Activision dreams up Guitar Hero music platform to rival iTunes
Bobby Kotick, CEO of newly minted mega-publisher Activision Blizzard, has forecast the "the natural evolution" of the Guitar Hero franchise: iTunes. "I don't think there have been a lot of credible alternatives to iTunes but Guitar Hero certainly has that potential," Kotick told Financial Times.
While Kotick stopped short of actually detailing the proposal (we're imagining a typical music download service that features some Guitar Hero compatibility), Activision's merger with Vivendi Games ostensibly unlocks the Universal Music catalog, and Vivendi chief exec Jean-Bernard Levy added that the company has payment and processing capabilities in "virtually every country." Certainly, Activision Blizzard has a strong enough backbone to launch an iTunes competitor -- and an untold war chest ($3.5 billion, you say?) to make a bid for the highly coveted Beatles songs -- but to date, releasing 3 or so tracks a month ain't gonna cut it. Let's just get the Guitar Hero DLC updates on par with Rock Band's. Then we'll talk iTunes, m'kay?
