Activision has officially confirmed earlier reports that it will expand its 2009 rhythm game line-up this Fall with Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero, and Band Hero. Additionally, the publisher has announced that the franchise has reached a USD 2 billion milestone, and is only the third gaming franchise to do so.

According to a press release issued today, Guitar Hero 5 "gives players an unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly." Band Hero meanwhile is an attempt to expand the franchise to a younger audience, and DJ Hero, which has seen some court attention recently, introduces a brand new turntable peripheral. All three titles are slated for fall of this year.

During a conference call discussing the publisher's quarterly financial results, Activision expanded on its music genre strategy, revealing that the Guitar Hero franchise has now generated USD 2 billion in sales.

In response to a question by Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel, Activision CEO Robert Kotick said "We feel very good about our holiday slate."

"The Guitar Hero franchise in fact, this quarter, surpassed the USD 2 billion dollar mark, and was only the third franchise in the history of gaming, besides Super Mario and Madden, to ever achieve that milestone," he continued. "So, it's got a strong foundation."

In regards to music titles from other publishers, Kotick said "We're much more focused on our own business than the overall market, because we can't really control what happens with the other titles, such as Rock Band, where we've seen a rather precipitous fall-off of that franchise."

Kotick also said that Guitar Hero Metallica is "off to a good start," and that the publisher will be sponsoring the band's European tour next month - just in time for the game's European launch. "We think that's going to be a very positive addition," he said.

"And then the triad that we've got in the holiday, between Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero and Band Hero, we think will not only serve the current user base, but also provide significant additional expansion opportunities to new genres, so that we can start tapping into the significant number of households that are a part of the 170 million install base of hardware, but haven't yet engaged with Guitar Hero."

"So, I think we're feeling that we've got a very strong programme in the year ahead, and we're bullish on the music category."

In response to an additional question from Piper-Jaffray analyst Anthony Gikas, Activision CFO Thomas Tippl spoke briefly on the profit margins for the Guitar Hero franchise, saying that "margins have been compressed as a result of the hardware cost related particularly to the band products," but that the publisher expects profit margins on the franchise to improve later this year.

"What we expect to see is that margins will improve as we get into the latter part of the year, where we will have new hardware out that is not only better and innovative, but also cost-optimised," he continued, also adding that another factor for higher margins will be a heightened focus on software over hardware, which has significantly lower manufacturing and freight costs.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-gh5-confirmed ...

So this is interesting -- we were just forwarded an email from Apple informing iPhone developers that all future App Store testing and review will occur on iPhone OS 3.0 to prepare for a smooth transition this summer, and that incompatible applications won't be approved. Seeing as we're already on beta 5, we're guessing most devs shouldn't find this too much of a burden, but we're wondering if the recent string of bad publicity over App Store approval guidelines has forced Apple's hand here, since 3.0's parental control features will ostensibly relax Apple's currently asinine content restrictions and allow non-kiddie-apps to get through without any hoopla. Let's hope.

Update: Looks like our guess was spot-on. The iPhone Blog's noticed a new set of parental controls in beta 5 (and possibly earlier) that suggests some sort of app rating system is in the works. Sure, it's a promising idea, but let's just hope the current broken process is also getting an overhaul -- simply slapping a 17+ rating on, say, Tweetie doesn't actually fix the problem.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/07/i...ssion-reviews/ ...

So this is interesting -- we were just forwarded an email from Apple informing iPhone developers that all future App Store testing and review will occur on iPhone OS 3.0 to prepare for a smooth transition this summer, and that incompatible applications won't be approved. Seeing as we're already on beta 5, we're guessing most devs shouldn't find this too much of a burden, but we're wondering if the recent string of bad publicity over App Store approval guidelines has forced Apple's hand here, since 3.0's parental control features will ostensibly relax Apple's currently asinine content restrictions and allow non-kiddie-apps to get through without any hoopla. Let's hope.

Update: Looks like our guess was spot-on. The iPhone Blog's noticed a new set of parental controls in beta 5 (and possibly earlier) that suggests some sort of app rating system is in the works. Sure, it's a promising idea, but let's just hope the current broken process is also getting an overhaul -- simply slapping a 17+ rating on, say, Tweetie doesn't actually fix the problem.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/07/i...ssion-reviews/ ...

