Rock Band heading to Japan

Harmonix and MTV Games are teaming up with Q Entertainment to launch Rock Band in Japan.

Rock Band came out in North America last November on PS3 and 360 and launched in Europe last month on 360, but the trio acknowledged it's about time the game arrived in "the birthplace of rhythm games".

Publicity is being ramped up to this end, with the game officially announced at the Japanese 2008 MTV Video Music Awards on Saturday where slebs were invited to play the US version backstage and at the after-party.

Rock Band asks players to form a band of up to four friends and tour the world, mixing singing, guitar-playing and drumming together thanks to swanky peripherals.

It's a 360-exclusive in Europe for the moment, and we took it happily apart last week finding a lot to get excited about, albeit at a hefty price.

There's no word on Japanese content additions, pricing, packaging or platform focus yet, but expect to hear more soon.