Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Activision is not satisfied with the current methods of making money from Guitar Hero, which are sadly limited to selling the game to people and then selling extra songs. According to a statement made by Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith at the Activision Blizzard Analysts' Day event, the company is looking to branch out into new ways of convincing people to pay more to play something they've already bought. Specifically, a subscription model, separate from the early rumor of a subscription-based online play scheme.

"Looking even further out," Griffith said, "we're exploring new models, like an annual pass subscription where players can subscribe and get a certain number of songs downloadable each month." Now, we make fun of the greed that motivates the annual release schedule, new instruments, piles of DLC, and pretty much everything else about Guitar Hero, but this is actually a cool idea. Like a Netflix for Guitar Hero songs.

Nintendo Power has been pushing this deal for what seems like forever -- register three games or consoles with your My Nintendo account to receive three free issues of the magazine and a discounted year-length subscription afterwards. Besides extending your console's warranty and the less-than-occasional giveaway, it's pretty much the only incentive for North American gamers to register their Nintendo products at all.

Enjoy the offer while it lasts, as it expires at the end of this month, and trial subscription registrations will no longer be accepted come August 1st. Could this be the harbinger of Nintendo Power's move to a third-party publisher? Or perhaps it was just finally time to end the trial? Either way, we hope that something will take its place as a reward for product registration. We're tired of seeing the awesome stuff Japan's Club Nintendo receives, while all we get are downloadable wallpapers.