The fans of the Australian band should be happier than ever these days, especially if they live in a town with a Wal-Mart, rather than those other Mart-less cities, like New York or Los Angeles. The reason behind this uncanny sudden happiness should be the recent announce that AC/DC signed a contract with MTV Games and Electronic Arts for a feature “Rock Band” game.

"AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack," an expansion to the popular music game will contain 18 songs from AC/DC's "Live at Donington" DVD. The product will be available as a stand-alone product for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 2 in North America for $39.88 and the PlayStation 2 for $29.88. A Wii edition will arrive on November 16 for $39.88 in the US and Canada, with all four versions hitting the UK, Europe, and Australasia in December.

The surprise comes from the band’s label, Sony-owned Columbia Records, who stated that the ”Rock Band” video game will be sold in the United States only at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the Wal-Mart Web site, while internationally it will be available at "most major retailers." For those who don’t have access to a Wal-Mart, the company is considering opening up "temporary shops" in some cities to help sell the game.

“The Track Pack” is “Rock Band’s” first band-based game, after the release of the rival “Guitar Hero” feature of Airosmith, which sold over 1 million units as of the end of August, according to the NPD Group. Activision also announced a future “Guitar Hero” extension of Metallica’s latest album, “Death Magnetic,” while, so far, “Rock Band” seemed to focus on albums, rather than bands.  Judas Priest and Pixies albums have already been released as downloadable content for the MTV game, and other great albums are expected to be released as part of the game, like Foo Fighters' “The Colour and the Shape“and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' incredibly successful “ Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”

The game release is actually part of a bigger promotional contract signed by the label and the retail giant. Wal-Mart is set to exclusively promote AC/DC’s latest album, “Black Ice” through dedicated stands in its stores peddling AC/DC albums, DVDs, T-shirts, and other licensed merchandise. Since the band does not sell its music on Apple’s iTunes store, pairing up with a major chain is an especially good strategy.

"If you want to be a physical band, you better make an alliance with a strong physical retailer," Columbia Records chairman Steve Barnett told the Times. "It's a great way to sell the new album, the catalog, the game, merchandise and DVDs."

Meanwhile, AC/DC is not relying only on the MTV game to promote their latest material and is extending its “Black Ice” tour of North America into early 2009. New dates begin Dec. 20 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and run through Jan. 31 in Nashville, while their first single on the album, "Rock'n'Roll Train" is No. 3 this week on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.