Rock Band: no separate instruments until 2008
Speaking to Bits Byets Pixels & Sprites, a Harmonix rep confirmed that Rock Band instruments will not be sold separately from the game until 2008. In other words, if you were planning on buying a copy of the game and a set of drums separately, you're out of luck. If you want Rock Band this year, you'll be paying $170 for the whole kit and kaboodle. The rep gave two reasons for this. First, creating multiple bundles would increase costs and lead to fewer bundles being available at launch. Second, retailers aren't exactly keen to have 3 different (and large) versions of Rock Band clogging their shelf space.
The rep also speaks about a few other issues, the most pressing of which is probably DLC pricing, a hot topic among Guitar Hero II fans. The rep is quick to point out that Rock Band tracks require more development than Guitar Hero tracks, as there are more instruments to be dealt with. In other words, we're expecting they won't be cheap, though the rep explains that there are many ways to pick and choose DLC. For instance, whole albums will be available as well as single songs, and there may be special offers for those that purchase multiple tracks. DLC is expected to arrive every week after the game ships through the end of the year, starting with The Who's Who's Next. Finally, the game is expected to have nearly 50 songs on the retail disc, not including bonus unlockables.
