Rock Band 2 Fails to Meet Sales Expectations

[lost]

Is the music game bubble finally bursting? PaidContent (http://www.paidcontent.org) is reporting that Rock Band 2 failed to sell as make as much money as the MTV Games parent company Viacom might have expected.

Rock Band 2 sales were solid, but weaker than expected. Following a September 2008 launch, Rock Band 2 sold an impressive 2 million units, but this was less than the company has predicted; the X-factor was a sudden drop in retail consumer spending during the last two months of the year, the company said. Viacom expects Rock Band 2 to be one of the few bright spots in what is shaping up to be a very weak 2009.

More right here (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-viacom-earnings-call/)including information on other aspects of Viacom's business.

Thanks to Joystiq. (http://www.joystiq.com)

[netcraazzy]

When your game, and all its required accessories, costs almost as much as a console I'd say 2 million sold is quite a respectable number.

[Damned666]

They're probably very happy with the sales of DLCs anyway

[Roc Ingersol]

It's a sequel to a $170 game released a mere 11 months after its predecessor, the day before Lehman filed bankruptcy and the whole illusion shattered.

I'd say it did pretty goddamn well.

[Johan]

I know I'm waiting for a price drop to around $100 or so. There is no way in HELL I'm dropping nearly $200, even if it is "worth it." Too much money.

[donkeydrop]

Most people bought the disc only since all the original peripherals were compatible.

[Roc Ingersol]

Game: $60
Drums: $30
GH guitars you probably already have: $0
random USB microphone: $20ish

that's around 100. ;)

[Demo_Boy]

Its Rock Band 1, polished design and a track pack. For $70 retail.

No kidding the sales numbers aren't going to be great. It's just a maintenance update.

[trip1eX]

If they would have released it on the Wii a few months earlier they would have sold many more copies. They goofed by waiting until nearly Xmas to release the Wii version and that's just the game. Not the instruments.

[Syl]

Oh dear, only two million. Give it a few months and that'll probably double.

I doubt it'll catch up to Guitar Hero: World Tour ~ but that's because GH:WT is still in the top 10 best selling game lists. (See NPD January data)

[gzsfrk]

You know, I loved the original Rock Band, and that's even me having paid $150 for it. But once I learned that they were going to CHARGE ME to import all my DLC songs from Rock Band 1 into the sequel, I said "Screw 'em--they're not getting any more money from me." I mean, COME ON. I PAID you for the songs already! And now you're going to CHARGE me AGAIN to PLAY those songs in what amounts to little more than a title update? NO SIR, no thank you. When I purchase an MP3, I purchase it ONCE and can use it across all my MP3 players. I don't purchase a "port" fee every time I copy it to a new device.

And don't throw up the "additional licensing for a new game" thing. Not my problem if they were stupid and not looking down the road when they wrote up the license terms in the first place. I am NOT paying for either their stupidity OR their greed.

[Phinor]

It's a sequel to a $170 game released a mere 11 months after its predecessor.

It's a sequel to a game that was never even released in most of Europe for example. Guitar Hero is a well known brand, Rock Band (2) not so much because it's a brand new title for most people.

[Fubl]

or they could just milk the game like they do with guitar hero. could be none of the GH games are backwards compatiable is that they dont charge extra licenseing fees

[netcraazzy]

You know, I loved the original Rock Band, and that's even me having paid $150 for it. But once I learned that they were going to CHARGE ME to import all my DLC songs from Rock Band 1 into the sequel, I said "Screw 'em--they're not getting any more money from me." I mean, COME ON. I PAID you for the songs already! And now you're going to CHARGE me AGAIN to PLAY those songs in what amounts to little more than a title update? NO SIR, no thank you. When I purchase an MP3, I purchase it ONCE and can use it across all my MP3 players. I don't purchase a "port" fee every time I copy it to a new device.

I personally have not purchased any additional music for any of my Guitar Hero games for this reason. Why would I spend my hard earned money on music that is locked into one version of their game when a new one seems to come out every 6 months. I honestly doubt I will be buying another Guitar game after World Tour anyway. I can only play the same thing so many times.

[Virtuoso]

Its Rock Band 1, polished design and a track pack. For $70 retail.

No kidding the sales numbers aren't going to be great. It's just a maintenance update.

Welcome to every single version of GH, the latest of which sold 3.4 million copies. So obviously it is isnt that.

[Syl]

I have a feeling that Guitar Hero DLC is going to be forwards compatible from now on. The reason that it wasn't backwards compatible before is because they didn't have the drum or singing parts done for GH III songs.

The new metallica works on both GH3 and GH:WT. I guess we'll have to see if WT downloaded songs will transfer over to GH: Metallica or the recently announced GH: Greatest Hits or whatever the fuck it'll be called.

I've spent about $10 on downloadable songs for GH:WT so far, simply because I really like some of the offerings they have (even on the Wii). I've been more impressed with the other 10 or so songs that i've downloaded FOR FREE off of the service.

[Cozz]

You know, I loved the original Rock Band, and that's even me having paid $150 for it. But once I learned that they were going to CHARGE ME to import all my DLC songs from Rock Band 1 into the sequel, I said "Screw 'em--they're not getting any more money from me." I mean, COME ON. I PAID you for the songs already! And now you're going to CHARGE me AGAIN to PLAY those songs in what amounts to little more than a title update? NO SIR, no thank you. When I purchase an MP3, I purchase it ONCE and can use it across all my MP3 players. I don't purchase a "port" fee every time I copy it to a new device.

