NESTLED within the press kit announcing the details for this year's sophomore Games Convention Asia event was one by Electronic Arts. And buried somewhere at the bottom of the two-pager was a simple listing - Rock Band, October 7, 2008.
After almost a year of waiting (since November 2007), distributor EA has finally gotten its act together and is finally releasing the much-anticipated music game here, at GCA no less.
Source: Electronic Arts
But many think it's been a failure on EA's part because, throughout the past year of rumours (such as EA not having the Asian rights for the game, to developer MTV Games not having the Asian rights for all the featured music tracks), no one from Camp EA has said a word about why there has been such a long delay.
The end result is hard core gamers having to sing to the tune of retailers who parallel import the game and end up selling what is a US$170 item at $400 here. While prices have stabalised to about $300 or so in recent weeks, this marks a clear instance where a local distributor has failed miserably to cater to consumers, whereas parallel importers have shown why Singapore needs to continue to allow such imports.
But back to the press release.
With the game selling out in many markets and a high demand for it, one would think that EA would give the game the opening act it deserves, by whipping up an amazing performance worthy of an encore, to finally shout out, "Rock Band is here!". "Instead, what should have been the poster child of theirs has now been relegated to a passing mention in a press release.
And the reason is clear. (Drumroll please.)
What EA is launching here in October is really old news because, next month, Rock Band 2 is being launched in the United States. That's right, gamers. We are in effect one generation behind our gaming counterparts in the US. It really is as if someone is selling you a video tape while everyone else is using a DVD.
And no, EA Singapore will not comment on Rock Band 2 for Singapore.
It's no wonder many gamers in Singapore feel that we are probably getting America's leftovers - production units that cannot be sold in the US - because everyone else there is eagerly awaiting Rock Band 2. Where better to sell it than to some market where, really, what choice do we have except to pay an arm and a leg for the sequel?
Naturally, EA has not commented on pricing for the local version, whether or not downloadable content (ie, extra song tracks) will be available for purchase, and if, because the music instruments for the first game were of extremely low quality, there would be a instrument replacement programme, just like in the US.
For those who can't be bothered, Rock Band 2's competitor, Guitar Hero: World Tour has a local distributor and is giving all the signs that the game will be here by year-end. Otherwise, they can just get the parallel import sets of Rock Band 2 rather than support EA's belated local release.
Just for the record, Rock Band 2 has newer instruments that can be used on its predecessor and the songs from the original can work with the new instruments.
And, honestly, who wants to spend money on hand-me-downs anyway?