Rivalry in the music genre has been heating up lately, with Rock Band 2 adding to its precursors stellar success, the latest updates to the Guitar Hero series taking on its opponent's defining features, and of course, one of the pioneers of the entire shebang, SingStar, finally joining the rest of the modern world in going wireless.

Now Microsoft are adding to the news saturation with their own announcement that the applauded wireless microphones of their contender, Lips, will be compatible with the Xbox 360 versions of both Guitar Hero: Metallica and Rock Band 2, the latter through an upcoming update.

It's not such a surprising move, given that one of peripheral-heavy Rock Band's most celebrated features, and certainly one that cast developer Harmonix in a rosy light, was their support for other title's plastic instruments - something we might not have expected given the perceived antipathy between the original creators of the Guitar Hero franchise and their one time publishers, Activision. By jumping on the universal-support bandwagon, Microsoft obviously hope to secure a few of your pennies for their karaoke game, and maybe earn themselves a little positive credibility in the process.


Lips, Rock Band 2, and Guitar Hero: Metallica
However, kudos must be spread between the three companies equally; to Microsoft for releasing some jealously-guarded hardware support info, and to Harmonix and Neversoft for bothering to develop the necessary back-end. Sure, it might help drive disc-only sales for all three, and in that sense can be looked upon a an act of self-interest - but anything that makes it easier for we gamers to experience a broad range of titles without having to shell out extra cash each time for lounge-room cluttering devices has to be a good thing!

Lips is a currently available, Xbox 360 exclusive karaoke-style game featuring wireless, motion-sensing microphones. Upcoming song packs include Neyo, Coldplay and Creedence Clearwater Revival.