Import Your Way To Rock Bandom Aussies and Kiwis!!!
Damn you EA, Damn you to hell!! While the rest of the world is rocking out, for those of us in Australia and New Zealand, we have to wait till September (October for NZ) to play Rock Band. It's bad enough that the instruments and game will be separate purchases upon release and will cost pretty much twice the price as the US complete bundle, we get it a year after everybody else?! That's just plain inexcusable.
If you're one of those people who refuse to stand for such a travesty of justice and have alot of cash to burn (the soul is willing but the wallet is weak in my case), Canned Geek's guide to Importing Rock Band (2.0), provides you with a step by step guide to becoming the next Midnight Oil for around $440 (including a second guitar controller). In addition to tips on buying a bundle, the author Kyle also touches on things such as how to fix instruments, getting your hands on a US credit card and accessing the American PSN to download tracks. It's a pretty neat guide and one that first time importers should take a look at, even if it isn't Rock Band as it covers many of the fundamental issues and workarounds that have to be faced when buying games, services and equipment from different regions.
Before you go rushing off with high hopes, be warned of the amount of effort and money you're about to be committing yourself to for going down this route. You'll only have the choice of the PS3 version (which doesn't have region lockout), the package will as mentioned above set you back nearly $440, you have to make sure that the seller (if buying from ebay) is legit, you'll need a US credit card (or use PSN cards) and be on the US PSN and finally if something goes wrong, you're without warranty. Just stuff to be mindful of.
Why do you make us jump through all these hoops to play your game EA? We're loyal customers who even though don't bring in as much money as other areas still should not be treated like second class consumers. Here's a tip to Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Revolution: get in here before Rock Band and you'll be golden!
[Via Kotaku]
