Rock Band UK Bundles/Pricing Discussion

[Markt75]

Chalk up another lost sale here. I'd have been prepared to pay £130 - £140 for the instruments with the game, but £180 is just way to much. Even trying to justify it by saying we have VAT, import costs etc, etc, just doesn't wash with me.

I can't help but think that Europe is once again being milked as a cash cow, very sad indeed. Still, there is always GH4 to look forward to. Just think of all the DLC sales that will be lost as a result as well, I think they will regret it in the long run.

[Mac49]

You can get Rock Band Instrument pack and Rock Band game for £132.98 all in at Play.com using the 5% discount voucher of 'experience08'. Stop banging on about £180 etc when its available for the £130 the majority of people said they would pay!!!!!!!!

Mac

[AngelAbaddon]

Yea, lets everyone in Europe order from one single online retailer and see the ****storm it causes. Point is, yes Play.com has it at 130 quid, but thats ONE retailer, that would have probably only have hit 90% of pre-orders if it was this price everywhere (Play.com arn't too great on Pre-orders of big titles from past experience).

[Mac49]

The point is, its there for £132 and amazon for £139 not the £180 everyone is complaining about

[Fletch1970]

Originally Posted by Mac49

The point is, its there for £132 and amazon for £139 not the £180 everyone is complaining about

The point is that they should not be setting the RRP of the game at this point and then let retailers have to discount it - for every customer of play.com and amazon there many more people looking in their local games shop or HMV etc to buy the game.

They should at least be offering the same deal to UK/EU consumers as they do in the US (Instruments including game), add the fact that they are not releasing the PS3 version at the same time, they are taking a chunk of cash from MS to make it a 360 timed exclusive, makes the fact they are charging this much even harder to swallow.

Sorry if you think that we are just whinging for the sake of it, but if we don't show EA how we feel now, then they will just think that this is a license for them to hike the price differential up again and again. And don't think that when the US economy gets stronger, they will drop the price either!

Paul

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by ablance82

acorrding to gamesrader EA have refused to lower the price

Slightly misleading - that's based on a comment by Greg LoPiccolo of Harmonix, and is far from being an official communication from EA. He puts forward his reasoning for why he thinks the game is priced as it is, and explains why there's no full bundle released in Europe with game and instruments. But he doesn't speak for EA and doesn't have access to all the information.

[Mendrallus]

Well I certainly won't be buying it, and for two good reasons.

1. I can't afford it on my budget!

2. The RRP is ridiculous, so even the retailer's lower prices are too expensive.

[Mendrallus]

Originally Posted by DjLoneStar

the petion is over 2000 x £180 = £360,000. Thats alot of lost revenue there i think you need to rethink. remeber these are only the people that have signed the pettion how about the ones that havent. COME ON EA £130 rrp and youve got a deal thats instruments and game.

Not to mention the lost revenue on DLC!

[aplotinus]

"Greg LoPiccolo of Harmonix, and is far from being an official communication from EA. He puts forward his reasoning for why he thinks the game is priced as it is...."

Greg LoPiccolo ""But Rock Band isn't normal in video games. This is an entirely new thing. What other game comes with three peripherals that are all different? It just makes sense for the experience we're trying to deliver."

Urrrr- no, it's not new it's been out in the US for months! Do people remember Steel Battialion that was a different game experience.

When asked why the game is £95 more expensive in the UK than the US, Kay blamed VAT and the general cost of electronics as the main factors.

This is the most lame excuse I can think of.... as a person who goes to the US I know not all electronics are cheaper in the US. Flat screen TV's are cheaper here in the UK as are many other electronic goods. I was thinking about buying an 360 hard drive in the US but with discounts via internet shops the UK worked out cheaper. As for tax...what US states add 10-12% sales tax so it's not going to be what much more @17%.

[silkyandy x]

What the hell has vodka and tonic got to do witht the price of rock band. Surely That guy has had too much of it.....

[Femalealert]

Even if you were to buy the game at £130, the dlc works out at around £96. Multiply that by your 2000 on the petition and thats a grand total of £552000 lost revenue and I bet that there are more than 2000 people who are unwilling to pay this rediculous price. Now add up the lost sales from other games that gamers will refuse to buy and I'm sure that its not a small amount- Will gamers still buy Battlefield???

