Harmonix speaks on European Rock Band, Play.com drops price

by Ashley Coomer - 2008/04/09 9:06am

To say we were annoyed yesterday when the RRP of the European X360 version of Rock Band (£180) was announced is something of an understatement. We’ve waited six months longer than American gamers and will have to pay over double the price… we won’t vent our frustration here, but check out the forums if you want to catch a glimpse of anger. Somewhat good news has surfaced however, as online retailer Play has said it is selling the game for less than EA suggests, the Instrument Pack at £99.99 and the game itself for £49.99. It’s still way too expensive for us (weighing in at just shy of £150 if you want to actually play the game) but it’s good to see it’s not just consumers understanding the high price point just won’t cut it.

As you’re bound to know, Rock Band is coming to the X360 on May 23 in Europe… but what about the Wii and PS3 versions? Since there is a timed exclusivity, it will be in the summer, and Harmonix’s Director of Design, Rob Kay, has said something on the matter. “We want to say that while we’ve got this Microsoft period of exclusivity on its platform just for a little while, when the PS3 version comes out it’s identical. You’re going to have exactly the same experience with all the downloadable content. The whole Rock Band experience is there and it’s fully fleshed and fully blown”, speaking to VideoGamer. “We love all platforms. This is not us having a beef with any platform, we just want to get the Rock Band experience out there so people can enjoy it. It’s coming” he added.

Again, it’s not really good enough that on top of waiting some six months only to find out the game isn’t going to be on the PS3 for several more. That said, by the time Rock Band rolls around on the PS3 it’s bound to have dropped in price to the point where it won’t cost an arm and a leg for it, and we’re all for that… shame though.

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