The hard rock community was in a state of mourning as artists and fans rushed to pay tribute to iconic elder statesman Ronnie James Dio, born to an Italian-American family in New Hampshire as Ronald James Padavona, who died on Sunday at the age of 67 from stomach cancer.

In this behind the scenes video for Ascaron's Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kürsch explains how a German heavy metal band gets into a video game.

Apparently the answer is to give up hope altogether. Hansi reveals that Blind Guardian had been trying to get into a video game - any video game - since the early 90's, and had given up hope for being featured in a video game at all. That's when German video game developer Ascaron came calling. Video follows break..

ENGLISH SPEED METAL BAND DRAGONFORCE TO DEBUT NEW SINGLE AS PART OF DOWNLOADABLE TRACK PACK FOR GUITAR HEROR III: LEGENDS OF ROCK

SANTA MONICA, CA - August 19, 2008 - Known for their out-of-control riffs, fast paced songs and twin guitar solos, DragonForce will ascend the virtualstage once again to unleash "Heroes of Our Time" - the debut single off their new album Ultra Beatdown - in a three-song track pack for Activision Publishing, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.  The DragonForce track pack will be available on August 21, 2008 giving gamers the unique opportunity to download and play "Heroes of Our Time" in advance of the album release.