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"I'm the voice of Guitar Hero 6," says KISS front man Gene Simmons during a video clip produced by Game On, a division of UK media site ITN. And that's all he says. The clip -- view it after the break -- has been removed from the context of what's assumed to be a full interview and essentially turns Simmons' statement into a gag line. Still, Simmons does appear to be the first "official" spokesperson to outright name the next iteration of Guitar Hero, albeit unofficially.

Activision previously dated a forthcoming Guitar Hero game for the "back half" of 2010. Presumably, that's "Guitar Hero 6" and the game Simmons will apparently star in. What? Activision didn't offer his crew a full-on Guitar Hero: KISS game? It's for the better, really, because all we want to do is get the digitized Simmons onstage and make him crank 'dat Soulja Boy!

Next month's Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero DLC should satisfy would-be rockers of all types, offering an eclectic mix of -- oh, there's totally some Flogging Molly! Sorry, we just had to get that out of our system, because St. Patrick's Day is next month and because, man, Flogging Molly is totally awesome.

There are four distinct track packs coming next month, featuring OK Go, Blink-182, the aforementioned Molly Floggers and an '80s track pack -- because nothing says March like a dusty old denim jacket with the sleeves cut off and some Night Ranger.

Though music game pioneer RedOctane may have all but evaporated in the recent round of Activision layoffs, it seems that the driving force behind it, founders Kai and Charles Huang, will remain with the publisher, according to a report from Develop.

Though they're not fleeing, we've been given no hints as to what the Huangs will be doing now at Activision. Ever the optimists, we breathlessly (and no doubt foolishly) await a console follow-up to In the Groove.

Were you looking forward to playing some Black Sabbath songs in Guitar Hero 5 this weekend? Of course you were -- that sounds awesome. Anyway, it's not going to happen. (And, it's certainly not happening for you either, Band Heroes -- whoever you are.)

Before the scheduled Thursday release of three tracks from Black Sabbath's Master of Reality album, Activision announced on its Guitar Hero Facebook page that the DLC wouldn't make its appointed release date, and added, "We hope to have the content available for download at a later date, so stay tuned!"

We were going to say, maybe the DLC was turned into steel in a great magnetic field, but, unfortunately, Iron Man isn't one of the songs in the pack. (Although, it would appear we just said it anyway.) We're checking in with Activision to find out what happened.

While Activision may be moving away from heaping artist-centric Guitar Hero games on the market, it appears Rock Band is sliding in there to fill the void. According to a story in the L.A. Times, Jimi Hendrix stepsister Janie (who also controls his estate) says that a Rock Band game based on the legendary guitarist is slated to arrive before year's end.

We know that the officially announced Green Day: Rock Band won't be the only franchise release this year, so Hendrix: Rock Guy is definitely a possibility. But the mainstream press is bad enough about confusing Rock Band and Guitar Hero that we'll hold off on placing our pre-orders until we've heard something official.

Wow, either the L.A. Times is wrong or Slash is wrong. Whoever wins, we lose.

[Update: We just heard back from a Harmonix spokesperson, and there isn't a standalone product in the works. The official statement: "While we have not made any official announcements regarding Jimi Hendrix and Rock Band, we are excited to say that we are in discussions to bring more of his music to our platform. Stay tuned."]

[Via Billboard; thanks, TheWeaponeer]

Activision wasn't done after yesterday's round of layoffs. Kotaku reports that RedOctane, the former music game peripheral company that originally published Guitar Hero before being purchased by Activision in 2006, has been shut down, with only the staff directly involved with instrument development remaining at Activision.

In addition, Underground Development (once called Z-Axis), who worked on Guitar Hero Van Halen and the Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX series, has been shut down completely, the site reports. An Activision rep confirmed the news, telling Joystiq that "As part of our overall strategy to release fewer SKUs for Guitar Hero in 2010 we are closing the Underground studios and relocating RedOctane to our Santa Monica headquarters under the leadership of David Haddad." We didn't realize there would be such an immediate and drastic downside to Activision's plan to tone down its music game releases.

