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This thread has been linked to the game 'Guitar Hero II'.
Given how popular Guitar Hero 2 was amongst X-Box 360 owners, it's not surprising that Red Octane, the games makers, chose to use X-Box Live to distribute extra Guitar Hero tracks. Specifically, they decided to give 360 owners the chance to get their hands on a number of songs which were featured in the game's PS2 based prequel. Songs such as Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon, Motorhead's Ace of Spaces and many other songs - a total of eighteen songs having been released to date. These songs aren't playable in career mode, but can be played individually in the game's single song and multiplayer modes. But still, anything that adds value to an already excellent game can't be bad, right?
Wrong. Because there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, and while it's hard to say whether it's Red Octane or Microsoft's own fault, the downloadable content for GH2 is nothing short of a rip-off. Firstly, the tracks are sold in packs of three, so you can't buy songs individually, you have to buy a whole pack. And the packs are ludicrously expensive, weighing in at a hefty 500 Microsoft points, which works out at £1.50 a song, or twenty five pounds for the whole set. Songs which, by and large, aren't even performed by the original artists. Plus, most of the songs have already featured in Guitar Hero 1 on the PS2, so there are no extra development costs involved. And speaking of Guitar Hero 1, that game featured a total of forty seven tracks, and can be picked up for twenty pounds or so, representing far better value. Still, given that you can't play Guitar Hero 1 on the 360, Red Octane and Microsoft have got 360 owning GH fans over a barrel.
Or have they? Because while you can't play the Guitar Hero 1 PS2 game on a 360, you can in fact use the PS2 game disc with a 360 Guitar Controller. An enterprising programmer has come up with Frets On Fire, a PC program that lets you plug your controller in your PC, stick the game disc in your DVD drive, and play the Guitar Hero 1 tracks. It may not look quite as pretty as GH on the PS2 or 360, but it's not half bad and beats forking out stupid amounts of money to Microsoft and Red Octane.
If the tracks cost two pounds per pack, and were available individually, then they'd be worth buying. As is, there's no justification for the high cost of these downloads, and I can't recommend buying these when they represent such poor value. Even die hard Guitar Hero fans are better of steering clear of these.
Wrong. Because there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, and while it's hard to say whether it's Red Octane or Microsoft's own fault, the downloadable content for GH2 is nothing short of a rip-off. Firstly, the tracks are sold in packs of three, so you can't buy songs individually, you have to buy a whole pack. And the packs are ludicrously expensive, weighing in at a hefty 500 Microsoft points, which works out at £1.50 a song, or twenty five pounds for the whole set. Songs which, by and large, aren't even performed by the original artists. Plus, most of the songs have already featured in Guitar Hero 1 on the PS2, so there are no extra development costs involved. And speaking of Guitar Hero 1, that game featured a total of forty seven tracks, and can be picked up for twenty pounds or so, representing far better value. Still, given that you can't play Guitar Hero 1 on the 360, Red Octane and Microsoft have got 360 owning GH fans over a barrel.
Or have they? Because while you can't play the Guitar Hero 1 PS2 game on a 360, you can in fact use the PS2 game disc with a 360 Guitar Controller. An enterprising programmer has come up with Frets On Fire, a PC program that lets you plug your controller in your PC, stick the game disc in your DVD drive, and play the Guitar Hero 1 tracks. It may not look quite as pretty as GH on the PS2 or 360, but it's not half bad and beats forking out stupid amounts of money to Microsoft and Red Octane.
If the tracks cost two pounds per pack, and were available individually, then they'd be worth buying. As is, there's no justification for the high cost of these downloads, and I can't recommend buying these when they represent such poor value. Even die hard Guitar Hero fans are better of steering clear of these.
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Given how popular Guitar Hero 2 was amongst X-Box 360 owners, it's not surprising that Red Octane, the games makers, chose to use X-Box Live to distribute extra Guitar Hero tracks. Specifically, they decided to give 360 owners the chance to get their hands on a number of songs which were featured in the game's PS2 based prequel. Songs such as Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon, Motorhead's Ace of Spaces and many other songs - a total of eighteen songs having been released to date. These songs aren't playable in career mode, but can be played individually in the game's single song and multiplayer modes. But still, anything that adds value to an already excellent game can't be bad, right?
Wrong. Because there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, and while it's hard to say whether it's Red Octane or Microsoft's own fault, the downloadable content for GH2 is nothing short of a rip-off. Firstly, the tracks are sold in packs of three, so you can't buy songs individually, you have to buy a whole pack. And the packs are ludicrously expensive, weighing in at a hefty 500 Microsoft points, which works out at £1.50 a song, or twenty five pounds for the whole set. Songs which, by and large, aren't even performed by the original artists. Plus, most of the songs have already featured in Guitar Hero 1 on the PS2, so there are no extra development costs involved. And speaking of Guitar Hero 1, that game featured a total of forty seven tracks, and can be picked up for twenty pounds or so, representing far better value. Still, given that you can't play Guitar Hero 1 on the 360, Red Octane and Microsoft have got 360 owning GH fans over a barrel.
Or have they? Because while you can't play the Guitar Hero 1 PS2 game on a 360, you can in fact use the PS2 game disc with a 360 Guitar Controller. An enterprising programmer has come up with Frets On Fire, a PC program that lets you plug your controller in your PC, stick the game disc in your DVD drive, and play the Guitar Hero 1 tracks. It may not look quite as pretty as GH on the PS2 or 360, but it's not half bad and beats forking out stupid amounts of money to Microsoft and Red Octane.
If the tracks cost two pounds per pack, and were available individually, then they'd be worth buying. As is, there's no justification for the high cost of these downloads, and I can't recommend buying these when they represent such poor value. Even die hard Guitar Hero fans are better of steering clear of these.
Wrong. Because there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, and while it's hard to say whether it's Red Octane or Microsoft's own fault, the downloadable content for GH2 is nothing short of a rip-off. Firstly, the tracks are sold in packs of three, so you can't buy songs individually, you have to buy a whole pack. And the packs are ludicrously expensive, weighing in at a hefty 500 Microsoft points, which works out at £1.50 a song, or twenty five pounds for the whole set. Songs which, by and large, aren't even performed by the original artists. Plus, most of the songs have already featured in Guitar Hero 1 on the PS2, so there are no extra development costs involved. And speaking of Guitar Hero 1, that game featured a total of forty seven tracks, and can be picked up for twenty pounds or so, representing far better value. Still, given that you can't play Guitar Hero 1 on the 360, Red Octane and Microsoft have got 360 owning GH fans over a barrel.
Or have they? Because while you can't play the Guitar Hero 1 PS2 game on a 360, you can in fact use the PS2 game disc with a 360 Guitar Controller. An enterprising programmer has come up with Frets On Fire, a PC program that lets you plug your controller in your PC, stick the game disc in your DVD drive, and play the Guitar Hero 1 tracks. It may not look quite as pretty as GH on the PS2 or 360, but it's not half bad and beats forking out stupid amounts of money to Microsoft and Red Octane.
If the tracks cost two pounds per pack, and were available individually, then they'd be worth buying. As is, there's no justification for the high cost of these downloads, and I can't recommend buying these when they represent such poor value. Even die hard Guitar Hero fans are better of steering clear of these.