In Activision's upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game, players will be able to follow the history of the popular band Aerosmith from their high school days to major fame.

The Guitar Hero series is one of the hottest selling video game franchises. It's no surprise, then, that publisher Activision is planning to release yet another iteration in the franchise, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The Basics of Guitar Hero

For those who haven't gotten caught up in the Guitar Hero craze yet, the concept behind Guitar Hero is fairly simple. Holding a special guitar controller, players hit buttons (instead of strings) and strum along as notes flash across the screen. Those who complete the songs by hitting the right buttons at the right time can unlock new songs and venues, as well as earn money to purchase additional guitars, songs and characters.

Follow the Career of Aerosmith

Though in past versions of Guitar Hero, players would follow the life of a fictional band and play songs by dozens of different artists, this version of Guitar Hero will have gamers following the history of the popular band Aerosmith, from the band's first days in high school in 1970 to the game's halftime Super Bowl performance in 2001.

Players will start out as Aerosmith's lead guitarist Joe Perry, though they will also be able to unlock guitarist Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton. The developers have motion captured each member's moves from their real life performances so that the characters' looks and actions will be very similar to real life.

Song List

As in past Guitar Hero games, players will be able to play five songs in each venue. Each venue will contain two songs by bands other than Aerosmith, who either opened for Aerosmith or whom Aerosmith really likes, as well as three songs by Aerosmith themselves.

The following songs were confirmed to be in the game in the May 2008 issue of GamePro Magazine:

• "All the Young Dudes" by Mott the Hoople
• "Dream Police" by Cheap Trick
• "Make It" by Aerosmith
• "Uncle Salty" by Aerosmith
• "Draw the Line" by Aerosmith
• "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett
• "All Day and All of the Night" by the Kinks
• "Movin' Out" by Aerosmith
• "No Surprise" by Aerosmith
• "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith
• "Complete Control" by The Clash
• "Personality Crisis" by New York Dolls
• "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith
• "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith
• "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith
• "Kings and Queens" by Aerosmith
• "Mama Kin" by Aerosmith
• "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith

The game will also feature songs from The White Stripes, Run DMC, The Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz, Stone Temple Pilots and Deep Purple, and there will be over 40 songs in all.

Outlook

The Guitar Hero series is one of the most popular video game franchises for a reason -- it's fun -- and there's no reason to believe that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be of any less quality than previous games in the series.

However, this game is mostly based off Guitar Hero III, so there won't be as many gameplay changes or innovations this time around. The developers have also taken away co-op play, and there won't be any downloadable songs. Finally, the game may also turn off some players who aren't big fans of Aerosmith. Instead, some gamers may be interested in upcoming music games such as Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS, Battle of the Bands for Wii, and Rock Band for Wii.

For everyone else though, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is still looking like a great game, and gamers can look for it in stores on June 29th, 2008, for Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.