Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision Blizzard (NASD: ATVI) saw its revenue increase by 34% and profits more than double in the last quarter.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision Publishing (NASD: ATVI) said on Thursday that it has partnered with peripherals manufacturer Logitech International to develop premium musical instrument controllers for its "Guitar Hero World Tour" video game. Switzerland-based Logitech plans to release premium instruments for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii versions of the game later this year.

Los Angeles - Activision (NASD: ATVI) will include the music and likeness of rock legend Jimi Hendrix in the next iteration of its "Guitar Hero" franchise, via a deal with Experience Hendrix, the Associated Press reported. "Guitar Hero: World Tour," slated for release Oct. 27, will include the songs "The Wind Cries Mary" and a live version of "Purple Haze," as well as other tunes to be later added as downloadable tracks for the game. In related news, Activision partner Hands-On Mobile on Friday announced the release of "Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass" for mobile phones.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) announced on Tuesday that, in an industry first, Metallica's upcoming "Death Magnetic" album will be released simultaneously in record stores and as downloadable content for its "Guitar Hero" game in September. The company is slated to ship the next installment of the game, "Guitar Hero II: Legends of Rock," in the fall.

San Francisco - Activision Blizzard (NASD: ATVI), the company recently formed through the merger of Activision and Vivendi's games division, is considering launching an alternative digital music platform to compete with Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes, company CEO Bobby Kotick said in an interview with the Financial Times. "I don't think there have been a lot of credible alternatives to iTunes but Guitar Hero certainly has that potential," Kotick told FT.

New York - Representatives of the Beatles are in talks with Activision (NASD: ATVI) and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Games, makers of the "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" video games, respectively, on deals that would license Beatles songs for inclusion in future iterations of the games, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The deals are reported to be worth "several million dollars," sources told FT, and could be completed within weeks.

Los Angeles - Activision (NASD: ATVI) plans to release a Metallica-themed version of its popular "Guitar Hero" game, according to an SEC filing noted by Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Edward Woo, GameSpot reported. Activision has already announced a version of the game featuring Aerosmith, which is due for release later this month.

New York - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) has affirmed plans to extend its wildly popular "Guitar Hero" franchise beyond the guitar and bass to other instruments, a la rival music-based game "Rock Band," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in an interview with Portfolio.com. "We'll include a lot of other instruments [and] vocals," said Kotick, while refraining from giving any clues as to when these new elements might appear in the game franchise.

San Diego - Video game accessories maker Mad Catz Interactive said on Friday that it has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with the Coffin Case Company, for the right to make Coffin Case-branded carrying cases for guitar controllers, straps, drums and other accessories for use with the games "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero."

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision (NASD: ATVI) announced on Thursday that rock band Def Leppard will include their new single "Nine Lives" as part of a three-track downloadable song pack add-on for its "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" game. The new single will be exclusively available through the downloadable song pack five days before the release of the band's new album, "Sons from the Sparkle Lounge."

Nashville, Tenn. - Guitar manufacturer Gibson has filed a second patent infringement lawsuit over guitar-replica controllers used in the video games "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band," this time suing "Rock Band" makers Harmonix, Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks and Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS). Gibson also last week filed suit against a number of retailers, including Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), for selling Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Guitar Hero" in violation of its 1999 patent.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision (NASD: ATVI) has announced plans for the next iteration of its popular "Guitar Hero" franchise, which will be built around the music of platinum-selling rock band Aerosmith. In development for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PS2 for release this summer, "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" will feature around 30 songs from Aerosmith, as well as other from bands that have opened for them.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) announced on Tuesday that it has raised its net revenue and earnings outlook for the third quarter and fiscal year 2008, crediting strong sales of its "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" and "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" titles.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision (NASD: ATVI) announced on Monday that it will release standalone wireless guitar controllers for its "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" game in early 2008. The company will offer a wireless controller version of Gibson Guitar's Les Paul model for the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3, and a Gibson Kramer for the PlayStation 2.

New York - Members of the Romantics have sued Activision (NASD: ATVI), publisher of the popular "Guitar Hero" game, over a "sound-alike" version of their song "What I Like About You" featured in the game that the band says sounds too much like their original recording, Billboard reports.

San Francisco - Mobile game publisher Hands-On Mobile said on Tuesday that it has partnered with game publisher Activision (NASD: ATVI) to release a mobile version of the popular "Guitar Hero" game in the coming weeks. The mobile game will come with 15 songs, while new songs will be made available for download and play within the game each month.

Fremont, Calif. - WaveGroup, the collective of musicians and studio professionals who produced the recordings for Activision/Red Octane's "Guitar Hero" video games, announced on Thursday that it will offer "The Guitar Hero Recordings" as digital downloads. Distributed by INgrooves, the set of 97 songs will be available from retailers including iTunes, Rhapsody and Napster.