Activision has announced that the Guitar Hero III demo will be officially available on the Live Marketplace starting tomorrow October 23. Following the demo’s release, Activision plans to kick off a Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Weekend beginning Friday, November 2.

Beginning November 2, 2007, fans 13 years old or older will be able to participate in a number of exciting activities online including a 72-hour Play & Win Sweepstakes where every hour winning axe shredders who register and play are awarded with special prize packages, such as a limited edition guitar faceplate signed by Slash, as they battle in a multiplayer showdown against the developers of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, as well as an exclusive Xbox LIVE leaderboard tournament to crown the top Guitar Hero player.

This event also brings a rare chance to score the game’s “Meet Your Maker” achievement, which involves beating the game developers at their own game. The full list of Gamertags you’ll need to add to your friends list can be found after the jump.

ACTIVISION ANNOUNCES GUITAR HERO® III: LEGENDS OF ROCK WEEKEND AND FREE GAME DEMO ON XBOX LIVE® MARKETPLACE

Fans Can Download Game Demo and Shred Against Guitar Hero® Developers Online to Win Prizes and Ultimate Bragging Rights

Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced a special Xbox LIVE®online entertainment network weekend for the highly anticipated title, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Beginning November 2, 2007, fans 13 years old or older will be able to participate in a number of exciting activities online including a 72-hour Play & Win Sweepstakes where every hour winning axe shredders who register and play are awarded with special prize packages, such as a limited edition guitar faceplate signed by Slash, as they battle in a multiplayer showdown against the developers of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, as well as an exclusive Xbox LIVE leaderboard tournament to crown the top Guitar Hero player.

Before Guitar Hero fans sign up for this gnarly shredfest, they will have the rockin’ opportunity to practice their skills with a free game demo available for download on Tuesday, October 23 exclusively through Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The free game demo, playable with either the X-Plorer guitar or Xbox 360 controller, will include the following 5 finger-melting songs:

* Even Flow (by Pearl Jam)
* Lay Down (by Priestess)
* The Metal (by Tenacious D)
* Hit Me with your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benatar)
* Rock You like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions)

To kick off Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Weekend, fans will have the coveted opportunity to secure the rare and elusive “Meet Your Maker” Xbox LIVE achievement, where axe-shredders can beat the creators at their own game, while competing online against the developers from Neversoft on Friday, November 2 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm EST. Be on the look-out for the following development team Gamertags:

GH DesLead, Alan – Design Lead
GH AsstProd, Lee – Asst Producer
GH SrProdTech, Clive – Sr. Producer Technology
GH OnlineEng, Mario – Online Engineer
GH OnlineEng2, Tim – Online Engineer
GH MidiDes2, Chris – Midi Designer
GH MidiDes3, David – Midi Designer
GH MidiDes4, Geoffrey – Midi Designer
GH MidiDes5, John – Midi Designer
GH MidiDes6, Brian – Midi Designer
GH MidiDes7, Kyle – Midi Designer

More details on registering for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Weekend, and information regarding terms, conditions, and official rules will be available on Tuesday, October 23 through the official event page: www.xbox.com/gh3weekend. Open registration will begin when the site goes live and will end at 11:59pm (EST) on November 4, 2007.

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