Rockband(s)

I sincerely hope at some point Activision and Harmonix get back in touch with the gaming public soon - we are TIRED of buying instruments in this area of $4.20 per gallon gas. Besides destroying available real estate within my house, I simply cannot afford to drop $200 everytime a new version of Rockband comes out. What happened to the good old days of allowing a peripheral to be used with several games before a new version is even considered? Is Dance Dance Revolution the only holdout that doesn't require me to buy a new dance pad with yodeling ability with every new mix released to the public?

I speculate, but perhaps the developers of these hugely grossing games have massively large houses they purchased at the cost of a few mil. This could explain why they're able to justify the high cost of the "Mary Poppins Box of Band Instruments" with each new version of the game. Not to mention their massive houses could actually store all these toys, unlike my fair size apartment (as far as apartments go). If this trend continues buying an iPhone could actually be cheaper than buying a video game!

As "authentic" as these games are trying to be, it's getting gimmicky to the point of ridiculous. A drum set that is velocity sensitive and can adjust the volume for the sound it makes in the game? Adding more things to hit instead of something manageable to a newer player? Excluding bands who won't provide master tracks? At what point do you throw down the controller and go start an actual rock band? Have we reached this point already? Guitar Hero: World Tour allows for a full electronic drum set to be used in place of the drum peripheral. Next the publishers will just provide sheet music, right?

Activision and Harmonix - most of us like your companies and definitely get into your music games, but for the love of pete, will you stop with the oneupsmanship in the instruments and let us actually ENJOY them for a while? I don't think I'm the only one who is becoming turned off by these iconic titles due to the high cost of entry. You stand to make a lot more money by simply releasing a new version of the game that uses my current peripherals, instead of making me choose between money for groceries and a game.