Tag Archives: the beatles

MTV Games and Harmonix announced today that Rubber Soul will land on the music store for The Beatles: Rock Band December 15 and 17 for Xbox 360/Wii and PS3, respectively.

Drive My Car, I’m Looking Through You and If I Needed Someone are already on the disc, so you can either download the following individually ($1.99/£.99/€1.49/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points) per each individual track or through a Complete the Album pack ($13.49/£7.49/€8.99/1440 MS Points).

Here’s the rest of the tracks:

• Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
• You Won’t See Me
• Nowhere Man
• Think For Yourself
• The Word
• Michelle
• What Goes On
• Girl
• In My Life
• Wait
• Run For Your Life

Via PR mail.

MTV and Harmonix announced today that The Beatles: Rock Band has sold over one million units worldwide.

“MTV Games and Harmonix are very pleased with the sales of our Rock Band titles and we expect to continue to see strong sales throughout the holidays across all of our titles,” an MTV spokesperson told IndustryGamers.

“The Beatles: Rock Band has sold over 1 million units worldwide to date.”

Good to hear. Now all we need to do is get it ourselves.

More through the link.

Harmonix and MTV announced this morning that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band will be released as DLC for The Beatles: Rock Band next week on November 17 and 19 for Xbox 360/Wii and PS3, respectively.

This is the second full album to be released, with Abbey Road being the first, and Rubber Soul coming in December as the third album.

The complete album pack includes: Fixing A Hole, She’s Leaving Home, Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Within You Without You, When I’m Sixty-Four, Lovely Rita, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) and A Day In The Life.

Tacks Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, and Good Morning Good Morning are already on the game disc, so the new tracks will complete the album.

Individually, each will run you $1.99/£.99/€1.49 EU, 160 MS Points, or 200 Wii Points ($2).

The pack will cost $13.49/£7.49/€8.99 or 1080 MS Points.

EA’s sent out a friendly reminder that Abbey Road will be the first full album to become available to download for Beatles: Rock Band, as of tomorrow on Xbox Live Marketplace for 1360 MS points and on the Rock Band shop for the Wii.

The album will also release on the PSN on Thursday for £10.46/$16.99/€11.37.

It’s also worth noting that Sgt Pepper and Rubber Soul are due before the end of the year.

Find the PR after the jump. Here Comes the Sun, do do do doooo…

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Microsoft has announced that the first downloadable song for The Beatles: Rock Band, “All You Need is Love”, has become the fastest-selling bit of DLC in the franchise’s history – all within two days of being made available.

The proceeds from the DLC have so far equaled in the “tens of thousands of dollars”, and directly benefit the Doctors Without Borders charity.

Also, remember that cool Xbox 360 with Beatles artwork up for auction benefiting the charity? It sold for $17,300.

Good to hear.

Full press release is through the break.

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Songs in The Beatles: Rock Band that take place in a studio setting feature animations, which Harmonix refers to as “dreamscapes”.

These graphics are inspired by the song playing and DLC albums for the game will get similar treatment.

“DLC songs which don’t end up in historical venues will have custom dreamscapes, yes,” said the game’s lead artist, Dare Matheson, to Joystiq. lead artist for the game. “There will be visual themes and elements that will stretch from the on-disc dreamscapes into the DLC dreamscapes, but everyone is custom, unique, and fully-crafted for the song it will accompany.”

You can read the rest of the post through the link, and while you are headed Joystiq’s way, check out the interview the site has posted with Chris Foster, the game’s lead designer.

Update 2: Harmonix CEO, Alex Rigopulos, has confirmed “The End” as the 45th song on the The Beatles: Rock Band during the GameStop managers convention in Las Vegas. Good to know.

Update: Apparently the “mystery” song is “The End”. Thanks for spoiling it for us internet, and thanks for the lack of creativity Harmonix – if this turns out to be true.

Original Story: Forty-four songs have been announced for The Beatles: Rock Band so far, but there are actually 45 on the disc.

According to an MTV representative speaking with Kotaku, the remaining track is to remain a surprise for people who purchase the game.

Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper’s, and Abbey Road are to be released not too long after the September 9 release, so it is doubtful it’s a track off any of those, unless Harmonix decides to purposely be redundant.

