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Now Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are heroes of the video game kind.

Sweet digitalized emotion: Aerosmith featured in new version of ‘Guitar Hero’

Finally, there’s a video game your hippie mother can get into. Gaming guru Activision Inc. unveiled a new Guitar Hero video game on Feb. 15 that will focus on rock ’n’ roll golden oldies Aerosmith, taking the franchise in a decidedly different direction.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will arrive in stores in the summer of 2008, much to the surprise of most marketing analysts who expected the game’s release to be closer to Christmas.

The game will include more than 30 Aerosmith originals, as well as various opening acts from the band’s illustrious past.

“The premise is that it’s going to cover the 30-plus years of the band, from high school all the way through the rock superstardom of today,” said Kai Huang, head of Activision’s RedOctane unit.

Since the original Guitar Hero was released in 2005, the franchise has netted over $1 billion in revenue. The game’s previous titles focused on various music genres that include classic rock, grunge, metal, punk and other rock subgenres.

Taking a cue from sports games such as EA Sport’s Madden Football, in an attempt to create a real concert-going feel, developers held motion-capture sessions with the band members, including frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. “As you play, you’re going to be seeing Joe and Steven doing their moves onstage,” Huang said.