For those of you waiting for the release of Maxis' Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile), it seems like the long wait is finally drawing to a close. During a studio visit from producer Thomas Vu, he confirmed to CNET that the game will be going gold by next week. Everything seems good to go for the game's September release on the PC and the Mac. More details on this development in our full article.

With their strong library of annual franchises, Electronic Arts has gone out on a limb to say that games have longer lifespans today. To prove their point, EA talked about MMOs, DLCs, and their ten-year plan for the upcoming game, Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS,  Mac, Mobile). More details after the jump.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is coming to Windows PCs and Macs, but will it carry the great console experience the series is known for? Aspyr Media, publisher of the upcoming game's PC and Mac editions, doesn't think the experience will completely be created, yet the folks responsible are hard at work in making the best port possible. Producer Jay Gordon told ShackNews a few details on what's shaping up to be a faithful port.

Both versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will support any USB Guitar Hero guitar controllers but not wireless ones, said Gordon. There shouldn't be much worry though, because Guitar Hero III on those platforms will only come bundled with a white Gibson Xplorer USB guitar.

Other control options will be available for those who prefer to strum with their keyboards. According to Gordon:

[...] The game will use the keyboard (CAPS LOCK, A, S, D, F) as fret buttons, left mouse button to strum down, right mouse button to strum up and the third button to activate star power. Shaking the mouse side-to-side will serve as your whammy bar.

If that's not convenient enough, players can configure their own control schemes. There's no confirmation for downloadable content at the moment, but we reckon it'll also be easier on a PC or Mac. Aspiring rock stars from either platforms can compete against each other, which is a huge plus. Other than that, the Guitar Hero III port will stay true to the original's console versions.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will appear on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii this October 29. Gordon couldn't nail a release date, but stated they're aiming for a simultaneous release. We'll catch that date when it comes, so watch this space.

Buy: [Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (PS3)]
Buy: [Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Wii)]

According to the NPD Group MusicWatch report for the first quarter of 2007, Apple's online music store iTunes is now the third biggest music retailer in the U.S. What should surprise most people though, is that this report is not only limited to online sales but to physical distribution as well.

Surpassing iTunes is Walmart at first place, which is holding a whopping 15.8% share of the music market, and Best Buy at 13.8% picking up second place. iTunes currently holds a 9.8% share of music purchases at third place with Amazon.com trailing at fourth (6.7%) and Target at fifth (6.6%).

What makes this rather odd is the fact that 86.2% of the quarter's music sales were in CD format as compared to a 13.8% share in downloadable format. With iTunes only selling downloadable content, it's amazing that it reached the third place spot last January. Does this mean bigger and better things for iTunes in the future? We'll have to wait and see.

More studios have lined up behind Disney, Lionsgate, and Paramount Pictures to support the continuously growing library of downloadable content on the iTunes Store. If you go online now and check what's new, you'll find a list of movies from both MGM Studios and United Artists.

It turns out that both studios have now also signed a deal with Apple, and while United Artist only has one movie available for now ("Ronin"), MGM has quite a bulky selection:

• Mad Max
• Rocky
• Dances with Wolves
• Robocop
• The Thomas Crown Affair
• Bulletproof Monk
• Pieces of April

Isn't it strange that these movies seem to be remnants of an era long gone some 20 years now? Well, maybe this is the trend that some movie studios would take, especially since establishments like Wal-mart seem to feel threatened by the downloadable movie market. So, instead of releasing new movies that retailers sell regularly, MGM's got their list of movies that don't quite sell as hot anymore but are still deemed as classics.