And don't throw up the "additional licensing for a new game" thing. Not my problem if they were stupid and not looking down the road when they wrote up the license terms in the first place. I am NOT paying for either their stupidity OR their greed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the $5 license is to IMPORT your Rock Band 1 tracks off the disc (except for 3 songs I think) so Rock Band 2 reads them off the hard drive. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that Harmonix has stated that all their DLC will be compatible between games.

I can understand being upset if the DLC needed another license, but to rip the tracks off of Rock Band 1 (for only $5) is a nice service. I wish it were free, but I understand why they didn't make it that way for it would have been way to easy for someone who never even purchased Rock band 1 to just rip the songs by borrowing it from a friend or renting it.

[gzsfrk]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the $5 license is to IMPORT your Rock Band 1 tracks off the disc (except for 3 songs I think) so Rock Band 2 reads them off the hard drive. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that Harmonix has stated that all their DLC will be compatible between games.

I can understand being upset if the DLC needed another license, but to rip the tracks off of Rock Band 1 (for only $5) is a nice service. I wish it were free, but I understand why they didn't make it that way for it would have been way to easy for someone who never even purchased Rock band 1 to just rip the songs by borrowing it from a friend or renting it.

If that is the case, then someone please correct me and I will certainly admit that that's nowhere near as bad as having to pay for my RB1 DLC tracks. But as I understood it, it applied to both the RB1 tracks on the disc AND the DLC purchased through the original. But yes, it does still suck. There's no reason they couldn't have it set up so that every few executions, you had to insert your RB1 disc into the tray to verify that you own the game. Or SOMETHING similiar.

[Cozz]

If that is the case, then someone please correct me and I will certainly admit that that's nowhere near as bad as having to pay for my RB1 DLC tracks. But as I understood it, it applied to both the RB1 tracks on the disc AND the DLC purchased through the original. But yes, it does still suck. There's no reason they couldn't have it set up so that every few executions, you had to insert your RB1 disc into the tray to verify that you own the game. Or SOMETHING similiar.
Hopefully this isn't a lie:

From the Rock Band 2 Website:

Full Compatibility

Not only can you play any song you’ve purchased from Rock Central in Rock Band 2, but you can import almost every song** from the original Rock Band game for an unparalleled breadth of music to select from every time you play.
**Requires original Rock Band disc, online connection and key purchase


As for disc checks, I think that it could work, but I know I would hate to load Rock Band 2, and then have the system tell me "Insert Rock Band 1 disc to verify license."

[lion2]

There's no reason they couldn't have it set up so that every few executions, you had to insert your RB1 disc into the tray to verify that you own the game. Or SOMETHING similiar.

No way!! I'd rather pay a small $5 fee than to keep on constantly inserting a disc.

[Metal Jesus]

I think I know exactly why this happened: Name recognition. I am the resident video game guru at my work (I work in sales) and time and time people come up to me wanting to buy the Guitar Hero brand because they've heard of it. These are people getting their 1st console in 10 years or finally getting a Wii, etc. Not the hardcore gamers who read sites like this. But they ask me what I think of Rock Band. To them, Rock Band is the lesser 2nd tier brand, even though I tell them that Rock Band was created by Harmonix and is the better of the two.

[Froggy]

I think I know exactly why this happened: Name recognition.

I second that motion.

[divinechaos]

If that is the case, then someone please correct me and I will certainly admit that that's nowhere near as bad as having to pay for my RB1 DLC tracks. But as I understood it, it applied to both the RB1 tracks on the disc AND the DLC purchased through the original. But yes, it does still suck. There's no reason they couldn't have it set up so that every few executions, you had to insert your RB1 disc into the tray to verify that you own the game. Or SOMETHING similiar.

You only have to pay $5 to transfer the RB1 songs that were ON THE DISC to RB2. All the DLC from RB1 works with RB2 for FREE.

[DeuceMojo]

I'll agree that Guitar Hero has more recognition, and that Rock Band is the better game. Though the same ease-of-use and playability of Rock Band 2 is sort of what makes it kinda... boring. Don't get me wrong, I don't really regret my $200+ investment in both Rock Band games, but the difference between 1 and 2 is negligible and the gameplay is just... play song, succeed w/ x number of stars or fail, move on to next venue, change appearance, etc. I mean, allegedly Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is going to have guitar support and even it sounds like it has more complex gameplay.

Whoever though said that with the kit priced up near the console, any sales are good sales, I agree. It's a niche thing. It's not gonna sell like Super Smash Bros or Call of Duty 4, where you pay $50-$60 and have at it.

[dfr]

the fact that they still haven't fixed the gh:wt drums on rb1 problem on the ps3 has aggravated everyone here in europe i know. rock band in euroland = absolute nogo. and i don't see anything to change that in the future, can't wait for rb 2 to launch at the end of this month, o wait ... no one cares :/

[Meusli]

I am European as well and all I want is the new Rock Band 2 equipment, I do not see the point in buying the old equipment if the new equipment is round the corner.