GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

takovacs — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:44:08 GMT

A lot of these were already in guitar hero 1

RedOctane asking us to pay for things they've released on other titles. COme on, we Paid £70 for this, and now they're asking for our 500 points for something they haven't even had to work on.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Ender Wiggin MD — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:09:24 GMT

PS: I found a flaw in my logic already... or more like a loop-hole.

If the licensing, re-recording, and mapping the inputs was just a reference to the new songs, then yes, score one for RedOctane.

I actually have no problem with NEW songs costing 166 points or $2.08 as long as they're sold separately.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Ender Wiggin MD — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:59:02 GMT

Okay... maybe their should be some clarification on what kind of response we're looking for.

How about one that's not asinine and insulting to our intelligence.

1) If they did their research on this, EA must have been the case control.

2) It's electronic media. How does bundling the songs bring down the cost? One CD, 3 songs = cheaper than 3 CDs each with one song (true). 3 songs, no CD = Cheaper than 0 CDs, each with one song? What?

3) Unless licensing songs for th3 360 cost more than it did for the PS2, I'm tired of hearing that argument.

4) How much work went into creating the inputs? Honestly?

5) Re-record the tune? I say again - honestly?

Someone please point out some flaws in my logic. I beg you. RedOctane just keeps falling further and further down my "Cool people in the videogame industry". They're eyeing that seat right beside EA pretty hard...

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Son of Peleus13 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:56:28 GMT

I AM HEREBY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT I HAVE OFFICIALLY RETURNED THIS GAME AS OF TODAY. Thought that I'd inform my fellow GH "fans".

F U RO/ACTIVISION/MSFT (WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE).

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Tazzmissionx — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:24:19 GMT

Red Octane did respond by means of an interview via IGN UK with Kai Huang who is co-founder of Red Octane.

The whole interview can be read here. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/780/780816p1.html

But to get to the point of a response, I'll save people the time.

IGN: On the subject of downloadable content, a lot of people have complained about the cost of the downloadable packs available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Do you think the pricing was right?

Kai Huang: We have done a lot of research on the pricing to make sure we have got the price point right and to make sure that users got the best value for money. We think that it is the right price point. We also decided to bundle the songs in packs of three because this actually helps to bring the cost of tracks down, rather than just offering them individually. That was what we wanted to do. However, we do listen to the fans and take any feedback we receive seriously.

IGN: At the moment, all of the tunes are from Guitar Hero I - are you planning on making brand new songs available at a later date?

Kai Huang: We are doing new songs that have never appeared on Guitar Hero before. The reason why we released Guitar Hero I songs initially is because a lot of fans liked these particular songs and it's interesting to play them with the improved features of Guitar Hero II. Although we are releasing new songs, it does take a long time to prep them for download. It's actually a complex process and a lot of work goes into each one. We have to license the track, create the inputs for all the notes and, if it's a new track, re-record the tune. It's a relatively extensive process and that's part of the reason why the tracks cost what they do on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Definity — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:51:08 GMT

Still no word from Activision on the pricing for these songs? C'mon Activision stand up and say something, anything....

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Damon Friend — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:52:03 GMT

So.... Is Red Octane ever going to comment on how the majority of people feel on these prices?

This is getting so ridiculous... I have never complained about DLC pricing before this price point came out. This is the biggest rip-off in DLC's history and it just goes to show that maybe Microsoft needs to step in and pay more attention to what publishers are doing in terms of DLC since it can reflect poorly on them.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Ender Wiggin MD — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:04:21 GMT

I still read them and you can add one to the list for me:

8) No response from RedOctane and Microsoft after being called out by the gaming community.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Thunder3000 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:52:17 GMT

I realize that no one reads this far into the comments, but I would like to summarize the reasons these song packs are not a good value at $6.25 per pack.

1) These songs have no resale value. If you buy Guitar Hero I for the PS2 you can sell it for not much less than you paid for it. This is a rarely acknowledged fact about DLC, but it makes DLC less valuable.

