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Layar 3.0 reunites the Beatles in 3D augmented reality
Layar's approach to bringing augmented reality to the masses is unique. Instead of writing isolated AR apps, Layar provides a very real augmented reality platform onto which content owners can layer (or layar) their data resulting in a richer experience when viewing the world through your Android or iPhone 3GS camera lens. There are already 294 layers and counting ranging from Google's ubiquitous local search results to homegrown content listing apartments for rent or tourist hot spots. Today sees the launch of Layar 3.0 with new 3D capabilities, authentication, and plenty more to entice anyone "with basic web development skills" to join the fun. To show the platform's new capabilities Layar presents a handful of use cases that include the ability to add authenticated social media layars (like Twitter and Foursquare), see incomplete construction sites in their final form, interactive public-space art projects, and a guided Beatles discovery tour that takes you to destinations made famous by the fab foursome -- you can even pose with the band for pictures as they cross Abbey Road. Sure, the jury's still out on the usefulness of 3D content presented in this manner and the ability to geolocate Twitter users and Hollywood stars in this manner continues to creep us out. But man is this stuff interesting.
The Beatles catalog being released on limited edition USB stick
You know what's kind of like online digital distribution, and yet not at all like that? Selling the entire re-mastered Beatles catalog on a USB drive that slots into a fake apple. The fine folks at Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have teamed up to build a limited edition run of 30,000 USB apples to be sold on December 7 in the UK and December 8 in freedom-loving America. Included on the 16GB drive are the 14 stereo titles in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24-bit, in addition to 320 Kbps MP3s and a whole digital stack of special materials like liner notes and mini-documentary films, all for the low, low price of $279.99. The drive is up for pre-order as of now, which means you could be a mere month away from plugging this drive into your computer, dragging the files into your iTunes library and then pretending that you bought them online in some sort of forward-looking content distribution model.
Rock Band Stage Kit won't smoke and strobe with The Beatles
We get the feeling that few Rock Band Stage Kits were sold to begin with, but those who proudly plunked down a Benjamin on this when it originally shipped were probably stoked to use it with The Beatles: Rock Band. Unfortunately for "those people," such a scenario won't ever be possible... at least, not without some serious DIY tinkering on the user end. Harmonix has confirmed to our pals over at Joystiq that a compatibility patch won't ever be produced for the newest RB title, and when pressed about compatibility with future titles, the rep simply stated that the company "hasn't announced any future titles at this time." Looks like this party's over, folks.
Breakfast Topic: I love
Matt Rossi and 248 of you (as of last night around ten) might hate things in the game, and that's cool. There's some things that I hate, too. But you know what? I'm a lover, not a fighter. Why hate when you can love, after all?There are a few things I love in the game. I love the satisfaction when an alt dings to 60, 70, or 80. There's always great new skills to be learned and new challenges to face. Nothing is more addicting to an MMO addict than reaching those benchmarks.I love the feeling at the end of the raid when you've downed an impossible boss, giving everything you and 24 other people had to make it happen. My buddy Jacob and I have often reminisced that we haven't had that feeling for a long time – not really since Kael'Thas, Illidan, or any of the Sunwell bosses -- but it was so damn good when it did happen that I'll take those memories with me into the next decade of game playing.Along those same lines, the arena battle where you end with just a few dozen points of health left and everyone else lies dead before your might – that's epic. I love that. The exhilaration, the sheer skill and determination to stay alive in a virtual world propels such legendary wins.So I have a challenge for you today, dearest WoW.com readers, let's love more than hate. I'm sure there's more than 248 things you all love about WoW -- show the world that all you need is love. And to sweeten the deal, I'll select 5 people whose responses I like the best and email them a TCG loot code, to be selected at random from a stack of codes that include Slashdance, Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit, and a few others. Get your answers in before 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight (September 14th), which is when I'll select the winners and send them their codes.So tell me, what do you love?
