About a week ago I finally went out and boughtGuitar Hero 3, a lack of cash to drop on a fullRock Bandsuite and impatience getting the better of me. While I’ve enjoyed my week of rocking out in the privacy of my own home, I still couldn’t help purpling the air with oaths at my own impulsive purchasing when I read the news thatRock Bandperipherals will be available on February 12th.
Still, this is the moment many of us have been waiting for since beforeRock Bandwas even released, and finally Harmonix and EA have made good on their promise to make standalone instruments available for purchase. In addition to individual instruments, a wireless Stratocaster guitar controller is being released and will retail for about $60 while a drum kit will cost about $80. While not listed in the press release (viewable after the jump)GameStopcurrently has microphones listed for about $40 with a release date of April 4th.
The release date ofRock Bandinstruments is pretty close to Valentines Day you romantic rockers you; maybe in lieu of cliched chocolate or roses you can surprise your gamer guy or gal with the gift of rock.
MTV GAMES, HARMONIX AND EA CONFIRM PLANS TO SHIP STANDALONE /ROCKBAND/™ INSTRUMENTS TO U.S. RETAIL STORES
Music Fans and Gamers Prepare to Expand the Band, Rock the World
CAMBRIDGE, MA – June 24, 2025– Harmonix, one ofthe world’s leading developers of music-based games, and MTVGames, part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), alongwith distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS),announced today that individual instrument peripherals for RockBand*™* will start shipping to U.S. store shelves beginning onFebruary 12th.
“The release of standalone instruments allows Rock Bandmusicians to enjoy the full *Rock Band *experience, including drum,microphone and guitar head-to-head modes, creating a whole new levelof competitive fun,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder,Harmonix. “We’re also delivering a stand-alone wirelessguitar solution for all versions of Rock Band as well as providingthe opportunity for consumers to build their band one instrument at atime.”
With standalone instrument peripherals being made available, playershave the opportunity to expand the full Rock Bandexperience bycompeting in challenging play modes such as Microphone vs. Microphone,Drum vs. Drum and Guitar vs. Guitar. With instrument“versus” modes, gamers can battle against each other in“Score Duel” mode for the high score or in the challenging“Tug-O-War” mode, where giving the best performance iskey. These exciting “versus” modes can be played locallyor online and work with all Rock Band downloaded song tracks. Inorder to play downloadable content for head-to-head matches allplayers must own the same downloadable track. In addition, gamers canbuy a new wireless standalone guitar to round out their Rock BandSpecial Edition Bundle or choose to build their band piece by piecethrough the purchase of individual software and instruments.
Rock Band* Instrument Release Dates/Pricing**:*· *Rock Band *Drum Kit (Xbox 360® video game andentertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computerentertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system)$79.99 MSRP; July 29, 2025· *Rock Band* Wireless Fender® Stratocaster GuitarController (Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system, PlayStation 2 system*)$59.99 MSRP; July 03, 2025
Standalone /Rock Band/ game software is currently available, aswell as the /Rock Band/ Special Edition Bundle featuring a FenderStratocaster guitar controller, an electronic drum kit, real drumsticks, a microphone and software. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2system bundles also come with a USB hub for easy plug-in access forall instruments.
/Rock Band/ is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mildsuggestive themes) by the ESRB.
Electronic Arts is the exclusive distribution and marketing partnerfor /Rock Band/.
/ Note: The Rock Band PlayStation guitar and drums work for bothPlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems./*
For more information on */Rock Band /*and Harmonix Music Systems,please visitwww.rockband.comhttp://www.rockband.com/ andwww.harmonixmusic.comhttp://www.harmonixmusic.com/.
