Rock Band's First Release Goes Gold

The multi-instrumental music game Rock Band has reached gold master status and is heading into production, MTV Games and Harmonix announced today.

The Rock Band Special Edition Bundle will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America on Nov. 20. The PlayStation 2 version will be available Dec. 18.

"We have a small army filling our warehouses with the final product, ready for our Nov. 20 ship date so players can fulfill their rock-and-roll aspirations," said Alex Rigopolous, CEO of Harmonix. "Now, our focus is putting together an amazing selection of downloadable music content for players so players can continue to further customize their Rock Band experience post launch."

At launch, only the Rock Band bundle will be available. Standalone instrument peripherals for the game, including a wireless guitar option for the Xbox 360, will be available at a still-unannounced later date.

The standalone Rock Band software will support a variety of

third-party instrument peripherals and enable owners to share peripherals with Special Edition bundle owners.

The Xbox 360 version of the Special Edition bundle will include a wired drum kit, microphone and Fender Stratocaster guitar controller as well as a USB hub. The PS3 version includes a wired drum kit and microphone, and a wireless Fender Stratocaster guitar controller, which will be interoperable between the PS2 and PS3. The PS2 includes the same items as the 360 version, but with a wireless guitar.

Rock Band was developed by Harmonix, and will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts.

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