The full track list is below the break so you don’t have to go searching the site for it.

Start placing your bets now on what it is. Maybe Eleanor Rigby? Penny Lane? Hey Jude?

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Development on The Beatles: Rock Band had members of the Harmonix “terrified” according to John Drakes.

These feelings of trepidation were present throughout development despite the firm being chosen by Apple Corps to do the game, thanks to the firm’s reverence for the subject matter.

“I don’t know what Apple was considering before they started working with us, and I’m sure that there were conversations on both sides [with Activision],” he told CVG. “I think they saw that we were the company with the most reverence for what they were doing – we’re not looking to turn a quick buck on The Beatles. This is something we’ve loved and respect and would not want to screw up.

“We were terrified while making the game, hoping we don’t make them mad at any point – they’re really nice and easy to work with, but this is The Beatles, you can’t afford to mess this up.”

Drakes also goes on to talk about criticism from bands regarding music games distracting kids from playing real instruments, and the process of getting the remaining Beatles and George and John’s widows involved.

It’s all through the link.

MCV are reporting that SingStar: The Beatles will be announced later today at EA’s GC press conference in Cologne.

It’ll be distributed by EA and published by MTV Games with SCEE and Studio London assumingly behind development of the game as it is their IP. Simply put, its a port of The Beatles: Rock Band, but without the instruments.

Sources also say that the game will be on shelves within days of Beatles: Rock Band’s release on September 9.

We’ll be here to watch if such a thing does happen and bring it to you as it happens. Or we’ll die trying to anyways.

Thanks, rrod360lol

Harmonix’s John Drake has told Joystiq that side projects done by members of The Beatles will not be included in the Rock Band game for the band.

However, that doesn’t mean songs created during the solo careers won’t be featured as DLC for the original game.

“The design team really focused on The Beatles: Rock Band being about the four guys,” he told the site. “It’s about the lives and times of these four individuals playing together and the joy that came from the music they made.

“So you won’t see session players, you won’t see the families because it was hard to see where the line would be drawn. I know our creative and executive team spent a lot of time with Apple trying to say, “Do you include Eric Clapton’s solo, or Billy Preston’s keyboard stuff?” So instead, we just made it about those four guys.

“But it is about the defined part of their career, so you probably won’t see Ringo’s solo career, or Wings, or John Lennon’s or George’s songs. It’s going to be just the four Beatles playing together. It doesn’t mean we won’t see any of those songs in Rock Band, or something along those lines.”

More through the link.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

After the break, we’ve posted a new video from The Beatles: Rock Band courtesy of Joystiq.

Ticket to Ride is the track, and the site was nice enough to remove the scrawling notes so you could get the full animated effect of the Fab Four.

Awesome.

Come on September.

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A peripheral replica of Paul McCartney’s Höfner bass guitar will be included in The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle.

It’s wireless and works with all versions of Rock Band.

Don’t worry right-handers. It’s not lefty like the real deal.

Game lands September 9.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Apple Corp said today it’s to release remastered versions of The Beatles music on September 9, the same day The Beatles: Rock Band ships.

Each of the CDs is to be packaged with replicated original UK album art.

Something else to spend hundreds of pounds on. You may as well.

Press release here.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference yesterday, EA COO John Pleasants said that music games are set to become a huge segment of the industry, and one that both EA and Activision are actively pushing to innovate in.

“There are lots of other things you can do with music, and we’re working on interesting things, and we know our competition is working on interesting things”, he said.

“When we look back five years, the fantasy of being a rock star by punching the buttons that are flowing down the screen is going to be one implementation in what is going to be a very large category”.

Without admitting to anything currently in the oven or, he did say that “it’s a robust category” and in the coming years there will be “lots of things we will do in the music category.”

He also shrugged off Activision claims that Guitar Hero was a clear leader in the field.

“They’re both big behemoths,” he said. “In calendar year ’08, Rock Band 1 was, I believe the leading music SKU across all platforms and Rock Band 2 was the highest-quality product with a 92 Metacritic.”

More here.

In an interview with Variety, Paul MCartney’s confirmed that the upcoming Beatles Rock Band game will “feature different periods of the band — you get early days, Liverpool, then psychedelic, and on from there. It’s very cool. And I like the idea that the game introduces kids to music, you know?”

