While you might think a game titled Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would have you playing, you know, guitars, a Best Buy advertisement for the latest mistake chapter in the rhythm game franchise claims you'll be able to play as all of the "famous rock legends" in "America's greatest rock and roll band" -- including the drummer, Joey Kramer, and band's own lady-lookin'-dude, Steven Tyler, using a drum peripheral and microphone peripheral (complete with flamboyantly colored scarf, we assume).

If true, we wonder if Activision would release their own controllers for the game, or count on backwards compatibility with the Rock Band peripherals (fat chance, considering the near feud between Harmonix and Activision over Rock Band's guitar compatibility issues). Not that it matters to us -- the only devices we'd use to interact with a rhythm game featuring songs by Aerosmith are a clay pigeon launcher and our trusty pump-action shotgun.

[Thanks, Waffle Slayer.]

We've been informed that the mention of Wii compatibility on the packaging for the standalone Rock Band microphone was an error. A spokesperson from manufacturer PDP contacted Joystiq to say, "Our packaging mistakenly states that the microphone is compatible with the Wii. Unfortunately, this is not the case and will be corrected in future versions of the packaging. We apologize for the confusion."

The statement's timing seems odd following yesterday's confirmation that Rock Band is coming to the Wii. It seems there's some issue with this specific microphone, meaning it should not be compatible with Boogie or High School Musical either, both of which use microphones plugged into the Wii's USB ports.

This bit of info is flying pretty close under the radar, but apparently the Rock Band standalone microphones are sporadically out in the wild. The picture above comes from a tipster at a Best Buy in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, who tells us the microphone is being sold for $50. We knew the standalone guitar is coming in April and the drum kit gets a beat on retail next month, but the microphone was conspicuously missing from that announcement.

If $50 for the "official" mic seems a bit much, just remember that a standard USB mic should be compatible. Still no "official" announcement on this microphone that has apparently gone ninja into retail.

Update: The packaging claims the mic is compatible with PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and ... Wii! Rock Band for Wii?! Not so fast, this could just be a standard USB microphone for use with games like – *shudder* – Boogie.

[Via Engadget, Thanks Arcaynn]

With the absolute flood of third-party guitars for the Guitar Hero series, it's not that surprising that accessory-makers are jumping on the Rock Band-wagon, too. Well, at least one is. Mad Catz today announced a "multi-year licensing agreement" with MTV Games to produce "both wired and wireless bass guitars, a drum percussion set bundled with professional quality wooden drum sticks, and a wired microphone."

While having extra options for drum kits and microphones is nice, the addition of officially licensed, wireless, third-party guitars will be welcome news to PS3 owners tired of not being able to use their Guitar Hero III guitars with Rock Band and Xbox 360 owners tired of tripping over wires -- not to mention general Rock Band owners tired of replacing their broken bundled guitars. The instruments will be available in the "first half of 2008," according to the release.

While the release specifically addresses Rock Band instruments, it also leaves the door open for other applicable "game accessories." We personally can't wait for the inevitable pyrotechnics launcher that goes off every time you nail a tough solo. Just, er, be careful with it, OK?

Harmonix will have a booth at this year's PAX convention in Seattle Aug 24-26 where Rock Band will be playable. For those who during E3 didn't have an appointment with EA, get invited to the West Hollywood party or end up in the suite gathering, here's their chance to play with the general populace -- like Chris Furniss of The Weekly Geek Show. Furniss points out, "Sure you could play Harmonix's Guitar Hero-and-every-other-game-ever-killer behind closed doors at this year's E3 ... But it wasn't on the show floor. This just furthers my frustration with companies at this year's E3."

Yes, the picture above created by and featuring Furniss does not actually use the Rock Band peripherals and he's using Donkey Kong bongos in place of the drums -- but it's still funny, darn it! Hopefully Harmonix will think ahead and have some plan set up for PAX and the mass of people who will want to play Rock Band. The 20x30 booth they'll have set up may only be for one set, which means PAX attendees will hopefully not experience the Nintendo Wii line of 2006 for their chance at the game. Thankfully, the game is just as fun to watch as it is to play.

It's been rumored for well over a year that the Wiimote houses secret microphone functionality. As recently as this month, additional rumor fodder came in the form of one unused "audio translator" sitting idly inside each and every Wiimote. It's too bad then that the upcoming Wii rhythm game, Boogie, is coming with the pictured microphone, as promised.

Sure, maybe some part of us believed that -- through the magic of technology (or just plain magic) -- our plain, unassuming Wiimotes would be transformed into super-powered Wiimote / microphone hybrids. Or maybe they still will and Nintendo's just not ready to share the magic with third-parties. Speaking of third-parties, note the generic EA branding, perfect for use with other EA-developed, microphone-enabled Wii games. Yes, we're thinking of you, Harry Potter.

Although there hasn't been an official announcement yet, we expect to see the Wii-mic by Q3. Rumors have surfaced and GoNintendo confirmed that NDA was broken -- so, yeah, about that Wii-mic. The writing was on the wall earlier this week when High School Musical was announced for the Wii. The Karaoke Revolution-esque game by Disney Interactive will use a microphone. Unless the game is using the Gamecube's mic to be stuck in on top of the Wii, that means a microphone attachment will soon be officially announced by Nintendo.

The real NDA breaking rumor has EA working on a Harry Potter game using the mic in conjunction with gestures to cast spells. Now that's the type of Wii title we're talking about! "Wingardium Leviosah" FTW! Sadly, those who attended the EA Wii event on Wednesday signed NDAs -- so there's a lot of people out there sitting on information they can't confirm, deny or share with their readers.

Update: Statement from GoNintendo, "The NDA I am talking about has nothing to do with the mic for the Wii. I was just mentioning the mic part because we already knew it was coming according to High School Musical info. The NDA deals with something else completely. If EA talked about a mic at their party, I didn't hear anything about it. "

The latest Wii rumor, which speculates that the Wiimote has a built-in mic, is starting to heat up with news that Nintendo has registered the 'wiikaraoke.com' domain. Currently, the address redirects browsers to the Nintendo homepage, but we have to assume that this will all change, in time. Of course, Nintendo hasn't confirmed a thing, so the domain could end up remaining dead space or used for other purposes, like a contest.

Still, we can't help but point out that the Wiimote makes for a perfect impromptu microphone.

Nintendo has hinted that there are still Wii functions that have yet to be revealed. One of the latest rumors suggests that one of these functions is built-in microphone support.

We know that the Wiimote houses a speaker, but what if the controller also contains a microphone? And if that should be the case, could the Wiimote also double as a VoIP-supported communication device? Sure. Throw in a voice-activated phonebook and we're talkin' universal functionality (i.e. an incentive for "non-gamers" to buy in).