Play Battlefield 3 with members of Metallica, Outkast, and Korn this weekend

Electronic Arts has taken it upon itself to resolve the argument of who would win in a fight out of hip-hop and metal. But because games with musical instruments don't sell so well nowadays, the company's decided to take the argument to where the people are at: the virtual arena of Battlefield 3's Karkand. And it's roped in four avatars of the genres in question to fight for their genre of choice.

Above: This is close as we'll come to addressing the elephant in the room, so drink it up

All weekend (Jan 7-8), players will be able to join noted partisans in the hip-hop/metal beef by signing onto Back to Karkand's Strike at Karkand map. There, hip-hop teams, led by Outkast's Big Boi and Battery Records' Mickey Factz, will combat metal fans led by Dave Mustaine and the upstanding gentlemen of Korn. Players are also invited to jump onto Battlelog and compose teams themed after their genre of choice, with stats tracked throughout the month of January to see whether hip-hoppers or metalheads have the faster trigger-fingers.

Above: Bazooka Joe here is THUG LIFE, whereas Pistol Pete back there still owns Metallica's first Garage Days EP

Besides boasting a game-friendly lineup (Factz featured on the soundtrack for Fight Night Round 4, and Mustaine contributed tracks to the Duke Nukem compilation Music to Score By), astute musicologists will note that Outkast are almost as metal-friendly as Korn are hip-hop-influenced. Or, for that matter, that Mustaine, ex of Metallica and longtime Megadeth lead, had that side-project with the rap-tinged Red Lamb. Which is to say it'll be a pretty friendly rivalry, which is just what online competitions should be, yes? Here's hoping for more such matchups.