They didn't listen. New GH II tracks still 500 points
by Dustin Burg 
{ Jul 11th 2007 at 12:45PM }
In a slap to their fans' faces, Activision released a new Guitar Hero II music pack to the Marketplace and it's still overpriced. Up for download is the Guitar Hero Track Pack 4 featuring three songs including "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, and "You've Got Another Thing Coming" by Judas Priest for the ouch that hurts price of 500 Microsoft points.We really thought Harmonix and Activision were taking a while to release new content, because they were actively negotiated and reworking their pricing strategy seeing that fans have been very vocal about the pricing of the last three DLC offerings. But our extended wait was for no gain, because the pricing hasn't changed. Try and keep your anger civil fanboys ... or at least pointed towards the guilty parties.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gregg Landess @ Jul 11th 2007 12:51PM
more overpriced garbage
still PURE BS
refinedsugar @ Jul 11th 2007 12:52PM
I wanna believe the point of contention is licensing costs / agreements and not the rampant "those greedy bastards at [insert company name here]" tripe making the rounds.
cKevinb1978 @ Jul 11th 2007 12:52PM
This is a shame. GHII is a great game and could be ruling the marketplace with a better DLC structure. I hope the guys over with Rock Band are paying attention.
The Wicker Man @ Jul 11th 2007 12:54PM
Screw these corporate jackoffs. These artist gain exposure and more sales from this game. This is the end of GH for me. Rock Band it is. What happened "to the most downloads on live"?
They falsely advertised this game and should be held accountable. Their press statement is still on their stite i believe. I bought this version because they told the public they were going to have a steady stream of downloads new and old. They said they were also working on free songs from smaller acts, but....
azz0r @ Jul 11th 2007 2:15PM
The Wicker Man: You do know Rock Band and Guitar hero are under the same umbrella right? MTV now owns the rights to both.
murph @ Jul 11th 2007 1:03PM
pass.
the only reason i bought the last 3 packs was because i had some free MS points. not this time Activision. try listening to your customers once in a while.
Iced_Eagle @ Jul 11th 2007 1:01PM
Oh come on you have to be joking...
Activision, pay attention! We know you read these sites and how much we disliked the pricing! Why keep it the same?!
xenocidic @ Jul 11th 2007 1:02PM
I would be willing to wager the that these new songs are priced the same as the last ones is because many people bought the last ones , even at the high prices.
If people stop paying these prices, then you will see a drop.
The Wicker Man @ Jul 11th 2007 1:03PM
No I was not aware of that info. Thank you for the correction and update. How are the 2 different publishers doing this? Just curious.
dunnypop @ Jul 11th 2007 1:03PM
basically we're pushed into a corner.
So far, the song packs are ridiculously priced.Yes I can afford it, but why would I want to get ripped off?
Atleast make the content worth it, like addition customes, arenas, guitars, achievements.... Then I'll be glad to pay 500 points for 3 songs.
For new songs, I'll just hook up my guitar to Frets of Fire!
Les Doodis @ Jul 11th 2007 1:06PM
Honestly, they probably sold so many of the first three packs at this price that they found no reason to drop the price, despite all the complaints.
Frank @ Jul 11th 2007 1:07PM
@ 5. Incorrect
MTV and EA work with Harmonix now on Rock Band.
Activision and Red Octane own the Guitar Hero brand now.
MTV in the past had sponsored Guitar Hero I and II events. That is the extent of any relationship Guitar Hero has with MTV.
ANt @ Jul 11th 2007 1:07PM
F-ck Em in plain English!!!
Grievy @ Jul 11th 2007 1:08PM
Like dunnypop. I can afford this and would love to buy it but I am not paying that much when there is such a brilliant collection of user created songs for Frets On Fire.
Jared @ Jul 11th 2007 1:18PM
Which means there's more GH downloadable content on live that I want, but refuse to be overcharged for. As such, I won't be buying it.
