Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, seen here performing in 2002, chose to debut a new track from his long-awaited album Chinese Democracy on the upcoming Rock Band 2 video game. (Beth Keiser/Associated Press)

Devoted Guns N' Roses fans awaiting the long-postponed album Chinese Democracy could finally be seeing it in the near future, after a new song from the band was unveiled as part of the upcoming sequel to the hit video game Rock Band.

The band's eccentric leader Axl Rose has chosen to debut the new song Shackler's Revenge through the forthcoming Rock Band 2, which hits stores this fall.

The news emerged from Los Angeles where prominent annual gaming convention E3 got underway on Monday.

Though Rose has previously noted that Chinese Democracy is complete, a release date has never been announced for the much-anticipated project, which comes about 14 years after the last Guns N' Roses album.

Along with the Guns N' Roses coup, game-makers Harmonix and MTV Games also scored the participation of musical icons like AC/DC (Let There Be Rock) and Bob Dylan (Tangled Up In Blue) — both of whom will make their video game debuts with the upcoming title.

Canadian artists included on the set-list include Alanis Morissette (You Oughta Know), Rush (The Trees) and The Guess Who (American Woman ).

Games garner interest of music industry

Video games like Rock Band and rival title Guitar Hero — which allow participants to play along to famous songs on plastic instrument-shaped controllers — have garnered increasing interest from the music industry.

Aside from the initial purchase of the game and controllers, the ability to buy and download additional tracks, song sets and full albums online to extend gameplay has become a new source of profit for both record companies and artists.

A recent example was seen with rockers Motley Crue, who released Saints of Los Angeles — the debut track from its new album — in June, both on iTunes and via the Rock Band online store.

The song sold 14,000 copies on iTunes, but 48,000 on Rock Band through Microsoft's Xbox Live network, Allen Kovac, founder of the band's management company and record label, told the New York Times.

Also, being featured in these games can introduce older, brand new or indie bands who don't get traditional radio play to a largely younger, enthusiastic and receptive fan base of gamers.

"I credit Rock Band for bringing in the younger audience," Kovac told the Times. "The people who downloaded that song aren’t just listening to it, they’re interacting with it."