DLC Prediction thread for 10/9

[Odin Force]

Again, no promises, but the message from the forum community was received loud and clear with the last GD release so we'll do what we can to offer some variety.

You guys are like the community that seems to never stop listening to it's ungrateful fans. Thank you. Thank you.

But we hope to include a couple of Pro guitar upgades in the next GD release.

And even though I've kinda stopped doing so much pro, I'll buy them. I like hearing that you guys are doing this.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

I think you mean all parties except for those that never bought GDRB.

And why do you suppose they never bought GDRB?

I know you have more information than we (I?) do. But I just cannot conceive of any circumstance other than "all I wanted was 'Warning' and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' so why buy a $20 game and a $10 export" leading someone to buy any of that DLC. Which, obviously, makes me wonder how well they'll really sell. We can't fakey guess at it since the export versions and the store-DLC versions have the same leaderboards (right?), but...yeah, I just can't imagine why anyone would do any more than cherry pick a song or three.

I hope I'm wrong, and the DLC is wildly successful and makes you guys buckets of cash. But no one ever expects to be wrong

I suppose your reply will be that the game is hard to find, but that's simply not true.

[jibjqrkl]

I suppose your reply will be that the game is hard to find, but that's simply not true.

well as you may have heard, some people didnt even know the game existed.
also, not everyone lives in the US

[www1221]

well as you may have heard, some people didnt even know the game existed.
also, not everyone lives in the US

Well move here then!

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Okay, maybe some of these are a little spendier (some), but they're still there.

[www1221]

But Aly if I use my credit/debit card on the internet Amazon will steal my information and use it and spend all my money!

[CasanovaFranke]

I've got to say, when I first saw a Green Day pack was coming, I got a little excited. It was only when I discovered that it was (mostly) songs I already own that I became less pleased. There are still good, unreleased Green Day that I would be happy to buy... Walking Contradiction perhaps?

But on to the subject of next weeks dlc... Mixed singles is the most likely bet...

Cake - Going the Distance
Cake - Short Skirt/ Long Jacket
Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

[SheSaidSheSaid]

So buy an amazon gift card. Presumably at the very same retailer where you buy your MSP/PSN cards, since of course you don't put your bank card info into your console.

[jibjqrkl]

So buy an amazon gift card. Presumably at the very same retailer where you buy your MSP/PSN cards, since of course you don't put your bank card info into your console.

no amazon gift cards for sale in my country.

[hmxhenry]

You guys are like the community that seems to never stop listening to it's ungrateful fans. Thank you. Thank you.

And even though I've kinda stopped doing so much pro, I'll buy them. I like hearing that you guys are doing this.

We try! Thanks for the props.

And why do you suppose they never bought GDRB?

I know you have more information than we (I?) do. But I just cannot conceive of any circumstance other than "all I wanted was 'Warning' and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' so why buy a $20 game and a $10 export" leading someone to buy any of that DLC.

There are a lot of reasons why people may not have purchased GDRB initially. Cost at launch, lack of availability in certain regions, the glut of music games in the market, preference for DLC over disc based titles, interest in only select songs or albums on the disc, inaccessibility of hardware reducing interest in disc based titles at retail, etc.

I think people would be really surprised by the information available to us. I know the perception is somewhat skewed because the forum community is comprised of hardcore users and early adopters, but not everyone playing RB purchases every disc. Beyond that, a huge percentage of the people that bought GDRB never exported. It's crazy, but it happens.

As for releasing it as DLC, I've covered a lot of the reasoning in the actual GD announce thread, but cheap and readily available copies on Amazon aren't the answer for everyone. Amazon (as is the case with many other online retailers) doesn't service all international regions, and if they do the price conversion and shipping is often cost prohibitive. We also get emails on a near daily basis from people demanding that we point them to physical retailers, brick and mortar stores because they don't want to order games online. They're wary of identity theft, they doubt the veracity of online sellers, they want to support local businesses, etc. Again, crazy, but not everyone is willing to turn to Amazon or eBay to look for older titles. Also, buying a full game online doesn't satisfy users that only want specific content, be it scattered singles or an album or two, which are both potentially cheaper and more specific than the cost of the game via Amazon, and export and possibly shipping. We still get more requests for Dookie and American Idiot than we do for most other albums, even though they are available as part of GDRB.

Plus, as Jibs pointed out, a lot of people aren't even aware that GDRB exists. Again, crazy from the forum perspective, but there are a lot of people in the community who are significantly removed from the day to day updates. I would say maybe 50% of the band requests we get are for bands that are already in Rock Band and people just don't know it. So, after 2 years, it may not be at the forefront of someone's mind, and they may not even think to look for it online. But if we're shouting about DLC, and the band is able to promote and it's in the in game store and it's cross listed in Blitz and it's visible in the XBLA and PSN marketplaces, and 1st party promotes it as they do all DLC releases, that's all exposure the content wouldn't get if we just directed people to an Amazon link.

We've got pretty good data to draw from, including retail and DLC info as well as past experience doing almost this exact same thing with Track Packs. It may not hit the mark with the early adopters and the more plugged in forum members, but there is another 98% of the community out there with a much different mindset.