If it's licensing costs, let Activision come out and say so.
Until then, it's what I got with the game on my 360, and firing up the PS2 for GH1.
sicklesdawg @ Jul 11th 2007 1:24PM
hey at least u guys have the halo3 xbox.... :/
Tarl @ Jul 11th 2007 1:25PM
Well, that blows monkey chunks.
ShaggyB @ Jul 11th 2007 1:27PM
You know, i still believe they have a huge false advertising issue to deal with... "the most downloadable content Eva!!" lol please, Oblivion has more than 4 dls and one of theres gives you a pc game expansion (ie 30 hours more stuff to do).
DjDATZ @ Jul 11th 2007 1:26PM
LOL...the online petition already has close to 10000 signatures...thats alot...you'd expect them to pay attn...
Tony Bowman @ Jul 11th 2007 1:38PM
i've got no problem with the price of these song packs. it's the equivalent of one episode of a show on the video marketplace. hell it's even a little cheaper than that.
you get about 22 to 25 minutes of entertainment out of your standard "half-hour" show." for 160 points.
you get the same amount of entertainment if not more in multiplayer and leaderboards out of one song in the song pack, which costs about 133 points per song, roughly.
sounds like a pretty good bargain to me.
fragglefart @ Jul 11th 2007 1:39PM
Too much for me, bought one pack I really wanted when heavily drunk, but I'm not buying any more, not at this price.
Mr metoo @ Jul 11th 2007 4:23PM
I have no problem with the price point- but I really want "Texas Flood", "Crossroad", and "Spanish Castle Magic".
polly @ Jul 11th 2007 1:53PM
That song pack is much better than the previous ones, but yeah, you guys didn't listen to us, so f u, I'm not buying your shit.
Joshua @ Jul 11th 2007 1:54PM
@ fragglefart
My ONE pack purchase had the same story. Damn Sailer Jerry Rum!
Shame they couldn't / wouldn't do something about the pricing.
ShaggyB @ Jul 11th 2007 2:00PM
#20 wrong
its 166.67 points per song that retails at $2.08 a song. now facotr in that Guitar Hero one on Ps2 included 47 songs, 30 in the career and 17 bonus tracks. That game on ps2 retailed for $49.99 or with a guitar controller $79.99. Now lets do some math. With 47 songs at $2.08 a track..... $97.76 on dlc for all 47 songs... well what if they just give you the 30 career songs... $62.40
We will look at $62.40 as that is most likely what they are doing (quite sad as the unlockable Black Label Society - "Fire It Up" was one of my favs in that game)
$59.99 * 7% tax = $64.19 thats $1.79 more than the 30 song dlc on Guitar Hero2. Well for that $1.79 I can purchase Guitar Hero 3, with no guitar, and play all new songs.
All 47 songs is $97.76 well...
$99.99 *7% = $106.99 thats $9.23 differance and for that $10 i get a wireless guitar to go with my new songs.
I ask you how is it a bargin to play a 2year old game for the same price (aprox.) as the upcoming Sequal to guitar hero 2
Mr BoiomStick XL @ Jul 11th 2007 2:03PM
Can anyone here say "Class Action Law Suit"!!! What for? False Advertising, they promised "The Most DLC on LIVE and that statement made myself and a TON of people go out and buy GHII with the idea that we would be playing DLC out the A$$ and there hasn't been anything released in months!! Now you show up to the party 3 months late and offer 1 stinking song pack for the same 500 MS Points.........F**K YOU RED OCTANE!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Apples @ Jul 11th 2007 2:08PM
The article blip tries to implicate Harmonix in relation to this move. My understanding is that pricing is completely out of their hands, they simply do the technical work of preparing the files.
So don't vent your anger too much at the wrong party.
Vader582 @ Jul 11th 2007 2:17PM
They can keep this songpack and the rest of them at these prices! Fuck Rock Band too! If this is how they shit upon a loyal fanbase, they can keep is all! Go ahead Major/MS, make fun of your customers this time too...