Time for EA to review their pricing policy me thinks!! now I'm off to buy a real guitar with my £130.

[Scooper]

Seriously EA has just gone down hill. Latest I've read is they're blaming it on VAT at 17.5%. Lets think about that the [Removed by Adroit - please do not swear] americans pay £85 without tax so add our tax on to that and you get £100, importing I'd say probably less than a tenner so what is their [Removed by Adroit - please do not swear] problem, wheres this other £70 worth of expenses coming from.
When i first heard of the price i went on Play.com and thought holy **** they're selling it for £100?? the hole game, thats less than i fort, but then thats without the game, Apsolute joke EA, What do you really expect to acheive with this towards your customer satisfaction and image. The game is already half a year old as well!?

BOYCOTT ROCK BAND

P.s EA JOG ON!!!

[kopakauk]

Funny how me and my friends were in GAME looking at all the EA games

They tend to all be £50 while other new release ten quid cheaper
Yay for greediness
And im sure alot of people said about the whole Play.com thing
But they should be putting the price down from £130
Not to £130 :P

[davemoseley]

GAME are at odds with EA over the price they pay for games... EA won't reduce their prices in line with other publishers, so instead GAME are pricing all EA games at RRP and only promoting them in their charts. It's hoping to reduce their sales enough, so EA realise that GAME provide a nice percentage of their sales, and hopefully will reduce their prices in hopes of selling more. Hmmm, kinda like this whole Rock Band situation

That also means that unless this is resolved in 8 weeks, you can expect to see Rock Band retailing for £180 in all GAME stores. Online WILL be your best bet if you want any chance of paying close to what we should all be paying anyway.

[andy82nufc]

This pic sums up EA

[ablance82]

^lol!!

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by aplotinus

As for tax...what US states add 10-12% sales tax so it's not going to be what much more @17%.

I believe it was you I corrected on this on the Rock Band forums, but just in case it wasn't: the US RRP does not include sales tax. The UK RRP does. So the difference is the full 17.5%, whether the US state charges 0% or 1500% sales tax.

[aplotinus]

Gameplay.co.uk now have Rockband up online: Insturement set @ £129 and game @ £49.99 with no reduction. Amazon.co.uk are still only selling the game @ £39. Best place still at play.com but for how long?

[Venix123]

With the Play deal. Notice how you have to have it delivered to your cardholder address? What's with that? Personally, I'm at uni and I'm not going home until August, so I want it delivered down here! Dammit...

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by Venix123

With the Play deal. Notice how you have to have it delivered to your cardholder address? What's with that? Personally, I'm at uni and I'm not going home until August, so I want it delivered down here! Dammit...

It's quite common with expensive items, annoying though it can be. You could always try contacting Play directly and asking them whether there's any way around it.

[Jonweezer]

The price is a complete joke, it is twice the price of the States and we get it insanely late, I was a big fan of EA but this is a farce. Your a big company ripping off the UK because you know there is very little we can do about it.

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by Jonweezer

You're a big company ripping off the UK because you know there is very little we can do about it.

There's one obvious thing we can do about it - don't buy it, and try to avoid buying other EA games in future.

[TheRussianMafia]

In game, the Xbox 360 stratocaster is 59.99! The game is also 49.99! Thats PS3 territory!


How can EA do this to you and I??????????????????????????????????

I cannot believe it................................................ ...................

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[proevobeatsfifa]

I'm sure you've all read Greg from Harmonix take on this....

Commentary on Euro Pricing Flamefest - Rock Band - Forums

Greg - yes we've heard the sad old VAT claim a few times - fine charge that extra 17.5 % - but what about the other 92% of the inflated cost?

Well, now apparently, we are looking at shipping costs as the issue - seriously - what are you doing? chartering a seperate boat for each individual RB box?

Here's a tip - ship in bulk - its a really good way to save on shipping and save on rubbish excuses for fleecing customers

[Venix123]

I take it also everyone read the interview on CVG:
Interview: Rock Band Developer Interview - ComputerAndVideoGames.com