Band Hero

Rosensweig to Leave Guitar Hero; Takes Over as CEO of Online Textbook Rental Start-Up Chegg

Kara Swisher in News on February 2, 2010 at 11:00 am PT

Longtime Silicon Valley exec Dan Rosensweig is stepping down as president and CEO of the Guitar Hero division of Activision Blizzard to take a new job as CEO of Chegg, the top online textbook rental start-up. The move is unexpected given that the former Yahoo COO landed the job running the top gaming franchise in March of last year.

Weekend Update: 9.5.2009–One for the Kids

Beth Callaghan in News on September 5, 2009 at 2:47 pm PT

The week that took us from August to September was one for the books over at BoomTown, especially if you’re 12. Kara spent Monday morning at Activision Blizzard, where they are pushing forward with the entire Guitar Hero line, even as the game industry faces a nearly 50 percent decline in U.S. sales this year. Kara got to play hero to several of the forthcoming releases, including previewing the much anticipated DJ Hero console.

Guitar Hero's Dan Rosensweig Speaks!

Kara Swisher in News on September 1, 2009 at 7:25 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown did a tour of the Mountain View, Calif., HQ of Guitar Hero, which is poised for a series of launches, including the fifth version of Guitar Hero and new music games Band Hero and DJ Hero. While there, I interviewed CEO Dan Rosensweig, the well-known Silicon Valley exec who was once COO of Yahoo and who took over the high-profile division of Activision Blizzard in May in what was a bit of a surprise move into the music gaming industry. Here’s a video of an interview I did with him about it all.

Kara Visits Guitar Hero HQ (for a Sneak Peek of GH5, Band Hero and DJ Hero)

Kara Swisher in News on August 31, 2009 at 1:01 am PT

Despite the challenges the music gaming industry has been facing of late–such as sales dropping, yipes, almost 50 percent in the U.S. this year–the top companies in the field are still churning out new products like it’s nobody’s business. Case in point is a spate of new products from the Guitar Hero division of Activision Blizzard, which is coming out this fall with three separate major launches, starting tomorrow with the GH5 and including the hip-hop flavored DJ Hero in late October. Here’s BoomTown’s sneak peek from GH’s HQ in Silicon Valley.