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Donkey Konga Bundle Pack Announced

An anonymous reader writes "Nintendo will release the new Donkey Konga Ultimate Bongo Bundle Pack to the European market on the 15th October for a reported £89.99. The bundle includes a black Gamecube, controller , a copy of Donkey Konga and a bongo drum controller." No word yet on a US release.

24 comments

  1. I want some for the PC by brejc8 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a PC games player I am really tired of not seeing any nice game input devices. I wanted to buy my self a light gun and there are 3 choices. Two are poor accurecy and the third looks rather pathetic. Light guns for all consoles look and feel so much better. Secondly there are loads of other things you can plug in: dance mats, air guitars/bongo drums, bazooka launchers, virtual girlfriends....
    What do we get? Mice errrmm... nope that's it.

    1. Re:I want some for the PC by dreamsylvania · · Score: 1

      You'll get your variety of input devices when PC developers start making games that require them, or when console developers decide to port them to PC. So why aren't they doing it already? Perhaps because these input devices are more naturally suited to casual games played in the living room (console territory) where the space is (or can be) more social. There's also just more space, period. I don't know about you, but I don't have the floor space for a dance mat in front of my computer. That's of course assuming there's a big market for these things on the PC. It would seem to me that bazooka launchers and light guns would go well with FPS's, but I always hear FPS gamers revering the mouse-and-keyboard setup, so maybe that's why there aren't more models -- people aren't buying them.

    2. Re:I want some for the PC by brejc8 · · Score: 1

      I suppose youre right on the space front. I have a MythTV box connected to my main TV and I have started playing Mame games. The TV connection further restricts the guns I can buy (currently one). Currently I can make a full games machine for less than 300GBP and still use if for recording TV etc. Much better than a games console.

    3. Re:I want some for the PC by Txiasaeia · · Score: 1
      I really can't see why you'd *want* a light gun for any PC game. Imagine playing UT2004 with one hand on WASD and the other on your gun ;)

      Music stuff (mats, bongos etc) would be VERY cool, however (and IIRC such mats do exist for the pc) - imagine DDRing to your own MP3 collection! Fun stuff.

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    4. Re:I want some for the PC by May+Kasahara · · Score: 1

      Well, you can always go the adapter route-- I got a USB-to-PlayStation adapter not too long ago so I could use a DualShock with my PC, and it works great. Just search around on eBay...

  2. Saw it in Walmart last night by codejnki · · Score: 3, Informative

    No US release date? Saw this in Walmart last night. Somebody needs to get some facts sraight.

    --
    "War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left"

    Steven Wright

    1. Re:Saw it in Walmart last night by cbirdsong64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      You mean, the bundle with the Gamecube included, or one with just the bongos and the game? Because the bundle with the bongos and the game is the only way to get the game at this point.

  3. Old news? by Mattb90 · · Score: 1

    The Eurogamer.net news story went live on the 2nd September... that's over a month ago. Surely this is old news by now?

    --
    Mattb90
    Editor, allaboutgames.co.uk
  4. Yeah and? What games would you use them with? by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1
    PC games are different and aimed at a different audience. Complaining that the PC doesn't have "on rails" shooters and the light guns for them is like complaining a ferrari doesn't have enough space for your extended family and luggage.

    We got high resolution monitors and extreme amount of buttons on our controller (called a keyboard) Consoles got more "wacky" stuff. Is not like those consoles are so expensive you can't have both.

    The PC problem with developing "nice" input devices is that the market is incredibly tiny. Many have already tried to create "the" game input device but faced with a market where 99% if the users are satisfied with their mouse keyboard combination there just aren't enough customers.

    Even consoles have a heard time selling these things. Why do you think they are selling it as a bundle?

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  5. only nintendo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Only nintendo could come up with this wacky! I must buy it and use it for 5 minutes only to toss it in my cellar with R.O.B., the power glove, the super scope, and all the other crap nintendo constantly sells to little children with weak willed parents and other assorted suckers.

    I will smite you with my mouse and keyboard!

    1. Re:only nintendo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Power Glove was not creted by Nintendo.

      If you're not a newbie, start acting like it.

  6. Deal? Not at the moment... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 2, Informative
    According to online currency converter, £89.99 in British pounds works out to be $161.76 in American dollars.

    If I'm not mistaken, most American stores would still be selling the bundlle with a Cube and Metroid Prime for $100. Donkey Konga is $50 at most stores.

    Obviously, two games for $10 less is a much better bargain.

    Here's hoping that Nintendo drops the price if they decide to release an American version of the bundle...

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
  7. Could have Sworn: by ElectricInkPen · · Score: 1

    I could have sworn that I saw Donkey Konga on the shelf at an EB here in Sweden the other day...Is it already out WITHOUT the bundle? It wasn't in the "presale" section of the store with things like Half-Life 2 and Halo 2, but that makes a grim sense of its own. I'll look again.

