Plastic guitars, used in the popular Guitar Hero titles, are Activision’s hammer in its crusade as ” the most successful game publisher on the planet”. However, with Guitar Hero sales on a recent decline, the next step is to ditch consoles and their licensing fees altogether.

During a Q&A session at Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, said that Activision is now exploring the option of selling Guitar Hero and games of its kind as plug-in-and-play products.

“I think what the untethered ‘Guitar Hero’ does is it maybe equals the playing field a little bit more and gives you leverage with first parties on downloadable content and the business model,” said Kotick. “You should expect to see many of our products to be playable on the television independent of a console.”

There’s innovative, and then there’s craziness. And I think that Bobby Kotick may have just crossed the line between the two because this would be a bad move on Activision’s part.

[Activision’s ‘Guitar Hero’ and Others May Ditch Consoles via MTV]

Talk about something not great for kids. Brutal Legend is all about the rock, the cars, hot chicks and demonic forces. Surprisingly, that sums up the 64 kilometer world that is Brutal Legend, a giant landscape filled with essentially rock album cover art, headbangers, giant guitar swords and, inevitably, the occasional cute animal that makes a funny sound when run over.

As Eddie Riggs, or Jack Black since that’s who we’re all really playing as, except with better hair and strangely large chest and broad shoulders, it’s the player’s job to bring order back to the world of rock. How you get there, what you’re doing, who the hot chicks are and where they roam…important, but not for your eyes now.

Brutal Legend is like Ratchet and Clank, except replace the sci-fi world for a down-and-dirty, and I might say awesome looking Earth-ish landscape, Ratchet’s little wrench for a giant axe and an electrifying guitar, and Clank for the occasional hot chick. Oh, and remove the platforming for an open-world feel, and get rid of the kiddy humor for something a little less tasteful, and a lot funnier.

It could be that Ozzie makes an appearance in the demo, helping players make the car Eddie puts together in ten seconds flat into something more respectable. Add on chainguns, art, an engine so big that it blocks the view from the steering wheel…you name it, it can probably be stacked on top of whatever’s on the car already.

So far, the first 15 minutes of the game were not as funny or exciting as I’d hoped. Then again, the insane standard I have, especially when I think a game will be great, doesn’t help in the slightest. Neither does the fact that it was only the first 15 minutes and I wasn’t impressed by the dialog or action incredibly. Then again, the developer commentaries I watched were more interesting, so perhaps it’s only a slow start to a much more exciting game, which I hope and expect. I mean, there’s a list of rock legends doing voice work, Jack Black to make me laugh, and eventually a completely open world to explore and, hopefully tarnish and destroy if it hasn’t been already.

Would I say I was disappointed by the demo? Eh, no. Demos can never be perfect, regardless of who makes them, and I appreciate that. It sucks I wasn’t on the floor, clutching my sides because the GAME WAS SO FUNNY HAHA, but hey, nobody’s perfect. It’s a good warmup, to the full game, so we’ll see if it leaves us hanging, or goes all the way, this Rocktober

Let’s face it, the guitar used in Guitar Hero doesn’t really support the “mainstream and expanded audience” because not everyone lesions to the music presented with it – Rock, Heavy Metal, or whatever. But, with DJ Hero, Activision hopes that it will be the key to unlocking the “mainstream and expanded audience” with mixes of music genres.

“If you look at what our Guitar Hero franchise has achieved, we now have 15 million households that are active Guitar Hero users and we continue to satisfy them with more experiences and the chance to indulge in more music and gameplay,” said Activision’s CEO and president Mike Griffith via GI.biz.

“But outside of those 15 million household’s, there’s another 300 million that haven’t for one reason or another bought Guitar Hero yet. One of those reasons is we’re not reaching new genres and new music audiences in a way that DJ Hero allows us to accomplish. DJ Hero is going to be expansive to the franchise and be particularly exciting for Europe where that genre of music is arguably more important than it is elsewhere.”

What really is this? Was one of the first question that came to my mind when I first heard of this game back when it was leaked sometime ago. Now, we all know that so many games have been “confirmed” by the many ESRB leaks, but what we didn’t know was that this game was going to be apart of Activision’s Guitar Hero DS era, along with recent games like Guitar Hero On Tour and Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

Depending on how you feel, you may think that these games basically are the same, but apparently they aren’t. Guitar Hero Modern Hits is set to have new tracks, and that’s it, that how it plans to differ from the other games in the series! (which was stated from  the ESRB description).

But, anyway there was details given about  tracks in the game, Sum 41’s “Still Waiting”, Franz Ferdinand’s “The Fallen” and Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer”. These were given thanks to , somewhat, objectionable lyrics for the game which is a reliable indicator that these songs will be in the game.

As the news is still buzzing around the internet today, Activision Blizzard has unmasked that it has brought out U.K. developer FreeStyleGames. Now, according to a leak, FreeStyleGames could be working on DJ Hero, which was trademarked back in February by Activision, and Kotaku has possible collected the first details for the game. In the details given to Kotaku it states that DJ Hero will be a a music rhythm game that will let gamers scratch to the beat of popular mash-ups with a laptop turntable peripheral. The information goes on to state that the game was in development for nearly two years and is expected to hit shelves next summer. Which will explain the recent buy out of the name by Activision.

They go onto talk about the controls system will likely include the ability to use Guitar Hero guitars for versus mode face-offs. Also it talks about the games control system which will feature nearly a half-dozen iterations. With the device looking a lot like a simplified DJ Deck. There is a platter for scratching which will act like the strum toggle on a Guitar Hero guitar. Above the platter are three buttons for sampling. The controller also includes a cross fader and a sound effects dial which will act like the whammy bar in Guitar Hero.

Instead of flowing the musical notes down a guitar neck, DJ Hero will flow the music down and around a virtual record in a half arc. Either left top to middle bottom if you are left handed, or right top to middle bottom if you are right handed.

Currently the wireless controller has grooves molded into the bottom so it will sit comfortably in a player’s lap, though the team is also looking into legs for the deck so gamers can play while standing up.

We got some new details on games that you may not have heard from in a while, the details include new Guitar Hero: World Tour details an details on the unannounced Rock Band game. Take a look at all the  great new details thanks to a member of NeoGAF.

• Guitar Hero: World Tour will cost $179.99 with all instruments and the game.

• Guitar Hero: World Tour’s guitar features a touch sensitive guitar neck slidethat opens up the entire guitar neck for unbound solos.

•Gutar Hero: World Tour artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Interpol, Muse "and dozens more".

• Tony Hawk’s Adrenaline is a game coming to the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 that uses a sensing board controller.

• A game called Ultimate Band is coming to the PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 features over 20 Marvel Legends such as the Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom, and the Human Torch.

• Spider-Man vs. Marvel Zombies is coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii and well feature Spider-Man saving the worlds from a zombie menace threatening to destroy the world. The game takes place in 2149.

• Transformers 2: The Ultimate Battle is another game coming to every system imaginable. It brings you beyond the movie into pressure-packed missions where seconds can make a difference between survival and destruction. You can switch between robot, weapon, and vehicle modes at any time.

[NeoGAF]

Sources tell us that today, Activision has confirmed at a conference that after the release of another Guitar Hero game is set to be made, Guitar Hero: Metallica. Metallica is a legendary hard rock group led by James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet. The game was announced for the arrival by the end of the current fiscal year, before March 31, 2009.

[Guitar Hero : Metallica pour 2009 via Jeux-actu]