In a recent episode of the Adam Carolla Podcast, Carolla had as a guest Michael Anthony, the former bassist of Van Halen who’s currently playing in Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

It didn’t take long for talk to turn to Guitar Hero: Van Halen. A listener called in to ask why Anthony wasn’t included in the game. His response:

You’d probably have to call Eddie Van Halen and ask him. … It’s not my image on there, but the singing and playing is mine. You’ll just see it coming through Eddie’s kid’s mouth.

Slight cattiness aside, Anthony seems pretty positive about music games in general:

The whole Guitar Hero phenomenon, it’s great. I’ve got two daughters, and their boyfriends come over and play that thing, but I try to pick it up and play it like the [real] instrument, and these guys kick my ass every time. For all these old rock n’ roll bands, it’s kind of rejuvenating everything with all the young people listening to that. A couple years ago, my nephew comes up to me and says, ‘Check out this band, man, they’re so great!’ And it was Led Zeppelin. It’s great exposure.

The Guitar Hero talk begins at the 26:10 mark, and he goes on to dish out a little more snark about the personality conflicts throughout Van Halen’s history, so check out the whole episode at its home — linked below — or at iTunes. (It’s the November 13 episode.)

[Listen, thanks to Scott Vanderburgh for the HOT TIP]