For months, Guitar Hero: World Tour has been at the top of many gamers’ shopping lists. When it was revealed in May, the game leapfrogged its rival rhythm franchise, Rock Band, by introducing song composition and sharing, as well as out-of-the-box cymbal controllers with its drum set.

Today, Activision-owned RedOctane priced the "deluxe version" at $239.99 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of the game, with the PlayStation 2 and Wii DE iterations ringing up at a moderately less pricey $219.99. This edition of the game includes the game software, a USB microphone, a five-pad drum kit with kick pedal, guitar and drum wireless receivers, two drumsticks, a Guitar Hero: World Tour guitar faceplate, a sticker pack, a guitar strap, a T-shirt (XL only), a dual recharge kit, a dual "gig bag," and a Guitar Hero keychain.

Given that the regular edition of the game costs just $189.99, the obvious question is--what exactly does the extra $50 buy? According to an Activision rep, not much. When asked what the difference was between the $239.99 edition of World Tour and the $189.99 standard-issue game, reps for RedOctane directed GameSpot to the Bestbuy.com product page, which lists only the game, faceplate, guitar, drum kit, and microphone as being in the bundle.

RedOctane.com lists Guitar Hero: World Tour as being available also in a deluxe guitar-only bundle for $109.99 for the PS3, 360, and Wii, with a PS2 variant costing $99.99. Ironically, the respective regular editions of the guitar-only bundle--which include the faceplate, sticker pack, and guitar strap--ring up at just $99.99 and $89.99. By that metric, the Deluxe Edition of the game is charging customers $40 for the recharge kit, gig bag, T-shirt, and keychain.

By Tor Thorsen