Harmonix and MTV Games have recently announced a new entry to their Rock Band franchise, only it’s not on any of the home consoles, but rather for Sony’s handheld, the PSP.

Called Rock Band Unplugged, the game will feature over forty master recordings, with an additional nine PSP exclusive tracks. Rock Band Unplugged will also feature an in-game online store powered by the PlayStation Network, apparently the first of its kind for a PSP title, which will allow you to purchase additional songs. Owners of the game will also be able purchase tracks via PlayStation Store on the PC.

Senior Vice President of Electronic Games for MTV Games, Bob Picunko said; “Rock Band Unplugged reinvents band gameplay while staying true to the authentic feel of the Rock Band console games. Harmonix delivers innovation with every game they develop and we are excited to continue our long-list of industry firsts with the Rock Band in-game wireless music store on the PSP system.”

The question is, how do you play a music-rhythm game on a handheld console without extra peripherals? Well, as you might have guessed, “Your hands are the ‘peripherals’ in Rock Band Unplugged,” using the inputs on the PSP to match the beat.

Additionally, Sony will be releasing a limited edition Rock Band Unplugged Entertainment Pack, which contains the Piano Black PSP-3000, a 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, a PSN downloadable movie voucher for School of Rock, as well as a copy of Rock Band Unplugged. Sounds great!

As for the nine tracks exclusive to Rock Band Unplugged for a limited time (before they are offered to other Rock Band owners for download), here they are:

• 3 Doors Down - “Kryptonite”
• AFI - “Miss Murder”
• Alice in Chains - “Would?”
• Audioslave - “Gasoline”
• Black Tide - “Show Me the Way”
• Blink 182 - “What’s My Age Again”
• Freezepop - “Less Talk More Rokk”
• Jackson 5 - “ABC”
• Tenacious D - “Rock Your Socks”

Watch the debut trailer for Rock Band Unplugged below:

Rock Band Unplugged will be available from June 9th this year, with the software retailing for $24.99 in the UK.