He wins.

[Gratch]

It'll be interesting to see if they release GH3 on disc at all for the 360. 

Well, there are a ton of people who don't have live.  So they'd lose those sales if they didn't put it out on disk.

Heh, I'd forgotten about that.   It'll be very interesting to see what they do. 

[fyedaddy]

I understand I'll be missing out, and I really wanted GH1 songs (or new releases too for that matter) on my 360, but I simply refuse to buy them unless they lower the cost or increase the size of the bundles. I stood my ground with the GRAW DLC and I will do it here. GH will hurt much, much more than GRAW but I can't let that change my stance on the cost.

[Harkonis]

Unfortunatley your stance didn't change theirs on GRAW, now they are charging the same for R6 Stance harder!

[Farscry]

Unfortunatley your stance didn't change theirs on GRAW, now they are charging the same for R6 Stance harder!

Unfortunately, people will just blindly buy this stuff. "Hey, only $15 for six new maps? Awesome!" "Only 500 points for a 3-song pack? What a great deal!"

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Let's assume that Red Octane's options were between charging $2 a song vs. $1 a song. If they charge $2 a song, as long as they get more than half the purchases they would at the lower price point, they come out on top. Do any of us really think that 2 times as many people would buy the songs if they were cheaper? I certainly don't. We people complaining about the higher price are, I would guess, the vocal minority.

[Farscry]

That's because most people are too lazy/careless to do the math and figure out what 500mspoints is worth, and then extrapolate what it'll cost them to pick up all the GH1 songs in the long run.

That's the real reason we're only getting a couple small packs at a time. That's why right now the debate is "oh come on, $6 for three songs isn't that bad, really" instead of "OH HOLY SHIT, $90 to buy all the songs from GH1 on Live?!"

[The Grue]

Anyone know if the new (old)  songs at from DLC at least allow you to play coop in them?

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Anyone know if the new (old)  songs at from DLC at least allow you to play coop in them?

They do.

[The Grue]

Anyone know if the new (old)  songs at from DLC at least allow you to play coop in them?

They do.

That was something I just realized might justify paying more for them now than in the past.  I still think it is too high, but not by as much.

[Farscry]

Anyone know if the new (old)  songs at from DLC at least allow you to play coop in them?

They do.

That was something I just realized might justify paying more for them now than in the past.  I still think it is too high, but not by as much.

See? The tactic works. Think of it this way: does the addition of co-op to the songs make Guitar Hero 1 worth ~$90 instead of ~$50?

[The Grue]

That was something I just realized might justify paying more for them now than in the past.  I still think it is too high, but not by as much.

See? The tactic works. Think of it this way: does the addition of co-op to the songs make Guitar Hero 1 worth ~$90 instead of ~$50?
[/quote]

ANd for me it doesn't, but I will probably eventually break down and buy them anyway.  Being out of the country away from my XBox, it is easy to resist...for now.