Rock Band for Christmas down under? We all hoped, some prayed, but it wasn't to be. Now the Aussies may not be the only ones disappointed come December 25th when the Jolly old bugger rappels his way down chimneys like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible to deliver a sack laden with games for good little boys and girls.

　　Rumour is beginning to circulate that even those lucky North Americans scheduled to bash out their favourite tracks on drum kits across the nation this Christmas morning may have to wait a little longer. The speculation gives further credence to our story back in August, in which RedOctane co-founder and CEO Charles Huang predicted that multiple territories may be left out in the cold due to the massive undertaking of manufacturing so many peripherals in such a short period of time. Now there's word that unless gamers pony up for the entire Rock Band Bundle, they may have to wait until February '08 to get hold of gear.

　　EB North America has already changed the pre-release date on their website for the standalone microphone, drum kit and wireless Fender guitar controllers to February on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. Amazon has followed suit, but with the slightly more optimistic ship date of January 31, 2008.

　　Ploy to sell more Rock Band bundles, or did they simply undershoot the order?