Metallica Making the Virtual Band

Napster-battling rockers embrace Guitar Hero, offering their own tunes for new version

And justice and video games for all...

Metallica has quietly teamed up with Activision to develop its own signature Guitar Hero, giving fans the opportunity to thrash along to many of the headbangers' greatest hits.

The news first surfaced when an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities found a listing for Metallica's version of the interactive title in a Securities and Exchange Commissions filing by game maker Activision, according to Billboard.

Then the San Francisco-based outfit dropped a few hints about its plans on the band's official website.

"An all-Metallica Guitar Hero game...fact or fiction? Idle Internet gossip, wishful thinking, or the real deal?" read a post. "Let's just say that perhaps, just maybe, if you've already mastered 'One' on GHIII there might be a pile of 'Tallica songs in your future."

Metallica said it will release more information this summer, but a 2008 release appears unlikely, with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith due out June 29 and Guitar Hero: On Tour (aka GH4) being targeted for the holiday shopping season.

In any case, the Metallica-minded Guitar Hero will probably follow the lead of the Aersomith edition.

Unlike previous band-branded GH installments, which simply include songs by the featured artists, the Boston band's title not only features cuts from Aerosmith's catalog, but also features animated versions of Steven Tyler and mates and a storyline in which players work their way up from small Beantown clubs to stadiums.

With Guitar Hero: Metallica taking a similar narrative approach, we can only hope to see a virtual Lars Ulrich smacking down Napster users. Now that's entertainment.