Reports began circulating this morning about major layoffs at a handful of Activision-owned development studios, affecting as much as half of Radical Entertainment's staff (Prototype), an undisclosed amount of Neversoft employees (Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk), and the entirety of Luxoflux (Tranformers). An Activision rep confirmed two former studio layoffs to us this afternoon, though a representative didn't city any official numbers -- the rep also told us he could "confirm the closure of Luxoflux."

The full, significantly more vague, company statement given out to everyone reads: "Activision Publishing continually evaluates its resources to ensure that they are properly matched against its product slate and strategic goals. In 2010, the company's SKU count will be smaller than in 2009 driven in part, by a decrease in the number of music-based games we will be releasing. As we discussed on our earnings conference call yesterday, we are directing our resources against the largest and most profitable business segments, and as part of this initiative, we are realigning our resources to better reflect our slate and the market opportunities. At the same time, we are increasing our digital/online capabilities as we expect that digital/online will continue to become a more meaningful part of our business model in the years ahead."

All you really need to know about Rock of the Dead is that it's -- as the developers at Epicenter (Real Heroes: Firefighters) describe -- Typing of the Dead meets Guitar Hero. Judging by the build demonstrated to IGN, the game allows you to use a Rock Band or Guitar Hero ax to chop through the legions of the undead. Obviously, a guitar peripheral will be mandatory, though the developer is preparing contingency plan should Nintendo frown upon the requirement.

There's quite a bit of nerdy star power behind the game, with Neil Patrick Harris voicing the main character and Felicia Day featuring as the love interest. Rock of the Dead, which aims for a "cheesy/campy" feel throughout, will be budget-priced between $30 and $40 when it shambles into retail "late spring or early summer."

[Via 1UP]

Activision plans to cut down on the number of Hero games in 2010. According to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith in a conference call, the company expects the music game business to decline further as "the casual consumer proves less robust" and people are saturated enough with instrument controllers that they start buying only new discs.

"Fewer SKUs will service a broader audience," Griffith said. "In 2009 we released 25 music SKUs, and in 2010 we plan to release less than 10." The cuts will come in the form of PS2 versions and Band Hero bundles (leaving only standalone discs for that game), as the company focuses on Guitar Hero and DJ Hero releases in the "back half of the year."

That 25 SKU number, by the way, is a pretty conservative estimate. We added up just each console version of Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero Smash Hits, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero Van Halen, Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits, DJ Hero, and Band Hero -- not counting various instrument bundles or special editions, and not counting cell phone versions -- and came up with 26. If you were to add things like the Renegade Edition of DJ Hero and add standalone disc releases to instrument bundles, that number would go up significantly.

Today Activision Blizzard reported the financial results of its December quarter and the entire 2009 calendar year. For the year, Activision recorded a net income of $113 million, a modest turnaround from the $107 million in net losses for the company in 2008. Led by sales of Modern Warfare 2, all signs -- at least, this one -- pointed to an outstanding Q4 for the publisher. However, figures released today indicate that Activision actually posted a $286 million net loss during the period.

"Despite these challenging times, in 2010 we remain focused on expanding operating margins by growing our high-margin digital/online revenues, directing our resources to the largest and most profitable opportunities and realizing operational efficiencies globally," CEO Bobby Kotick said. "In calendar year 2010, we expect our net earnings and operating margin growth will be driven by our product slate that includes Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II and the World of Warcraft expansion pack, Cataclysm, as well as a diversified lineup based on Activision Publishing's best-selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, together with other well-known titles such as True Crime, Spider-Man and Bakugan."

While few details were give about Activision's pending slate of sequels, spinoffs and possible reboots, Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, did share a few words about the next True Crime game. "We'll be releasing a game in the $4 billion action genre, based on our True Crime franchise," Griffith said. "The game blends intense Hollywood-style driving with martial arts combat and shootouts to deliver an Asian cinema-inspired action thriller. This is a big open-world action game that looks especially strong." Griffith also confirmed that a new 007 game is still in the works for 2010.