Harmonix auctions off custom Beatles Xbox for charity, free publicity
We're sure you've already heard about the kerfuffle surrounding the use of Kurt Cobain's likeness in a Guitar Hero avatar. Maybe it's a generational thing (or maybe it speaks to the difference between the temperaments of Ms. Ono and Ms. Love) but while the former members of Nirvana are not amused by their treatment at the hands of videogame consoles 'round the world, it's nearly unanimous in the Beatles camp: Beatles Rock Band is awesome. If you're looking to indulge your Fab Four fixation -- and if money's no object -- you might want to head on over to eBay and peep the first of fifty Xbox 360s being auctioned off for by Harmonix. Bidding started off at $780, but as of Sunday afternoon it's over $17,000 -- with over four days left to go! Designed by Passion Pictures (the kids responsible for animating Gorillaz), proceeds go to Doctors without Borders. Please insert your own Courtney Love joke here. [Via T3]
Conan isn't the world's best Beatles: Rock Band bassist
On the eve of the launch of Harmonix's digital British invasion, Conan O'Brien had a very special guest on his show -- Dhani Harrison, a collaborator on The Beatles: Rock Band and son of the late, great George Harrison. He spoke with everyone's favorite ginger giant, then demoed the title with Conan, who struggled on the bass line for "Birthday." Sadly, it looked as though he was playing on Easy. Actually, it looked even easier than that. Does Beatles: Rock Band have a "Toddler" setting?You can check out NBC's site for a video of the interview and "Birthday" sampling. As for the Cone, we suggest he stay off the gee-tars and stick with his Edith Bunker-inspired vocal work.
Night Elf in Guitar Hero 5
This is one of the many reasons why I really enjoy this job: one day, you're talking turkey with a psychologist who's dealing with serious addiction issues, and the next, you're writing about Night Elves in Guitar Hero 5. Personally, I prefer Harmonix's new Beatles game, but there's no denying that the character customization system in our very own Activision-Blizzard's Guitar Hero 5 is extremely complex. So much so that Artair on Doomhammer was actually able to make a pretty respectable-looking Night Elf male with the system.Which really just makes it much more ridiculous that this thing could be playing onstage with none other than Kurt Cobain. But we'll let that one go -- if you've found a way to get any other Warcraft characters jamming in Guitar Hero (or any other game with an in-depth character creator), be sure to send us a tip and some pics.
Rumors: The Beatles on iTunes? Yoko says yes, EMI says not yet
So, the friend of a friend told me that the Beatles is finally going to be on iTunes tomorrow. Not so fast, EMI immediately countered. In the latest chapter of a saga filled with more "will they, or won't they?" than a shoujo manga, Engadget picked up a 9to5Mac report today stating that Yoko Ono is talking about an iTunes arrival for the Beatles on an already Fab Four-packed 9/9/09. We've already speculated about it once, but Yoko's words caused the Twitter feeds to immediately jump alive with fevered speculation that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow's finally the day. I'm with Steve Sande. Seeing Paul, Ringo, Julian Lennon and Dhani Harrison (who helped mastermind The Beatles: Rock Band -- my reservation was made for the game six months ago) on stage together to announce the Beatles on iTunes would be fantastic. However, I'd rather see the release be done right than thrown together at the last minute. The optimistic side of me is sure that it won't be long before the Beatles and iTunes will be goin' steady for good.
The Beatles finally coming to iTunes, according to Yoko Ono (update: EMI says not tomorrow)
Even more than in past years, the build-up to Apple's iPod event this Wednesday has been nothing if not a bevy of The Beatles / iTunes rumors -- the company even broke with its traditional Tuesday event date to have it instead on "09-09-09," the same day The Beatles Rock Band and a new box set are due to hit store shelves. Now it looks like we've heard it from none other than Yoko Ono herself, who in a now-pulled Sky News article confirmed that the Fab Four's headed for digital distribution. All that's left of the piece is a Google cache of the first sentence, so for the full skinny, it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow. Update: EMI is telling Financial Times that, while conversations are still going on, no announcements will be made tomorrow. Read - Yoko Ono reveals Beatles on iTunes Read - Google cache
Will the Beatles library finally arrive in iTunes September 9th?
