Award Winning Guitarist Carlos Santana to Lend Smooth Grooves and Trademark Moves to Guitar Hero(R) 5

Award Winning Guitarist Carlos Santana to Lend Smooth Grooves and Trademark Moves to Guitar Hero(R) 5

Video Game to Feature the Genre-Blending Guitar Virtuoso's Music and Likeness

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and 11-time Grammy Award winner, Carlos Santana, is set to appear as an exclusive in-game artist in the upcoming Guitar Hero 5. Santana's accomplishments span four decades and more than 40 albums including the self-titled album, Santana, that launched one of the most recognizable Latin-infused classic rock anthems, "No One to Depend On." The live version of the song will be featured in Guitar Hero 5 with Carlos Santana jamming on stage as a playable character.

In addition to music from Santana, Guitar Hero 5 features a wide variety of today's hottest rock 'n' roll bands mixed with classic tracks. Brand new game features let fans tailor their experience to meet the evolving ways consumers are interacting with their favorite music and allows them to challenge themselves as a solo act or band member, or kick back with friends and enjoy their personalized set list.

"We're thrilled to showcase one of the top guitarists of all time in Guitar Hero 5 and offer fans the opportunity to experience Carlos Santana's signature sounds and iconic likeness first-hand," said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero. "His accomplished career and breadth of musical style are a great illustration of the variety of rock experiences we have included in the game and we are excited to announce him as the first of five playable in-game artists."

This September, living room legends will rock any way they want in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any controller combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii(TM) system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated "T" for "Teen" by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.GuitarHero.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

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2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. 2006 Nintendo. All rights reserved.

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

CONTACT: Ryh-Ming C. Poon, Director, Public Relations of Activision
Publishing, Inc., +1-310-255-2226, rpoon@Activision.com

Web Site: http://www.activision.com/

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