After Rock Band players endured a drawn out replacement process with faulty guitar controllers, the game's makers have announced that standalone instrument controllers will start arriving at U.S.-based retailers on February 12. Yes, just in time for Valentine's Day.

The Rock Band Drum Kit for Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2 strikes in at US$79.99 on Feb 12. The Rock Band Wireless Fender Stratocaster controller then releases for all three systems on April 1.

"The release of standalone instruments allows Rock Band musicians to enjoy the full Rock Band experience, including drum, microphone and guitar head-to-head modes, creating a whole new level of competitive fun," said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder, Harmonix. "We're also delivering a stand-alone wireless guitar solution for all versions of Rock Band as well as providing the opportunity for consumers to build their band one instrument at a time."

Along with the new hardware, the Rock Band game offers Microphone vs. Microphone, Drum vs. Drum and Guitar vs. Guitar modes that spice up the action cooperatively with "Score Duel" or prove their strength in "Tug-O-War". Best yet, they can be played at home or online and players can compete with downloadable tracks as long as both players own the track.

At $149-169, the complete Rock Band kit offers a drum kit with drumsticks, wired guitar, mic and software remains the cheaper option versus $189.97 (game + wireless guitar + drum kit).