PS2 Rock Band touring NA in '07

Last month at the Leipzig Games Convention, Harmonix and MTV Games' European publicist announced that Rock Band was coming to the PlayStation 2. However, no mention was made of a US release for the PS2 edition of the previously Xbox 360- and PlayStation 3-only rhythm game, which will arrive on both sides of the Atlantic later this year.

Today, though, US Harmonix reps confirmed North American PS2s will be able to jam with Rock Band. More importantly, the game will ship before the end of the year, putting it in further competition with rival Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Now, the Wii will be the sole console where the latter instrument-based rock-rhythm game is unchallenged when it ships at the end of October.

The PS2 Rock Band is a scaled-down version of its next-gen brethren, and will not have the iTunes-like functionality to download new music. It will, however, have a single-player career mode. So far, more than 10 songs have been announced for the PS2 version, including the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage," and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by the Clash.