Australian gamers don’t have it easy. With a pathetic government approach to game ratings, constantly gimped products and insulting prices, it’s little wonder that importing is a hot commodity in the land of the rising koala bear. Their woes could very well be further compacted if this new rumortoid is true: Rock Band may face an indefinite delay. I mean … another one.
Word is that retail buyers simply aren’t interested in stocking a bulky product that’s a year old and will cost more than its similarly bulky – and up to date – competitor Guitar Hero: World Tour.
This is dire news if true, yet that’s not the worst of it. Further rumours suggest that – for similar reasons – Rock Band 2 may not come out either, and that the Guitar Hero series has the market sewn up. Whether EA would simply cede control of such a lucrative genre to a competitor remains to be seen, however, and we’re hoping that it will still push to release the second game in Australia.
That’s absolutely brutal for our long-suffering Australian gamers. However, I can actually see some long-term good come from situations like this. After all, the less games going into Australia, the less money Australia can make. Like them or not, videogames are great for the economy and Australia’s stubborn and ignorant methods of dealing with them could get a kick up the backside should games simply stop coming into the country. After all, why should retailers and their customers have to put up with this kind of garbage, both from the Aussie government and from Electronic Arts?
It’s about time Australia took a stand, but it looks like there’ll be some heavy losses along the way.
