Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that “Rock Band” owners on PlayStation 2 and Wii will have a way to access downloadable content — it’s just coming bundled on a disc.
“Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1″ arrives on July 15 at an MSRP of $29.99, and features tracks from David Bowie (”Moonage Daydream”), Oasis (”Live Forever), Weezer (”Buddy Holly”), Boston (”More Than A Feeling)” and others. In total, 20 tracks.
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers have been gobbling up downloadable tracks left and right — 10 million as of last week — but the introduction of “Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1″ introduces an altogether new value structure to the downloadable content.
Are PS2 and Wii consumers getting enough for their money?
Individual songs are $2 a pop on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, which means purchasing each song in the newly announced packs individually would cost $40.
The PS2 and Wii owners — who don’t have the option to download the songs on their consoles — are enjoying about $10 in savings, paying roughly $1.50 per song. Unlike everyone else, they don’t get to choose every song they’re paying for, but the cost of manufacturing and shipping a boxed product doesn’t appear to have been passed onto the retail consumer.
In terms of sheer value, the numbers speak for themselves: Wii and PS2 owners are still saving $10, unless it turns out they don’t want six or more of these songs Harmonix picked out.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I gotta say though, this is a bit worrisome. If Harmonix is able to offer these songs to Wii and PS2 owners with a 25% discount, *after* the associated costs of manufacturing a boxed product, what does that say for the prices that 360 and PS3 owners are paying? Is this just a bulk discount, or are they overcharging for the next-gen content?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I’m still waiting for a single piece of evidence that the Wii version is tailored to the strengths of the Wii.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
@Doctor Proctor: the Wii/PS2 games and 360/PS3 games have quite a few differences, including the more advanced versions’ diverse gameplay modes, character customization, online support, HD presentation, and - of course - Still Alive for free. To me, those features across 20 songs is well worth a measly $10.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I think the the fact that they’ve included five of the absolute worst songs they’ve released pretty much negates any money saved. Being able to avoid songs you hate is worth a little extra.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Love the blog, but check your math. If Wii owners don’t like 15 of the 20 songs, we’re paying $6 a song for 5 songs we would’ve bought via DLC.
I think you meant that it’s a decent deal even if Wii owners only want 15 of the 20 songs.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:09 am
@Jesse
Thanks for the math correction. We fixed it.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Well, it’s certainly nice to see that Harmonix is going to get those DLC songs out to PS2 and Wii owners. It is saddening that Nintendo’s storage situation causes such a problem for this game on the Wii. The DLC is the life of this game for sure. It brings me back every few weeks to check out the one or two new songs I’ve picked up. Without that it isn’t quite the same. All that being said, this game is going to sell better than crack on the Wii.