Since Guitar Hero has gone by the wayside, several developers from Vicarious Visions have been let go. It’s suspected that it’s only a matter of time before FreeStyleGames suffers a similar fate. The former employees of Activision have been receiving condolences and well wishes all day. Among the well wishers is the team at Harmonix, who provided Guitar Hero with its greatest competition.

Harmonix may have reverted back to an independent studio, but it isn’t immune to the unfortunate realities of running a business. Harmonix has been forced to layoff between 12-15% of its full-time staff as it undergoes a restructuring process. According to Joystiq, Harmonix employed around 240 people. This means at least 28 people have been let go. Harmonix did not disclose exactly how many employees were affected by this.

MTV Games, best known as the publisher of the Rock Band franchise is no more. MCV reports the company closed its doors to its international office yesterday (February 2, 2011). According to the report, there are only a few employees remaining (mostly on the financial side) in New York. The closure of MTV Games is a testament to how far sales of music rhythm games have declined over the past few years.

This week’s downloadable PlayStation 3 game is Faery: Tales of Avalon for $14.99. The world of Avalon is dying and King Oberon calls for his people to return to the enclave and separate themselves from man who deem magic had no place in their worlds. But now something dark has crept into Avalon and the King calls for a hero to investigate the darkness causing the realms of magic to disappear.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything there is in music-themed video games, another one comes along. This time however, instead of the usual match-the-colors gameplay you’re accustomed to, this time you get to create your own music with Zivix’s Jam Party Remixed.

Thought Harmonix was a studio with a multi-million dollar asking price? Think again. When Harmonix was sold by Viacom to Columbus Nova, it was purchased for the mind-boggling sum of $49.99. That’s not a typo. The whole of Harmonix was worth less than a brand new game. Now before you begin thinking you could have bought a videogame development studio with the money in your Christmas sock, you should know there was a catch to Harmonix’s super low price.

Yesterday (December 23, 2010) came news that Rock Band developer Harmonix had been sold to Columbus Nova by Viacom for an unknown amount. The sale of Harmonix will not affect any DLC for some of its popular titles such as Rock Band or Dance Central. Thanks to sources speaking to Joystiq, we know Harmonix won’t have any trouble making sequels to those games if it chooses.

Back in November, Viacom announced its intentions to sell Rock Band developer Harmonix. The music rhythm genre isn’t what it used to be, and sales have been dwindling for a while now. Viacom wanted to sell Harmonix because it felt the videogame industry was not playing to its strengths as a company. After a little over a month of searching, Harmonix has been sold.

The time for gorging on delicious foods has come to an end. The energy obtained from turkey was used by many to brave the crowds and cold weather during Black Friday a couple days ago. A lot of the sales have diminished with only a few still holding on through the weekend. You can’t quite rest yet because Cyber Monday is less than 12 hours away. Cyber Monday is the busiest online shopping event of the year, and retailers will once again be nipping at the bit for your cash.

There have been some truly stellar titles released in 2010. Sadly though, there are some that just didn’t live up to their massive hype for one reason or another. As we stuff our face and sit down on the couch for football, family and surely some video games, Gamertell stops to remember the games that will soon be forgotten.