Calibrating an advanced set of artificial limbs, which rely on signals from the residual muscles in amputees, can be tedious, exhausting, and extremely discouraging. But when two researchers at Johns Hopkins paired up their work with Guitar Hero, they were able to make the process a little more fun, and lots more efficient, and very empowering for those who are coping with the loss of limbs.

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Did you detect that stench of viral marketing wafting from that "Bike Hero" YouTube clip? Your nose doesn't lie; the clip purported to be made by "madflux" and the "Brierwood Vandals" is really the work of production team Droga 5, MTV Multiplayer reports. Activision's chief creative officer Brad Jakeman tells MTV that one of the clip's more impressive technical feats — the flashing LEDs on the handlebars — was born from "some filmic magic."

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Nickelback Guy Chad Kroeger is concerned about the state of the music industry - in particular the lack of decent rock bands. Hey, Chad, we feel you. Seriously.

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Take one part bike, one part Guitar Hero, and, I don't know, like a million parts time-on-your-hands, and what do you have? A real world Bike Hero. It's not what you think at all. But you better watch it or someone in Brierwood is going to cry himself to sleep tonight.

[Thanks Farnic]

Although you might expect music based games like Guitar Hero to appeal to visually impaired gamers, they do tend to rely on on-screen cues which makes following a tune difficult/impossible.

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Earlier in the week, bemanistyle said they'd heard about an Activision/Konami-branded Guitar Hero arcade game. Not the first time we'd seen one , but it was probably the first official one we'd see. We figured we'd see/hear more at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions get-together in Orlando during the week, and we are not to be disappointed. Bemanistyle today have some new info: the game will be "a modified version of Guitar Hero III" running on PC hardware, and the guitars will look like the new World Tour peripherals, but be built more in line with Konami's Guitar Freaks controller standards. So, yeah, indestructible guitars. In addition, online play will be supported, along with the possibility of online song updates.

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Having Jimi Hendrix DLC in the latest Guitar Hero is a big selling-point! Pity for Wii owners, then, that you won't be seeing it. A Blactivision PR rep has told MTV:

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When Guitar Hero III was released in 2007, it sold 1.39 million copies across the various platforms in its first week on sale. That generated $US115 million for Activision. When Guitar Hero World Tour launched in 2008, it sold 534,000 copies in its first seven days. That "only" generated $US67 million. That's got to be disappointing for Activision. Sure, you can point to the fact the complete GHWT package is prohibitively expensive in these troubled economic times, but you didn't need to buy the whole pack. Indeed, so many people own a previous Guitar Hero a lot of people could just buy the disc. So what gives? Who knows. Rock Band's probably got a lot to do with it, but I'd never overlook the fact that more casual gamers - and a lot of Guitar Hero owners are just that - don't stomach annual updates as easily as us suckers do.

NPD: Behind The Numbers, October 2008 [Gamasutra]

Guitar Hero, the arcade game? According to rumours, an arcade version is incoming from developer Raw Thrills and publisher Konami. Konami is of course no stranger to arcade music games with its successful Beatmania, DrumMania and GuitarFreaks titles. A source has apparently told game site bemanistyle.com that the Guitar Hero arcade game is 100 percent true. "So far, our source has stated the cabinet is going to feature 8-10 speakers," bemanistyle.com writes, "more than 500 LED lights and a 32" monitor. The cabinet is also reportedly slated to take advantage of Internet connections to provide online cash tournaments sometime starting in 2009." If true, this arcade title will be unveiled at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions exhibit in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday.

RUMOR: Guitar Hero "Arcade" a Little Less Rumory [bemanistyle.com via Arcade Heroes]