Van Halen in talks for "Guitar Hero"

A report published on Thursday (July 3rd) by the Wall Street Journal has revealed that Van Halen could be the subject of a new installment in the best-selling Guitar Hero video game series. According to the article, "people familiar with the matter" say that game manufacturer Activision is in "serious talks" with the group, who reunited last year with original frontman David Lee Roth for a massively successful eight-month tour. Van Halen would be the third hard rock act to star in its own edition of Guitar Hero. An Aerosmith-centered version came out last week, while one based around the music of Metallica is expected to arrive early next year.

Van Halen manager Irving Azoff said that other clients of his, including the Eagles, Steely Dan and Guns N' Roses, all have "deals of varying types in the works" with either the makers of Guitar Hero or its immediate competitor, Rock Band.

Many other major acts are said to be in talks with both companies about licensing their songs for the games, which have become a lucrative new source of income for artists.

A source said that Aerosmith could make more money from its edition of Guitar Hero than any of its studio albums.

One act whose music you won't be playing along to in a video game any time soon is Led Zeppelin. The band has turned down repeated offers from both Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Peter Mensch, who co-manages Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, said the band was reluctant to allow outside parties access to its master recordings, which is necessary to create the games.

More than 10.8 million copies of Guitar Hero were sold in the U.S. last year, a record for a video game franchise, while Rock Band moved 1.1 million.
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