2) They are purely digital and therefore have many disadvantages, you cannot loan these songs to a friend, if you sell your Xbox to get an Elite, you will be the only one who can play these songs on your new XBox and only when signed into XBox Live (if I understand correctly how DLC works).

3) We the customers have the perception that these digital song packs cost considerably less to produce than the GH 1 game - no physical production or distribution, no Best Buy or Circuit City taking a cut of the profits (though I suppose they do take a cut on a lot of the MS point purchases), there is considerably less effort to produce a song than the GH engine - and yet the price per song represents a considerable increase over GH I

3) These particular songs are not new content - no Freddy Mercury-type singers needed to be found, no session musicians hired.

4) These are cover bands not original tracks, and that makes a big difference to us.

5) These songs do not include any game features like they did in Guitar Hero I - beat these songs to unlock these songs, etc (which is part of the fun), and they do not feature any achievements. They just get dumped at the bottom of your set list and add very little to the game experience - fun songs though they are.

6) Almost no one is buying these songs, so it is unlikely that anyone on our friends lists have them, so we can't compare leaderboard scores with our friends.

7) They mess up the non-campaign career score values giving people who purchase them an edge over those who don't.

I think everyone realizes that MarketPlace items are always over priced. I don't even mind. With the exception of most XBLA games, I've never bought anything on marketplace without feeling like I was getting ripped off a little, I just though, eh, what the heck, a few bucks. But these songs really take it to an unprecedented level. For the above reasons, these songs are not just a very very poor value at this price, they are such a poor value that they represent an insult to reasonable customers.

A good salesman can spend all day explaining why I should pay $20 for a box of cereal, all those farmers have to grow and water the wheat, the machinery to prepare and box it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, taxes, distributors, etc. But really, if you try to sell me a box of cereal for $20, what you are saying is that you think I'm an idiot and a sucker.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

vtec236 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:50:53 GMT

500 points!!! that is WAY to much come on redoctane don't start your 360 experience doing what EA tries to do. Make content more affordable and you will sell more.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

HanSolo2187 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:49:49 GMT

Nice that we haven't seen any response from Red Octance, Activision, or MS on this - only the one non-official response my Larry.

ign did an interview with one of the GH creators but didn't have the figs to ask him about the DLC fiasco.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

SuicideMang — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:48:38 GMT

This whole situation is still a complete mess. Any light at the end of this tunnel?

Caras!! muy caras!!

Roz — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:03:31 GMT

Oye Major Nelson que paso?? por que tan caras las canciones...ya se que ustedes no ponen el precio..pero no manches, es una ofensa ese precio. espero microsoft haga algo al respecto.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Paolo Cravanzola — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:59:20 GMT

What the hell is this price ???

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

Lenny — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:47:31 GMT

I'm sure it wasn't too long ago when poor Major was getting threats for something, which in turn was dealt with quite quickly. He we have thousands of constructive comments with no news of response. Makes you wonder if the mental cases had it right with there silly little threats, at least ppl took notice.

re: GH II: Song Packs (3 of 'em)

XRayLexx — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:39:38 GMT

Heres my guess.

Peoples 360s were "Bricking" before and after the patch.

Its highly unlikely a piece of software would destroy a machine.

Its got to be the Guitar controllers. Something has to be wrong with the USB connection or there is something inside the Guitar that is causing some Electircal Feedback to the console or causing it to destroy the USB hub in the console.

Has to be surely.

How many people follow the instructions to the letter that comes with the Guitar?

Turn off your 360. Plug in the Guitar controller. Turn on your 360.

How many people are plugging and un-plugging it with the 360 power on?

Could that be damaging the 360?

Could the fact that the game freezes due to a software glitch which then causes the user to restart his/her 360 several times in quick succesion cause a component to fail inside the 360? Computer components are at their most stressed during a restart.