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   Two rumours have begun to take shape last week around the Guitar Hero franchise, in the pages of US magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). One of them suggested that development of the third game in Harmonix' series is actually being done by Neversoft - most famed for its Tony Hawk games; and the other rumour speculated that Harmonix are still working on a Guitar Hero project of their own, supposedly based on music from the 1980s. Out of the two, one in particular is now surprisingly likely to come to fruition!

   After being tipped by an "anonymous industry source", GameDaily BIZ later discovered that developer Neversoft's website "is literally split down the middle between Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk's Project 8, as Neversoft is apparently hiring for both franchises currently". And while they don't make any explicit reference to Guitar Hero III in their jobs listings, it is believed that this is what they're working on, under Activision / RedOctane's guidance.

   It's certainly no coincidence that Neversoft was picked for this job, since Activion acquired RedOctane prior to E3 2006, and Neversoft is itself controlled by Activision. The series' original maker, Harmonix, have also seen their fair share of business last year, as they were purchased by the MTV channel.

   Even though none of the companies was willing to comment on the rumour, we should not forget that last summer Activision announced plans for an "all-new Guitar Hero game", planned for release in the company's 2008 fiscal year (April 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008). So, basically, all we need to find out now is what platform(s) it's being made for. That and, of course, if - and how - it will be any different from the first two Guitar Hero games.

   As for the '80s Guitar Hero title supposedly being worked on by the original developer Harmonix, for now it's just a rumour. It will probably be out this spring on the PlayStation 2, and we wouldn't be surprised if it will be made available through Xbox Live as well, for the upcoming Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II.