Rock Band, et al. is Starting to Piss Me Off

I love Rock Band. I absolutely love it. It is one of my favorite games of all time. I still to this day play songs from the first Rock Band that came out in 2007. You can say I have an obsession with the Rock Band series, and to a lesser extent Guitar Hero. What I am starting to see is some bullshit tactics from Harmonix company (the maker of the series). Rock Band and Rock Band 2 were amazing games. The DLC is amazing. The Queen track pack that came out, best thing since sliced bread. Seriously, good shit. So why am I concerned? Why am I a little mad? Why am I considering not purchasing any more Rock Band/Guitar Hero games? I’m glad you asked. Hey, nice shirt. Let’s explore this some more, eh?

What makes a game complete to me is the ability to not only entertain me, but also keep me coming back. In addition, the game must have an excellent company (of course in the eyes of me) that cares about it fans enough. Games like Half-Life (Valve), Portal (Valve), Left 4 Dead (Valve), WoW (Blizzard), Diablo 2 (Blizzard), and Starcraft (Blizzard) all in the past have been great combos of my likes. Now, these days they are changing, and starting to rise my anger. However, when Rock Band came out, it instantly did everything to catch me. It was fun as hell, especially the drums. It kept me coming back to do better on the songs and unlock contact. And finally, Harmonix changed things with DLC and upgrades in future releases (mainly Rock Band 2). I mean, yeah, the DLC is a pain to pay. That’s why I choose only the songs I know I like. Now, if a friend tips me off on a good song, I may give it a chance. At the cost of $1.99 or $0.99, I can afford it. Hell, you can even trick the system with a cheat and make a playlist. I consider it a psuedo-Itunes that is playable when you want it. Cool, right?

So we have Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Rock Band: Beatles,  Guitar Hero 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and Aerosmith, Metallica, Van Halen. OK, not too bad. A little disappointed with the Aerosmith and GH 5, and although I haven’t played Van Halen, I can tell you I will not until it is in the 10 dollar bin. The folks at RedOctane (GH) and Harmonix (RB) have found the cash cow. They suddenly found a market and for a bit cranked out good shit. Now they are getting greedy. With games like DJ Hero, Band Hero (lamest name ever, are you fucking serious?), and any form of any of the games on a DS, Iphone, Blackberry, Palm Pilot, or abacus. Oh, then they took all the songs from GH 1, 2, and 3 and repackaged the best of them into a 60 dollar package just to add drums, singing, and bass. That, to me, is very lame. I mean, at the very least DLC that shit and I won’t have a problem with it!! I can understand the business idea of this. However, as a gamer, this is just sad. This is officially the best way to alienate the true fans, and jump the shark, nuke the fridge, and whatever other phrase  when something like this happens. This really bothers me.

While guitar hero is doing this WAY more than Rock Band, I am sure Rock Band isn’t too far behind the cash cowathon of games. They have started with the Rock Band: Beatles. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of The Beatles, they do have their place in history though. However, the game itself only had 45 songs. A normal RB game has nearly 60 songs. 45 songs? Guess where the remainder is? DLC! Wonderful, cash filled DLC. And they are not cheap. Each song is $1.99 or more. Abbey Road has 8 songs, and is $17. I just feel it is a little cheap they cut some songs out to only release into making more money via DLC.

I have this feeling this is only the beginning of this mess. The peripherals are another matter. First, the game comes with one mic, one guitar, and one drumset with sticks. Now, you have to buy another plastic guitar controller for a bass ($60), a guitar stand to hold all the guitars ($30), a mic stand($30 each) if you want to sing while playing an instrument, and for Rock Band Beatles two more mics and two more stands. Oh, and Harmonix can supply all of that for some cabbage. In addition, other companies have stood up for the money peripheral. The drum list: http://www.rockbandstore.com/?v=rbs2_gear_playstation-3_drum . A drum gig bag? Check out that premium set. That’s more money than the band box. $299 for a drumset for the game. I do want that set. It’s pimp. But I don’t need it. I am perfectly happy with the standard set and two extra symbols. But the idea of a $300 set is kind of crazy. Also, one of the worst product ideas ever http://www.rockbandstore.com/detail.php?p=110180&v=rbs2_gear_playstation-3_guitar has broken my spirit. $30 for a device that you can do with the damn guitar itself (by tilting it or hitting a button). These peripherals are getting insane, stupid, and expensive. What’s next, a digital triangle that cost $20 and says “don’t stick up your ass, that cost $5 extra?

I don’t mean to bitch, but I am starting to see a pattern that just will leave the fan in the cold. Rock Band has a chance to change and win me back. Guitar Hero sucks already in my opinion (except GH: Metallica). I hope in the future the company stops taking advantage of the stupids (including me) and re-think the music games. If they don’t, I will stop playing/buying. Until then, I will continue to enjoy Rock Band 2.

Really, Rock Band on the PSP? That’s like doing calculus with a set of marbles.

Tags: Beatles, Guitar Hero, Harmonix, Metallica, PS3, RedOctane, Rock Band