Activision announced today that the Guitar Hero franchise has raked in more than $1 billion in retail revenue in the 26 months since its original release in 2005, setting a new industry record.

The sales were spread across the entire franchise, which includes Harmonix's Guitar Hero (PS2), Guitar Hero II (PS2, X360), Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80's (PS2) and Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360). Additionally, Guitar Hero III was the #1 selling game in 2007, which itself was a record year for the gaming industry. Read more »

In his last keynote speech at CES, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his supporting cast had a lot to speak about on Sunday night at the International Consumer Electronics Show--and some of it was related to games.

Playing up high definition displays and connected entertainment, Gates spoke of wide-ranging changes to the industry, before bringing on Microsoft president of entertainment devices Robbie Bach to make a few Xbox 360-related announcements. Read more »

Publisher Activision has opened pre-registration for the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Wii disc replacement program, which will provide owners of the Wii edition with a remastered disc that correctly outputs stereo and Dolby Pro Logic II sound.

"Customers based in North America wanting to pre-register for a free replacement disc can call (866) 780-8286 from 8:00am-8:00pm EST, Monday-Friday, and we will notify you once the replacement discs are available," reads Activision's support page on the matter. Read more »

The PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store has been updated with a new demo several pieces of in-game content.

New to the online marketplace this week are a demo of EA Tiburon's NFL Tour '09 (PS3, X360) and the several $1.99 to $2.49 keys that immediately unlock several otherwise attainable vehicles in EA Black Box's Need for Speed: ProStreet.

Today's update also includes the downloadable tracks for both Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) and Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legend of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) that appeared on Xbox Live late last year. Read more »

The Romantics' injunction for Activision to stop sales of Harmonix's Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s (PS2) has been denied in a preliminary hearing, though its pursuit of unspecified damages continues.

Earlier this year, the band sued publisher Activision, claiming that the game's cover of well-known Romantics tune "What I Like About You" was too accurate. The cover, which was produced by Wavegroup Sound, was made with permission of the respective copyright holders. Read more »

As announced last week, the latest batch of downloadable content for Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS3, PS2, X360, Wii) has arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace, granting the gaming populace with six new premium tracks and a free holiday tune.

Steve Ouimette's cover of "We Three Kings" represents the seasonally-themed giveaway, while the 500 Microsoft Point ($6.25) Warner/Reprise Track Pack contains Linkin Park's "No More Sorrow," Mastodon's "Sleeping Giant," and The Used's "Pretty Handsome Awkward." Read more »

Aspyr Media sends along a Guitar Hero 3 patch, updating the PC release to v1.1. The patch adds a co-op Quickplay game mode, improves whammy bar sound effects and fixes several bugs.

Activision has detailed an upcoming song pack and single songs arriving as downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Neversoft's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360). Billed as coming "in time for the holidays," it's likely the songs will hit Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network sometime next week.

The Warner/Reprise Track Pack will include master track versions of mainstream rap-rock group Linkin Park's "No More Sorrow," heavy metal band Mastodon's "Sleeping Giant," and screamo goth poseurs The Used's "Pretty Handsome Awkward." Read more »

Following complaints that the Wii version of Neversoft and Vicarious Visions' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

outputs only mono sound, publisher Activision has announced that free remastered game discs will be offered to owners by early 2008.

"We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," said Activision's Rhy-Ming Poon to IGN. Read more »

Activision subsidiary RedOctane hopes to provide Wii owners with downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in 2008.

"There is no definite timetable in place but we are hoping it will be soon," the company told Nintencast. "Downloadable content for the Wii is something we are working very hard on getting in place for the new year." Read more »

An update to the PlayStation 3 version of Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) will arrive later today, granting compatibility with the wireless Les Paul controller bundled in the PS3 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360).

Harmonix's own Sean Baptiste announced the update on the Rock Band forums, describing the patch as "a routine update for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Read more »

Three of Activision's most popular brands will be receiving the expected additional installments, the publisher reiterated in documents accompanying the announcement of Activision Blizzard, the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games.

As the company previously stated, Guitar Hero IV, Call of Duty 5, and a new Tony Hawk game are all in development. Other upcoming titles include games based on the next James Bond film, Marvel Comic properties, and DreamWorks movies, such as Kung-Fu Panda and Madagascar 2. Read more »

Though some other instrument-based music games may be making the headlines with their steady supply of new tracks, the Xbox 360 version of Harmonix's Guitar Hero II is still receiving some downloadable love as well.

Available now from the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Indie Label Pack includes "State of Massachusetts" by Celtic punk rockers Dropkick Murphys, "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself" by the metal-loving The Bled, and "Memories of the Grove" by metalists Maylene & The Sons of Disaster. Read more »

Contrary to retailer listings for standalone Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360) wireless guitars, the game's plastic axes won't be available for purchase until next year. Activision made the announcement today, giving a vague "early 2008" window for the peripherals.

The wireless guitars are the newest models from RedOctane that came bundled with Guitar Hero III at its October release, with the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 guitars modeled after a Gibson Les Paul. The wireless PS2 guitar features the stylings of a Gibson Kramer. Read more »

Detroit-based rock band The Romantics, the 80s group most famous for its song "What I Like About You," has sued Guitar Hero publisher Activision, claiming that the cover recording of the famous song in Harmonix's Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is too similar to the original version.

Wavegroup Sound, which records covers for the Guitar Hero games and strives for accuracy relative to the authentic studio recordings, is likely to take the suit as a compliment--or at least it would be if the San Francisco-based company were not a target in the lawsuit as well. Read more »