Aerosmith headlining Guitar Hero IV?

RUMOR CONTROL: Source: An article on Aerosmith's next album on Billboard.com states that Guitar Hero IV will be "dedicated" to the Boston band's music.

What we heard: Since its inception, the Guitar Hero series has followed a trend of increasing diversity. Guitar Hero II provided more songs from more bands than the original, and represented a broader range of music than its predecessors. While the full tracklist hasn't been confirmed yet, Guitar Hero III promises to continue that trend with a sampling of international hits and more than 70 songs in total.

So when Billboard.com reported that Guitar Hero IV would be built on Aerosmith's music, it seemed--no offense to the band--like a step backward. There is some room for misinterpreting the report, but not a whole lot.

"Besides the album, Aerosmith is also working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV," the article states, "which will be dedicated to the Boston group's music. 'I don't know much about the technical part of it,' Perry says, 'but artistically we're working hand in hand.'" (Emphasis added.)

Aerosmith has a prior association with the series, having contributed its song "Last Child" to the Guitar Hero II soundtrack. Still, the idea of handing over the next full-fledged installment in the series to a single band is borderline absurd.

But even with Perry's former status as one of the hard-partying Toxic Twins along with lead singer Steven Tyler, he's still not likely to concoct the idea of an Aerosmith-exclusive Guitar Hero from nowhere. It's much more likely that Activision would produce a Guitar Hero spin-off for the band, something along the lines of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s, or perhaps an answer to Rock Band's downloadable albums. Whether that offering would be platform-exclusive, as Encore was, remains to be seen.

The official story: RedOctane representatives had not returned requests for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: A tentative not bogus, provided the game in question is a spin-off, instead of the real Guitar Hero IV.