I'm looking forward to Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. It seems that most people are either hot or cold on Aerosmith; a lot of people associate them with cheesy movie anthems, but I like their '70s classics as well as their '80s revival. I also respect any band that can stay together for 38 years without losing or changing members. These guys are a band.

"Thank you for the money! You're...amazing! Get it? Good night!"

Whether you like Aerosmith or not, you can't blame Activision for extending the Guitar Hero brand — it's pure power at retail (VGChartz.com reports that GHII and GHIII on Xbox 360 sold about 4.5 million copies combined) and the rabid audience (like me) loves the core experience. And the company knows how to leverage a brand: in addition to Aerosmith, there's the recently announced DS game On Tour, plus the as-yet-unannounced-but-seemingly-inevitable Guitar Hero IV. The Guitar Hero bandwagon is an attractive ride.

But a chill went down my spine when I saw the reports that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick name-dropped not only Aerosmith but also Van Halen in a recent conference call, leading many to speculate that my favorite rock-and-roll band is inking a deal for their own special edition of the GH franchise. It's not that I don't have faith in Neversoft (talented folks, them), and you will certainly never hear me suggest that Eddie Van Halen is anything less than The Greatest Guitar Player To Ever Walk The Earth. My concerns stem from what we might be missing by Van Halen signing an exclusive deal with Guitar Hero. It would shut out Rock Band. And that would be bad.

I'll assume that Kotick's Van Halen comment wasn't just a random example picked out of the air. If it's not an ad-hoc confirmation of a project coming soon, I'd suspect it might have been an engineered slip of the tongue designed to create demand and convince the band to sign a proposed deal — "See? Everybody wants this game, and we didn't even officially announce it!" Plus, VH fans have no doubt noticed that the PS2 controller for GHIII is a Kramer, the same brand Eddie endorsed in the mid-'80s. No accident there.

And let's face it: My favorite band isn't exactly known for its restraint. If someone with a large bank account said "We'll shine the spotlight of our best franchise directly on you," why would they say no? After all, they're Southern California neighbors (consider that it's easier to get together for a business lunch when one party's not in Boston), and you never know when Eddie might return to rehab, or David Lee Roth might leave again, or the whole VH empire might grind to a halt because Wolfgang cut himself while learning to shave. The life of a Van Halen fan is fraught with fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Imagine what it's like for the members.

Admittedly, they look better on the radio.

The problem — from a music lover and fan's perspective, anyway — is that Rock Band is a far better fit for Van Halen. Yes, a Guitar Hero game would let me try my aching hand at replicating incredibly simplified verisons of Eddie's most famous solos...but that's it. (Listen to those bass lines — you don't want to replicate them because they had to be dead simple to give Eddie room to dominate. I love his focused playing, killer harmony vocals, and humble attitude, but nobody dreams of being Michael Anthony.)

But if Van Halen grants Harmonix the rights to use its music in Rock Band, then you insert Alex's incredible drumwork and Dave's (and Sammy's and Gary's) cartoonish, wailing vocals into the mix. The instrumentation of Rock Band is perfect — like Van Halen itself, the game features one vocalist, one guitarist, one bassist, and one drummer. The game would obviously celebrate the band's music, while the band's music really celebrates the Rock Band experience. But if VH really is cooking up a GH deal, this four-player co-op nirvana will never happen. And if full albums are a reality for Nirvana and The Who in Rock Band, what's to stop Van Halen's debut album from appearing on Xbox Live Marketplace? I haven't seen any indication that GH is following suit with that excellent play-the-whole-record idea.

The only way to get Van Halen in Rock Band right now is to DIY.

I'm not saying Van Halen shouldn't be in Guitar Hero — by all means, settle the legal squabbles that reportedly kept anything but a Kinks cover out of Guitar Hero II and bring the music to the fans. But I am saying Van Halen shouldn't be in just Guitar Hero. I want to be able to play the band's music in both game franchises, with no compromises and no single-brand license restrictions. I want the best of both worlds — and as the song goes, honey, I know what it's worth. Does Van Halen?