Rock Band is the latest music instrument playing game available for consoles right now and personally I have played it and enjoyed it as it is a great game. I received my latest copy of a certain game magazine that prizes itself in generally ignoring arcade games unless it has to mention them (it even feigns mentioning the arcade versions of Time Crisis 4 and Ghost Squad in those selective reviews in the same issue. The only place you see any mention of an actual TC4 arcade game is in an ad in the very back. But they do have an interview with Tomohiro Nishikado, creator of Space Invaders.) But for those out there that may not know their arcade games very well, here is a video of DrumMania/Percussion Master (by AndaMiro/American Alpha) which brought virtual drumming to the arcades quite a while ago. What you see on the screen is a bit different than Rock Band but the concept is the same as the drummers part, hit the drums at the right moment according to the notes. If you already have played DrumMania/Percussion Master then great. If not, consider this a friendly Public Service Announcement. Now you know and knowing is half the battle. (video posted by Youtube user Muymacho)
We did a big piece in the Stinger a while back on the whole Drum arcade scene. You need to look at a game called MTV Drum Jammer, this holds sway over the drum game market in the US and UK – not because of its popularity but because the developer acquired the patent and so legally restricts the market. Andamiro and Konami have had great difficulty getting their games into the market because of this and may explain your distributor having a IGS grey import product.
Regarding the mags, a little birdie tells me that one publisher has started asking questions about why their staff miss all the arcade releases – love to be a fly on the ceiling during that meeting!