EVGA released yet another version of its SLI Enhancement Patch, version 12 (05.21.09). This release comes barely a week after version 11, and continues to be based on NVIDIA GeForce 185.85 drivers. Apart from the list of new games the driver supported, namely Guitar Hero: World Tour, Earthrise, Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark, Shadow Harvest, and Terminator: Salvation, the patch adds SLI support for SBK 09, Zeno Clash, and Merchants of Brooklyn.

The EVGA SLI Enhancement Patch works in with NVIDIA GeForce drivers, and helps expand the list of games that support NVIDIA SLI technology beyond what the drivers offer, by adding SLI profiles made by EVGA. Registered EVGA users can get the patch from here.

The 'newly-wed' Activision-Blizzard is reportedly planning a music store and content delivery service to directly compete with Apple's iTunes service. For now nothing is even close to concrete, Activision-Blizzard is considering launching its own download store on its Guitar Hero game platform for now. Says CEO Robert Kotick: "When you think about the potential for what we will be able to do together, there have not been many viable alternatives to iTunes." in an interview to Reuters. He adds: "If you're downloading a song to play on your 'Guitar Hero,' there's no reason why you can't download the performance also. So there's all kinds of things you can think about."

Vivindi currently owns the World's largest music publication company, Universal Music. This could serve as a content source for this delivery platform.

Activision made announcement today that it is working on a new Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game built around the legendary music of America's Greatest Rock 'N Roll Band: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Slated for release this June, this latest installment puts players in the shoes of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass), as they rock out alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 entertainment systems. The Wii version is being developed by Vicarious Visions, while the PlayStation 2 game is being made by Budcat. To mark the announcement, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock owners will have the opportunity to download Aerosmith's Dream On song for free from February 16-18 on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360. "We are extremely excited that Aerosmith chose to team up with Guitar Hero, bringing one of the world's all-time best-selling artists together with one of the biggest video game brands, to deliver a new and unique interactive way for our customers to connect with artists and their music," said Dusty Welch, head of publishing for Activision/RedOctane.

A number of Wii owners have reported that their new copies of Guitar Hero 3 are only providing a mono output rather than the stereo that is advertised on the box. Activision has responded by saying that it will replace all disks experiencing this problem for free, although it has not given details of the process just yet. Activision's spokesperson, Rhy-Ming Poon said:

We recently became aware that some consumers have not been able to enjoy the full audio output in the Nintendo Wii version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. We expect to have re-mastered discs available by early 2008 and we will be offering consumers replacement discs at no cost once they become available.

So if you are affected by this problem, it may be worth sending Activision an email and keeping an eye on its website to find out how you can get your copy replaced.

The Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock demo is due to hit Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow, October 23, In the US. The demo features five songs from the final game and can be played with either the original X-plorer guitar controller or, if you still haven't succumbed to Guitar Hero's charms, a boring old controller. Activision's demo contains the following tracks: Even Flow (by Pearl Jam), Lay Down (by Priestess), The Metal (by Tenacious D), Hit Me with your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benatar), Rock You like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions).

We've been hearing rumors about the cost of a game that includes three accessories: a guitar, a drum set, and a microphone. MTV finally has an answer for us: you can get the entire kit for the price of $169.99USD. Rock Band will arrive for the Xbox 360, PS2, and PS3 on November 23rd. Wireless controllers will become available later on.

Since Harmonix and Activision went their separate ways, each company is developing a new rock-based game. Activision is busy developing Guitar Hero 3, and Harmonix is making Rock Band. Over at Gamasutra, Activision explained why they think Guitar Hero 3 will be the better of the two...by claiming that Rock band is a Guitar Hero imitator. Activision implied that Rock Band will merely be a Guitar Hero retread rather than an original game. However, one could claim that Harmonix has every right to, considering that they originally made the game, and they helped make Konami's Guitar Freaks series.

Since acquiring the Guitar Hero license and franchise from Red Octane, Activision has handed it over to Neversoft for development of Guitar Hero 3. Harmonix decided that it will do Rock Band with the help of MTV and Electronic Arts (EA).

Guitar Hero 2 will soon find a home on the Xbox360. The game, which allows players to (pretend they can) play amazing guitar-heavy songs, such as "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, is confirmed not to be a straight PS2-to-Xbox360 port. The Xbox360 version will have all the tracks of the original Guitar Hero 2, in addition to the following, listed by the respective section the tracks are put in.

• Opening Licks: The Toadies -- "Possum Kingdom"
• Amp Warmers: Pearl Jam -- "Life Wasted"
• String Snappers: Alice Cooper -- "Billion Dollar Babies"
• Thrash and Burn: Deep Purple -- "Hush"
• Return of the Shred: Rick Derringer -- "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo"
• Relentless Rifts: My Chemical Romance -- "Dead"
• Furious Fretwork: Danzig -- "Mother"

Joel Zumaya, relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was unable to play three baseball games during this major league season. The reason? He had apparently played too much Guitar Hero, and hurt his wrist in a manner that rendered him unable to play. The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing Guitar Hero, and he quickly recovered. He played in the world series pain-free, can throw a baseball more then 100 MPH, and was 6-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 2006.