Games are a matter of taste. I enjoy the various Guitar Hero games, especially Metallica. They're not everyone's cup of tea, but they great party games because everyone enjoys music, and four at a time can play these games: Drums, Two guitars, singer. Have had a couple of great marathons playing the game with a group of friends.
There is a lot of money to be made for the bands. Check the list of individual bands' top iTunes downloads. More often than not, a song's appearance on a video game will put its downloads through the roof. Like when "Don't Stop Believin'" was on the Sopranos.
With CD sales way down, and radio an utter wasteland (classic rock stations' motto should be "If you have heard it a million times, you'll hear it here!"), bands need these new ways to get their music out there. Young people these days discover bands through Guitar Hero that they may not have otherwise. And they seek out the CDs and iTunes downloads.
Some feel that Led Zeppelin's line about "protecting the integrity of the master tapes" by refusing to allow games to use their songs is actually code for "Ante up, video game companies."
The money's there.
