Apparently, Activision execs aren't quite clear on who was responsible for the runaway console hit Guitar Hero. According to Gamasutra, during a conference call today, Activision suits took a swipe at MTV and Harmonix's upcoming Rock Band claiming it "wasn't surprising that [Guitar Hero] has attracted imitators." Wuzzat?

Obviously, Guitar Hero and Harmonix owe a great deal of their rhythmic guitar game's design to Konami's own Guitar Freaks, but to say that Rock Band is a Guitar Hero imitator is a bit odd.

In other Guitar Hero news, the company boasted that some 200,000 downloads of music packs have been purchased via Xbox Live and that the publisher is "just getting started" with Guitar Hero development. That even means region-tailored song choices in either downloadable content or geographically planned disc-based releases

Will the game come full circle, seeing a J-rock fueled release overseas? Who knows how Activision will continue to flog this one. Michael McWhertor

Activision Talks GH II Downloads, Rock Band, Nintendo Third-Party Woes [Gamasutra]

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