Guitar Hero II 360 wired for 2007

It looks like Xbox 360 gamers won't be rocking around the Christmas tree this year.

A RedOctane representative told GameSpot that the recently announced Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 will be released sometime in 2007, significantly trailing the PlayStation 2 version of the game, scheduled to hit retail this November.

The rep also addressed some speculation about the new X-Plorer guitar controller that will be released with the game. At Microsoft's X06 event in Barcelona, Spain, Activision showed the game off with a prototype X-Plorer, which was connected to the 360 with a wire. However, representatives there wouldn't confirm whether or not the final hardware would also be wired.

Today, GameSpot received confirmation from the RedOctane spokesperson that the final X-Plorer guitar will also be wired, dashing gamers' hopes of re-creating Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic's dramatic finish to the band's 1992 MTV Music Video Awards performance.

The Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II will contain all the same content of the PlayStation 2, as well as exclusive extra songs that will be made available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. No pricing information has yet been released for the game.