Wednesday, April 11, 2007
No more rocking in the free world
The easiest way to test human intelligence: if a person says, "Communism works in theory," forcibly remove their belt and shoelaces and escort them to the nearest poo poo farm. There is no "theory" in which humans will dutifully work together for the good of the community, ignoring their dark, greedy belly. However, there is a sliver of hope buried in this idiotic statement. When left to their own devices in this bleak Free Market World we currently reside, people will always try to screw over their neighbors. I'm not talking about biblical screwing either; I'm talking about anal rape that stops at the wallet. Give a seemingly honest company an inch and they'll take an acre along with every daughter, sheep and bathhouse you own. Oh Activision! You could have saved face with gamers after forcing a litany of soulless yearly licensed crap on the public for the last decade. But instead you spat on the olive branch that is Guitar Hero 2 and opted to buy a silk box to hold your wide array of ivory back scratchers. To hell with you and your greedy ways.
Though millions of people flocked to the PlayStation 2 release of Guitar Hero 2 last fall, a few strong willed individuals decided to hold off on that sizable purchase. Though their fun organs needed some serious coaxing to put down the shiny, black box, it seemed like a good decision at the time. Not only would the Spring release of Guitar Hero 2 (X360) bring with it Achievement and Leaderboards, you would be able to download the original Guitar Hero tracks as well. Obviously, those who choose this path understood the financial responsibilities they were committing to, but it was for the greater good. With the whole gang of Guitar Hero tracks on one shiny disc, it seemed like a dream come true for fans of the plastic instrument game. It was a perfect plan until Activision realized how much they enjoy bathing in soiled money.
Activision released the first nine downloadable tracks today, and it is not a pretty sight. Instead of allowing people to choose which songs they wish purchase and which should be left floating in the ethers of the Marketplace, Activision has jacked up the price and packaged the songs in evil little groups of three. If, for instance, you just want to play Killer Queen, you will have to spend 500 Points and be saddled with Take It Off and Frankenstein. For those not well versed in XBL pricing, 500 Points is $6.25 in the real world. The original Guitar Hero had 30 tracks in it. If the pricing remains the same for the rest of the downloadable content, you would have to spend $62.50 to buy all these songs. Add in the 17 bonus tracks and you would have to spend $100 to own the entire setlist from the first Guitar Hero. That is more than it would cost to buy a new copy of the game complete with plastic guitar and stickers. I am not a big fan of this.
The problem is, there are other music services available. Let's look at iTunes for a second. A downloadable track off iTunes will run you just $1. Furthermore, you don't have to buy songs you have no interest in listening to. Apple does not force you to buy an entire album or songs with a similar theme or any other worthless crap. You simply give them money, a reasonable amount of money, for the one item you wish to own. Activision's ridiculous pricing is even more egregious when you consider what you are purchasing. iTunes offers the original version of the songs you love. The songs in Guitar Hero are predominantly covers. So you have to pay more money, buy songs you don't want in the first place and wind up with inferior versions of those tracks. This is a huge ripoff.
I realize this website is but a tiny blip on the vast landscape of the internet, but I feel I must use what little power I have to inform my readers what a horrible situation this truly is. The only way to vote against this pricing is with your wallet. If you agree that charging twice as much money as iTunes is a bad thing, I implore you not to purchase these songs. If you think it is unfair that Activision is forcing you to buy bundled songs, instead of being able to choose which songs you do and do not want to own, please do not purchase these downloads. The only way these horrible companies will listen is when we refuse to give them any more money.
Though millions of people flocked to the PlayStation 2 release of Guitar Hero 2 last fall, a few strong willed individuals decided to hold off on that sizable purchase. Though their fun organs needed some serious coaxing to put down the shiny, black box, it seemed like a good decision at the time. Not only would the Spring release of Guitar Hero 2 (X360) bring with it Achievement and Leaderboards, you would be able to download the original Guitar Hero tracks as well. Obviously, those who choose this path understood the financial responsibilities they were committing to, but it was for the greater good. With the whole gang of Guitar Hero tracks on one shiny disc, it seemed like a dream come true for fans of the plastic instrument game. It was a perfect plan until Activision realized how much they enjoy bathing in soiled money.
Activision released the first nine downloadable tracks today, and it is not a pretty sight. Instead of allowing people to choose which songs they wish purchase and which should be left floating in the ethers of the Marketplace, Activision has jacked up the price and packaged the songs in evil little groups of three. If, for instance, you just want to play Killer Queen, you will have to spend 500 Points and be saddled with Take It Off and Frankenstein. For those not well versed in XBL pricing, 500 Points is $6.25 in the real world. The original Guitar Hero had 30 tracks in it. If the pricing remains the same for the rest of the downloadable content, you would have to spend $62.50 to buy all these songs. Add in the 17 bonus tracks and you would have to spend $100 to own the entire setlist from the first Guitar Hero. That is more than it would cost to buy a new copy of the game complete with plastic guitar and stickers. I am not a big fan of this.
The problem is, there are other music services available. Let's look at iTunes for a second. A downloadable track off iTunes will run you just $1. Furthermore, you don't have to buy songs you have no interest in listening to. Apple does not force you to buy an entire album or songs with a similar theme or any other worthless crap. You simply give them money, a reasonable amount of money, for the one item you wish to own. Activision's ridiculous pricing is even more egregious when you consider what you are purchasing. iTunes offers the original version of the songs you love. The songs in Guitar Hero are predominantly covers. So you have to pay more money, buy songs you don't want in the first place and wind up with inferior versions of those tracks. This is a huge ripoff.
I realize this website is but a tiny blip on the vast landscape of the internet, but I feel I must use what little power I have to inform my readers what a horrible situation this truly is. The only way to vote against this pricing is with your wallet. If you agree that charging twice as much money as iTunes is a bad thing, I implore you not to purchase these songs. If you think it is unfair that Activision is forcing you to buy bundled songs, instead of being able to choose which songs you do and do not want to own, please do not purchase these downloads. The only way these horrible companies will listen is when we refuse to give them any more money.
// posted by Tom @ 4:10 PM 
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