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PAX 2009 interview: The Beatles: Rock Band lead designer Chris Foster
The Beatles: Rock Band drops today, along with the band's remastered albums availability on iTunes (?) and a flood of Beatles: Rock Band news. Fans will be wailing on plastic instruments all day in an effort to travel back in time and live out their fantasies of becoming musical legends. We caught up with lead designer Chris Foster at PAX, who gave up some secrets about the game (including the scrapped "forever" mode). Read on for the full interview.%Gallery-68343%
Reminder: The Beatles: Rock Band DLC already available
If you're picking up The Beatles: Rock Band today (which you really should) and you're getting it on Xbox 360, we've got a quick reminder that the first DLC for the game is already available for 160 ($2). If you'll recall, Microsoft announced "All You Need is Love" to be an Xbox 360-exclusive track at its E3 keynote. Better yet, by buying the song, you're going to be contributing to Doctors Without Borders, which sends physicians and other medical personnel into impoverished countries. Although, doctors, isn't it just a tad irresponsible leaving the country in the middle of the PAXPOXalypse? Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with the song, we've taken the liberty of embedding it after the break.
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
Harmonix founders detail the company's failure-ridden road to success
Believe it or not, things weren't always going so well for Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchise developers Harmonix. Starting out in 1995 as a "music tech" company, founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy took four years of "misstarts and product concepts that never made it anywhere" before they had any success. Talking to CNN Money, the two detail five years of strange, misguided, or ill-informed ideas that eventually somehow lead to The Beatles: Rock Band.First up: "The Axe," something that Rigopulos describes as "a joystick music improvisation system." In so many words, you moved the joystick around and various sounds were produced. Unsurprisingly, only 300 were sold -- "a horrendous failure that led to a painful lesson," Rigopulos says. "You can't really build a business on an entertainment experience that only keeps people entertained for 15 minutes." Second, the two tried breaking into the (at the time) $10 billion Japanese karaoke market ... and met with resounding failure once again. Luckily for us, lessons learned overseas came back with the duo and Harmonix became a game company. Rigopulos and Egozy quickly changed their company's focus from "music tech" to "gaming," creating Frequency and Amplitude soon after. Though the games didn't directly lead to the financial success achieved later with Guitar Hero and Rock Band (GH didn't get off the ground until RedOctane approached Harmonix in the early oughts), both helped the now major developer to get a foot in the door.
Rumor: 45th track in Beatles: Rock Band is 'The End'
We can just picture it: Harmonix employees collectively having a laugh at our expense as the forty-fifth (and final) track featured in The Beatles: Rock Band is announced to be ... wait for it ... "The End." The image you see above certainly makes this possibility seem all the more real, as the Abbey Road track isn't listed anywhere on the nearly complete track list we've had for some time now. Apparently, the game has already landed in a few lucky forum-goers hands over at ScoreHero, who quickly revealed the alleged final track. Also revealed: The game's a lot of fun. Shocking! All kidding aside, though, we're fairly confident "The End" made it into the game as track number 45, but we'll have to wait and see with our own eyes when The Beatles: Rock Band launches next week.
Harmonix to 're-energize' its franchises after The Beatles: Rock Band
Sure, The Beatles: Rock Band developer Harmonix has been busy working on next week's big release for some time now, but did you know it's also working on "re-energizing" its "core franchises?" Harmonix PR overlord John Drake told CVG as much, saying that while the studio is ready to refocus on its existing portfolio, it's been busy making sure it got The Beatles game 100 percent right. "We were terrified while making the game, hoping we don't make [Apple Corps] 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." Considering the longtime rhythm game developer more or less re-energized its Amplitude and Frequency franchises with Rock Band Unplugged, we're taking a wild stab in the dark here when we suggest Drake's likely talking about Rock Band 3. And does "re-energizing" in this case mean "adding Project Natal functionality?" We're not sure yet, but we've got our fingers as uncrossed as possible, just in case.
Net a free Avatar shirt with the purchase of The Beatles: Rock Band
Specially marked boxes of the upcoming music title The Beatles: Rock Band include a unique bonus: an exclusive Avatar shirt. The freebie marks the first (and hopefully not the last) time Avatar apparel has been given away alongside the launch of a game, giving extra incentive for users to pick up a copy of the Xbox 360 version. Coincidentally, it'll make for a hilarious image when your Avatar shows up in Guitar Hero 5 donning a Rock Band promo t-shirt -- if Avatar apparel is able to show up in game, that is. Of course, this news only matters if your Avatar's dress code includes wearing band logo shirts. Our Avatar dress code allows only suit and tie, because we're gentlemen. Make sure to check out Major Nelson's Flickr page for details on how to spot the free bonus at retail.
