Over at a site called GameStooge, one of the writers complains about having to unlock songs in Guitar Hero II:
Why must one have to unlock songs? The consumer just paid $90 for your product, and deserves immediate access to the products that are paid for. One should not have to jump through hoops to access what was advertised on your box. You want to make the consumer jump through hoops? That’s what Achievements are for. That’s the entire raison d’etre of Achievements (aside from tracking your progress through a game for all to see.) Getting through Easy gave Achievements, for example. However, getting through Easy doesn’t even unlock songs.
Now, I can understand games like DDR, where it’s meant for an arcade setting, where there’s only a limited amount of time to play. Yet, you’re buying a game to play at home. The whole point of the game is that you build up your status as a guitar player — moving from song set to song set as you do more concert tours. What he wants is akin to wanting to be able to fight the final boss of a game as soon as he pops in the disc.
More after the jump.
The guy goes on to say:
This practice is tired, quite frankly, and also is quite illegal: it’s called “deceptive advertising”. Had Red Octane been honest, it should have said right on the box: “To access this song, you must do so-and-so before you can play it.”
Really now? Deceptive advertising? I think it’s common knowledge for all people that playing through a video game means that you have to progress in a somewhat linear fashion from beginning to end. This guy needs to look up the definition, perhaps. It’d be more like Sony putting in its ads, “If you buy a PS3, it will cure cancer.” Now, it’s not altogether untrue per-se, but it’s stretching the truth quite a bit.
There’s a reason why levels are included in Guitar Hero: so that you can improve your skill and aren’t overwhelmed by everything in the game. I can understand having the songs unlocked in quick play or something, but otherwise, it defeats the whole idea behind the game. If you just have everything unlocked in a game, then you’ve completely gotten rid of a structured gaming experience. And in the words of Aaron Linde: “and is therefore: f*****g lunacy.”
