Rock Band is going to cost £179. £179. It’s $169 in the States for an identical package, that is to say £85. No way that VAT can explain this one.

I was actually considering buying an Xbox 360 and Rock Band was one of the main reasons. Paying £100 to Electronic Arts’ special party fund means that that pretty big reason has now been taken away. They won’t have a good explanation for this either, I’m betting…

When asked why the game will be so much more expensive in the UK than it is in the US, Kay cited VAT and the higher price of consumer electronics generally. “These are definitely not excuses so much as contributing reasons,” he stated.

“I can’t talk to the explicit pricing – how it gets split down between retailers and distributors and the whole chain – because I don’t actually know that much about it.”

In other words, no.