Beatles Rock Band video game to hit the streets Sept. 9

March 5, 8:09 PMBeatles ExaminerSteve Marinucci

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The Beatles announced "The Beatles: Rock Band" will be
 released Sept. 9.

On Thursday,  MTV Games, Harmonix and Apple Corps announced "The Beatles: Rock Band" will be released for XBox 360, Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo WII on Sept. 9.

The game, which the publicity release calls "an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles," will be available simultaneously in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories.

"The Beatles: Rock Band," the announcement says, will allow fans to put themselves in the roles of the Beatles by allowing them to play their instruments. According to Variety, 45 songs will be chosen. The game will apparently offer peripherals, similar to those already offered for other Rock Band games, but geared specifically to musical instruments used by the Beatles themselves. This should be interesting -- air guitarists may be really able to imitate Paul (Hofner bass!), George and John. Not to mention all of us who have imitated that drum solo from "Abbey Road" for over 40 years.

The game will be offered as standalone software and hardware, and also as a limited edition bundle. It will be backwards compatible with current Rock Band offerings.

In the U.S., the games for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and Wii will list for $59.99. "The Beatles: Rock Band Standalone Guitars" for the same platforms will retail for $99.99. A limited edition premium bundle will list for $249.99. Pricing outside the U.S. is to be announced later.

"The Beatles: Rock Band" marks the first time all four Beatles have participated in a video game project. (However, it's not the first such Beatle related project. Paul McCartney's "Give My Regards to Broad Street" was once a Commodore 64 game.) As previously announced, "The Beatles: Rock Band" will be published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, creator of the best-selling Rock Band®. Electronic Arts will distribute the game. Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles "Love" is serving as musical director.

Exclusive content created by Apple Corps, MTV Games and Harmonix will be made available over the next few months.  And add this link to your browsers: http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/. It's the beginning of what will probably evolve into be a continuing preview of "The Beatles: Rock Band." Right now, it's a nice shot of the inside of Abbey Road studios with a couple of guitar riffs.

One more note: When the press announcement was made in a conference call with reporters, it was clearly stated that the Beatles game would not be "Rock Band." Interesting that that seems to have turned around. More likely, it was realized that "Rock Band" was the best way to market it.

This is actually just another step in the "Love" school of Beatles marketing. One of these days, maybe, they'll get back to the music as nature intended.

Finally, did anybody notice that release date is 9/9/09? Number nine, number nine, number nine ...

Other perspectives on this story from other Examiners:

• Xbox Examiner: The Beatles: Rock Band hits 9/9/09
• Music Examiner: Beatles do Rock Band or is it vice versa?
• Baltimore Video Game Examiner: The Beatles: Rock Band coming in September
• Video Game Examiner: The Beatles: Rock Band coming September 9, 2009