360 Guitar Hero II golden

Since its release last November, Guitar Hero II has been a runaway success on the PlayStation 2. The rockin' rhythm game has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the US, despite many of them being in $79.99 bundles with a guitar controller. As of January, the game had generated over $114.6 million domestically alone, making the near $100 million Activision paid for Guitar Hero's publisher look like a bargain.

Now the Guitar Hero juggernaut is poised to roll onto its first next-generation platform. (The franchise is also coming to the Wii and DS.) Activision announced today that Guitar Hero II has gone gold for the Xbox 360 and is all set for its April 3 release. The game will be available only as part of an $89.99 bundle that includes the game and the all-new Xplorer Guitar controller. The Xplorer is available on its own for $59.99.

Like the PS2 original, the 360 Guitar Hero II will center on rhythm gameplay where players must press chordlike button combos in time with a selected song. The new edition will feature all the tunes from the PS2 Guitar Hero II, including Wolfmother's "Woman," Van Halen's "You Really Got Me," and Rush's "YYZ." The 360 version will also feature 10 exclusive songs, with more becoming available on Xbox Live Marketplace in the future.

Both versions of Guitar Hero II are rated T for Teen due to some songs' risqué lyrics. For more on the the game, read GameSpot's full review of the PS2 original.