Billboard reported Monday that MTV Games, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), will release the second installment of the popular Rock Band game this September. Rock Band first came out late last year in direct competition with Activision Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ATVI) Guitar Hero franchise, but where Guitar Hero only offers guitar simulated play, Rock Band offers a wide range of instruments and vocal game play. Rock Band also features an online store where users can download additional tracks for the game.

Rock Band 2 will be released at a time when a number of other music-related games, and according to MTV Games the game will feature "new and 'improved' drum and guitar controllers, a larger soundtrack, and new online modes and customization options." Additionally, all previous controllers and downloaded songs will also be compatible with the new game, so players will not lose those features or be required to buy new input devices. The game will initially only be available on Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 platform but will expand to other systems by the end of the year.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero alike have revolutionized many listeners' interface with the music they love, simply because it expands the "play-ability" of many users who may not have ever picked up or tried to play actual instruments. Those listeners aren't lazy by any means, but these two game franchises expand the experience of playing music in a way that has never been possible before.

No doubt you have heard of the video game Guitar Hero, published by Activision, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI)? Or you may have heard about any of its sequels and competitors? After the massive release of the third incarnation of the game it gained a lot of buzz, and it brought in over $115 million during its first week of sales, moving 1.4 million copies across all platforms. Although not as impressive as the $170 million Halo 3 managed in September, this staggering figure is still impressive. It also begs the question of what a game like Guitar Hero can do not just for the video game industry, but also more importantly for the music industry.

Naturally, we could point to player's new familiarity with songs and hope that they will download the tracks or rush out and buy the CDs, but in the long term those effects are not as pivotal as other potential issues, namely players ability to actually play guitar. It seems to me, and I am sure this point has been brought up before, but if these players can only perform the instrument as a series of buttons that represent notes, what future does the music industry hold in terms of new artists further down the line, not to mention creativity?

These sentiments may be simplistic due to the rationale that there are many young and new guitarists not playing the video game, but the sales figures are staggering and I can guarantee you that it is not just gamers playing the controller-guitars. I for one am neither a gamer nor a guitar player, but I am enamored with both products, especially after I played the newest version with the Muse song "Knights of Cydonia." The difference for me seems to be the acknowledgment that I will never truly learn guitar, much less try to become famous for playing guitar.