Christmas is the time for freebies, and Activision was all too happy to oblige. They're giving away five songs for Guitar Hero World Tour (360, PS3, Wii) all yours for the taking! Check for details in the full article and find out how you can claim the tracks.

Tattoo-clad drumming icon Travis Barker is alive and kicking, and he's kicking a few songs into Guitar Hero World Tour (360, PS3, Wii) for January. He'll be joined by Oasis, Hinder, Rev Theory, and Nickelback. Didn't Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback) tell us to put Guitar Hero away? Anyway, check out the songs in the full article.

Have music games struck their last high note? Sales numbers indicate that music games are past its peak. According to the sales reports from November, sales of Guitar Hero have declined. Rock Band managed to grow, but since Guitar Hero outsold it 3-to-1, it fails to spark much hope for the music genre.

Let's have a show of hands: Who's having problems with the drum pedals in their music game of choice? Apparently, the number of gamers who do is high enough that Nyko has announced plans for a "more durable foot pedal" called the Metal Pedal. Specs after the jump.

You're sure to get a jolly, rockin' good time this Christmas with this awesome downloadable content for Guitar Hero World Tour (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) this month. Classic gods of rock has indeed come down to join us mere mortals, such as The Eagles, Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, and a pinch of Reggae is added to for taste.

Thanks to rookmasterwiz for the tip!

Guitar Center, the world's largest musical instrument retailer recently announced the findings of their national survey. The survey shows that popular music titles Rock Band and Guitar Hero increase gamer interest to own and play actual instruments, instead of just the gaming peripherals. More details after the jump.

Analysts from Cowen and Company conducted "proprietary channel checks" in order to see if the demand for the game was still high despite the relatively weak Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) sales. What they found were some very pricey plastic instruments. Read more in the full article.

Add Rob Zombie to the list of rockers going the videogame route. In an interview with Bloody-Disgusting, Zombie revealed that his new single "War Zone" may be coming to either Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS2, PlayStation 3, Wii) or Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii).

Awww... so it was a professional production after all. I was ready to give those "neighborhood kids" a boxload of Mario stars for the superb "Bike Hero" clip they did for Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii), until Activision told the bursting-your-bubble-truth about the pros behind this smart marketing scheme of theirs. Revelation spins after the jump.

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar...not? With their Dark Horse tour coming up, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger points out that there aren't many bands out there nowadays. So he's calling out to kids to "set down the Guitar Hero, learn how to play an actual guitar, and start a band."

Apparently, not all of us want to be a rockstar.