Activision is celebrating the Fourth of July a day early, with a free download for Guitar Hero III. The track in which Guitar Hero III owners will be able to download is none other than the Top Gun Anthem.

“TOP GUN ANTHEM” TO LAND ON GUITAR HERO® III: LEGENDS OF ROCK AS FREE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR FOURTH OF JULY

SANTA MONICA, CA – July 1, 2008 – Grab your wingman and fire up the F-14 for the announcement today of a special Fourth of July treat for Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero III®: Legends of Rock fans. Beginning July 3, 2008, the legendary, GRAMMY® award-winning “Top Gun Anthem” will be available as a free downloadable song for the game.

The instrumental, guitar-heavy theme was immortalized in the hit film that inspired a generation of young men to awkwardly serenade women at bars, perform perfectly-timed “flipside” high fives and threaten to “buzz the tower.”

The song will be available as a free download to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock mavericks and their wingmen everywhere for Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and in the PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system on July 3, 2008.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock offers the ultimate rock experience with new wireless guitars, freshly added content and features including a multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually stunning rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer modes allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true rock status as they riff through a star-studded soundtrack including master tracks by legendary artists such as Aerosmith, Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam, as well as original songs by guitar icons Slash and Tom Morello. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is now available and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information visit http://community.guitarhero.com.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have the sudden urge to go watch the movie.

Seeing as how I’m the only posting news these days, I thought I’d mention that six James Bond films will be getting a Blu-ray release on October 21st. The six titles which will be released on Blu-ray are:

• Dr. No
• Die Another Day
• Live And Let Die
• For Your Eyes Only
• From Russia With Love
• Thunderball

Although these releases have nothing to do with games, keep in mind that the PlayStation 3 does play Blu-ray movies, and what better way to get excited about the next James Bond film and game, titled ‘Quantum Solace’, then picking up some James Bond films in HD?

Bond is Officially Blu

EA’s next entry into the boxing world is not Fight Night Round 4 (that’s their entry after this game), but rather FaceBreaker received a release date yesterday. The game is due out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 5, and the Wii version game will be out during the holidays. Continue reading →

The PlayStation 3 firmware was updated to 2.36 during the night, which according to Kotaku, “brings improved system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles.”

Normally, the firmware update would be the big news. However, an upcoming firmware update (2.40) is getting the most attention, and rightfully so. It’s going to introduce the PlayStation 3’s version of the Xbox 360’s Achievements, which is trophies. In addition to introducing the trophies system, the 2.40 firmware update will also enable XMB access-in game.

PS3 trophies slated for 2.40 firmware (Gamesindustry)

Fans of Coldplay that have Guitar Hero III have it made next week. Not only is Coldplay’s newest album coming out on June 17th, titled Viva la Vida, but they also get a Guitar Hero pack on June 19th. The pack will contain three songs, and be available for download on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. The songs in the track pack are:

• “Violet Hill” - Viva la Vida
• “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” - A Rush of Blood to the Head
• “Yellow” - Yellow

GHIII Coldplay Pack Detailed (Kotaku)

As the same with every month, the NPD Group also released hardware sales figures for the month of May, and once again Nintendo has claimed the top 2 spots. According to the NPD Group, the Nintendo Wii is now close to overtaking the Xbox 360 for installed base in the U.S. With the addition of May’s hardware numbers, the Nintendo Wii now has an installed base in the U.S. of 10.2 million, and the Xbox 360 has an installed base of 10.27 million.

• Nintendo Wii 675,100
• Nintendo DS 452,600
• PlayStation 3 208,700
• Xbox 360 186,600
• PlayStation Portable 182,300

Wii Nearly Overtakes Xbox 360 U.S. Install Base After Strong May Sales (Kotaku)

The NPD Group released the top 10 software sales for the month of May yesterday, and like April, Grand Theft Auto IV claimed the top spot, with Mario Kart Wii coming in second.

• Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) 871,300
• Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii) 787,400
• Wii Fit (Nintendo Wii) 687,700
• Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3) 442,900
• Wii Play (Nintendo Wii) 294,600
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo Wii) 171,100
• Iron Man (PlayStation 2) 130,600
• Guitar Hero III(Nintendo Wii) 116,800
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (Nintendo DS) 107,000
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (Nintendo DS) 102,000

GTA IV Still The U.S. Software Champ In May (Kotaku)

Back on May 15, 2K Sports selected Rick Nash to be the cover athlete of NHL 2K9, and earlier today, EA revealed that Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames will be the cover athlete of NHL 09. According to Gamespot, Phaneuf will grace the cover on all the copies outside of Sweeden and Russia, with those countries getting athletes to represent their respective countries. Those players are Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson for Sweeden, and Alexander Ovechkin for Russia.

NHL 09 is set to check its way onto the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and the PC this September.

Phaneuf checks NHL 09 cover

Walmart is currently having two sales, which started yesterday and is good until this Saturday, June 14, where you get a $100 Giftcard if you purchase any blu-ray player, including a PlayStation 3. The other sale, would be several blu-ray movies to throw at those blu-ray players for $15 each. The movies on sale for $15 are:

• 3:10 to Yuma
• War
• 300
• Blood Diamond
• Shooter
• The Fifth Element
• Training Day
• The Last Samurai
• A Knight’s Tale
• The Patriot
• Syriana

Earlier today, the first details on Call of Duty 5 were revealed. The game is being developed by Treyarch, and is set in the Pacific Theater during World War II. As for gameplay, the game will have a co-op mode, and the multiplayer aspect of the game will have vehicles and squad-elements as well.

Wii fans should take note that the Wii version is being developed by a separate Treyarch team, and the game will support the Wii Zapper.

Call of Duty 5 To Feature Co-Op, Eye Ball Burning (Kotaku)