Neversoft doing Guitar Hero?

Neversoft looks to have become involved in the Guitar Hero series - the suggestion being that future versions, perhaps even Guitar Hero III, will be easy enough to develop that a third party can undertake the relevant work while instigators Harmonix dip their creative wick into the oily world of new IP.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves (and we're speaking in tongues again). What's happened is this: a report in the US cites an unnamed source in declaring that Tony Hawk developer Neversoft is handling development duties on a third Guitar Hero game. Easy to deny or ignore (as Activision-owned RedOctane then did, claiming it was "rumour and speculation").

Harder to deny is that Neversoft's website has a whopping great "GUITAR HERO POSITIONS AVAILABLE" banner taking up half the page. Positions offered include those in programming, art, sound, production and other fiddly-sounding roles.

Where all this leaves the Guitar Hero series in general is hard to say, but with an '80s edition rumoured, an Xbox 360 version and downloadable content offerings on the way this spring, and Harmonix and RedOctane both having previously stated their desire to broaden not only the GH content, but also the concept, it's not hard to understand why Neversoft might have been drafted in.

After all, they are pretty good at what they do, as the excellent Tony Hawk's Project 8 - sitting opposite the Guitar Hero job ad on their homepage - aptly demonstrates.