Rock Band - DLC Done Right

AndrewMyers · 2009-03-26T19:44:55.000Z

That might have something to do with why Rock Band 2 was a separate title, rather than a patch + a bunch of DLC.

JustinFletcher · 2009-03-26T19:58:34.000Z

As I said previously:

Justin Fletcher:

“Love is a Battlefield” is a classic, but “Promises in the Dark” and “All Fired Up” would absolutely kill.

Omniscia · 2009-03-26T20:25:45.000Z

And I’ve said previously (though I’m not going to take the time to quote myself), I’d be very happy with “Love is a Battlefield” or “Shadows of the Night.”

Ryan_Markel · 2009-03-26T21:01:47.000Z

Rock8man:

According to the NPD (via Joystiq), Rock Band has sold over $1 billion at retail stores now. And people have downloaded over 40 million songs as “premium DLC”. I’m going to assume premium means the songs that cost money (as opposed to Still Alive and Charlene).

I have to admit, this makes me wonder if Rock Band has the right strategy after all. If the retail releases have generated $1 billion, then comparatively, even assuming $2 per song, DLC only made them $80 million. Now at retail, I guess the retailer takes a cut, and Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo takes a cut, plus the cost of goods is higher. But still, Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo still take part of the cut even for the DLC out of the $80 million.

Remember that a chunk of that $1 billion is in plastic instruments, not just discs with songs on them.

JPR · 2009-03-26T22:36:42.000Z

Also, that represents steady, week-by-week income in a way that major release dates probably don’t.

Midnight_Son · 2009-03-27T07:01:50.000Z

Here’s the DLC for the week of 3/31. Some great classic rock anthems, some sweet tracks from up and comers that played the Rock Band Showcase at SXSW, and some bubblegum fun songs to round out the week. Check it out!

Journey - Don’t Stop Believing
Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker
Glasvegas - Geraldine
Von Bondies - C’mon C’mon
SpongeBob SquarePants - I Can’t Keep My Eyes Off of You
SpongeBob SquarePants - The Best Day Ever
SpongeBob SquarePants - Where’s Gary?

All songs are masters.

The Journey, Pat Benatar, Glasvegas, and Von Bondies singles are $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) per track. The SpongeBob SquarePants singles are $0.99 (80 Microsoft Points) a piece, or $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points) for the 3 song SpongeBob SquarePants Pack 01.

Release dates:
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360) Thursday, April 2, 2009 (PlayStation®Store)

Couple of good songs and then we have, well… uh…

MSUSteve · 2009-03-27T07:14:07.000Z

“Don’t Stop Believin’” is an absolute instant buy for me. Love that song.

Omniscia · 2009-03-27T07:24:58.000Z

SpongeBob is a rock band, now?

CLWheeljack · 2009-03-27T07:36:52.000Z

Hee hee. The Spongebob songs makes the argument I had here a while back about whether certain songs were “rock”-y enough to be in the game seem quaint.

Rock8man · 2009-03-27T07:39:42.000Z

Bah! Heartbreaker. No sale. I wonder if this means there’s no hope for Love is a Battlefield?

CharlesC · 2009-03-27T07:44:58.000Z

I love that Von Bondies song!

Shadarr · 2009-03-27T10:38:56.000Z

Rock8man:

Bah! Heartbreaker. No sale. I wonder if this means there’s no hope for Love is a Battlefield?

Just like Hit Me With Your Best Shot meant there was no hope for Heartbreaker? I’m a little surprised we’re getting two Benetar songs so close together and not as a pack. I wonder if this is a change in strategy.

Oh, and wumpus and I called it.

CharlesC:

I love that Von Bondies song!

Not the first song I’d pick, but I fully support adding more songs from the Burnout 3 soundtrack.

I’ve never heard of Glasvegas, but the other three are instant buys for me. If I ever had people over to play, I’d buy a Spongebob song just so it would come up in a random setlist and make everyone go wtf.

fuzzyslug · 2009-03-27T11:25:26.000Z

My 4 and 6 year old will have a blast with the Spongebob tracks. Where the hell is the rest of Journey’s greatest hits?

Midnight_Son · 2009-03-27T11:26:09.000Z

April Fools!!!

(Gotta be, right?)

Robert_Sharp · 2009-03-27T13:23:14.000Z

Oh! Don’t Stop Believin is awesome! I would have preferred Battlefield or Shadows, but Heartbreaker is still a good song. Some nice DLC lately.

Jeremy_Johnsen · 2009-03-27T21:04:32.000Z

I probably won’t buy the Spongebob songs, but more variety is a good thing. My wife still asks me every couple of weeks if they’re releasing more country songs soon.

fuzzyslug · 2009-03-27T23:09:02.000Z

I had a blast tonight playing through a lot of the Pearl Jam stuff through an online tour with PoundedLemon (I need a Xbox Live -> QT3 name converter). The drums tracks are fun and varied. The guitar tracks jump around a lot but are also well worth trying out. Good stuff all around.

Not_One_Of_Us · 2009-03-27T23:11:36.000Z

Since this is de-facto RB2 thread, I’ll just post this here. A new RB2 update is on its way, and one of the new additions is “Per-song Star Tracking”, which seems to be Tom Chick’s long-time request to see your highest star achievement for each song, instead of just the score. Or was that sluggo’s? Well, regardless, sounds good to me.

Curious as to what else will be included…

slikster · 2009-03-28T00:00:03.000Z

fuzzyslug:

I had a blast tonight playing through a lot of the Pearl Jam stuff through an online tour with PoundedLemon (I need a Xbox Live -> QT3 name converter). The drums tracks are fun and varied. The guitar tracks jump around a lot but are also well worth trying out. Good stuff all around.

That would be me. Yes, it was a lot of fun. :)

Not One Of Us:

A new RB2 update is on its way, and one of the new additions is “Per-song Star Tracking”

That is awesome. Now I can do away with the third party apps to track that stuff.

wumpus · 2009-03-28T00:26:41.000Z

Ok, I looked up those SpongeBob tracks… yeah. I won’t be buying that shit.

I would totally buy the “I’m a Goofy Goober” song, which is a thinly veiled rip of Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock”, though.

Of all the DLC released, the only tracks I’ve refrained from have been the Naked Brothers and Spongebob. I own everything else.