14 DAY TRIAL // GameStop, that trailblazer of videogame retail, is currently selling the Renegade Edition of DJ Hero, the Guitar Hero spin off coming this fall from Activision Blizzard, for the price of 199.99 dollars. The package can be pre-ordered for the Xbox 360 from Microsoft, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Nintendo Wii and there's no sign from Activision that the price point used by GameStop is wrong, so it's probably safe to assume that this is the retail price for the package.
The regular edition of DJ Hero is set to retail for 120 dollars, mainly because it includes a new turntable-like peripheral that players will use to do mixes and mash ups. This is already a big price to pay for a game, considering the downturn and the limited cash that players can dispose of.
Activision seems to be very interested in selling videogames for more than the usual 60 dollars by introducing peripherals in its products. Of course, it all began with Guitar Hero with its drums and guitars, but now Tony Hawk: RIDE comes bundled with a skate-like peripheral for 120 dollars, and Modern Warfare 2 has a special Prestige Edition including a set o night vision goggles for 150 dollars.
The Renegade Edition pack for DJ Hero is set to also offer players a premium controller, a stylish hard case, which can be used to move the peripheral around and two new CDs of tracks that Jay-Z and Eminem have created exclusively for the upcoming game.
All this extra content does not seem to justify an extra 80 dollars but no doubt there will be players pre-ordering the Renegade Edition. The only question for Activision Blizzard is how high publishers can go with the prices of their game packages before players refuse to pay and settle for the regular editions.