Publisher have gone on the offensive against EA's Rock Band, which is being created by Harmonix, creators of the Acti's series now being furthered by Neversoft. Activision's latest conference call sees the publisher unsurprisingly stating their continued faith in the Guitar Hero brand, a representative suggesting the corporation believes their series will come out on top in the forthcoming tussle between Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band.

Acti point to the 200,000-strong of the Guitar Hero 2's song pack on the as proof that people have an insatiable 'appetite for songs', one chief adding, when questioned on Rock Band, that Guitar Hero has attracted 'imitators' - which is a bit rich when you consider that creator's invented Acti's cash-cow franchise in the first instance.

While Neversoft's Guitar Hero 3 is expected to carry on in the same vein as past installments in the award-winning series, Harmonix's new creation - Rock Band - is said to embrace every instrument, making the title a more ambitious venture overall. Could Activision be getting worried that their expensively-acquired IP now faces some stiff competition?

By Luke Guttridge