The Wicker Man @ Jul 11th 2007 2:19PM
apparently not azz0r. More people should be outraged about this. I bought the game under false pretenses. AN FUCK YO MTV.
T Ghost @ Jul 11th 2007 2:20PM
I'm still an excluded gamer for GHII.
I'm DYING to have this game but have no way to fork US$90 for a game and keep my marriage at the same time.
I'm so desperated for it that I almost sinned in the worst form a gamer can sin in order to obtain his objects of desired: I almost sold 80% of my games to the DEVIL, AKA gamestop!
Yes, I'm consuming in flames of shame as I admit to my sinning ways but, lord, the GHII emptation is HUGINORMOUS!!! So, pretty, so colorfull, so rock'n'rolly... My preciousss..........
:(
The 7th Number @ Jul 11th 2007 2:25PM
Xbox marketplace needs set prices much like the Wii has for VC games. Wither its Mario 3 or Ghostbusters, an NES game is 500 points. Xbox marketplace needs set prices, for themes, gamerpics, everything. It might be hard to put set prices on stuff like oblivion or GTA added DLC that gives you exrta gameplay. But something should be in place.
J8675309 @ Jul 11th 2007 2:30PM
Guitar Hero II DLC : Failure : Again
This is probably that DLC news they were hinting at a month ago.
I really wanted rock the 80's :(
Manvir @ Jul 11th 2007 2:58PM
I was personally waiting for "smoke on the water" to come out since i got GH2 but now that i found out its in a pack with 2 shitty songs for 500 ms points still, i fell that god doesn't love me anymore =(
Zman0690 @ Jul 11th 2007 7:23PM
Ehh guess that means I still won't be DLing any of their music packs. Too bad cause the price doesn't need to drop that much to make it worth the while.
I wonder if M$ has implanted their $ hungry ideology into them?
Alex @ Jul 11th 2007 9:38PM
honestly, Rockband wont be much different, its beig made by the current GH2 makers, Activision/Neversoft should be the ones paying attention for GH3
Scott @ Jul 11th 2007 3:41PM
That is really a shame. I love my GHII, but like ShaggyB said, I will just save that money for a real game for the Rock Band disc, or GHIII disc only, maybe (i might just sit on my GHII and call it enough for the rockin games after being made so sad with the DLC tease :( )
Jim Kane @ Jul 11th 2007 4:06PM
Wow, it finally happened: they released a song pack that has 3 songs I wouldn't mind playing. Unfortunately, I'm not mad about it. Worse (for them), I just don't care anymore. Maybe that's what they wanted in the first place.
ccc @ Jul 11th 2007 5:12PM
@35
Ur a fucking idiot and a huge part of this problem.
As far as redoctane goes, they can fuck off too. Im sick of thier greed, during a time all good news is comming in for 360 this pile of shit shows up, know what, fuck guitar hero 3 and fuck rock band Im net getting either. And as far as Guitar hero 2 goes, I retire. Sell that shit back to game stop and by something deservent of my money. Fucking greedy bastards. Fuck U redoctane, fuck U right in the ear!
MayorMcK @ Jul 11th 2007 5:44PM
@36
Take your chill pill!
Reuben @ Jul 11th 2007 6:19PM
They originally said that GH II would have more downloadable content than any other XBOX360 game but I hardly see how releasing GH I songs months apart supports that claim. I was really hoping that they would either introduce new songs or at least lower the price, but I was let down on both counts. They are certainly not getting my money this time around.
ihateemo @ Jul 11th 2007 6:20PM
Just the one track pack? Gosh darn, that's irritating.
But I wanted those songs so badly! So I will be a-downloading tonight, even though the price is more than I think is fair.
SeriousStan @ Jul 11th 2007 6:30PM
The 360 marketplace is the stupidy proving grounds. People pay too much for near worthless items and it's only going to get worse as long as the retarded 360 consumers don't question what they're paying for.
