Guitar Hero III is out very soon. Later this month, in fact, with SPOnG getting most excited about trying out the Wii version of the game.

Guitar Hero is now one of the fastest-selling gaming franchises of all time and Activision/RedOctane have very high hopes that GHIII, which includes songs from legendary British bands such as the Stone Roses and the Sex Pistols, is going to continue to rock the business.

Having an entire South Park episode dedicated to your game can only help, with an upcoming episode of one of our favourite cartoons being called "Guitar Queer-O"!

”Stan and Kyle are hooked on Guitar Hero. But Stan’s superior skills on the video game damage his friendship with Kyle” reads a post on the South Park Studios forum.

This is the type of mainstream PR coverage that money simply cannot buy. (Well, perhaps a lot of money can, though SPOnG could not get South Park creator Trey Parker on the blower this morning to confirm whether or not he has sold out).

You may remember South Park’s gentle ribbing of those other cultural milestones in gaming over the last few years - see WoW/Blizzard interview on SPOnG from earlier this year. - and Wii-mania.