    --
    Jaron _ at _ ElectricInkPen.com Penning the Web Electric
  8. Don't Forget to add 20 dollars by Mr.Dippy · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'm still confused why Nintendo won't include a memory card with its bundle packages. Great, I get a metroid prime and a gamecube for a 100 bucks but now that really is $120. $169 for the Donkey Kong bundle is really $189

    --


    -Dipster
    1. Re:Don't Forget to add 20 dollars by macserv · · Score: 1

      Or, you could save yourself a lot of money, and buy yourself a $29.99 Memory Card 1019. It's been out for months, and has 4x the capacity of the 251 model. That's more than enough to hold the saves for every game I play regularly, or, for that matter, every GameCube game I own.

      I must say that Nindendo has done a nice job of keeping me satisfied, while keeping themselves saturated with my cash. When my two 59s got full, they released the 251. Now that my 251's reached its limit, the 1019 is there to pick up the slack. Works for me, since the prices have always been good, and the upgrades infrequent.

    2. Re:Don't Forget to add 20 dollars by Mr.Dippy · · Score: 0

      True. But it stills annoys me that you have to buy an additional item to make your system complete. Besides, I heard there where issues with some of the games trying to save to the 1019 card.

      --


      -Dipster
  9. Wow cool! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Way to whore yourselves out Slashdot. At least you could tell us so we can just skip it by entirely and save our aching brain from the endless stream of Donkey Konga advertising that keeps hitting us from every goddamn media outlet we watch.

    After all, I'd love to buy a copy of... WHO GIVES A CRAP!?

  10. My house loves the Drums. by weffey · · Score: 1

    I picked up Donkey Konga for my roomies and I to unwind with (they all ended up buying their own drums, it's not as much fun with the controller). It's our third night having it in the house and needless to say, it's now 8 hours from when we started playing today and we were still having fun until the neighbours asked us to try keep it down. Our palms may be bright red and swollen, the cats may be scared of us, the neighbours think we're insane, the Sims 2 are sitting neglected, but we'll be right back signing and dancing with our drums tomorrow.

    ...And it makes a great drink-along game.

  11. That assumes British game prices make any sense... by dreamsylvania · · Score: 1

    Having lived in England for six months, I am acutely aware that game prices are actually not direct exchanges of American prices. A typical new GC/PS2/XBox game costs £39.99 in stores and £29.99 on Amazon.co.uk (£30=$53.81). A GC by itself goes for £74.99 on Amazon. On that account, £89.99 is a bargain. Other examples of how ridiculously pricey British games are: a new GBA game goes for £29.99 (£22.49 on Amazon), a GBA SP goes for £69.99 (again, slightly cheaper on Amazon). The dollar has declined a bit in the past year, so that accounts for some of the expensiveness as well.

  12. Re:That assumes British game prices make any sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hmm... hold on a moment here.

    On the face of it, yes, British game prices are high. However, what you will find is that a large proportion of high-street retailers sell games (particularly PC, PS2 and X-Box games) well below their Recommended Retail Price. This applies not just to titles on specified "budget" labels, but often to games that are no more than a month old. Indeed, if you were to buy a new PS2 today, you'd be able to pick up a huge number of the "must have" games (eg. Final Fantasy X, Gran Tursimo 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdom Hearts, Silent Hill 2 etc) on the "2 for £30" ranges. I even got Onimusha 3, a very recent game, as part of such a deal a couple of weeks ago. This is actually better than anything I've seen in the equivalent US stores. The simple message with buying games in the UK is that if you can bring yourself to wait a month or two, you'll save a lot of money.

    The exceptions tend to be Nintendo products. Gamecube games don't tend to be included in these deals to the same extent; you can get some of the 3rd-party titles, but the fact that I've never seen the most prominent, such as Mario Sunshine, included implies to me that there may be a spot of price-fixing going on. GBA games are an out-right rip-off and I refuse to buy them at all in the UK. The few that I've got were bought on visits to the States.

  13. i bought this game over the weekend by fireduck · · Score: 1

    and I must say, it is a lot of fun. At first, the idea of smacking bongos in tune with the TV seemed childish, but once you get over the whole "do I look like an idiot to my wife?" factor, it's a whole new game. Smacking those little plastic bongos, clapping, waving your hands like you're a some sort of drumming superstar.

    One of biggest downside to the game, is that it can be difficult to hear the actual game if you're really hitting the drums. There's a bunch of different drum sounds you can eventually select from, and you really have to turn the TV up to hear them over your own smacking and clapping. That, and I'm sure my neighbors are getting tired of me with my barking dogs drum set playing We Will Rock You for the tenth time in a row.

    Song selection, for the post-alternative 30 year old is mixed. There's a few classic rock songs that are fun to drum with, and a bunch of modern alternative. But about half is kids/weird pop/nintendo tunes that i'm not really familiar with and don't have any real concept of how the beat fits in with the song.

    1. Re:i bought this game over the weekend by mcmonkey · · Score: 1
      "do I look like an idiot to my wife?"

      Yes. (But they put up with us anyway. ;)

  14. Re:Deal? Not at the moment... by prewashedironman · · Score: 1

    Your forgetting, we have 17.5% tax added onto all of our prices, so the effective amount is $137, which is a (slightly) better deal.

  15. Re:Deal? Not at the moment... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 1
    As has been pointed out to me by several posters, I know nothing about the British economy.

    This is what happens when a high schooler tries to appear intelligent. It doesn't work.

    Carry on, then... :)

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.