Activision’s “Guitar Hero World Tour” is one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated games, but the company has big news for fans who can’t wait for that: Metallica will be releasing its next album, “Death Magnetic,” as a “Guitar Hero III” download on the same day that the CD arrives in stores.


“It’s exciting, 27 years into your career, to be doing something first,” said Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “In five to 10 years it’ll be a normal thing to release an album to ‘Guitar Hero’ the same day as the record.”


To make its big announcement, Activision eschewed a booth at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles in favor of a reception at a former cathedral. A big chunk of the video games community — namely, the companies that make them and the journalists who write about them — is in Los Angeles this week for the annual gathering where most of us get our first look at games for the holiday season.