The European Commission Wednesday approved the proposed Vivendi G...

strong effective competitors,” including Electronics Arts and console manufacturers Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment, which also publish games, it said. It studied the vertical relationship between Vivendi via its Universal Music Group unit in the “upstream market” for licensing music rights and Activision’s activities in the “downstream market” for game publishing, the commission said, noting that game publishers license music rights for use in games, especially music games such as Activision’s Guitar Hero titles. But the commission concluded that “the vertical relationship would not give rise to competition concerns, as competing game publishers would continue to have access to a sufficiently large portfolio of music rights from alternative suppliers.” Another point examined was the vertical link between Vivendi and Activision in relation to wholesale distribution of PC games in the U.K.. The EC concluded that the transaction “would not raise competition concerns as alternative distribution channels would continue to exist.” Activision predicted that the merger would close in the first half of 2008. Activision and Vivendi didn’t respond to requests for comment by our deadline. Activision provided more details on its coming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, saying the first entry in the popular series devoted to one musical act will cost $59.99 for the standalone game on PS3 and Xbox 360, $49.99 for the stand-alone game on Wii and PS2, $99.99 for the bundled game and wireless guitar peripheral on Wii, PS3 and 360, and $89.99 for the bundled PS2 version. The SKU, announced in February, came with no indication at the time there would be any music in the title besides Aerosmith’s (CED Feb 19 p10). But Aaron Habibipour, a producer of the game at developer Neversoft, told Consumer Electronics Daily Wednesday that while 60 percent of the SKU will be Aerosmith songs, the other 40 percent will be songs from acts that influenced Aerosmith or have a link to the band. Activision intends to promote the 60/40 split, a company spokesman said. Also on the SKU are Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, the Kinks and Mott the Hoople, we were told. Singer Steven Tyler and other Aerosmith members worked with the developers on the music used and on the game’s look, including the instruments depicted for each song, Habibipour said. All the Aerosmith songs will be performed by the group, although master tracks for four songs couldn’t be found, so they were re-recorded, he said. The game will include six shorts featuring Aerosmith interviews, each three minutes long, he also said. The game will ship in late June. Asked if Activision plans other Guitar Hero titles around specific musical acts, the company spokesman said “we'll see -- it’s a wait-and-see approach,” but “we're being approached by lots of people, so you never know.” Separately, rival MTV Games said Motley Crue was the first band to release a new single as a downloadable, playable track through game Rock Band. “Saints of Los Angeles” debuted Tuesday as a 99-cent download at the Xbox Live Marketplace and will be added to the PlayStation Store for PS3 Thursday.