Today Activision launched a site for Guitar Hero III (www.guitarhero.com) that appears to be a start towards what Bungie.net is for Halo 3. You can register your name, create a band for your friends, and earn "groupies" for various things. It's pretty cool. I created a band called The Hushed Casket. If any THX'ers want to join, just create a profile and search for it. Eventually it is supposed to track scores and provide a lot of other cool social networking features. Official press release is below with more info.

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Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), in partnership with Agora Games, a leading provider of online community development and in-game data collection, announced today that a new dedicated Guitar Hero community teaser website has launched, and fans can now visit www.GuitarHero.com to get a Backstage Pass to obtain insider information, news announcements, exclusive behind the scenes footage of Slash and other in-game talent, gameplay videos, and screenshots. Aspiring axe-shredders will also have the ability to pre-order and hear snippets from the set list of the highly anticipated title, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock.

Fans who are first to sign up will have the exciting opportunity to create their own account and claim their stage name, which will be their unique identity on the official Guitar Hero community site, scoreboards, and forums. After the game launches on October 28, 2007, players will be able to go "on tour" by creating or joining a group to compare scores, and compete online in global head to head tournaments with other tour groups, along with the opportunity to establish new friendships and connect with other passionate Guitar Hero fans from around the world. They can also build a "rock radius" to opt-in and see friends, tour group members and players to connect with online through a global map.

To complete the rock star experience, fans can obtain groupies on the road to stardom while earning the title of Indie to Rock Star to Guitar Hero and shredding their way into the Hall of Fame. Groupies will determine a player's popularity around the Backstage Pass, as well as on the full community site. For a limited time, players can now earn groupies by telling friends about their band and getting them to register on the site to join their tour group.