GH7:ROA DLC - October

If you read (and gave a flying toss) about my blog post detailing a GH game that exists in my imagination then you may recall a line towards the end mentioning a DLC schedule for 2 years. Since the actual GH DLC turned into a monthly release of 10 songs due to lack of enough interest/profit, I've changed my DLC plans as well. Instead of 3 songs a week every week (which is more or less what RB is doing now), I'm doing 16 songs a month with 8 released every other week.
I'm also aware that this is an increase of monthly DLC by approximately 4 songs. This is closer to the RB level of DLC that used to come out whilst also sticking to the cheaper method of recent GH DLC. I also said that the first pack on the release date would be a GHWOR import pack. After that, DLC would be released on the 2nd week of October & then subsequently every other week after that. As for what the DLC would be like, I wouldn't just release random artist packs like previous DLC.
Keeping in line with the theme of the game, the DLC would be related to genres and bands throughout the decades of music. Whilst the first track pack in this post is an exception, the following packs will usually follow a formula of 4 different songs belonging to a certain genre and 4 songs from one band that also belongs to that genre. You'll see in the 2nd DLC pack for this month. Anyway, let's kick this off then!


OCTOBER WEEK 2
Rock 02 Pack

"All Day And All Of The Night" - The Kinks, 1964
Rock, Guitar Tier 5/10
"Little Green Bag" - George Baker Selection, 1969
Rock, Guitar Tier 1/10
"It's A Long Way There" - Little River Band, 1975
Rock, Guitar Tier 8/10
"Lady Writer" - Dire Straits, 1979
Rock, Guitar Tier 6/10
"Danger Zone" - Kenny Loggins, 1986
Rock, Guitar Tier 5/10
"Orange Crush" - R.E.M, 1988
Alternative, Guitar Tier 5/10
"Erotic Nightmares" - Steve Vai, 1990
Rock, Guitar Tier 9/10
"Long Way From Home" - Thunder, 1992
Hard Rock, Guitar Tier 6/10
"Godspeed" - Anberlin, 2006
Alternative, Guitar Tier 7/10
"High School Never Ends" - Bowling For Soup, 2006
Pop Rock, Guitar Tier 4/10


OCTOBER WEEK 4
Hair Metal 01 Pack

"Seventeen" - Winger, 1988
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 9/10
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" - Night Ranger, 1982
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 8/10
"Freight Train" - Nitro, 1989
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 10/10

Motley Crue Pack

"Live Wire" - Motley Crue, 1982
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 6/10
"Kickstart My Heart" - Motley Crue, 1989
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 6/10
"Home Sweet Home" - Motley Crue, 1985
Hair Metal, Guitar Tier 5/10


Right, now it's time to explain this lot. For the Rock pack, I just wanted to get 10 great songs that spread across the 5 decades to show how Rock has changed over the years. Each decade had 2 songs, one by a band already in GH and one new to the series. I'm aware there are more popular Rock songs out there but I'm happy with the ones I chose. Most of them are fun on guitar and the others are bound to be fun on other instruments.
The second pack for the month is a Hair Metal pack, followed by a Motley Crue pack released on the same day. Only 6 songs in total but that's because the previous month had 10. The Hair Metal pack is definitely for Guitar players. All 3 songs are a challenge on Guitar and "Freight Train" would be the first 10/10 song released as DLC. The Motley Crue pack is a bit easier on guitar but probably more challenging for Vocalists. Three awesome songs by a popular Hair Metal band. Sounds good for the first month after the release of the game*. Chances are it'd sell pretty well, too.
If GH was still going, I know we'd never see this pack because ATVI seem to think nobody wants 80s Metal. In a recent interview, I think Kotick said something almost exactly along the lines of "we learnt from market research that people don't want more 80s Metal". Uhhh, when the fuck did this market research take place? Was it actual primary market research involving surveys with DLC buyers across a variety of age groups, genders and other specifications or was it secondary market research involving briefly skimming through the forums until you found enough 12 year olds spamming "WANT MOAR LINKIN PARK!!!!!!!!!!" to justify releasing it as DLC?

My theory is 80s Metal is more expensive to license than modern Metal, hence the lack of it over the last few months of GH DLC. Saying "nobody wants it" is neither accurate or excusable. Remember when HMX announced a Poison 3-pack? They confirmed it with a forum post with the words (again, slightly paraphrasing but it was damn close to this) "we know you've been asking for more Hair Metal". Oh, that's funny. I thought nobody wanted 80s Metal in rhythm gaming.
Wait, you meant normal 80s Metal?! Yeah, you're probably right. And HMX probably didn't release an 8-pack of Ozzy Osbourne songs that the fans loved. And Ozzy Osbourne isn't a perfect example of 80s Metal that people have been asking for more of in GH for years. I can understand if they want to save money but if that's the case, just tell the truth. Don't pretend that we don't exist. It'd surely be easier to respond with "You want music that's more expensive to license? Maybe you should ACTUALLY BUY IT THEN!"
It's not having a pop at the fans, most of them just don't understand the necessary facts behind music licensing for these games, myself included. The same way somebody from ATVI or Neversoft replied to complaints about "2112" being 7 tracks in GHWOR instead of a single 20 minute song. Fans understood the situation and backed down. Anyway, rant over. Next month I'll be doing the DLC schedule for November but between now & then, I've got a Doctor Who related blog post planned. Not sure when I'll do that but definitely this month. Be seeing you.


* I know this isn't real, I'm just trying to sell this as if it were real. Plus, in my head, it's real.