The Beatles Rock Band Details Emerge as Lennon and Harrison Roll In Graves
By Shaun Hatton - April 16th, 2009
I hinted at this game in my news post about the announcement of SingStar Queen, and oddly enough the press releases for both that game and this one landed in my inbox today. The Beatles: Rock Band is something we’ve known was coming for months, and today the trinity of Harmonix, MTV Games, and Electronic Arts revealed details of just how they’re planning on raping the corpses of both John Lennon and George Harrison.
The Limited Edition Premium Bundle of the game will include the disc, a replica of Paul McCartney’s trademark bass, a Ludwig-branded drum controller, a microphone and mic stand, and additional “special content.” And the privilege of playing this game will be all yours for the low price of $249.99 US (expect a price point closer to $299.99 here in Canada).
If you’re wondering why I’m coming down so hard on this game while at the same time excited about SingStar Queen, let me put it this way: As much as I enjoy Rock Band at times, it’s a game with cheaply-made controllers, and asking gamers to pay $100 more for The Beatles version is disrespectful to the deceased members of the band (who would have certainly said “no” to this) as well as to the people who buy it. Then again, anything with The Beatles’ logo on it is guaranteed to sell, tasteless or not.
However, I’m all for new generations of music fans discovering the music of The Beatles – but how about actually discovering it by listening to it while poring over the details in the album cover art rather than consuming it? Wouldn’t that be nice.
This all brings to mind The Smiths’ “Paint a Vulgar Picture” from the album Strangeways, Here We Come. Here’s a video, and here are its lyrics.
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See I’m torn on this. Because all the time I was always saying that I wish I was playing Beatles songs on Rockband because I love them so much.
But I didn’t know about the bundle package, and now that I do I’m agreeing with you Shaun. They are totally taking advantage of the popularity of the Beatles and using it to make money.
Hmm…
I understand the need for companies to make money in order to exist, but I do not agree with charging so much more for so much gimmick. The fact that half the band is dead along with recent debacles regarding McCartney’s decisions about the band’s discography makes it seem that much worse.
man I must really try out these Rockband Guitars people are always complaining about. I have a Guitar Hero guitar and I dig it. Feels solid and though I’m not ‘expert’ I have fun with it. Maybe when I get back to the states I’ll make a visit to my local gaming pub see if these RB instruments are really the as bad as everyone says.
The Rockband guitars aren’t too bad when you get used to them but they just feel like they’re less precise. With the Guitar Hero guitar it clicks with each note so you can really tell when you hit the note.
To me the Rockband one feels more squishy for lack of a better word, so you can’t tell from feel that you hit each note. They take some getting used to if you’re used to Guitar Hero is all.
Singstar Queen seems like a much better investment. How interesting can Beatles songs be to play really?
@Kate – Agreed, but gotta say that some Beatles song are really fun to play – especially the later ones!