Additionally, Activision noted that two new IPs are in development for its 2010 lineup and assured that additional DLC will continue to be released for Guitar Hero 5 (and presumably Band Hero), as well as for DJ Hero. The next installments in both music game franchises, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, are due in "the back half of the year," according Griffith. Activision also announced that it has ceased developing new Guitar Hero games for the PlayStation 2 platform. Aw, shucks.

USA -- the television network, not the nation -- has selected Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy as the two most important "New Media" figures in its annual Character Approved Awards. According to USA's announcement of the 2010 winners, the awards are designed to "honor the real characters who are changing the face of American culture." Considering we haven't been to a social gathering in two years that didn't turn into an impromptu Rock Band party, we think Rigopulos and Egozy are deserving of the honor.

Check out the pair's award page to find out more about their personal history. We didn't know Egozy is actually a classically-trained clarinetist. Where's that peripheral, guys?

It's a well-known fact that anything signed by a founding member of The Who is immediately imbued with supernatural properties. Imagine, if you will, the raw, unbridled power a Rock Band guitar would gain if tenderly handled and Hancocked by frontman Roger Daltrey. We're pretty sure it would be incapable of missing notes at that point.

Such an artifact is now attainable, if you're willing to dish out enough cash to claim it. Daltrey and peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz have teamed up to auction off a pair of classy Wooden Fender Stratocaster guitar controllers for Xbox 360. The proceeds from the auctions will support the Teenage Cancer Trust, a U.K. charity which funds special oncology units in hospitals which "enable young people to be treated together, by an expert team, in the best possible environment for their age group." These auctions are a great cause -- with some extremely rocking benefits.

The auctions are up right now, and will run until next Thursday. Also, we can't think of an appropriate pun to end this post, but if we write about Roger Daltrey and don't link to the "YEEEEEEAAAHHH" button, we're contractually obligated to resign.

[Via Shacknews]

Activision's Guitar Hero business unit has a new boss, who's not the same as the old boss -- former COO David Haddad is taking over the post after CEO Dan Rosensweig left the company. Haddad was the head of Vivendi's Sierra Online division back in the day, but started working with the Guitar Hero group after Activision merged with Viviendi back in 2007.

Rosensweig is off to join Chegg.com, a company that specializes in online textbook rentals and has recently put together more than $160 million in investor funding. There's a rumor going around that Rosensweig got fired (presumably for the recent decline in the genre's sales), but Activision's Dan Amrich says that's simply not true, and that the move was completely voluntary. Either way, there's a new sheriff in plastic guitar town, and we'll see how he deals with any bandits that come a-ridin' through.

Things took a step towards the alternative in last month's Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero DLC offerings, but it seems February will see the games' downloadable music get back on the path of straight-up rock. We'll be seeing new (old) jams from 30 Seconds to Mars, Breaking Benjamin, Third-Eye Blind and Black Sabbath. We personally can't wait to see Taylor Swift cover Ozzy's part on "Sweet Leaf."

All track packs will be available for $5.49 on PS3, 550 Wii Points or 440 on Xbox 360. In addition, all songs will be available seperately for $1.99, 200 Wii Points or 160. Head past the break for the complete list of February's downloadable songs.

In the latest issue of Edge Magazine, Harmonix head Alex Rigopulos and Neversoft project director Brian Bright both speak out regarding the current state of rhythm-music gaming. As you might imagine, neither developer thinks that the genre is flatlining. In fact, Rigopulos even believes that "future music games will exceed the sales success of the last generation."

Surprisingly, though, while each heads up their own approach to the genre, the two seem to be in near-direct agreement on the next step for their franchises. "User-generated content will be absolutely critical to the ongoing success of the genre, I think," Rigopulos says. Bright echoes his statement, saying, "I think user-created content is key to the evolution ... if you can't create or edit licensed music due to copyright laws, then you're limited to pretending to play someone else's music."

That said, each developer differs in their definition of exactly what that "user-created content" will be. In the case of Rigopulos, he believes the Rock Band Network and its potentially "huge community of power-users -- skilled music creators" will be his company's next "defining moment." Bright is less sure of a plan, simply stating, "I think the key is to create music, but make it compelling to create, so the game is in the creation."