'Guitar Hero' Amps Metal Sales

Red-hot video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is helping lift heavy metal sales, the Boston Herald reports. Massachusetts metallers Killswitch Engage have seen CD sales top half a million since being featured in the game—pretty good going in the age of illegal downloads. The guitar simulator game has been a big bonus for struggling metal bands.

Lead singer Howard Jones welcomes the boost in sales but doesn't plan to scale down the band's heavy touring schedule. He's loving the buzz the game has built around the band, but with all that time on the road over the last year, he hasn't got around to playing it himself. (More Killswitch Engage stories.)