(For those who don't know, Guitar Hero is a rhythm videogame that uses a special guitar controller. The game plays a song and gives you signals to when to play what. You "jam" with the game. It's like Dance Dance Revolution with a guitar. If you don't know DDR, think follow-the-leader. Or Simon. Rock and Roll Simon.)
Well, they have announced Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. They have mentioned that since Xbox has such an intergrated online element and a decent sized hard drive, that this will be perfect for "microtransaction." Hell, I suppose I have to describe those now. "Microtransactions" in the video game world are extra elements you can buy online for an already purchased game. You have a racing game with say 50 different cars you can drive. Online they might offer a new car. You buy the car for a dollar and now you can use it in a game. Simple as that. Most "microtransactions" are between $1 and $5. With Guitar Hero II, it would be the ability to purchse new songs for the game.
There has been an ongoing debate on how much to charge for these things. Some seem way over priced (like a couple of dollars for some decortative armor for a horse). Personally I think a dollar is too much to pay for a car. I mean, it might handle a bit different from other cars... but it still basically the same. I tend to think most of these things are over priced.
But songs are different for some reason. We have prety much established $1 per song via iTunes and such. Some argue it is too much, but since a CD costs $10 to $15, $1 seems fair. So would I think twice about spending $1 to be able to jam with my favorite song? Not at all.
Any thoughts?
Russia's The Dead Hand
15 years ago
