Bundling Guitar Hero Songs Kept Costs Down: RedOctane

Thought they were expensive? Not so, says the creator.

The release of Guitar Hero II brought a lot of smiles (and sore wrists) to Xbox 360 owners, but it was the pricing of the downloadable songs on the Xbox Live Marketplace that got them angry. According to the series's creator, RedOctane's Kai Huang, it could have been worse.

"We ... decided to bundle the songs in packs of three because this actually helps to bring the cost of tracks down, rather than just offering them individually," Huang told IGN. He said that RedOctane was listening to what people were saying and that the team would take seriously their comments.

Vocal fans became incensed after bonus songs - all of which were originally in the first Guitar Hero - appeared on Xbox Live at a cost of 500 Microsoft Points (£4.25) per three-song bundle.

The uproar comes after similar outrage at the news that four maps coming soon to Gears of War would be charged for instead of being given away as developer Epic Games originally wanted.

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Xbox 360 owners can at least take solace in the news that there are wholly new songs coming soon to Guitar Hero II on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

"Although we are releasing new songs, it does take a long time to prep them for download. It's actually a complex process and a lot of work goes into each one. We have to license the track, create the inputs for all the notes and, if it's a new track, re-record the tune," Huang told IGN.

"It's a relatively extensive process and that's part of the reason why the tracks cost what they do on the Xbox Live Marketplace."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo