Guitar Hero Franchise surpasses $1 billion in sales in North America in 26 months!

Activision has announced that the Guitar Hero franchise of games has sold a cool $1 billion in a mere 26 months! On top of this Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the #1 title in units and dollars for calendar year 2007, making it the #1 best-selling video game of all time in a single calendar year. Seems as though the newest title is also good for resurecting sales of 70's, 80's, and 90's tunes too, "In 10 weeks since the game's launch, consumers have already downloaded more than five million songs."... at $2 a piece. It certainly is an addictive game fun for the whole family... it's even tolerable at elevated volumes for those of us who grew up listening to the originals!

Activision sued by rock band because Guitar Hero cover is too close to the real thing!

Even though they secured the right to make a cover of The Romantics song "What I Like About You", Activision, the makers of Guitar Hero III is being sued because the band believes the cover version is too close to the real thing. According to this USA Today article "The band's attorneys said Activision properly secured permission to use the song What I Like About You, which allowed it to record a cover version. But by creating an imitation so much like the Romantics' original, they said, the company has infringed the group's right to its own image and likeness." If this one passes you can bet there will be a few more lawsuits, those covers are extremely good!