Van Halen Might As Well Jump into Guitar Hero

Although the title has been strongly rumored for months, Activision has finally confirmed Guitar Hero: Van Halen is coming this year.

News dribblets about Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise are falling with the regularity of a broken faucet: first the company announces three new games—including DJ Hero—then casually mentions it’s looking into developing a Guitar Hero reality television series or concert tour package. Now, Activision has more-or-less confirmed what most people in the gaming industry knew already: following on the heels of Guitar Hero: Metallica, Activision is working on Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Van Halen was, of course, one of the largest arena rock and FM radio acts of the 1980’s, and (despite a long period of inactivity and ongoing personnel shifts) has maintained considerable popularity, most recently demonstrated by a 2008 concert tour with flamboyant frontman David Lee Roth again at center stage.

Activision has not confirmed any tracks for Guitar Hero: Van Halen, but says the title should be ready in the second half of 2009—no doubt in plenty of time for the end-of-year holiday buying season. The title will reportedly include tracks from Queen, Weezer, blink 182, Queens of the Stone Age, Third Eye Blind, and The Offspring.

Personally, we were hoping Nerf Herder might make it into the mix.