Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Coming in June '08

Activision announced, in a press release on Friday, that it was planning a release of it's hit game franchise Guitar Hero that is focused on the music stylings of one of the ultimate rock bands, Aerosmith! According to the release "Gamers will experience Aerosmith's GRAMMY(R) winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty, in a way that no other entertainment vehicle offers." To celebrate the collaboration, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock fans have the opportunity to download Aerosmith's "Dream On." via XBox Live, but you'd better act fast as today is the last day for this free offer. Band front man Steven Tyler says, "Any band that can go from 'Don't Want to Miss A Thing' (Aerosmith's #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking 'Sweet Emotion' to the cheekiness of 'Love in an Elevator,' to the classic ballad 'Dream On' shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies." It's funny, my boys and I were having a conversation just last week about the next Guitar Hero offering, we proposed a couple of scenarios but totally missed the one band version...

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!

Gaming giants merge

Vivendi and Activision are joining forces to create what they call "the world's most profitable games business". Vivendi owns Blizzard who produces the immensely popular World of Warcraft online game while Activision is behind the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises. Blizzard will invest $2 billion in the new company, while Activision is putting up $1 billion. The BBC has more details.

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!