Well...at least we've finally got some sort of explanation.

Unfortunately it seems a bit bollocks!

The direct conversion between $ and £ for Rock Band comes to about £90 add the VAT = £105.75 so are you really telling me it costs about £70 per unit to ship to the UK?

Also...

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Originally Posted by HMXGLo

--This is probably already well understood by folks on these forums, but the built-in VAT tax boosts the price by an additional 17.5% in the UK, and more elsewhere in Europe. That’s not the whole discrepancy, but it’s a big chunk of it.

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So 17.5% is a big chunk of the 100% mark up?

I probably will get Rock band eventually but not until it's reduced to a reasonable price and definitely not at launch. But the impression I'll get from this that EA/Harmonix/MTV are just another bunch of moneygrabbing bastards!

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Originally Posted by Mosch

OK... here's what I in my naive European mind calculate.

The game is 150$ in America, correct (I checked Amazon.com)? Let's just change the $ to € and we will have accounted for a "hefty retail markup". Adding the German VAT of 19% to that I get 178,50€, a price I would have paid happily. However, the actual price here in Germany will be 240€ (and just for the record, I can recall a single instance where prices were significantly lower than the SRP).
Now is shipping that expensive that it costs an extra 60€ per box? For some reason I can not believe that.
Furthermore, what about other electronics? What about Guitar Hero 3 with a 99$ / 95€ price? Is Activision taking a large, HUGE hit on their profit margins? What do they do right that you do wrong?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to buy rock band, but that price is ridiculous and the attempts to justify it don't really work for me.

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You're looking at the PS2 version with all peripherals. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions both cost 180 USD.

Also, the game is highly multi-player based. Not everyone I know has rock band, but most people play it. What happens is one person (me in this case) gets rock band and him and his friends play it together. 1 rock band w/ all peripherals can generally satify 4 people partially, 2 completely. If price is truly an issue, just pay together. I will admit, it does seem high, but it DOES actually cost a great deal to ship a 3 x 2 x 1 ft (approx 1 x .6 x .3 meters) box weighing about 25 lbs. (11.36 kg) over the atlantic ocean, then to stores all over europe.

Also, if you find it cheaper, guitar hero guitars, and any standard USB microphone or Xbox 360 headset will work with rock band, so you can get it a lot cheaper without the peripherals and use those as substitutes. The only thing you'll miss are drums, and the was the first peripheral to release by itself, and you could purchase by itself in a few months cheaper.

ThiBest: I was under the impression that DLC would cost the same for all territories. Would you please kindly present evidence to the contrary?

Legoftime: HMXGLo has not presented a complete list of applicable taxes, tarriffs, or other applicable fees, nor does shipping account for all of the difference. However, rest assured that the difference is accounted for somewhere, because their production model would have to take into account the effects of the prices on demand. (see my previous post) MoneyGrabbing bastards (or simply profit maximizing firms) would see this and charge as little as possible for their elastic good.

HMXGLo pointed out that they are aware of the consequences of the price difference, and aware that fewer people will buy the game as a result. However, until it is cheaper to produce and sell Rock Band in Europe, there's probably absolutely nothing they can do, or surely they would. After all, that would be the best way to be Profit maxi... im sorry, moneygrabbing bastards

I and i'm sure many others really appreciate the fact you came here and tried to iron some things out. The sig stays, but i'm alot less bitter about the price than i was at first. I still feel it's a lot more money that i personally am prepared to spend, and perhaps more than it should be priced, but it should be known that the game will only be around £135. Whether or not the HUGE SRP was just to get gamers angry, then when the £130ish price point is revelaed they feel they're not being robbed as much i don't know.

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Originally Posted by HMXGLo

To recap my main point: we’re not gouging you, primarily because doing so doesn’t serve our interests. We can only build our franchise if you buy our games. You may conclude that Rock Band isn’t worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it’s not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so.

Final point: is it worth the money? You can all be the judge of that once you’ve had a chance to play it for yourselves.

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For those who are too lazy or DUMB, to read into what HMXGLo went out of his way to say, just read this paragraph. (note what I highlighted).

