Okay, so our obsession with the yet-to-be-released-in-Australia Rock Band game is yet to be soothed. Well, if it ever scores a retail release in Australia, it could coincide with a bit of competition. The developers of the popular title Guitar Hero, Activision, have reportedly been quoted as saying that the next generation of Guitar Hero title could also include a microphone component, and a drum set!

A recent interview with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (via Portfolio.com) includes a comment that the next step for the series could take the instrument levels beyond the guitar. “It’s not just about guitars. We’ll include a lot of other instruments, vocals. It will help us expand internationally. It’s the first game we’ve had in which we can use local content and local bands,” says Kotick.

Gaming site Joystiq have taken this a step further, correlating this comment with their sources’ information that not only will this include a drum kit, but that developers are so proud of their drum experience that, “it will be “superior” to Rock Band’s.”

All of this talk, but we’re still probably miles away from a local retail release. Therefore, Headwires has been surfing the Interwebs for our solution to import the game into Australia from overseas. The best solution we’ve found is (for PS3 owners who can currently enjoy it’s region-free goodness):
- Import the Special Edition from the US - US$169.99 from Frys (works out to be about AU$300 including postage).
- A 4 port hub (the game requires 3 USB ports, the local PS3 mostly only ships with 2) - Anywhere

If you have an XBox 360, you might be out of luck due to region locking of their titles. Essentially, this means that, out of the box, an XBox 360 from one region (i.e. Australia) cannot play a game for sale in another region Ii.e. the US). HOWEVER, apparently UK XBox 360 versions of the game are playable on local consoles. Check out this thread on dtvforum’s for info.