First wave of Guitar Hero II songs rock Marketplace
by David Dreger 
{ Apr 11th 2007 at 10:00AM }
3 sets of 3 songs from the original Guitar Hero have landed on Xbox Live Marketplace for GHII. Track Pack 1 has Ozzy's "Bark at the Moon", "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead, and The Exies' "Hey You". Pack numero dos is rockin' "Killer Queen" by Queen, The Donnas' "Take it Off", and "Frankenstein" by The Edward Winter Group. Finally, the third Pack gives you "Higher Ground" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus' "Stellar", and "Infected" by Bad Religion.
Note that all of these songs are covers and not master tracks, like they were before. Each pack weighs in a 500 MS points. That means, at this price point, to get all 47 of the original Guitar Hero tracks, it would cost you roughly 7,850 MS Points or $98.09 USD. So, will you be picking up any of these packs, if so, which one?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ANt @ Apr 11th 2007 10:05AM
They are criminals....500 points!!
Are they f--king kidding?? If anyone buys any of these your a f--king idiot in plain English....
rpc @ Apr 11th 2007 10:06AM
No one should buy these packs at that price. Whoever decided the pricing structure on this is either greedy, idiotic or both. I make plenty of purchases on XBL and have very much enjoyed GH2, but this is just too extreme.
PeterBeck @ Apr 11th 2007 10:11AM
Bleh. 500 for five songs would have been a more reasonable price.
Of course it will still sell. Horse Armor sold, MS and Bethesda have noted this, so there are a number of people out there who just don't give a damn what they pay.
Me, I'm holding out for original content.
dunnypop @ Apr 11th 2007 10:12AM
I really wanted these packs, but $2 a song is crazy! I might as well just buy a used ps2 and a used guitar hero 1 game /w controller, and it will probably come out to $100.
Nate @ Apr 11th 2007 10:36AM
ive been deeply disappointed by red octanes pricing scheme.
Chappy @ Apr 11th 2007 10:18AM
I will never purchase additional tracks at that price.
Luke Valentine @ Apr 11th 2007 10:22AM
500 points! for 3 songs!! suddenly, 2400 for a 30+ hour expansion isnt seeming all that steep...
patrickc @ Apr 11th 2007 10:23AM
500 MS pts.
What Horse S**T. I played both GH 1 and 2 on the PS2. Both are great games with great songs, but in no way are either worth this kind of rape. I say F**K YOU to both Micro$oft and RedOctane for this robbery.
Joshua @ Apr 11th 2007 10:26AM
I'm starting to wonder how much of this is really the developers fault. Pricing seems too high almost straight across the board for most developers.
Where did 'microtransactions' go? You know, paying pennies to gain content. I recall reading things in almost that exact working. Pennies for content. Last I checked I have yet to really see that.
Scott @ Apr 11th 2007 10:29AM
+1 to ignoring DLC until the prices are reasonable.
CJ @ Apr 11th 2007 10:31AM
I agree w/ the first poster. 500 points is way over priced. And all 47 songs for nearly $100?!?! Youve got to be kidding me. So, you buy a game for 60 bux now a days, and to fully enjoy it get the full potential of it, you need to continuously empty your wallet.
From stupid Gamer Pics/Themes, to cheesy (but sometimes fun) Arcade games, to newer maps (like GoW which the creating company Epic wanted to be free) to this none sense w/ guitar hero. Companies like MS continue to 'rape' its loyal costumers.
I know there will be stupid people (or people with plenty of money to throw away) that will purchase all this, but I hope the majority do not. Gradually and strongly send a message that we are not all as dumb as they think we are.The greed in this country is enough to make you sick.
The entertainment value of a game that costs 60 bux and then 50 a year to play online (not including price of the internet) should last much longer without having to purchase extra or new content.
