In what may be one of the least surprising moves we have ever seen, EA and Harmonix have announced that Rock Band 2 will be hitting consoles not too long from now. While no specific timeframe (other than ‘this year’) has been revealed for PS3 and Wii versions of the game, Xbox 360 owners can look foreword to rocking out first when the game is released for the platform on September 30th.

The game will include all new set and tracklists, and will be able to play all of your downloadable songs from Rock Band 1 as well. In fact, Harmonix says that all current and future Rock Band DLC will be compatible with both titles, and that the weekly flow of new content will not be slowing down at any time in the foreseeable future. As far as peripherals go, players have been promised a set of quieter, more realistic instruments that will be more reliable than the ones that were shipped with the first title in the series.

Can the franchise that redefined the rythm genre strike again when put up against the newly band oriented Guitar Hero series? We will have to wait until E3 to find out if Rock Band 2 has what it takes.