When I was a kid, my dad played Donkey Kong with me on our Nintendo. He wasn’t very good…. His turn would take two minutes. Then my Mario would jump barrels for a good two hours. But it was good times, good times…. just me and my dad.

Now another video game is bringing the family back together again in front of the TV. Guitar Hero is bonding 30, 40 and 50-somethings with their teens and tweens, all squealing out a little Aerosmith and Twisted Sister on the air guitar before dinner. But not only is Guitar Hero getting the family band back together – it’s also introducing kids suckled on boy bands and Britney to gracefully-aging guitar heros such as KISS’s Gene Simmons and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry.

Says a recent CNN report, Guitar Hero may be ensuring that rock-n-roll is not dead, and never dies. The report quotes Geoff Mayfield, senior analyst and director of charts for Billboard magazine, who notes, “A few weeks ago, when the game featuring Aerosmith ['Guitar Hero: Aerosmith'] came out, there was more than a 40 percent increase in their catalog sales. I expect you’ll see that again when Metallica gets the same kind of treatment in a few weeks.” Mayfield said.

So get out your heavy metal and hair band albums, kids, tweens and teens of the 80s. We’re back! Read the full CNN story.