Rock Band was one of the hottest video games for the PS3 or Xbox when it launched last holiday season. Harmonix and EA are wasting no time bringing Rock Band 2 to market with the huge success of the original.

Rock Band 2 was officially announced today with some great new features including the ability to compete head to head against other bands online and the ability to export music tracks from the original disc to Rock Band 2. Rock Band 2’s music catalog will include over 100 songs from artists old and new.

Rock Band 2 supports Open Platform so gamers can use third-party controllers with the game. Rock Band 2 allows owners of the first Rock Band to export tracks and upgrade them to Rock Band 2 format. The game will also get 20 free bonus tracks this fall for download. Guns N’ Roses will also release the first track from Chinese Democracy. Rock Band 2 will hit the Xbox 360 in September with versions for other systems coming later in the year.

Via EA