We've known for a while now that retailers would be receiving the Rock Band bundle this year, which includes a microphone, guitar, drum kit, and of course, a copy of the game for $169.99. It will ship on November 23 and be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, with a PS2 version scheduled to follow on December 10 for the slightly cheaper price of $159.99. However, there was one final question we had that remained unanswered…until now. Will the accessories be sold separately?
According to GameSpot, Harmonix and MTV's highly anticipated music-based title will only be available as a bundle throughout 2007. They will begin selling each of the instruments separately in 2008, as a Harmonix rep said. The reason? Well, he said that "the components in the bundle are not cheap and thus creating a bundle and three other separate packages (guitar, drums and vocals) would increase costs which could lead to less bundles available at ship." Also, it seems retailers didn't really like the idea of having four giant accessory packages taking up valuable shelf space during this year's bound-to-be-crazy holiday season.
Of course, with only three accessories in the Rock Band bundle, we're still one short of being able to form a quartet. But we figure that little conundrum will resolve itself with time…perhaps fans could pick up the Guitar Hero III controller, which is compatible with Rock Band . Without any doubt, this is a pricey proposition for any gamer, but this game is shaping up to be the quintessential must-have party title. Can you really pass on this singular opportunity?
Related Game(s): Rock Band