If the wait for Guitar Hero III isn't already unbearable enough, rumour has it that legendary Velvet Revolver and Guns 'N' Roses guitarist, SLASH, will be available as a playable character - word enough to get any wannabe rocker even more excited about dusting off their tight leather trousers for another noisy, sweat-filled outing.

However, like a lowly four-piece band has to tour relentlessly in order to gain recognition and get where they want to be, you're going to have to work long and hard to bag one of the greatest guitarists on the planet. After first completing every song in Guitar Hero III's library, you'll have to revisit each track in a head-to-head face off with the man himself. Should you shred him to pieces on every track and shame him with your every gut-busting solo, SLASH’ll be yours to keep forever – in a virtual form at least. Nice!

Guitar Hero III is slated for release this year on the Sony PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, with a Nintendo DS version following early in 2008. If you haven’t started already, now would be a brilliant time to start limbering those fingers and perfecting your onstage moves. Now, where did we put that leopard skin leotard?