Appreciate the info.

I understand the complex costs involved, I also understand a mark up in the price. Although I find it hard to believe that an RRP of £180 is the lowest price that could be set.

I mean $360 roughly for a six month old game, when it only costs around $169 over in the states, hell I've seen it even cheaper on a few online retailers due to it being out for a while, yet we have to pay 200 dollars more, roughly £100. now im sorry but a 100% price increase is not due to tax, and I don't think that shipping cost would even make up the remaining amount. I mean Rock band Costs more than an xbox 360 Arcade here, and is the same price as a Nintendo Wii.

As disappointed I am with the pricing I will still be buying it as I luckily have enough money to do so, although will probably need to trade in a few games to help lower the cost. But at its current price, I don't see it being bought by those other than the die hard fans. Oh well, as a fan I have no control over this, all I can say is that I am disappointed.

Heres hoping its worth it.

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Originally Posted by John_S

You're looking at the PS2 version with all peripherals. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions both cost 180 USD.

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Not quite correct.

It's not as if I could not afford the game, I just feel ripped off by the price. If a game requires me to have studied economics before I can appreciate what a bargain it really is... that's just strange.
And LZ_69, thank you for contributing contempt and illusions of superiority to the thread. You're really furthering a great discussion!

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Originally Posted by ADiiDAS

As of right now its only being released in UK, Germany and France. As far as I know these 3 country do NOT represent the entire Europe! What about Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Polen, Spain and every other country? THIS IS NOT A EU RELEASE ATM!

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Yes, and the North American release did not include Mexico or Canada. So there is a definite parallel to draw from. There will probably be other European countries receiving the game at a later date.

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Originally Posted by Mosch

Not quite correct.

It's not as if I could not afford the game, I just feel ripped off by the price. If a game requires me to have studied economics before I can appreciate what a bargain it really is... that's just strange.
And LZ_69, thank you for contributing contempt and illusions of superiority to the thread. You're really furthering a great discussion!

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Yeah...sorry about that. :o I don't know, too much strees lately I guess.;)

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Originally Posted by LZ_69

For those who are to lazy or DUMB, to read into what HMXGLo went out of his way to say, just read this paragraph. (note what I highlighted).

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The trouble is, this price point will kill basically all mass market appeal. They will get some sales from people like me, who are hopelessly addicted to Guitar Hero and who have plenty of disposable income, but I doubt many more people will buy.

Hi all! I've been lurking for a while, and have been watching this all blow up with interest. An interesting read, Greg, and thanks for a least some info on the price decisions. Here's my take:

Tax: This is very true, and always overlooked in discussions of this type. In many cases this can make all the difference between what looks like a massive rip-off, and a price that seems reasonable. Sadly the other factors are overloading the effect here.

Retailer markup: While it is true that it is often possible to get good discounts on games here in the UK, this is generally as part of a bundle deal, or through online only stores where it is expected that the price will be competitively lower. What price is the general public really going to be able to pick this up for? I'd be quite surprised if the effect could be considered as more than around £20-25 of the MRSP, overall.

Shipping: The unknown. I can certainly believe that the shipping is significantly higher in the EU, but to be as much as, or more than £50 per unit? This seems like a lot to me. We can only assume that HMX and EA are interested in selling this as cheaply as they can, but..... hoo boy. Where's that lube again? :o

The two big unanswered questions, so far, are why no game + instrument bundle? And why only UK, France and Germany initially? I would assume that a game + instruments bundle would enable some amount to be shaved off the price, but there could well be unknown factors, such as tax complications bundling a video game with a differently classified product, or similar, which means this isn't the case.

At the end of the day it is what it is I suppose - if this is truly the minimum price point HMX/EA consider viable I guess that's it. It's a shame because I would love to see lots of people discover the "Rock Band experience" as I am sure it is fantastic, but I just don't think anyone who is not already emotionally invested in this genre will see this as anything other than a huge rip-off. And of course, the poor Euros who won't be able to buy in May are still stuck in limbo!