There's been some considerable debate on these here internets about the status of the Guitar Hero franchise. Thanks to "continued declines in the music genre," Activision yesterday announced that it plans to not only "discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011" (read: cancel it) but also to "disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit." But what about the DJ Hero franchise, and the promising DJ Hero 3D, you ask? "We will release no new music or skateboarding games," CFO Thomas Tippl said of this calendar year. It certainly appears the franchise is dead, but some insist it's simply taking a year off. They'll keep making DLC, right?

Right?

"We will release the previously announced DLC track and mix packs for February, but - unfortunately," a FAQ answer on the official DJ Hero website states, "we will not be able to release new DLC packs beyond what we already have." The question specifically asked, "Are you still going to make new DLC for Guitar/DJ Hero?" Of course, existing DLC will remain available (for now) and existing games will remain available at retail (for now).

Perhaps most telling is that one FAQ question and answer was duplicated twice, at the beginning and end, bookending the official response with a rather ominous message. "Does this mean you're no longer making Guitar (and/or DJ) Hero games?," it asks ... twice. "Over the past two years, we have seen rapid declines in the music genre, and unfortunately, based on current demand, we simply cannot continue to profitably make these games given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs."

As a means of punctuation, that sounds awfully definitive.