Guns N' Roses to release song on 'Rock Band 2'

We've heard about songs getting released on iLike, Imeem, MySpace, and a whole lot else. But Rock Band?

(Credit: MTV/Harmonix)

That's on the way, according to Microsoft's press conference at the E3 Expo. The New York Times reported that that it could be on the way as rumors swirled that Rock Band 2, the second iteration of the music video game from MTV, would include a track called "Shacklers' Revenge" from legendary hard-rock group Guns N' Roses.

Now it's been confirmed. The long-delayed new Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is on the way too, and the band has chosen the game, which hits stores this fall, as the venue to release its new single.

The Times points out that games like Rock Band, and Activision Blizzard's rival Guitar Hero, have been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal atmosphere for the music business. They're more profitable for record labels than digital downloads from places like iTunes, because a Rock Band track typically costs more. Sometimes they sell more copies, too. Motley Crue's "Saints of Los Angeles" sold more than three times as many tracks on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace as a Rock Band song than it did in Apple's iTunes Store.

They're also a way for "old" bands to reach younger audiences, the Times noted. An executive for Anthem Records, which releases music for '70s prog-rock group Rush, said young people have started showing up for the band's concerts after hearing their music for the first time on Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

This post has been updated to confirm the song's release.