MTV spent big for The Beatles, slowly backing away from peripheral business
It appears that Viacom, parent company of MTV Games and Harmonix, guaranteed a minimum of $10 million, along with another potential $40 million in royalties, to its respective estates for the use of The Beatles in the upcoming Rock Band game. Sources familiar with the deal tell The LA Times that the "royalty rates on [the deal] are not even comparable to anything that has been done before." All this cash is being thrown around in the midst of a revenue decline in the rhythm genre.MTV Games is seemingly taking even more steps away from producing and distributing peripherals. Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president at the company, explains that its "core competency is media" -- he'd rather let Activision "take on the burden of getting those super-tight margin instruments out there."
The Beatles: Rock Band visits Abbey Road
In a 30-second clip that we're not exactly sure came from this decade, MTV Games/Harmonix preview upcoming music/rhythm game The Beatles: Rock Band by way of a big party on Abbey Road. No, we don't mean the street itself, we mean that the enormously famous album cover got turned into a big ol' 30-second party in celebration of the upcoming game. Other than a somewhat creepy faux John Lennon around the halfway mark, this commercial provides yet another reason to be more excited than ever for the day that the Dreamcast turns 10.%Gallery-68343%[Via Kotaku]
EEDAR: Guitar Hero 5 will outsell The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1
EEDAR analyst Jessie Divnich has been quoted in a newly-published Bloomberg article, stating that the research group sees The Beatles: Rock Band facing a tough fight against the latest Guitar Hero in a genre that has, as he believes, "peaked." We got in touch with Divnich to talk about his assertion in the same article that Guitar Hero 5 will likely outsell Harmonix's Beatles game this year by a ratio of nearly two-to-one.Divnich says he expects Activison to ring up sales in the order of 3 million GH5 units across all platforms, compared to a projected 1.7 million for The Beatles: Rock Band. "I believe that at the end of the day, it comes down to marketing muscle, and Activision has proven in numerous showdowns that they can out advertise and out promote their competitor," he tells Joystiq. "If Activision relaxes on the marketing spend, while MTV Games kicks it up a notch, there's certainly a chance that I could be wrong."There's another scenario in which this year's Rock Band could prove more of a contender. "The only concern I have with my Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band analysis is that Activision may focus less on marketing Guitar Hero 5 and divert funding to DJ Hero, a new brand in their Guitar Hero line-up," EEDAR's chief number man admits. "That would certainly change the game."No matter what, Divnich doesn't see a very-worst-case scenario playing out for MTV Games and Harmonix, assuring us that "[The Beatles: Rock Band] will outsell Rock Band 2 this holiday season."
Get your hands on The Beatles: Rock Band today at Best Buy
Sure, you could sit on your butt today, thinking about how The Beatles: Rock Band won't be available until September 9. Instead, why not head to a participating Best Buy store today between noon and 3:30PM (EST) to check out the game early? Harmonix and MTV Games are offering a chance to play an in-store demo build of the game for today only before it hits retailers in a few weeks. There's even "special hosted demo events" at certain stores "where you can ask questions about the game, learn some tips-and-tricks, and more" -- we're hoping the "and more" is sensual massages from Sir Paul McCartney himself. Peep the whole list of participating stores right here.[Thanks, JD!]
Rock Band DLC to hit 1000 tracks by holiday with help of Queen, Nirvana & Elton John
Aside from announcing the first three Beatles albums to be released as DLC for upcoming tear-jerker The Beatles: Rock Band, MTV Games and Harmonix today revealed intentions to bring the Rock Band DLC count to 1,000 songs by this holiday. At the current rate Harmonix is releasing songs for the franchise -- without factoring in the Rock Band Network -- that's roughly 500 songs per year.Additionally, the companies have revealed a number of the artists that will be contributing to the holiday goal, including Queen, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Elton John, Iggy Pop, The White Stripes, Pantera, Talking Heads, Korn, and The Raconteurs, as well as the ever elusive "and more." You can always find out what new tracks are coming to Rock Band as DLC (and what's on the way) by using our Rock Band Weekly feature.%Gallery-27156%
All (but one) of the 45 Beatles: Rock Band tracks revealed
It's been a long, painful and oftentimes confusing process, but it looks like the hunt for the full setlist for The Beatles: Rock Band is drawing to a close. A recent MTV Games press release has revealed the full setlist for the highly anticipated mop-topped rhythm title -- leaving room for a bit of speculation as we enter the final stretch for the game's release. You can check out the list of 44 confirmed tracks after the jump, and see the new additions in the trailer posted above.So what's the last track going to be? Our money's on "Hey Jude" -- that breakdown at the end would serve as an epic finale to the game's Story Mode. What tune from the cleverly misspelled band are you still holding out hope for?
