The popularity of Activision’s “Guitar Hero” game franchise was never in doubt but now the company can safely say that its rockin’ out simulation is now bordering on becoming a phenomena. In the first week of availability for “Guitar Hero III” the title took in more than $100 million dollars worth of sales in North America alone. That shatters all previous earnings for software launches that Activision has ever had in its three decade long existence. To give you a better idea of how that translates financially for the company, Activision also released its second quarter earnings from July through September which turned out to be $317 million — or nearly one-third of what “Guitar Hero III” took in in its first seven days of release.

The long-term future for the “Guitar Hero” franchise also appears to be very clear. In the same conference call where the earnings for the third installment were revealed so too were Activision’s plans to have future “Guitar Hero” projects including the possibility of spinoffs. So what’s next? “Drum Hero” is a given but what about “Roadie Hero”?