A cryptically worded press release just hit from MTV that reveals that The Beatles are indeed working on a game with Harmonix and MTV, but might not be Rock Band 2 after all. The first line reveals that “The Beatles Inspire New Music Video Game” and it goes on to call the project “groundbreaking” and an “unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of [their] music and artistry”.
Alright fellas. Relax.
But it does continuously talk about it as a brand-new game. Does this mean we’ll be getting something similar to the AC/DC disc (which can be played
as a standalone game or incorporated into Rock Band) or something
completely different?
Apple Corps (The Beatle’s multimedia corporation) is completely behind this new endevor, along with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. “The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out,” Sir Paul McCartney said.
Really can’t wait to see what they’ve got planned for us. Despite how awesome it would be to just incorporate their tracks into Rock Band I’d argue that this is one of the few bands that truly deserves a game all of its own.
UPDATE (from Russ):
I wasn’t in on the conference call this morning that detailed this project (because I was, er, sleeping) but other more stalwart outfits were. Kotaku‘s got the goods, and they’re weird.
Other than a brief mention of Rock Band during the teleconference,
so far no mention has been made of the band’s songs coming to Rock Band
or Rock Band 2. In fact, Harmonix’s Alex Rigopolis stated during the
call that this is not a Rock Band expansion pack, but an all-new game
title built from the ground up.
The game will be a journey that will take you through the entire
Beatles catalog, from the first album to the last. There will be an
interactive music performance involved using music controller
peripherals, but they stress that the game is not a Rock Band title.
Visual exploration of the Beatles will be a big part of the game,
though they were not prepared to discuss more on that at this time.
They were also not prepared to discuss the possibility of Beatles
music coming to Rock Band at this point, which I suppose still leaves
the possibility open.