$5 to shift songs from Rock Band to Rock Band 2

Today Harmonix has made it official: You'll have to pay $5 (400 Microsoft Points) to transfer your songs from the original Rock Band game to play with the upcoming Rock Band 2. So far the plan only applies to the Xbox 360 version of the game, which arrives later this month and will have a brief exclusive on the title until it rolls out later to PS3 and Wii (per the rumors, after a month and two months, respectively). Most expect a similar option to become available for the PS3, but it may present challenges for the hard-drive-less Wii, since the tracks consume well over a gig of hard drive space.

The $5 fee covers 55 tracks, everything on the disc from the original game with the exception of these three songs: Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," and Metallica's "Enter Sandman." European players will also be missing the song "Through the Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel when Rock Band 2 hits overseas.

As previously announced, any songs you've already downloaded for the original Rock Band will also work with the new game, too.

Rock Band 2 will ship with 84 tracks and offer 20 free downloadable tracks later. Combined with 55 tracks from the original game and hundreds of titles available for download online... jeez, that's a lot of music, not even including Guitar Hero World Tour, also on tap for the fall.

Watch for reviews of both new titles in the coming weeks!