Rock Band - Only Available In Bundle Form Until 2008

Rock Band will no doubt be one of the hottest titles of the holiday season. The Guitar Hero franchise has really stirred up the gaming community and opened the door for other titles in the genre. I've already had a chance to play the game, and it takes the idea of Guitar Hero to the next level by incorporating other instruments. That's not to say that Guitar Hero won't still appeal to the masses.

One thing that is going to be a damper on sales is the fact that Harmonix has decided to only release the game in bundle form for the price of $169. This means that if you're just wanting to pick up the drum kit and use your own guitar (from Guitar Hero) and an old USB mic that you have lying around, it's not going to happen. At least not until next year.

This is obviously going to upset some consumers, but Harmonix is standing by their decision for a number of reasons. First, it costs quite a bit for them to produce a variety of different retail boxes. One of the largest hurdles is the retail outlets themselves. The instruments take up a lot of shelf space, and many retailers simply do not want to dedicate that much space to a single title. However, once the holiday season is over, we should start seeing these show up instores.

Rock Band: the bundles, dlc pricing, the Guitar Hero stigma, disconnected gaming and more [via thebbps]