It seems like just about every game that comes out gets a special edition of some sort. Often those special editions aren’t that special with the only additions being some free DLC or maybe a book of artwork you will never look at.

Activision has announced an awesome special edition for Call of Duty: Black Ops called Prestige. The Prestige collector’s edition gets the game and some free DLC along with a medal. The awesome bit is that the edition comes with a badass remote control surveillance vehicle.

I like me some music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Rap and dance music isn’t my genre of choice so I have not had the need to play DJ Hero yet. If you like DJ Hero Activision has announced that stand-alone DJ controllers are finally available in the US.

The controllers are on Amazon now for about $60. When you add a second controller, you can have head-to-head DJ battles against friends. Activision is also talking up a couple more multiplayer modes that are pretty cool.

Video games are big business around the world with top tier titles making more than many movies rake in. The most popular games end up turning into some of the most popular franchise around as well. This is what happened with the Call of Duty franchise.

Activision has announced that the Call of Duty franchise has now racked up more than $3 billion in sales around the world. That is a ton of money and surely makes the CoD franchise one of Activision’s best.

Online retailers Gamestop and Amazon have both independently put up listings for the DJ Hero / turntable bundle and both list the same October 27th ship date with a price of $119.99 for Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The PS2 version will cost you either the same or $20 cheaper, depending on which site you go with.

Nothing official from Activision though. We’re thinking the prices and date are accurate. But until Activision confirms it, nobody knows for sure. Looks like four more months until you can get your DJ fix.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are a couple of popular music video games, but for some audiophiles rock music isn’t what they want. Some music fans are into hip-hop, electronic and other genres where DJs spin the tunes rather than rock bands jamming live.

Activision is set to add DJ Hero to its music game line up. We have already seen an aftermarket DJ Hero turntable from Numark and Activison has now announced a special edition DJ Hero game is coming.

I went to see Star Trek on opening weekend and out of the 600 trailers that ran before the movie started, one of the coolest was for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie looks pretty good and today anytime we hear of a new movie that can possibly support a video game tie in, we know it’s coming.

Activision has announced that the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game to go along with the film is under development and will use voice talent from the films leading starts including Shai “I really (really) love my momma” LeBeouf and Megan “Miss Hotness” Fox.

Activision just went bonkers and confirmed a whole bunch of heroes. The most notable is the long-awaited DJ Hero. We wondered what a DJ Hero controller would look like, and we finally get to see in the image above. How you play the thing is a mystery to us.

Music genres include “hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance,” and the game will let users create “original mixes”. Activision is also putting the finishing touches on a family-friendly Band Hero game, as well as a Guitar Hero 5 followup.

Last week we told you about how Activision was having some issues with turnaround time for the Guitar Hero III: Legends of rock discs for the Wii. The turnaround time was so bad that they are adding a refund to the list of solutions for the sound issues found with the original game discs. You might remember, the first batch of Guitar Hero III discs for the Wii only included stereo sound, as opposed to Dolby. Apparently Activision is taking 3-4 weeks to get new discs out to users. This sucks because you have to send them your old disc before they’ll send you a new one. Here are the details:

Activision and Nintendo re-mastered the game and will provide a replacement disc to consumers with Dolby digital surround sound. If you want a full refund instead of a replacement disc, you can download their refund form, which outlines the refund requirements.

This news should make both Guitar Hero fans and Aerosmith fans very happy. Activision announced plans to base an installment in the Guitar Hero series around America’s best selling hard rock band Aerosmith. The new title is scheduled for a June release and will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PS2.

Players will be able to play as the band’s guitarists Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton. Just like other versions of the hit game, players will progress from an unknown band to rock legends, this time following the story of the band, with some Aerosmith concerts and venues. Interestingly, Activision has promised Aerosmith’s extensive back catalog, as well as other songs from other artists that inspired the group.

One look at eBay and you can see that “Guitar Hero III” or “Rock Band” are being sold for big bucks. These two rhythm simulators are among this year’s hottest holiday presents and are sold out at the retail level leaving the online auction house as the only alternative for snagging yourself a set. However one Australian youth’s dreams of a music-making Christmas have been shattered by his father as a consequence of being caught red handed smoking pot in the family’s backyard.

The trouble started when the father, whose identity is being withheld but makes his living as a school teacher, came home and caught his son in the company with some friends toking up. As a lesson the anti-dope Dad decided to place his son’s Christmas gift, the guitar/game combo of “Guitar Hero III”, on the eBay auction site and up for sale.

Two of the world’s biggest manufacturers and distributors of video games are merging in a deal that will make the new company larger than Electronic Arts, the current largest gaming company in the world. French software titan Vivendi SA will combine with Activision Inc., the Sunnyvale, CA. company to create Activision Blizzard. (The Blizzard part of the new film’s name comes from Vivendi’s ownership of Blizzard Entertainment, the company that makes the world’s number one massive multiplayer online game “World of Warcraft”.)

Vivendi’s stock will be converted into Activision common stock which will give the former a 52 percent share in the new company. Activision Blizzard will be worth $18.9 billion in assets and give it claim as the largest gaming company in the world. What this means for gamers is that popular titles like the “Call of Duty”, “Guitar Hero” and “Warcraft” series will now be released by a single entity. How the rest of the gaming industry will react to news of this super-merger will be spelled out in the coming months.

Today the Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations, one of the largest formerly-independent developers in the UK who are well-known for the Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars series, announced that they are becoming part of Activision alongside the companies other studios. In the announcement Bizarre assures us that this isn’t some act of desperation from a failing studio, but more a strategic move the help bring their games up to the “next level”. Bizarre Creations also states that they will continue to remain intact with no redundancies and that Activision will have a “hands off” way of running things.

Activison hit a home run when it came out with its “Guitar Hero” console games two years ago. A third title, “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock”, is scheduled for release this fall and Activision has just announced what sort of guitars you’ll get to play both in the game as well as in your hands. The company has signed an exclusive deal with Gibson Guitar Corp. so that you will be able to shred using several of the famous signature guitars that Gibson is known for. Over 20 classic and modern Gibson guitars and more than 80 finishes will be playable in the game while players will be using wireless guitar controllers to strum their tunes. The Gibson Les Paul model will be the style of controller used by the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii gamers while the …