Drum Roll, Please. Please?? Please???

By Eriq Gardner

In real life, musicians have all sorts of equipment malfunctions. Fortunately, that's why bands travel with roadies. In video games, when the Stratocaster controller's strum bar is unresponsive, there's nobody to call except the lawyer.

Harmonix, MTV Games, Electronic Arts and Viacom, the makers of video game Rock Band, are being sued over a faulty bass drum petal. Kansas resident Monte Morgan leads a proposed class action lawsuit that argues the game publishers have breached an implied warranty by failing to give consumers a decent opportunity to replace the defective peripheral device.

The defendants say they offered an extended warranty, something that Morgan argued was insufficient.

"When used as directed, our drum pedals are designed to provide years of enjoyment," said Harmonix and MTV Games in a statement.