Activision formally announced today that a new chapter in its hugely popular Guitar Hero series is currently being planned. The new game will be entirely influenced by the musical compositions of the band Aerosmith and will be made available for retail purchase in June of this year. In Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, players will be able to assume the guises of several of the band’s members such as guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford and bass player Tom Hamilton, who supply the beats of Aerosmith’s legendary works as front man Steven Tyler and drummer Stever Kramer lend their own talents in-game.

By playing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith gamers will be able to follow along the entirety of Aerosmith’s career all the way from the band’s initial beginnings to the dizzying heights of stardom in a manner that has not been seen anywhere else. As a commemoration of this dedication of Aerosmith’s epic status in the musical world, Activision will be giving owners of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock the chance to download Aerosmith’s “Dream On” song for free starting tomorrow, February 16th, and continuing on till February the 17th.

Aerosmith band member Joe Perry stated that the band collectively felt that “having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us” and that the members of Aerosmith had “put a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music, getting inside our body of work and learning about the band’s history.” Perry also went on to say that "On a larger scale, it’s cool for us to be pioneers helping to rebuild the music industry through a format like video games. It’s great for rock since the record companies are struggling to make sense of how things are changing. Fans want to get and experience music in new formats--and there are going to be some of them who will play the game, then pick up the guitar for real and start bands. It’s what’s happening now, and it’s only going to build more momentum in the future. It’s a massive change for the music business."

The lead singer for Aerosmith, Steve Tyler, was quoted as saying that “Any band that can go from ’Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’ (Aerosmith’s #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking ’Sweet Emotion’ to the cheekiness of ’Love in an Elevator,’ to the classic ballad ’Dream On’ shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies."

The executive in charge of publishing for Activison/RedOctane, Dusty Welch, stated for the record that Activision was “extremely excited that Aerosmith chose to team up with Guitar Hero, bringing one of the world’s all-time best-selling artists together with one of the biggest video game brands, to deliver a new and unique interactive way for our customers to connect with artists and their music” before going on to say that the new Guitar Hero title will “give Aerosmith, a band that has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, a powerful and innovative platform to reach their fans and new audiences."

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be released June 2008 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, the Nintendo Wii, and the Playstation 2. More information is available at www.guitarhero.com.