Brad Shiach @ Jul 11th 2007 8:03PM
I have not bought any of the DLC packs & never will. To hell with em', there showing nothing less than contempt for all of us who laid down our hard earned cash for a great game that was built on false promises & opportunism.
I'm through with GHII..Bring on Rock Band!!!!
Ryan Taylor @ Jul 11th 2007 8:16PM
Two out of 42...I only hope that the majority of ppl on XBL feel the same
Randy @ Jul 12th 2007 11:47AM
Proud to say I'm still standing firm. I signed that petition and meant it. Pricing waaaay too high.
not likely @ Jul 12th 2007 3:26PM
I pretty much share the sentiments of #36 about the DLC.
Check out this interview with Bryan Lam of Red Octane:
http://videogames.yahoo.com/gamepreview?cid=1951442557&tab...
Tasty quote:
"We would never put anything out that we felt the average gamer wouldn't buy. We'd never price-gouge anybody. We're so true to our fans that we'd never overprice anything. If we can make it as cheap as possible to our fans, we'll do that. Look at CD singles: They're priced that way because of manufacturing and packaging. With our downloadable songs, we just have to upload them, which makes it that much cheaper."
ccc @ Jul 12th 2007 3:40PM
Man, I cant give it up, GH I mean. UI just love it too much, and Im way way too good at it. Its like the damn game was made for me. Im really pissed that these songs cost this AMOUNT as a few may know already due to my last post on this topic. But I cant give it up.
In fact, I am actually considering buying the newest song pack 4 the out ragious price of 500 points. Even though I have siad that any1 that dose is only making the problem worse, I just dont know what 2 do. Here are the factors that have brought me to this situation. Please help me in this delema........
A) I played GH2 and it has been awhile, so this game is always super good when U havnt played it in awhile.
B)I gave up my GH 1 and 2 on ps2 when I heard 2 was comming to the 360, but I do still REALLY miss the tracks from GH1 and to have them in 2 with the new hammer on and pull off gameplay sounds great, not to mention the practice mode for GH1 songs thanks to GH2.
C) I thought about how the 360 version has all these other songs that the ps2 version didnt have like... Possume Kingdom,Million Dollar Babies,Rock and roll Hoochiecooo,The Trooper and DEAD. Even though I actually hated the band "My Chemical Romance" I had never heard DEAD, and thought it was a worthy song to be amoung GH. And in this thought I pondered, if this can justify at least 1 song pack purchase from the marketplace? The inclusion of all these sweet ass songs and expierences I never had with the original GH2 on PS2.
D) This Factor probaly applies to few of U but it dose to me.
I purchased over2500 ms points in preporation for the Arcade release of Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden AXe. I had no idea what they would cost and was ready to pay whatever for the games. Well, they ended up being 400 each to mine and alot of gamers surprise. Now I have extra points up the Ying Yang to spend. Im 1 of those guys, money/points burns a hole in my pocket. Just gotta spend them.
This brings me to where I am now. Which is at the Marketplace with my fingure on the button about to purchase the new GH2 song pack because I really liked these songs in GH1.
However just before the point of Purchase....My mind focuses in on the song playing in the background,(Forgot to mention I accesed the Marketplace from GH2 shop)WHich is Parasite, And at that very moment I focused in on it, the song was saying....
"Dont Take the Bait, Dont seal the deal, Dont buy the hype, You'll be a sucka!" Im still there in the marketplace and am not sure what to do:( HELP.
not likely @ Jul 12th 2007 6:27PM
I hate it when links break.
http://videogames.yahoo.com/xbox360/guitar-hero-ii/preview-505452-3
If that stops working just search for:
"Guitar Hero II Price-gouge"
derek @ Jul 18th 2007 4:50PM
Activision has no say in the Marketplace pricing. Microsoft has complete control and prices things in their benifet. Many companies planned to release free content on the Marketplace, but Microsoft won't have it.