So I wanted to take a quick moment and mention something about the drum set. The drums you'll be getting aren't the ones that we started out with. You're getting far, far better ones. When we started developing the game, we ripped apart some professional electronic drum sets and played with a bunch of configurations. Some were S shaped, some U-shaped, some only had 3 pads. Ultimately we settled on the 4-pad upside-down u that we all know and love.

We called in Jonathan Hayes, who oversaw the design of both the Sidewinder joystick and the Xbox 360, to help us out with creating a practical, manufacturable shape for the drums. Once we had a design in place and a couple of prototypes built, we playtested the heck out of them.

What did we try? We tried putting quick releases everywhere, and putting them nowhere. We made the pads bigger and smaller. We whacked the drums and pads as hard as we could for as long as we could, and we fixed anything that broke. We shortened the kick travel, made the pressure about the same as a real drum set, and made it bomb proof. We added stick holders at the top, because people kept jamming them into the hole in the middle of the set. We found clever ways to make the drums stronger, quieter, and easier to put into the closet when you're not using them. And don't get me started on the color arguments.

You'd be amazed at the things that people mess up during playtests. Give people a couple of parts to a drum kit, then walk out of the room. Five minutes later, they might have a drum set. They might have a scarecrow. They might have a sheepish look on their face and a shattered pile of broken plastic. With some trims and some good design, we managed to get assembly time down to roughly 45 seconds for most people, and with very few problems.

Fortunately, we've had a lot of people both internally and externally who really stepped up to the plate to help the design and production of this thing. And at the end of this all, we've got what we think is a robust and awesome drum kit that's every bit as cool as the 'Strat. I can't wait to see what you guys do with them... and what you will find to spill on them.