An animated Steven Tyler rocks out in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Get those amps turned up to 11 and get ready to Walk This Way - there's a new Hero coming to town. Activision have just announced Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii, a new game built totally around the music from America's legendary rock n roll band - Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford.

To celebrate, Dream On, the 1976 smash single is being released FREE from February 16-18 over Xbox Live Marketplace (with a PS3 download following at an "unconfirmed date").

Due for release in June, this latest installment plonks gamers squarely into the shoes of the Grammy-awardwinning band, playing guitar or bass alongside frontman Tyler. Experience the history of the band, from their first gig right up to their current status as rock royalty.

Joe Perry, guitarist for the band, comments:

"Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honour and really a great experience for us. We've 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."

Vocalist Steven Tyler chimes in:

"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 catalogue. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies."

Perry continues:

"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."

...it's not only the band who's thrilled though, Dusty Welch, head of publishing for Activision/RedOctane is also a bit chuffed:

"We are 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. This partnership 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."

This is the first game in the series to focus totally on a single band - and brings the quintessential rock legends to the interactive realm "properly" for the first time. Fans can follow the career of the band through the game, rocking out to bunches of Aerosmith's greatest hits - as well as a few tunes from celebrated artists who have either inspired Tyler and crew, or who have performed with the band at some stage in their history. Gamers can even grace the stages of some classic venues that have held historical moments in the bands history - further capturing the essence of the band's rise to fame.

Neversoft Entertainment are taking the reins for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, while Vicarious Visions get the Wii copy, and Budcat have the PS2 game to concentrate on. Not yet given a specific release date Down Under, this game's due to arrive in the middle of the year.