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Dance Central DLC to cost more than Rock Band's

Extra songs for Harmonix's boogie game to carry premium over studio's established rhythm game add-ons due to "complexity" required to build them.

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No Caption Provided Harmonix has a storied career in the rhythm game market. The Boston-area developer created the original Guitar Hero and its sequel and is now famous for the Rock Band franchise. One of the pillars of the studio's business is the weekly downloadable content it has provided gamers in the form of extra songs. Harmonix will employ the same continuing digital business practice with its Kinect boogie game, Dance Central, but additional songs will apparently carry a premium price tag.

Mo-capping a boom box is nothing less than an ordeal.
Mo-capping a boom box is nothing less than an ordeal.

Speaking with Joystiq, Harmonix project lead Kassoon Crooker said DLC in Dance Central will cost more than the $2 Rock Band standard. The developer attributes the uptick in price to the DLC's "complexity," further noting that assembling a dance routine is "significantly different" from composing a Rock Band song.

"Because [Dance Central DLC] comes with a brand new unique routine with the three difficulties, we have to: engage the choreographer, find the song, license the song, come up with a routine, get them into a [motion capture] suit, shoot all the choreography, integrate the animation, build the filter system, the flash cards, the [voiceover] for 'Break it Down'--it's a pretty elaborate process that is not only a lot more expensive, but a lot more time consuming," he said.

Crooker did not specify what Dance Central DLC will actually cost. However, he did note that additional details on the game's DLC pricing will surface in the months leading up to the game's November 4 release.

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