14 DAY TRIAL // An executive at MTV Games has declared that the Pro Mode for guitar in the upcoming Rock Band 3 will cost an additional one dollar per song when getting downloadable content, meaning that one track will now set music fans back 2.99 dollars.
The added charge probably comes because it is more time consuming and complicated for Harmonix and MTV Games to take regular tracks and add the extra information which is required for the Pro Mode for guitar, which makes playing the game very similar to playing a real life instrument.
Paul DeGooyer, who is the senior vice president of games and music at MTV Games, stated, “The only thing that's more difficult for us in terms of authoring time is the guitar stuff, so we've decided to sell Pro Mode for guitar separately.”
He added, “If you're not interested in Pro Mode for guitar, you can still get the DLC that should conform to our current DLC pricing, and you get Pro Mode for all your other instruments.”
The added dollar charge might present some problems for the two companies themselves because, for example, some tracks will not be complex enough to get a Pro Mode, which will leave fans of the new feature disappointed, and because the Mode could also be added to some songs that are already in the game.
Rock Band 3 is set to arrive on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii on October 26, with a DS handheld version also set to be released.
The new installment in the long running music series comes with new songs and new bands but the biggest selling point for it is the addition of keyboard simulation for the first time and the return of some of the gameplay mechanics initially seen in The Beatles: Rock Band.
Harmonix and MTV Games have both expressed an interest to make the music simulation game both fun and faithful to reality.