As intrepid TUAW reporter Mike Schramm told you a few days ago, Apple has an event planned for September 9, 2009. Pundits are expecting the event to be the usual Apple fall event where the new line of iPods will be announced, but there's something else happening on September 9th that could herald the long-awaited arrival of The Beatles in the iTunes Store. The Official Beatles Shop website is showing 9/9/09 as the release date for new, digitally remastered versions of the entire Beatles library. That's also the day that The Beatles: Rock Band is released. What better way for Apple to finally bring Apple Corps into the digital age than to give the Fab Four a home in iTunes? Of course, the Beatles and Apple, Inc. have had a tumultuous legal history, and recently George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison was quoted in Blender as saying he didn't feel that the iTunes Store's per-song charge was a fair price for Beatles songs. He also mentioned that the remaining members of The Beatles were looking into creating their own website for digital downloads. Given the shaky history of most Beatles business ventures, I wouldn't give that comment a second thought. Just last month, Sir Paul McCartney told the Guardian that in terms of the Beatles library appearing in iTunes, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process... I really hope it will happen because I think it should." Frankly, I think the music world and Apple both need a little magic right now, so I'm hoping to see Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison, and Julian Lennon on stage together on September 9th. That would be even better than an announcement of a Mac tablet.
Do You Want to Know a Secret? Seven more songs revealed from The Beatles: Rock Band
Twist and shout! On top of the recent late-night video debut of eight songs to be featured in The Beatles: Rock Band, Harmonix has just revealed seven more tracks that will appear on the game's set list. With a little help from my friends, you'll be able to play with Harmonix's latest revolution: the three part harmony. I've got a feeling that if you and your bird can sing, you'll be playing this game eight days a week. Here are all 15 of the new tracks: "Twist And Shout" "Do You Want To Know A Secret" "Can't Buy me Love" "I Wanna Be Your Man" "Eight Days A Week" "Paperback Writer" "And Your Bird Can Sing" "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" "With a Little Help from My Friends" "Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows" "Yellow Submarine" "Revolution" "Birthday" "Dig A Pony" "I've Got A Feeling" Check out last night's video -- as well as our impressions of the game from a recent sneak preview -- after the jump! %Gallery-68343%
Former Beatles, widows involved in The Beatles: Rock Band development
It looks like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison have more to do with The Beatles: Rock Band than thrilling journalists at Microsoft's E3 media briefing. In an interview with Crispy Gamer, the game's lead designer, Chris Foster, intimated that the former Beatles, along with Ono and Harrison, have shared quite a bit of input with the team at Harmonix.Foster calls the group "the shareholders," and states that they helped put together the song list, its venues and gave input as to whether the game's "dreamscapes" adequately supported the songs. "They looked over all the characters, the animations ... they really kept us honest on whether we were capturing the spirit of the band as they were performing, which was a huge challenge for us," says Foster, noting that it's necessary to capture the joy that The Beatles expressed when playing.According to Foster, seeing the former Beatles and their widows at Microsoft's E3 briefing "is about as validating as everything." He adds, "They don't get together for almost anything ... it has to be something important, something they believe in."
Xbox 360 Wireless Microphone ships this fall for $49.99
Remember that microphone that we peeked just before Lips hit and (subsequently fell off) the scene? Microsoft has just announced that a standalone version will soon be available sans a tether, giving owners of the aforesaid title, Guitar Hero Metallica, Rock Band 2, Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year and The Beatles: Rock Band the ability to carry a tune in a bucket right in the comfort of their living room. Too bad it'll run you $49.99 when it ships in the fall, but who knows, maybe there's some sweet Sennheiser diaphragm in there that we're not aware of.[Via Joystiq]
The Beatles: Rock Band to get NO mustache DLC
Harmonix is extremely pleased that it nailed the different looks of the Beatles in The Beatles: Rock Band, straight down to the facial hair from different eras. Yes, that includes Big Beard Paul McCartney above. Harmonix community manager John Drake told us, "We're really proud of all the mustache content we have in our game. However, there will be no mustache DLC in the game. Confirmed. You heard it right here."So, if you're hoping for some kooky Salvador Dali-esque facial hair creations to come to the game at a later date, we're sorry. However, the game freaking rocks. We wouldn't even care if they featured in-game ads for the Gillette Gamer Razor in it at this point.
