Source: The United States Patent and Trademark Office via the patent-document foragers over at Trademork.

　　What we heard: Last February, leading third-party publisher Activision answered many Nintendo fans' prayers by revealing it was bringing the Guitar Hero franchise to the Wii and DS. Since then, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for the Wii has sold over 1.2 million copies in the US, adding over $110 million to the game's $490 million domestic take, roughly half of the franchise's billion-dollar worldwide haul.

　　But while the Wii owners are busy rocking out, DS players are wondering when they'll be able to take the popular rhythm game on the go. This month saw a possible answer to that question surface in the form of a January 19 filing with the USPTO. In it, Activision registered the title "Guitar Hero On Tour" for "computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit." Given that the platform for said game is unspecified, speculation has sprouted that the game in question is the DS Guitar Hero--or a game comprised entirely of live recordings in front of concert hall audiences.

　　The official story: "You know we don't comment on rumors or speculation.