Retail Radar: Sega's Viking, Rock Band release date
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
GameStop accepting preorders for Xbox 360 and PS3 action game Viking: Battle of Asgard, also guaranteeing November 20 delivery for Harmonix rhythm game.
Sony's God of War franchise has shown how ancient mythology can provide an engrossing setting for an action game, and Sega might be following suit, if a pair of new product pages on GameStop's online store are any indication. The gaming retailer is now accepting preorders for Viking: Battle of Asgard on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Neither listing has much in the way of information, though they do list Sega of America as the publisher and developer of the games, alongside $59.99 price points and February 2008 release dates. Curiously, the PS3 product page also includes packaging art and screenshots from Titus Software's Nintendo 64 game Roadsters.
While "Viking" doesn't necessarily imply a game steeped in the supernatural, the subtitle references Asgard, the home of the gods of Norse mythology. The Battle of Asgard then could be a reference to Ragnarok, the climactic, apocalyptic clash of Norse gods. Like Greek mythology, aspects of Norse mythology are regularly referenced in contemporary culture, including gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki. As of press time, a Sega representative had not returned a request for comment.
Moving from Ragnarok to rock 'n roll, GameStop has also updated its product pages for Harmonix and MTV Games' upcoming Rock Band on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The listing for the Rock Band bundle on the PS3 now has a picture of the packaging on it, as well as a gameplay video of David Bowie's "Suffragette City," and a delivery guarantee. Much as it did with Guitar Hero III, GameStop is guaranteeing that those who order the game and pay for overnight shipping will receive it "on the street date of Tuesday, November 20."
The game was previously reported (although never confirmed) to have a November 6 release date. The bundle's pricing of $199.99 remains unchanged. According to GameStop, when it ships, the bundle will have the game, drums, guitar, and microphone included in it. While Harmonix remains tight-lipped on the release date and pricing for Rock Band, the bundle and price point have been consistent--although unconfirmed--since the idea was presented to a focus group in May.
Please note, while retailer listings frequently jump the gun on publishers' product announcements, they should not be taken as final confirmation of a game's existence; nor should the absence of a listing be considered as proof that a game isn't coming to a given platform.
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
92 comments
i preordered rock band back when they first started accepting the preorders. so no matter what the release date i'll have it the day its available :P
These are probably just rumors. I don't remember the last time SEGA built a game with a bundle package. Yes. I do. It was with "Samba De Amigo" back in 2000 with the marca controllers sold for $80 with and $120 pakage. I can't vouch for accuracy because there's no screenshot of the game. As for "Viking" game, it's probably just speculation. With no screenshot or any conformation from Sega of America about, I'm not inclined to believe this story perhapes there may be more to this story that what we see. If we hear something from SEGA of Japan about any hardware it should be taken seriously. Personally if SEGA is buildng an bundle set than it may be another clue to SEGA returning to the home console market in the next round as we see slow baby steps back in to hardware. Thankfully TGS isn't too far away, If SEGA has something big planned for 2008, then maybe, just maybe they might have some BIG surprise for everyone but I can only hope.
This Viking: Battle of Asgard game is probably going to be crap...I'd love a decent game with some real Norsemen though.
That Rock band box looks really small for a game that has drums, guitar, bass, mic, and a disc in it. I still gonna get it! :D
With that kind of retarded logic, playing any multiplayer video game means you are "avoiding the real world."
I have a bad feeling about rock band. The kinds of games seperate were pretty good, and everyone knows Guitar Hero will be considered a classic a few years down the road, but when you have yourself and 3 friends, "rocking" out on big pieces of plastic with buttons, then getting cheered on by prerecorded voices, it just goes to show that you will spend anything to avoid this magical place called the "real world."
Guaranteed for my B-day. Sweet! Now I'm gonna put it on this on my wish list for B-day gifts. Maybe my friends will pony up enough together on time so we can play it @ my party bash. Rock on!
lol at people who say you can get a real guitar for $200 and play the songs for real... if you can play any of those songs 90% or higher perfectly after about 30 min to an hour, with no(none at all) prior guitar experience, youre some kind of musical god or alien from the planet of guitars. The Guitar hero/rock band games are about emulating the feel of playing a guitar (which they do very well, considering how much more basic they are), not about becoming a real guitarist. Although, rock-bands drums will teach you how to play real drums to an extent, which is pretty freakin cool.
200$ is a lot of money for some people,but since u can buy the game separated from the instruments then thats not bad at all,plus, its up to you to choose what u want.
Sounds cool. Norse mythology will be somewhat familiar ground for Sega. I always play as the viking dwarf in Golden Axe.
Stop complaining about the Rock Band price people. You realize that is roughly a $100 drum kit, A $50-60 Dollar Guitar., A $20-30 microphone, and a $60 game. Wow, the bundle just saved you $40. Besides, thats the BUNDLE. I promise you you can buy the game with single instruments. Its roughly going to be $80-$100 depending on the controller.
I'm totally down for the $200 bundle. And to those geniuses that have said only the PS3 version will get a wireless guitar, check your information dipsticks: the 360 version of Rock Band will feature a wireless guitar as well. Gamestop's info on the 360 version is simply incorrect.
Rock Band just blew their own eardrums out. However, seeing as the game and controls are also sold seperately, there is still a strong chance the game will do well.
Really, this talk about the price is a little ridiculous. If you look at GH2 for the 360, it's $80-$90 depending where you go. That's for a game and one controller. Singstar or any Karoke game go for around $50-$60...Now imagine a full-on drumkit, ANOTHER guitar, and the game...Oh yeah, you're still getting the microphone...$200 ain't so bad to me.
People still aren't getting it - you can buy the game as the $200 bundle, or you can buy it individually with any instrument(s) of your choice. It's not $200 or bust like all you noobs are making it out to be.
Wow, after looking at that price, it doesn't look like I'm getting Rock Band any time soon.
$200 is actually a great price for what your getting. If you buy everything separately it costs more.
Not much of a guitar fan ....but i think that if the price is not above $200 i could give it a try.... I might even make my own band imagine that!!!
Buy Guitar Hero 3 and that guitar, then just buy Rock Band and use the Guitar Hero guitar...
According to ebgames website you can just buy the game or individual instruments or the bundle.
Sweetness. This game looks cool, and the new controllers seem pretty awesome. My only concern is the song selection, which needs to be really good to justify the cost. I expect they'll do a pretty good job, though.
It seems a little ridiculous that the only game + instument(s) bundle is $200 and all 3 instruments. So far on EB they only have the full bundle, the game only, and the instruments only listed. So if you want just the game and the guitar you pay $60 (game) + $80 (guitar) = $140! It's the same price for just the game + drums, and even the game + mic is still a whopping $90! Harmonix, what is this s***! So the only way I'm going to get this game for less than $100 before tax is if I want to be the vocalist?!?!? There is no way in hell I'm getting this game now! You just lost a sale Harmonix.
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