Beaterator drops release date

Back in March 2005, Rockstar Games released a free Flash-enabled, Web-based music sequencing tool called Beaterator. Two years later, it announced that an enhanced, portable edition of the app, which lets players mix drum loops from major club DJs, was in development for the PSP. The latter version would also feature new beats from Timbaland, the hip-hop producer behind hit tracks from artists such as Nas, Jay-Z, and Missy Elliot.

Though originally dated for summer 2007, Beaterator slipped from Rockstar's release calendar until this past March, when parent company Take-Two Interactive promised it would arrive before Halloween. However, unlike other major Take-Two titles slated for 2009, such as Mafia II, BioShock 2, and Red Dead Redemption, the game hasn't slipped into 2010. Today, Rockstar announced that the game would go on sale on September 29 in North America for $39.99. It is due on October 2 in Europe.

No rating has yet been announced for Beaterator, which will be available both at retail and for download via the PlayStation Network. However, Timbaland did say tracks created in the game will be able to be exchanged with other players, although the particulars remain unclear.

Though Beaterator is not a game in the traditional sense, its musical software is familiar territory for Rockstar founders Sam and Dan Houser. The pair worked at BMG Music in London during the early 1990s, before going into games at BMG Interactive. When BMG Interactive was bought by Take-Two in 1998, the pair formed the internal studio Rockstar, which went on to develop the Grand Theft Auto series.