Retail Radar: Rock Band accessories

Electronic Arts' upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 rhythm game Rock Band will lower the talent prerequisite for gamers looking for musical enjoyment, but there may still be a significant financial barrier to entry. As picked up on by Kotaku, the online arm of GameStop has begun taking preorders for an assortment of peripherals for the game. If the product listings are accurate, outfitting a full four-piece rock band with drums, guitar, bass, and microphone could cost more than $300.

GameStop lists four different peripherals for each version of Rock Band: a microphone, a guitar, a wireless guitar, and a drum set. The microphone is selling for $39.99, with the standard guitar fetching $59.99 and the wireless guitar and drums going for $79.99 each. The retailer expects all the peripherals to arrive alongside Rock Band, which is selling for $59.99 on its own and currently carries a November 1 release date.

The listing for a wireless guitar on the Xbox 360 is notable, as the system thus far has not featured any third-party wireless accessories. Nyko has announced an Xbox 360 version of its Zero wireless control pad, but that has not yet been released.

A Harmonix representative refuted the listings, saying "Pricing and SKU configuration for Rock Band peripherals have not been confirmed and this is pure speculation by GameStop." As for when those details would be confirmed, the representative just said that information would be released "in the coming months."

Please note, while retailer listings frequently jump the gun on publishers' product announcements, they should not be taken as final confirmation of a game's existence; nor should the absence of a listing be considered as proof that a game isn't coming to a given platform.