The much-anticipated video game "Rock Band" lets you pretend to be a rock star -- but you might have to spend rock-star dollars to own it before Christmas.

The game lets players use guitars, drums and microphones as part of a fictitious band, and was supposed to be delivered to stores across Canada on Thursday.

But the release has been delayed until after Christmas, leaving retailers who did get copies of the sought-after game holding a golden ticket. Edmonton's Play Me Games received 54 packages from a U.S. broker.

Their sale price is $500.

"Some people are extremely shocked. Others understand the basic economics of supply and demand," store manager Mike Jacobson told CTV Edmonton on Thursday.

Jacobson said they had already sold more than half of their supply by Thursday afternoon.

He said the game -- a successor to the successful "Guitar Hero" series -- had a fan base awaiting its release.

"It's way more than 'Guitar Hero.' It includes the drums, which 'Guitar Hero' does not. It includes the microphone . . . so you can actually have a full band," he said.

CTV Edmonton reported that Play Me Games had originally priced the game at $800, but reduced it to $500 later in the day when the product didn't sell as well as expected.

Manufacturers delayed the Canadian release of Rock Band until after Christmas, saying that the packaging and instruction manuals didn't have the required French translation.

Rock Band was originally to be released in Canada in November, but was pushed back until Thursday. Now, producers say it will be released on Dec. 28.

Burton Dickey, the manager of an Edmonton Best Buy, said they will have the product available as soon as it is released in Canada. He says they will follow the suggested retail price of $169.

With a report from CTV Edmonton's Dez Melenka