Wii gamers rejoice! It was only a matter of time before it happened. EA has gone on record to say that the insanely popular Rock Band franchise is on its way to Nintendo’s great white console.

In a third-quarter financial conference call today, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello mentioned in passing that Rock Band is currently in development for the Nintendo Wii.

No release date or pricing was revealed, but I’d say we’ll see it this Fall, so EA can take full advantage of the 2008 holiday season. Stay tuned for more details.

[via IGN]

Now you’ll notice that I didn’t say you could PLAY Rock Band on your iPod. But if you’re willing to shell out some serious dough, you can now pick up the entire library of tracks from the hit game over in the Apple iTunes store.

There are currently 74 tracks available in the collection, and at 99 cents each, you’re looking at a whopping $73.26 to pick up the entire set. It’s the perfect way to memorize all the tunes while you’re riding the bus to work so you can defeat your online foes in a blaze of glory over the weekend.

Keep in mind that the iTunes track list isn’t an exact match for the game. For instance, tracks which are cover versions in the game are done by the original artist on iTunes (too bad they’re not that way in the game). There are a handful of other disparities too, but not enough to take away from the sheer awesomeness of the one-stop-shop library.

If you happen to have iTunes installed, you can check out the entire collection here.

[via X3F via TUAW]

I’m as addicted to Rock Band as the next gaming geek, but I still wish the strum bar on the game’s Fender Stratocaster felt more like a real guitar string. Now you get your hands on a mod kit which will let you swap out the plastic strum bar with an actual metal guitar string.

Originally a one-of-a-kind guitar mod designed by a guy going by the name A4AJ, it’s now available as a (patent-pending) kit you can install on your own guitar.

The kit includes everything you need to swap out the plastic bar with a playable string, special strum switch, along with several metal strings, springs and even a Fender guitar pick. Yep, with this mod in place and the tension cranked up, you can play the guitar with a pick!

Keep in mind that the kit does not include the guitar or the wood backboard, and requires that you perform some fairly significant surgery (Dremel, drilling and soldering) on your stock Stratocaster — obviously voiding your warranty.

The kit works with the PS2, PS3 or Xbox 360 versions of the guitar and is currently up for auction on eBay with a starting bid of $75. At this point A4AJ hasn’t geared up production on the kit, so you’ll have to have the top bid if you want this one.

 quotationweb