DO NOT PAY FOR THIS CRAP. THE MORE WHO DONT GIVE IN THE BIGGER THE MESSAGE THAT IS SENT. REFUSE TO GET MILKED FOR EVERY DAMN DIME AND NICKEL!
turkatron64 @ Apr 11th 2007 10:32AM
That is freaking insane! I guess holding onto the PS2 version was definately a good idea. 500 points for 3 songs is possibly the stupidest thing to happen to Market Place as of yet.
beardsly43 @ Apr 11th 2007 10:35AM
That price is f'ing STUPID.
Alexander @ Apr 11th 2007 10:42AM
I could kind of understand if this was original content, but all these saongs ARE FROM GH1 SO STOP RIPPING US OFF YOU BUNCH OF DAMN GREEDY PIRATES.wHAT THE HELL, WE SHOULD JUST CHANGE THE NAME OF THE CBLM to Exploit The Consumer!
mstreb @ Apr 11th 2007 10:39AM
This is insane. I love Guitar Hero, I never played the first one so I was eager so spend $.99 (The same price Microsoft charges per song on URGE) or even $1.20 per song. But at just about $2.00 per song it becomes way too expensive to justify the purchase. Vote with your wallet, and your keyboard. Don't buy the songs and send Microsoft a (friendly) email letting them know you won't purchase their overpriced songs.
Tony Bowman @ Apr 11th 2007 10:39AM
i got the free 1600 points card at Circuit City when i got my copy of GHII, but i'm still wavering on getting these packs right away. still, chances are that the price will either hold as is for each pack, or that once the outcry becomes large enough, MS will drop the price a little and refund to some extent those that paid the original price.
in that vein, i'll probably pick them up after work. heh.
Adam - Hear me roar @ Apr 11th 2007 10:39AM
I remember watching a video interview with one of the developers and he was saying that they wanted the songs to be no more than 1 dollar each. I don't know where that went, but this is pretty crappy. I might buy them anyway since I did get 1600 free points from Circuit City when I bought the game, but I haven't decided yet. I like to think that if I hold out buying them that it will "send a message" to MS and Co. but realistically I know it won't.
CJ @ Apr 11th 2007 10:45AM
I forgot to mention this -
Why the hell werent these songs and more already put into the game anyways?! They shouldve put as many songs into the game as they could fit. But of course we all know they did it on purpose so they could make more money.
You should be able to chose the songs individually as well for a buck or less. End of story
tony @ Apr 11th 2007 11:00AM
fuckin nuts!you pay almost a $100 for the game then pay another $100 for more osngs.wtf are they thinking?no way in hell id pay 500 points for 3 songs.id rather download more tv shows for 160 points each than buy 3 songs for 500 points.they can kiss my ass
Tony Bowman @ Apr 11th 2007 10:45AM
then again, everyone on the planet remotely interested in GHII had a preconceived notion of what the value and cost of a downloadable track should be, which had nothing to do with market reality and MS pricing policies, so naturally, people are pissed. they're pissed because of an unsubstantiated preconception.
Thunder3000 @ Apr 11th 2007 10:55AM
They've really taken the "micro" out of microtransactions.
Normally I don't find myself personally insulted by a price. But this feels a bit like when I was in Mexico and I'd inquire about the price of something and they'd say "for you senor, only 1000 pesos" In other words, "you look like a sucker who would pay 3 times what it's worth"
hendextall @ Apr 11th 2007 10:59AM
3 Words: Frets on Fire.
I already have all of the GHI songs in Frets on Fire, and now I have a guitar to play them with.
It's too bad though, I really was going to buy the songs, but these prices are just ridiculous.
brandon @ Apr 11th 2007 11:07AM
well I did get the free 1600 points from circuit city but I don't think I am going to waste my money, this is outlandish! *always wanted to use that word* Old content should be cheaper not more expensive... I think that no one should buy them, and hopefully prompt some lower prices, but I bet hundreds of thousands will download the songs....
