With the fall of Guitar Hero, is it time for Rock Band to take an extended solo

It's been a rough month for the former superstars of the rhythm genre.

Rock Band label MTV Games ceased its publishing operations, which was shortly followed by the game's recently sold developer, Harmonix, laying off up to 15 percent of its staff.

The capper came Wednesday, as Activision disbanded its Guitar Hero business unit, confirming that there would be no 2011 installment in the franchise and the company will stop making new downloadable songs for the Hero franchise of games.

In a posting on the official Rock Band forums yesterday, Harmonix's John Drake offered condolences for his competition and reassurance for fans worried that the developer's rhythm game series would be similarly scuttled.

Read more of "Rock Band to rock on, says Harmonix" at GameSpot.