Still no word on when we can expect the 45-track game, but if what McCartney says is true it’ll include everything from the bowl cut days to the tripped-out hookah-smoking phase.

Awesome.

In an interview with Ars, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos said that EA’s The Beatles isn’t just licensing the band’s music, it’s about delivering the songs through a different medium: an “art object.”

“In the case of the Beatles, the licensing is, of course, complex, ” he said. “But what’s more complex in a product of that sort isn’t just the licensing of the music; we’re trying to create something that is an art object, that’s really an extension of the Beatle’s music into another medium.

“When that’s the case, it’s more than just a licensing question, you need sort of a creative resonance with all the principles involved, and really that was the most intricate part of the project: getting everyone who had a voice in this to understand the potential and feel good about what that potential was and coming together with a common vision about what the thing was going to be.

“It’s more than just a licensing challenge,” Rigopulos concluded.

Full interview through the link.

By Mike Bowden

The Beatles game eventually went to MTV because, from the sound of it, Sony Music wasn’t going to get what it wanted. And what it wanted, probably, was money.

“It was presented as if they were doing the music business a favor,” Sony/ATV CEO Martin Bandier told Reuters.

“It’s true you can choose other types of music, and somewhere along the line someone’s going to do it for free for the exposure … When it comes to the Beatles, the leverage changes. We’re very happy with the terms of our arrangement with MTV.”

MTV’s understanding of what Sony was after ultimately led to a “very rich” deal.

Game’s out at the end of next year.

Thanks, Kotaku.

According to this Variety piece, only 45 Beatles tracks are to be included in the newly announced Harmonix game.

From the piece:

Game developers will be able to select 45 songs from the Beatles catalog recorded during their 1962-69 tenure within EMI for inclusion in the game.

“The game is in development,” said Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones. “We don’t want to talk about how it will turn out a year from now. We’re in the process of creating the game.”

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon have been part of the conversations regarding the design, layout and rollout of the game. Discussions, both creative and financial, between Apple Corps and MTV began 17 months ago, and the first contracts were signed about four weeks ago. The game will not be part of the “Rock Band” franchise, which will release an AC/DC edition on Tuesday.

The game’s out at the end of next year. Thanks, EvilAvatar.

Speaking to Gamespot, Rock Band lead designer Dan Teasdale given some hints at just how much work’s been involved in getting Apple Corp to an announcement stage of the newly confirmed Beatles game. Sounds as though it hasn’t been easy.

“We started the process about 17 months ago, so it’s great to finally talk about it,” he said.

Harmonix PR chap John Drake added: “We’ve been in talks with them for a very, very, long time.

“[Apple Corps CEO] Jeff Jones was saying that they respected and appreciated what Harmonix does creatively for rhythm games… being pioneers in the field, bringing the full band experience, and we, of course, are colossal fans of the Beatles so there’s not too much to think about why it’s a great deal.”

Time isn’t an issue when you’re aiming this high, said Teasdale, who appeared to be “quite pleased” at the signing.

“The Beatles are amazing,” he said. “To make it clear, this isn’t a Rock Band game, this is a new experience for the Beatles. It’s a way to experience the Beatles’ music, it’s a way to bring this to a whole new audience as well as people who are huge fans of the Beatles.

“From our end it’s amazing… The Beatles are the biggest band in the world. They’re music legends, and to be able to bring that experience to everyone is a great honour.”

The game’s out next year. More through the link.

How much does it cost to make a Beatles game? A lot. We don’t know how much MTV had to pay to be able to work on an exclusive game based on the band’s music, but it wasn’t cheap, Sony Music boss Martin Bandier, told Variety.

“There have been mutterings from artists and songwriters that they are not being offered their fair share in videogames, but the gamemakers have the leverage,” he said. “In the world of rock, there are thousands of tracks that will work, but when you get into the world of unique artists, that leverage shifts, tremendously, to the artists and songwriters.

“We signed a deal that would be considered very rich by the videogame company but fair for the artists. It will have online implications that will be enormous.”

MTV and Apple Corp announced yesterday that a rhythm action game based on the Beatles’ music will release at the end of next year.

Plenty more on Variety, there.