Since Activision announced its decided to stop making the Guitar Hero video game back in February and laid off hundreds of workers, did you think the fake-guitar video-game industry is dying?

After all, according to Wired, sales of Guitar Hero declined from 1.5 million just for the first month of Guitar Hero III back in 2007, to 86,000 for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for the entire year of 2010. Plus, licensing popular tunes costs a major chunk of change as well.

Those kinds of numbers led to Rock Band creator Harmonix being sold earlier this year by the now defunct MTV Games of Viacom to return to its roots as an independent studio.

But now, rocking on, Rock Band III will be reissued for folks who didn’t get it the first time around and need a Rock Band fix for the holidays, but the bigger news is that a new version will come out in 2012 and it will be “fundamentally reinterpreted,” according to an interview company execs gave to GiantBomb.com.Continue reading...

Despite the enormous popularity of video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the music video game category has also experienced its fair share of ridicule from humorists and musicians regarding its obsessive, yet faux music sensibilities. However, Seven45 Studios, an offshoot of musical-instrument maker First Act, is trying to bridge the gap between sofa simulations and real-life, gritty jam sessions.

Its “Power Gig: Rise of the SixString” video game will not only produce similar musically interactive game play as its predecessors, but more importantly, it will feature a real six-string guitar as its controller. Considering gamers have been wielding plastic, toy-like replica instruments, the transition to real instruments should go a long way in appeasing the “haters.”Continue reading...

US unemployment is up to 9.7%, but pace is seen as slowing. [Washington Post]

The stimulus worked [Washington Post], and August retail numbers contain hints of an upturn [WSJ].

Departure of chief exec Kai-Fu Lee is a setback for Google in China. [NYT]

Proctor & Gamble to sponsor US Olympic teams in 2010 and 2012. [WSJ]

T-Mobile uses Google's Android platform to launch a pay-as-you-go cell phone. [Brand Republic]

(More: Facebook follies, Verizon controversy, Disney.) Continue reading...