The Beatles: Rock Band hands-on!
We don't know if you're like us, but we've basically been waiting our whole lives to play The Beatles: Rock Band. Well, we got one step closer at E3 2009, as we were able to actually snuggle up close and personal with the full kit and see what was what (and show off our totally sick harmonies on "Here Comes the Sun"). We have to say, Harmonix has absolutely outdone themselves with this bundle -- from the Ringo-style Ludwig drum set to Paul's unmistakable Höfner Violin bass... it's all here, and it all looks brilliant. We took the boys out for a little spin (you can see our own Ross Miller on drums there), and captured just a few photos for your enjoyment. Hit the gallery below for all the goods!
Video: Beatles Rock Band books surprise gig at Xbox 360 meetup
Last night Microsoft held an E3 2009 post-press conference event, and while Natal wasn't anywhere within our reach, we did happen upon Harmonix's Beatles Rock Band stage, an appropriately cliché setup on the rooftop of The Standard Hotel. We'll be getting more thorough hands-on time with the instruments later in the week, but for now, enjoy a glimpse at the concert ensemble, blasting forth with (confirmed!) three-part harmony.
Dhani Harrison: Beatles Rock Band will "blow people's minds"
Speaking to musicradar.com, Dhani Harrison, son of the Beatles' George Harrison, took care not to mince his words when discussing The Beatles: Rock Band. Naturally, one would expect that someone so closely connected to the project would be pretty positive about it, but Harrison made himself quite clear, saying, "I'm not hyping in the least when I say The Beatles: Rock Band is going to blow people's minds." He then added that the game will "set a new standard for video games."Strong words to be sure, but, considering Harmonix's pedigree, it just might be true. We'll find out when we take the game for a spin next week at E3.
OFLC lists 'Rock Band Project 9' ... it's likely The Beatles: Rock Band
Australia's rating board, the OFLC, currently has a listing for "Rock Band Project 9," which it classified on April 29 of this year. We're not used to rating agencies using code terms, but it turns out that's likely what happened in this case. We got in touch with the Harmonix/MTV/EA combine and were informed by the hive mind, "We can confirm that The Beatles: Rock Band will be coming to Australia and New Zealand on September 9, 2009."But, but ... that wasn't even our question!! So, we'll take this to mean -- without it being said -- that Project 9 is code for The Beatles: Rock Band. This wouldn't be the only oddly labeled Rock Band title on the OFLC site, as Rock Band Unplugged is simply titled Rock Band PSP. Harmonix has been hiring like crazy -- and there are most certainly secret projects going on -- but "Project 9" will likely be all set to let us jam with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band this autumn.[Thanks, Andrew]
Paul McCartney's Rock Band Höfner bass gets pictured, lacks genuineness
Sigh. It's like making a Jag-Stang for righties -- it just ain't right, kids. Hot on the heels of seeing the other special edition Rock Band axes designed for the forthcoming Beatles title comes this, Sir Paul McCartney's Rock Band Höfner bass replica. At a glance, most everything looks to be legitimate, but considering that it's clearly tailored for those who lean right, it'll never be authentic in our minds. Yeah, that's our southpaw pride we're wearing on our sleeves -- what of it?
Beatles Rock Band pre-order is on, custom guitars are a go
If you're like us, you're literally counting down the days until The Beatles: Rock Band is released (127). So, the news that it's now available for pre-order is, shall we say... exciting to us. Even more enthralling is confirmation of our wildest dreams: there will be two custom guitars available for purchase on top of the Special Edition bundle (the game itself, Höfner bass and Ludwig drums microphone and mike stand). The guitars -- a Gretsch Duo-Jet and a Rickenbacker 325 -- will retail for $99.00 each when the game arrives on September 9th. Until then, may we suggest you use the video after the break to work on your harmonies.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
