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Guitar Hero Greatest Hits on the way

Plus a third DS instalment this year.

Activision boss Mike Griffith has told analysts there will be a Guitar Hero Greatest Hits compilation and a third Guitar Hero game for DS this year.

During a financial conference call, Griffith detailed the Greatest Hits compilation as one that includes "full band versions" of previously released songs - presumably those from Guitar Hero I, II and III.

The game is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, and is due to launch before the end of the year.

Griffith was a bit vague about the third Guitar Hero DS instalment, citing only a similar release date of this year. He made no mention of how the game will work with the new DSi hardware, which has done away with the GBA slot that Guitar Hero: On Tour and Guitar Hero: Decades fret-grip peripherals clipped into.

Griffith added that Guitar Hero has now reached 32 million people around the world, and is the "clear leader" in the music genre. The franchise was apparently the largest across the videogame market for the whole of 2008, too.

Guitar Hero will expand again this year with a Metallica spin-off for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii this May. A PS2 version will follow.

Head over to our Guitar Hero: Metallica gamepage to find out more.