Rock Band 1 to stay on sale as disc, no songs going online
I may be the only one, but I've been wondering what would happen to all the music in "Rock Band 1" now that "Rock Band 2" is out. Yes, people who own "Rock Band 1" can transfer those tracks to their hard drive and use them in the sequel for $5. But let's saw you are starting your "Rock Band" experience by buying the new #2. You've got 80+ songs on the disc and hundreds available for download. What if you want to get "Blitzkrieg Bop" or "Gimme Shelter?"
I asked MTV and the answer is: buy "Rock Band 1." It and Harmonix plan to keep publishing the first "Rock Band" indefinitely. On the one hand, this is nice, since it keeps all those songs available to people who buy "Rock Band 2" (or future sequels and spin-offs, one would assume). But is it really the best option?
FIrst of all, it seems a bit confusing. After all, "Rock Band" isn't just a collection of songs. It's a videogame with modes and options that have all been improved and superceded in "Rock Band 2." For the casual fan (of which "Rock Band" has lots), this strikes me as fairly confusing: You can start the "Rock Band" play experience by buying either game and then downloading any tracks you want from online. But the gameplay experience is different and better in "Rock Band 2." If you buy the first edition, you can't get the songs on the sequel disc. If you buy the sequel first, you can get the songs on the original disc, if you pay an extra $5. That's a totally different model to understand than the a-la-carte downloads for all the other songs online. Huh?
The simple solution, which I had assumed MTV would adopt, would be to phase out
production of the first "Rock Band" in order to drive sales of the superior "Rock Band 2" and then make all of the songs available on the first disc available to download. That way those of us who bought the first edition only have to pay $5 to keep those songs, while any new buyers will only get the best edition of the game, with the option to get every original "Rock Band" song from the same online destination with the exact same pricing model as every other available track.
Other old games stay on sale even when sequels come out, of course. You can still find the original "Halo" at your local GameStop or Best Buy. But "Rock Band" is supposed to be a "platform" according to MTV, not just a franchise. Which is why I think this melange of songs on disc and online with different costs and technical steps needed to put them all together is going to soon become a major pain.
Chris Morris reports on the business and culture of video games and offers analysis of recent events and industry trends.
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Posted by: replica handbags | October 25, 2009 at 09:26 PM
Why not just rent RB1, pay $5 transfer and be happy?
Posted by: Mike | September 29, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I've been wondering if they'd release the original as DLC too. I'd like a few of the songs, but I'll probably just buy the second game, having played the first and knowing I don't really want that many from the first. I'd like to be able to get a cheaper bundle for all the first ones, or just individual tracks.
Posted by: Scott | September 29, 2008 at 09:21 AM
of course, if they put all the songs up as DLC and then used the same pricing model, then it would cost over $100 to download all the old songs. and i can't imagine the licensing for such a venture would be pleasant.
Posted by: Jonathan | September 29, 2008 at 08:25 AM
I wish this story was relevant in some way. As it is, it's just wasting everyone's time and generating ad hits for this blog...
Posted by: Mrak | September 29, 2008 at 03:04 AM
There are those unscrupulous among us would do that. However, I think Harmonix must have anticipated some of this. They still have the upside--- even if there are game store swindlers out there, that's a guaranteed sale of RB 2. It seems like maybe Harmonix have moved on. Either way, they'll make there money from RB 1 discs, RB 2, or DLC.
Of course, in your scenario, you're also assuming that Gamestop won't just re-wrap those RB 1 dics that have been returned claiming they're new. It can't be the first time THAT has happened there.
Posted by: Eric | September 28, 2008 at 11:55 AM
typo corrected on Blitzkrieg Bop. Jeez talk about not giving someone the benefit of the doubt
Posted by: Ben Fritz | September 28, 2008 at 11:17 AM
How about this scenario then? If they continue selling the Rock Band 1 as stand alone game I think some people will start to abuse it. Stores often have an policy that you can return the game in 7 days or so to change it. Some people will buy Rock Band 1 only to ripp down the songs and then return the game to the store. The new copys of the games will be rendered useless in the long run...
Posted by: Alexander Cederholm | September 28, 2008 at 04:45 AM
Blitzkrieg BOP you mean? God damn how do you not know the name of this song?
Posted by: Dude | September 27, 2008 at 07:15 AM
Ben- I hear what you're saying. However, think about all those used Rock Band 1's that are going to be filling up Gamestops as people pay their $5 to make the hard drive transfer. Pretty soon, people are going to be able to get 60 RB 1 songs on that first disc used for $20. That's a great deal-- which seems to speak pretty loud to the average consumer.
Posted by: Eric | September 26, 2008 at 06:57 PM