With the release of The Beatles: Rock Band just a few weeks out--the music game hits worldwide September 9-- MTV Games manager Scott Guthrie has suggested that the next main Rock Band entry could utilize the Xbox 360's 2010-due Project Natal camera, which provides motion-sensing and voice recognition capabilities.

"The Harmonix development team are working on what is effectively the next game, or Rock Band 3," Guthrie told MCV. "We aren't standing still--we will keep moving into new areas and look at new technologies that our platform holder partners are also developing, such as Project Natal from Microsoft. We're working with them to... Read more

During a keynote interview at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier today, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopolous told the crowd that his company was "breaking the annual cycle" of Rock Band releases, indicating that Rock Band 3 would not be released in 2009.

"We've actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year," said Rigopolous, according to CrispyGamer.

"[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We're trying to take a long term view," he added, while also citing Harmonix's upcoming Beatles music game--set for release around holiday 2009--as a focal point for the company this year.

When asked whether the sequel would involve keyboards, as has been rumored, Rigopolous replied: "The only answer I can give you to that question right now is maybe."