Add "compass" to that list of rumored features -- again -- for the next, still-unconfirmed iPhone revision, alongside video production capabilities, a slide-out keyboard, OLED display, LTE / Verizon support, and EV-DO rev. B (okay, not really that last one). Boy Genius Report has obtained two screens allegedly from an unreleased iPhone OS build that suggest a magnetometer'll be part of the new hardware. Given turn-by-turn navigation is now an option for developers, we'd say having directional support is almost a necessity. Why there's also an option for Kitchen Sink in the image we haven't the foggiest, but we're gonna go ahead and add "holographic plumbing assistant" to that wishlist.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/07/m...o-next-iphone/ ...

Add "compass" to that list of rumored features -- again -- for the next, still-unconfirmed iPhone revision, alongside video production capabilities, a slide-out keyboard, OLED display, LTE / Verizon support, and EV-DO rev. B (okay, not really that last one). Boy Genius Report has obtained two screens allegedly from an unreleased iPhone OS build that suggest a magnetometer'll be part of the new hardware. Given turn-by-turn navigation is now an option for developers, we'd say having directional support is almost a necessity. Why there's also an option for Kitchen Sink in the image we haven't the foggiest, but we're gonna go ahead and add "holographic plumbing assistant" to that wishlist.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/07/m...o-next-iphone/ ...

The launch of the Ovi Store is just around the bend and, according to reports, Nokia is looking to blow things out a little better than Google, which launched its Android Market with a paltry 50 selections. Nokia is said to have over 20,000 "items" ready for download when things go live, a number that compares quite favorably to the 40,000 apps Apple currently offers through its App Store. However, what remains to be seen is exactly what an "item" is defined as. We're sure that count includes custom apps and WidSets, and there's talk about N-Gage games finding inclusion as well. However, video and music downloads seem to be counted and we'd guess ringtones too. So, how many actual applications will it have at launch? That remains to be seen.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/08/n...00-items-unkn/ ...

The R4i SDHC Adapter is the latest development in flash cartridge technology for the Nintendo DSi. The R4i SDHC is an adapter so you can use a microSDHC card (up to 32GB) with your Nintendo DSi this allows you to store much more and allows you to benefit from all the following features, watch movies, play music, browse pictures, read E-Books and more...
Features:

1. Same size as an original DSi game cartridge.
2. Built-in PassMe (NO need for any boot cart./passcard etc.)
3. Uses microSD memory card (Trans Flash) as storage.
4. Boot clean dump images (downloadable from internet).
5. Very simple to use: drag and drop files to the microSD card and play.
6. Standard FAT system support.
7. Supports different speeds of micro SD cards.
8. Supports HC memory cards.
9. Upgradable Firmware ( OS / Bios / Kernel )
10. Touch screen control and robust skinning support.
11. No battery needed, back up the save file directly into the microSD card.
12. Homebrew support , IO lib available on launch.
13. Supports WiFi, DS rumble pack and DS browser.
Including:

R4i SDHC Card (Slot-1)
USB microSD memory card reader / writer
R4i SDHC hard case and lanyard


More... ...

R4-III SDHC Upgrade Revolution for DS, Its not made by R4 Team, but still a very good Flash Card.

This is Brand new Upgrade R4-III Cartridge with gilded phosphor bronze interface. Compare with other flash cards,R4, R4i, R4SDHC it has solved the problem of hard connecting; with lower power consumption, support SDHC; multi-language and Perfect compatibility makes R4-III stand out. Simple to use, this is a must have peripheral for any regular DS/DS lite owner.
Features:

-2nd generation storage device (no booting tool required)
-Flush fitting slot 1 card
-Uses MicroSD or MicroSDHC up to 32GB card, FAT16 or 32
-Supports any MicroSD and SDHC card speed with no lag in game
-Supports Clean ROM, drag and drop. Works on any OS
-Built in NoPass
-Automatically detect save type
-Save directly to MicroSD card, not to onboard chip
-Supports Moonshell and other homebrew, Open I/O interface
-User friendly skinnable interface, Touchscreen or button operation
-Supports rumble pak and memory pak
-Supports the WiFi game, DS Rumble Pak, DS Browser
-Supports changes of the background of Operation Interface
-Support Skin DIY by setting background and font colors on Main Menu and Game Menu manually and automatically
-Supports 4-scale-lightness adjustment(DS Lite only)
-Supports the Soft Reset
-Supports Action Replay cheat
-moonshell 1.6 support Software Reset function(Press START key back to the R4-III menu)
-DLDI auto-patching
-Full download play support
Including:

1 X R4-III Upgrade Card
1 X USB 2.0 Thumb size Micro-SD card reader
1 X Blue color case for the adapter
Notice: No CD in the package


More... ...

Alek posted this on his site:


http://sceners.org/index.php?id=26 ...