SnagWire: A partnership has been announced between Activision and the United Service Organizations, the group that provides American entertainment to troops stationed overseas.

The video game publisher plans to ship over $100,000 worth of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game discs and peripherals to USO lounges around the world.
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Yesterday, Logitech revealed its new $250 wireless guitar controller for Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. However, there were some questions about whether or not the peripheral would see a release for the Wii or Xbox 360, or if it would work with other non-Guitar Hero branded games. And now, those questions no longer remain unanswered.
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Aly & AJ are getting their own Guitar Hero and Rock Band girly guitars. The guitar peripherals will be available in mid-October 2008 for Wii & PS2 and will cost $69.99.
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Ever since Sunday, Rock Band 2 has been the talk of the town. Xbox 360 owners have been digging deep into the game's new set list, as well as the online battle of the bands, instrument challenges, and revamped World Tour mode. You'd think that maybe we've all started to forget about a little franchise known as Guitar Hero, but according to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, you'd be wrong. He would like to take a moment to remind you that Guitar Hero is still the world's number one music franchise.
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Director Brett Ratner has been plenty vocal about wanting to develop a movie based on the game Guitar Hero. But Activision, the company that owns the franchise, isn't going for it. "I'd really like to do it, but they're not letting me," he tells EW.com. "I expressed my interest, but because it's such a success, it's like now there's no reason to make a movie about it."

Ratner is a big fan of the game, incorporating it into videos he's directed for Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, and he envisioned a story about a small-town kid who dreams of fame and wins a Guitar Hero competition. "The game is wish-fulfilling, everyone can be a rock star."

But despite the setback, Ratner is not giving up hope. "I might prevail," he says. "I usually do."
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GiN Reports: "The ezJam Combo Guitar Controller for Wii is the first guitar controller for the Wii that works for both music videogames Guitar Hero and Rock Band. With ezGear's proprietary DC2 Dual Connect technology, the ezJam Combo Guitar Controller contains everything you need to play either game and is ultra-responsive to meet the most intense shredder's needs. The ezJam Combo Guitar Controller comes with upgraded ezSpring chrome strum bar and chrome whammy bar, a fine tuned multi-axis tilt sensor and ezGear's standard Supra10 10 fret feature. The ezJam Combo Guitar Controller comes with the Guitar Controller, a wireless receiver, and neckstrap."
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Darren Madigan 27 of Huddersfield, England was served with a noise abatemant last year for playing music to loudly. But he has now breached it by playing Guitar Hero to loudly and poorly according to neighbour.
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From gameplayer: "the negotiating power of the games companies stem from their control over the track lists in their titles… The game publishers have the power. So, in a sense, they ARE the music industry."
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Ripten writes:

"It was only a matter of time.

As the popularity of rhythm games continues to gain purchase in the pocketbooks of gamers worldwide, Warner Music is of the opinion that the publishers are getting away with robbery.

Executive Edgar Bronfman explained that Activision and MTV, developers of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, respectively, will eventually have to pay more for the licenses for the songs from their catalogue."
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Activision Blizzard Inc. on Thursday reported that Activision Inc.'s first-quarter profits more than doubled on strong sales of the "Guitar Hero" franchise and the game based on the animated movie "Kung Fu Panda."

The first quarter ended before the closing of Activision's merger with Vivendi Games, creating Activision Blizzard.

In the quarter, Activision earned $59 million, or 18 cents a share, up from $27.8 million, or 9 cents a share, in the first quarter a year ago.

In the quarter, Activision logged $654.2 million in sales, up from $495.5 million a year ago.
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Publisher Activision expects to pull in $40-50 million dollars this year from the sale of downloadable content on Xbox Live, PlayStation Store and the Wii Shop Channel.
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New version of Guitar Hero like this compatible with the music of "Frets on fire" for Wii developed by Hermes. In the new version you can play online.
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Mlive Reports: "Aerosmith didn't write "Money for Nothing" - that honor goes to Dire Straits - but that's exactly what Wii owners will pay as they lose a baffling $10 on a Guitar Hero Aerosmith bundle.

Since the Wii game lacks the high-definition visuals, downloadable content and digital audio of its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts, it's basically the same as the PlayStation 2 version. And while every other console's guitar peripheral is a standalone controller, the Wii guitar won't work unless you stick a Wii remote in it.

To offset its shortcomings, Guitar Hero III for Wii costs $10 less than the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. But Wii owners who want Guitar Hero Aerosmith are stuck shelling out premium prices for less game and less controller."
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Video games -- often regarded as nothing more than mindless entertainment for lethargic kids and teens -- are proving to be an effective, new tool to motivate patients to perform rehabilitation exercises. Rehabilitation therapists from the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are using the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii video game console, along with traditional methods, to help patients recover from life-changing injuries.

Patients hold wireless remotes that control actions on screen. Players swing the controller to simulate realistic motions, like swinging a tennis racquet, swatting a baseball for a home run, among countless other motions. For burn patients or any patient with a skin graft, moving and stretching the skin is very painful, but imperative for a successful recovery.
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Dick McVengeance of Destructoid says,

"Let's face it: the Guitar Hero controller is not the ideal item for the game. It'd be nice to hold a full-sized guitar in your hands. We've seen people build custom controllers and put them on eBay, but those were one-off deals, and usually rather expensive."
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Activison today revealed that the Top Gun Theme is coming to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock , as a free download. Beginning July 3, 2008, the legendary, "Top Gun Anthem" will be available as a free downloadable song for the game.
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Music Radar writes: "Sadly, we'll never know if Jimi Hendrix would have been any good at Guitar Hero, but thanks to Activision, the game's developers, we now have a reasonable idea of what he'd have looked like wielding its dedicated controller.

To celebrate the fact that there will be two Guitar Hero performances on the main stage at this year's Isle of Wight Festival, Activision has re-branded the bronze statue of Hendrix that sits in the grounds of the island's Dimbola Lodge, turning Jimi's guitar into the aforementioned video game peripheral."
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GT: "Journalism Rule #1: Check your sources.

The embellished Entertainment Wise article is a sorry excuse for journalism."

The original Rolling Stone interview didn't have the serious gamer-hate quotes in it. Check your sources.
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Next-Gen.Biz writes: "The NPD Group has revealed the top 10 selling games of all time in the U.S. market.

Forbes reported earlier this week NPD Group's up-to-date top ten U.S. videogame sales figures by units, revealing a list dominated by the Grand Theft Auto and Madden NFL franchises.

As seen below, GTA: San Andreas from 2004 is the top-selling game in the U.S. with 9.43 million units sold. The franchise shows up on the top 10 three times, while Madden appears four times.

Activision had two 2007 titles already break the top 10 (Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4), while EA had one 2007 title on the list in the form of Madden NFL 08."
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MTV Multiplayer writes: "Hollywood director Brett Ratner continues to plug the "Guitar Hero" series. Ratner has been spotted directing the latest music video for kid pop sensation Miley Cyrus.

In the video, she'll apparently be smashing instruments to express her anger. That includes the same guitar bundled with "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.". A Miley Cyrus fansite has an extensive series of pictures from the video shoot, including the "Guitar Hero" smash."
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