First Activision, Guitar Hero's maker, had to weather a storm about their use of an animated rendition of Kurt Cobain. And now Gwen Stefani is getting all worked about about the fact that the cartoon version of her does things that she says the real Gwen would never ever do, like sing about having sex with prostitutes. Sure you wouldn't Gwen...

Stefani and her band No Doubt have filed a suit against Activision stating that the gamemaker's use of their likenesses goes way beyond what the band signed off on and that the game has "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act," which is certainly something no band likes.

The LA Times reports:

The suit also charges that the game allows users to manipulate their characters to sing songs popularized by other pop music acts. No Doubt's contract with Activision allowed the company to use the band's music and likenesses in no more than three of the band's own songs, the suit states. The game, which was released Tuesday, puts the group members' images, collectively and individually, into more than 60 songs, "many of which include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been and would not have been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances."

Specifically, the suit notes that through the game's Character Manipulation Feature, Stefani's image can be induced to sing the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women." "While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones," the complaint states, "the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes." It also states that bassist Kanal's likeness can be manipulated to sing, in a female voice, one of No Doubt's signature hits, "Just a Girl."

The suit asks for punitive damages and seeks to take the No Doubt edition off the market, which will create someday a red hot bootleg market of illegal Stefani avatars being made to dance to "Party in the USA". interrupting Taylor Swift acceptance speeches and belt out "Pokerface" in Portugese.

Young Hollywood legend Brett Ratner is certainly a man who wears many hats. Director, author, host, boyfriend and friend to all of show business. So surely when you hire the great Ratner to direct your TV commercial, you understand that you don't get all of Brett Ratner.

The folks at Slashfilm have dug up a couple critical pieces of Ratnerology. First they discovered the newly released Playboy-themed Guitar Hero commercial:

A masterpiece of the Guitar Hero/Risky Business re-staging genre to be sure.

Thinking no doubt of future generations whose historians who will win doctorates studying this landmark piece of advertising, the Guitar Hero team has also placed online a series of outtakes from the ad, providing some glimpses into the artistry of Brett Ratner.

Most striking of all, as Slashfilm notes, is the moment which occurs 57 seconds into the video, where, as the camera rolls and the Playmate Guitar Army marches past him, Ratner appears to be sitting in his director's chair talking on a cell phone. As Playmates cluster around, he lowers the phone, gives them an annoyed look and issues some sort of very important directorial command, no doubt asking the to take their little TV commercial somewhere else while he's on a very important call. The faces of the Playmates, surely awed by his power telephoning, are not visible.

Later in the clips, Ratner turns his attention to the shoot for a moment and see more clearly what makes the director of Rush Hour 3 a giant of our age when like De Mille descended he issues the order "Rock out girls!" calls "Action!" and after Hef croaks out the line, "I love variety," throws aloft his hands in victory, grinning broadly and declaring with all the accumulated wisdom of his years, "That was great."

And it was.

• WATCH VIDEO

“I love ‘Guitar Hero’ and I think it’s a part of pop culture. I would love to do a ‘Guitar Hero’ movie, if Activision would ever let me. I’m trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a ‘Guitar Hero’ movie. ”

And here is his idea for the plot:

“It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the ‘Guitar Hero’ competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts.” [...]

“I have a deal with Activision for their branding,” he said. “For instance, naming ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour,’ coming up with the new ‘Guitar Hero game name. It’s sort of like [MTV's] ‘Rock Band.’ So they said: ‘Come up with a name.’ And I did, and it became ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour.’”

Duly noted: World Tour? That's all Rat. As for his movie idea, the time might actually be right for an updating of the Arcade Underdog myth—as outlined in Joseph Campbell's The Mario with a Thousand Faces, and explored by Hollywood countless times in films like Tommy and The Wizard (for which star Fred Savage is still suffering the debilitating effects of carpal tunnel syndrome). Of course, Ratner's vision won't shy away from depicting the uglier side of the Guitar Hero dream, featuring Chris Tucker in a supporting role as a power-up-addicted fading virtuoso, whose meltdown moment, "CAN YOU HEAR THE NOTES THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY PLASTIC GUITAR?" is met by a collective shrug by an audience looking for the next hot GH thing.

• Brett Ratner Wants To Make A ‘Guitar Hero’ Movie [MTV Multiplayer]

boomp3.com

Why must Lindsay Lohan always dress as if she's Steven Tyler's illegitimate daughter? Sobriety is a good thing and all, but maybe she should save outfits like that for when you're wailing away on "Guitar Hero" in the privacy of your own home.

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]

· Still wracking your brains trying to come up for the perfect, last-minute present for the loved one who has everything? How about driving them insane with personalized postcards from an unsigned maniac in a tiny Polish village?
· Is it Christmas?
· What's Jesus's birthday without occasional Defamer guest-contributer Nick Malis's musical ode to the loneliest holiday?
· We plan on spending our Christmas working on our Guitar Hero 3 game, though we have a ways to go until we even approach the insane skill-levels of Conrad the Great. Meanwhile, those of you who don't find Xmas 2008's Most Wanted under your tree this year can still get in on the fun with Handbell Hero.
· Well, that's it, everyone. True, we're Jewish, but in the spirit of inclusionism, we're out of here until Wednesday. All the best to you and yours. Chag Samayach!

Saturday night, the rooftop of the Best Buy at Pico and Sawtelle was transformed into a Guitar Hero III-lovers paradise. First in line were Eric and Jose, who had waited in the blistering West L.A. cold for a staggering three hours to get their copy signed by Slash. Said Eric, "We work down the street so we just, um, walked over."

Inside was a videogame smorgasbord for all senses, complete with a sushi chef and gaming stations, and hosted by the object of many a nerd's wet dreams, Brooke Burke, followed by an appearance by Slash himself and an electrifying performance by Poison (Rock of Love ingenue/strippers nowhere in sight). The event was not without movie industry infiltration—Sony, Warner Brothers and Paramount each set up tents to pimp their various tie-in and home video wares.

• Guitar Hero Community Website