METALLICA's JAMES HETFIELD Talks 'Guitar Hero'; Video Available

METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield was interviewed this past Friday (March 20) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas, a few hours before the band's "secret" concert at Stubb's Bar-B-Q as part of the "Guitar Hero: Metallica" showcase during the Texas capital's annual South By Southwest music and media festival. Watch the chat below.

Speaking to EW.com, Hetfield stated about the upcoming "Guitar Hero: Metallica" game, which hits stores this weekend, "I actually first played [the original 'Guitar Hero'] maybe a year ago. Oh, I sucked. I thought it was not much like playing real guitar. It’s a game. But there are certain aspects that are pretty real. You have to strum at a certain time, press down at the same time. The drums, you have to hit things. But I don't have four colored buttons on my guitar. It was like learning another instrument." Now that his band has their very own game, packed with 28 METALLICA songs, surely he's gotten better? "No," he laughed. "There's no desire, honestly. I love seeing the youth play it and get good at it and have fun with it and rock out together, but…I have a pretty large collection of real guitars that I love playing with."

Guitar Hero: Metallica arrives in stores on March 29 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. The PS2 and Wii editions of the game will most likely follow in early May. The game contains 28 METALLICA tracks, along with tunes from FOO FIGHTERS, ALICE IN CHAINS and others.

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo told The Pulse of Radio why he thinks the Guitar Hero franchise is great for music. "I'm not a gamer, but I actually think it's a great thing in the sense that it's helping to educate our youth and older people about rock 'n' roll and heavy metal in particular, you know, bands like IRON MAIDEN and BLACK SABBATH, and I think that's important," he said.

The band had to go through an extensive motion-capture process in order to make them come to life in the game, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett told The Pulse of Radio the final result was a little unsettling. "Once they've actually made a virtual you and you start seeing that virtual you playing METALLICA songs, it's a trip, man," he said. "It's like watching a hologram of yourself or, you know, a cartoon of yourself or whatever. It's strange because it's weird and different but oddly familiar at the same time."