......hopelessly confused......
hawk @ Apr 11th 2007 11:08AM
I recall them saying that the price would be equivalent to what you would pay for a single in a store. So that's probably about $2 a song right? You certainly can't expect to pay $1 per song. If the songs are covers and not master tracks like they were in the first game then they had to lay down tracks for all the songs. Plus you can expect to pay a premium for the songs since you can only get it from them. It's not like the rest of the music industry which has competition. Microsoft has to make their cut from the packs which is probably $.50 - $1.
In the end not everything in life is free and unlike Burger King you can't have it your way.
ZenGaijin @ Apr 11th 2007 11:11AM
Seeing as I can get the entire game for 20 dollars. This is completely insane.
Won't buy buying this.
VOS @ Apr 11th 2007 11:14AM
And to add fuel to the fire, they are covers!!! WTF!
Jonroach13 @ Apr 11th 2007 11:17AM
If they bring out "Horse Armor" song..I AM FRICKIN IN!!!
Kiss. My. Ass. MS
That being said... 360>PS3...STILL!!
ANt @ Apr 11th 2007 11:15AM
The worse part is that all of these songs are on the disc already, you're paying 500 F-ING points to buy an encryption key that unlocks them off the disc!!
I know it won't happen, but wouldn't it be great if everyone said FUCK YOU and returned the game....
MICRO-F@#KED-UP-THE-POOPER-TRANSACTIONS!!!
Techno-Kid @ Apr 11th 2007 11:29AM
@ANt
"you're paying 500 F-ING points to buy an encryption key that unlocks them off the disc!!"
Proof?
murph @ Apr 11th 2007 11:50AM
FYI: none of these tracks were master tracks in GH1 either. they were covers.
i am VERY disappointed in the pricing, however i bought them anyways with a free MS card i had. i hope they listen to some of the critism and restructure the pricing with the next DLC.
P.S. the gamerpics are pretty lame too. black and white sketches, you can barely tell who they are supposed to be. the dashboard theme isn't too bad.
cal @ Apr 11th 2007 11:30AM
Never.
Hey Apples @ Apr 11th 2007 11:32AM
There's no "micro" in these micro transactions.
murph @ Apr 11th 2007 11:55AM
these songs are NOT on the disc. the download is bigger than the 1K "key" we've become used to.
Scott @ Apr 11th 2007 11:57AM
http://www.petitiononline.com/GHIIDLC/petition.html
This was just posted in the GH2 forums...
Randy @ Apr 11th 2007 12:10PM
I totally agree. Freaking outrageous pricing. I love the game and have been playing daily since release. I was excited about older tracks till now. No way in hell I'll pay 500pts for 3 songs and I make decent money. Stand firm men! Graw 1 maps heard our cries and lowered price and was free eventually.
Stranger @ Apr 11th 2007 1:06PM
Hey uh- Microsoft? Will you PLEASE get that pole out of my ass?
It was kinda funny the first time. You remember? The horse armor? Back then it was cute- like a newborn baby messing itself. We knew you couldn't really help it back then, but now you're just shitting on us on purpose. Grow up.
Shama Edward Banks Jr. @ Apr 11th 2007 1:18PM
The whole idea of a marketplace is a scam. How were we ever fooled into believing this would benefit us? I am begining to dislike M$ more and more each day. gaming has gone to hell. Soon we will have to pay 200 ms points just to turn on the damn console.
And you can forget about ever modding the 360. As long as they have everyone hooked up to their system, they can update your console at any time without your consent.
Chris @ Apr 11th 2007 1:44PM
I don't know how helpful this may be, but:
http://petitionspot.com/petitions/gh2pricing/
if anyone wants to help, sign it
David Hall @ Apr 11th 2007 1:44PM
So lets break this down. You bought Guitar Hero 1 without guitar for 50 dollars. There are 47 total songs on the disc to be unlocked. 50 divided by 47 is .94 cents a song. In that number you also have distribution, packaging, product, and support for the game for the first 30 initial days. Lets do the Microsoft breakdown: no packaging, no shipping, we pay the broadband fees with the live membership. They sell 3 songs for 500 ms points or 6.25. So 6.25 divided by 3 is $2.08 cents a song.
