EA confirms exorbitant pricing on Rock Band in Aust & New Zealand
$AU520 for the privilege of owning a full playable set for Rockband
by XboxOZ360
©2008 Grant Smythe:
Well we know prices are dear here, we sort of expect it as a matter of course, but EA’s official announcement of pricing for Harmonix’s Rock Band is at $AU520 to fully equip yourself out with the full rig, while in NZ the same was announced with GamePlanet beginning to take orders for a game being released in OCTOBER.
Now for a “game” that is ludicrous to a major extent. It smacks of “we don’t care about your market” and you’ll pay it if you want it bad enough. Seriously, that’s more than the cost of a top level SKU console. When we look at prices of the same item in the UK or the US, there’s a huge difference in pricing. Why, don;t tell me there’s a huge difference in the costing of UK Pal game to the Australian PAL game, when they are both supposed to be the same.
All yours for $US189 - GameStop - US
Now we have Rock Band II heading our way and priced at just $US189 at GameStop, and one would wonder why anyone would even consider buying a year old game, that has a following game already on the launch pad and due for release on the 19th October ’08. Especially one that has such a high $520 RRP here in Australia.
Various Australian retailers are simply refusing to stock the item. And rightly so. Not only will they sell like snow cone in winter in Iceland (not), they will take up valuable floor space, and huge warehousing and handling costs associated with just moving one item. It’s not like it fits in the gaming bins or on shelves, now is it.
All this is yours for
Stores pay by the square meter for shop space, and they have to get the return to warrant stockingitems. If teh goods are not oing to move in the number required to get a return and make a profit, then it’s illadvised to even consider stocking it in the first instance.
Which seems to be the case with many Australian retailers. It’s scandalous that these prices can and are charged for games on this side of the globe. When Harmonix was confronted with the leaked prices a few weeks ago, they denied that those prices were in fact true, commenting that
“For the record, this article is completely wrong. I don’t know where the information came from but it certainly wasn’t from us at Harmonix.
When we have accurate and reliable information on an AUS launch of RB (pricing, dates, etc) we’ll post it here for you. Until you get word from us here on this site, it’s probably safe to assume that anything else is speculation or rumour.”
Well hello, you obviously do not know what your publisher is doing. Even at those early times, the estimate was that the game and accessories would tap out at a little over $AU400 . . not the $520 that now seems to be the case.
Australia’s GameWarehouse online retailer has the game up and priced, with a slight reduction of $10 . . . It’s something, but not a lot. So what is your take on Australia and New Zealand having to pay such a huge asking price for game that is basically an old game and it’s following iteration is not that far off being release in the US.
©2008 Grant Smythe:
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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, New Game Information, Xbox 360 Tagged: | "Rock Band 2", "Rock Band Austrailian pricing", "Rock Band", Electronic Arts, Harmonix, Rock band in australia"
Bend over! An interesting and yet accurate analogy! Bend over Australia. Problem is some Aussies will. I will not. I have the music rhythm talent of a gnat caught between the testicles of a cane toad being swallowed by a venus fly trap about to be flattened by an 18-wheel semi.
@ Mayaa
The release date is penned in for Oct 9th I believe for Rock Band (one) here (incl NZ), yet on Oct 17th, Rock Band II is released in Nth America. Rock Band II won’t arrive here for at least another 10 months which is bloody stupid, seeing that they have already established a system for getting the game here, and it would take far less time to localize it (RBII) than it has taken them to do the current one.
The things, many retailers might well not even carry the stock, (see link in article) as due to poor sales and floor costs, the offset might not warrant them getting it or RBII in at all. Now that there’s a price point set by E which has been confirmed at $520 for the whole ball-and-dice, it will be interesting to see which stores do carry it.
I know for a fact that EB’s don’t have it, and it’s marked on their system at an “unknown” figure. So there’s basically no confirmation they will have it – or not. My advice would be, if you really want it, then get it off eBay or import it from Overseas (the kit) or, get the 3rd party drum kit which is much better from RBII when it ships states side and you’ll get a better kit.
Not only will we Aussies have to pay a higher price for the game (hopefully not $520), it will probably also be released here up to six months later than everywhere else…
Wow and I thought we were getting ripped off in the UK for the game. Well not the game so much as that didn’t come with the £120 bundle for some reason. But £160 is extortionate for a game and a few badly made peripherals. Which they have now remade so that if you want a half decent experience you have to fork out a further £160 for proper instruments assuming that they price them the same. Which they probably won’t because “for better quality we’ll have to pay even more. Bend over, here it comes.”