THE game is ready, but the guitar is not.

For probably the first time, video gamers have not been able to lay hands on a hit game because the factories making the musical instruments that come with it are not churning them out fast enough.

Rock Band, which lets gamers hook up digital drums and guitars to their game consoles and 'play' along to hits from The Rolling Stones and other bands, has sold 1.5 million copies since its launch in the United States late last year.

The game is so hotly sought after that there is now a global shortage of the musical instruments bundled with the software discs.

And Singapore, a small market, does not have a shipment allocated to it yet.

Gamers here who cannot wait can turn to parallel imports brought in by retailers, but these cost up to $500.

In the US, the game is going for about US$160 (S$227).

The Singapore office for Electronic Arts (EA), the game's distributor, now says it does not have a firm release date here, although it told retailers earlier that the game would hit the shelves next month.

EA spokesman Diana Tan told The Straits Times that other countries have problems getting the game as well, because the demand has been 'overwhelming'.

She said: 'Replicating the software can be done fast, but the equipment takes time to produce.'

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.