Wow....I love Microsoft math. I don't think pricing was totally the creation of the publisher as we are finding from the Gears of War Map SNAFU. Insert Frog in pot Metaphor.
Shockgamer @ Apr 11th 2007 1:58PM
This would be less annoying if I could choose the individual songs I liked, although they'd probably make you pay more per song anyway..
While this should be only the beginning of the GH 1 tracks, I am a little concerned that none of the bonus tracks are around. I'd be disappointed to not be able to play some Graveyard BBQ, All of This, Even Rats, Guitar Hero and Sail Your Ship By.
KR @ Apr 11th 2007 1:55PM
Don't support this shit. If you buy this, you have only yourself to blame when they continue to gouge the hell out of people.
Jim Kane @ Apr 11th 2007 3:50PM
I gots several beefs with the new song packs:
1) The pricing was (I swear I read this somewhere) said to be "comparable to other downloadable content." I interpreted that to mean downloadable MUSIC, which as everyone knows is $0.99 by Royal Decree. Now I have seen one of their spokesfolks say that pricing would be comparable to a CD single -- do those even exist anymore? I bought cassettes back in the day, but I can't remember the last time I bought a CD single in a store.
2) The songs in the first wave are... riiiiiiight. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see anything to get all that excited about.
3) Maybe they didn't notice, but another camp hit the marketplace today. For less than the price of 6 of their songs, you can get an entire game with 10 new(ish) songs. I know, it's apples to oranges, but they're both sweet and fruity so close enough for me.
Tim @ Apr 11th 2007 2:06PM
David Hall- Your math is wrong. Close though.
The songs cost too much. Frets on Fire.
fragglefart @ Apr 11th 2007 2:06PM
I am not paying that price.
No way.
Lower the cost; I'll happily buy them all.
I was so looking forward to getting the original GH songs, but for this price? No thank you.
notguiltystyle @ Apr 11th 2007 2:11PM
fu%cki*g hell, In the UK that works out to 4.50 pounds per song. 50 song = 200 wopping pounds!!!! are they fu"^%&^%g crazy. you can buy the game with controller (50 song) for 60 pounds!!!
I really hope that no one gives these money grabers a penny! (well i certainly wont)
Stranger @ Apr 11th 2007 2:21PM
Regarding microtransactions and DLC:
When will MS stop using their loyal consumer base as economic guinea pigs?
You can only rape a fanboy once, or maybe it's ten times... I forget. I think there's a pretty clear idea of what pricepoint/content value ratio is acceptable by now MS. Stop trying to make every penny you can and worry more about giving the consumer what they want for what they want to pay.
Believe it or not, you'll make more in the long run and expand your consumer base by offering content that is priced appropriately. This continued bilking of your core userbase is only gonna make Sony look less and less out of touch with the market by comparison, and limit the future viability of the marketplace.
You've got the best tool in the business for combating the used game market in the xbl marketplace- start using it as something other than a cash cow and it'll pay off in dividends over the long term.
cooleo_no1 @ Apr 11th 2007 2:35PM
It's the Edgar Winter Group, not Edward. Just thought I'd be anal.
Tj @ Apr 11th 2007 2:49PM
Petition to microsoft about unfair pricing of this content:
http://www.petitiononline.com/GHIIDLC/petition.html
Please get as many people you know to sign this petition
Sengoku @ Apr 11th 2007 3:10PM
One thing you guys should know is this - they added co-op tracks (like the bass line) to these GH1 songs. So it's not just downloads of the PS2 songs; there is additional stuff added to each song. This tempers the price slightly.
Senor @ Apr 11th 2007 3:42PM
http://www.petitiononline.com/GHIIDLC/petition.html
a million sigs might stopthebuttrape. seriosuly MS, stop gaying up my gaming life. and im tired of hearing $50 a year gold live goes to maintenance fees and bandwith. if its so damn pricey why doesnt PS, PC, and Wii charge? $50/year times 6million+ is a lot of f***in money. hook it up fools.