Mad Catz jamming with Rock Band

From the onset, Harmonix's grand vision for Rock Band involved open-platform peripherals so that fantasy fretters could ply their trade with the axe of their choice, even if said axe was created by a competitor. Those plans have since hit a major snag, with Activision refusing to support PlayStation 3 Guitar Hero III peripherals for use with MTV Games and Harmonix's rhythm game until proper compensation had been dispensed.

While that clash appears to be at a standstill, at least one peripheral maker will be hopping aboard the Rock Band bandwagon. Mad Catz announced today that it had entered into a long-term licensing agreement with MTV Games to create licensed peripherals for Rock Band in North America.

As part of the deal, Mad Catz will bring to market wired and wireless bass guitars, drum sets, and wired microphones, as well as various other accessories for Rock Band on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 2. Mad Catz expects to offer its initial lineup in the first half of 2008.

While Harmonix currently only offers its instruments as part of the $169 bundle, the developer has said that stand-alone instruments should begin appearing at retail in the first part of 2008.