Guitar Hero publisher Activision doesn't just want you to buy more Guitar Hero games and download more Guitar Hero tracks, it also wants you to upgrade your instruments. And you do too, apparently. When asked about the habits of repeat customers, those of us with multiple Guitar Hero games in our libraries, Activision Blizzard execs were more than happy to talk about the double and triple dipping.

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Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, noted during today's quarterly earnings conference call that the publisher may begin charging for user-generated songs uploaded through Guitar Hero World Tour's GH Tunes service. Kotick has previously stated that GH Tunes has the "potential" to be one of the "credible alternatives to iTunes."

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Just how important is Shigeru Miyamoto, according to Vanity Fair? On the list of the one hundred (*deep breath*) "global, movable band of thinkers, owners, creators, and buyers who are the tastemakers, trendsetters, opinion formers and agenda creators in the worlds of politics, entertainment, media, business, technology, and fashion" the Donkey Kong creator ranks a 73.

That's better than the evil Jimmy Buffet of Margaritaville infamy — he's 97 — but one slot lower than Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. We further presume that's due to Kotick's executive control over both Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft and his ice-cold business tact.

Former Russian president (and current PM) Vladimir Putin tops the list. Once Vanity Fair catches wind of Activision dropping Ghostbusters in lieu of the latest Crash Bandicoot, we think Bobby's wielding of the iron fist will help him place higher next year.

PUTIN TOPS VANITY FAIR NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST; MURDOCH NO. 2 [Drudge Report via Level Up]

So Warner bros. think they deserve a bigger cut of Guitar Hero profits, do they? Over Bobby Kotick's dead body. The Activision boss has hit back at the music label's claims, telling them to not only pull their head in, but to cover their arses at the same time:

I think his view was ... that [Warner Music] should be compensated the way they might for a performance on iTunes. But this is an entirely different business that is very technically complex. We're going to favour those publishers that recognise and appreciate how much we can add value to their artists.

Lump it or leave it? Them's fighting words. Think Bobby's worried? No way. Bobby don't worry.

Kotick slams Warner Music [MCV] [Pic]

So, Why did Activision leave the ESA? People have been searching for one for weeks now, and now, Bobby Kotick (pictured, presumably while filming a commercial for Nautica) has the answer. And that answer is: we're special. So special. Kotick says that "We have our own issues that are not the industry's issues...Our challenges are sufficiently different from other publishers' issues that we need our own point person". Translation: they make so much money from World of Warcraft (as well as Asian markets) that they feel the ESA aren't up to the job. Instead, the company will be handling government relations on their own, with an announcement on who'll be entrusted with that job to be made "soon".

Why Activision left the ESA [Variety]

Activision honcho Bobby Kotick is worried. Very worried. Video game consoles are expensive! And to buy them, you need money. Lots. As Kotick points out:

It used to be the case that we did well during slowdowns because if you couldn't afford to go to the movies or to travel to a theme park, you stayed home and played a computer game. But now I think that the hardware manufacturers are going to have to think about reducing their prices because the cost of purchasing some of this stuff is prohibitive.

I dunno, as a kid, I kinda always remember video game consoles being expensive. But hey, that's because I was like a little kid and little kids have no money. But I'm an adult now, and it's all relative, Bobby Kotick! Speaking of adults, Bobby also pointed out that the adult geared games are as important to the industry as R-rated movies. That's echoing similar things Kotick stated earlier. This leas us to believe that yes he will probably say the same thing again.

Guitar Hero firm Activision [Times Online via MCVUK]

Activision is well aware that most of its customers are over 18 and plans to address their R-rated expectations, Activision chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick told the Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher at today's D6 event.

"We try to stick to violence against small animals," said Kotick, (hopefully) joking, when Swisher asked him about the in-game violence issue:

Most of our users are over 18, they go to R-rated movies and we need to to cater to that preference. We are a broad-based medium today and we must appeal to as many demographics as we can. Part of that demographic audience enjoys in-game violence, and that includes gratuitous violence.

Bobby Kotick, Chairman and CEO of Guitar Hero-Maker Activision - D6 Highlights [All Things Digital]

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick showed Guitar Hero World Tour this morning at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference, marking the game's debut and rocking out with the Journal's Walt Mossberg. Looks like folks at the event had a fun time with the full set!

And, bonus - following the jump, a new video showing off the upcoming game's drum set. If you can't play Guitar Hero on a stage with Activision's CEO, watching this is probably the best you can do right now.

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What, me worry? Activision CEO Bobby "Robert" Kotick says the game industry is not headed for a slowdown. Things are buzzing! Fear not!! In a conference call, Kotick said:

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Maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't, but it seems Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has been taking quite a few little digs at its fellow giant Electronic Arts these days — perhaps coincidentally, the same digs many of you have been taking at EA in the comments of my recent stories on the company's bid to purchase Take-Two.

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