The Beatles: Rock Band execs say Yoko Ono 'gave the designers hell' [update]
Update: Harmonix has issued a clarification of the statements through its forums, saying that quotes were "mischaracterized by some in the press" and the development team was "tremendously grateful that she gave us the gift of her attention." We'll update this post further if we hear more from Harmonix or MTV Games on the subject. (Thanks, James!)The late John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, is notorious for a number of somewhat less than pleasant experiences related to The Beatles' career. According to Wired, she's still offering a controlling hand in The Beatles' affairs -- notably, The Beatles: Rock Band. "She gave the designers hell," said Paul DeGooyer, senior VP of electronic games and music at MTV. Harmonix exec Alex Rigopolous chimed in, saying that Ono "held our feet to the fire" and asked for changes to things that had long been finished. "We were like, 'Oh, gee. Thanks.' It would have been nice to know that six months ago, but yes, 'Thank you very much.'" Though we didn't get a chance to ask during our interview with Harmonix this past week, we doubt that Ms. Ono will be appearing in The Beatles: Rock Band in any form when it arrives this September.%Gallery-68343%
Video interview: Harmonix's John Drake
09.09.09 is less than a month away, and Harmonix is ready to reveal all the secrets of its upcoming The Beatles game. We chatted with Harmonix's John Drake to go over the recently unveiled Story mode, and the exciting unlockables hidden away in The Beatles: Rock Band. Below is a small text excerpt of the entire video interview:Any chance we'll see any more archival videos and photos released as DLC?I don't think so just because of how downloadable content works on three different consoles, and to keep parity, how it would need to be engineered. I know our code team's pretty amazing, but that sort of stuff is not how we look to share that media. It's a pretty secure and safe media that we really want to keep close to the vest, just as Apple has kept it in their vaults. I don't see it being downloadable content. What you see on the disc is what we have for extras for the moment.Will we see any retail expansions for the game in the future?Unless we need to introduce a radical new feature, we're going to stick with that core disc and stick with that DLC mentality: add albums and songs on top of that. The Beatles have a finite catalog, but it's an infinitely amazing catalog with finite songs, so we're still hoping to get as much content from Apple as we can and give it to fans to customize their Beatles playlist.
Hands-on with The Beatles: Rock Band story mode
Click to see more colours. One thing is obvious after playing the closely-guarded story mode of The Beatles: Rock Band: this is no quick cash-in. The rewards system included in the game features some extraordinary (and oftentimes exclusive) extras that no Beatles fan will want to miss. Rare archival photos, audio and video chronicle the meteoric rise of the Beatles, providing an almost-encyclopedic document of the band's career.Unlike the previous Rock Band games, the entire setlist will be available from the get-go in The Beatles: Rock Band. Considering the mainstream appeal of the Beatles, Harmonix realized it was foolish to lock away the core content of the game from the masses. Instead, the story mode provides something sorely missing from the first two Rock Band games: context. The tour mode of the previous titles attempted to emulate the experience of being a band on the rise, but did so through a simple numeric representation of how many fans players have accumulated. The Beatles offers cutscenes, both rendered in the game's engine and through animation, that begin inside one of the band's earliest venues: The Cavern Club.Players will have to play through a number of pre-selected songs in order to progress onto the next part of the story, visiting venues such as the set of the Ed Sullivan Show, Budokan, Shea Stadium, and the rooftop of Apple Records. Those who manage to get 5-star ratings on all the songs will unlock a number of extras, such as photos that chronicle the history of the Beatles. These images include intimate details fact-checked by Paul McCartney himself.%Gallery-70046%
Rumor: Full setlist for The Beatles: Rock Band confirmed
The contents of the 45-song setlist for The Beatles: Rock Band have been pieced together from various sources (trailers, articles, interviews) over the past several months, but it now appears that the lineup is finalized (and the early, unofficial ones were spot-on). The latest issue of Game Informer contains a cover feature on the game, in which the mag lays out the full, official song listing, this according to a Joystiq tipster.We haven't seen the issue itself in the flesh paper stock, but the listing jibes with with the otherwise unconfirmed, piecemeal ones we've already seen online. We've placed the full list after the break for your perusal (and comments, since we're sure it's not going to please every Beatles fan). Be sure to check out the September 2009 issue of Game Informer (they've got two swell variant covers!) for more new info on the game.[Thanks, Juan]
Watch four videos of The Beatles: Rock Band [update 3]
Update: Alas, the videos featured last night have been removed from YouTube due to a "copyright claim by Viacom." Sorry to everyone who missed them!Update 2: As some of our commenters have smartly pointed out, all four of the removed videos are available legally through the official website for The Beatles: Rock Band. Update 3: It seems as though even three of the four tracks have been removed from the official website for the game, and now only "Birthday" is available. Sorry again, folks! There's nothing we like more than sitting back on a Sunday evening and listening to some good music. Tonight we're offering you the chance to listen along with us, with four tracks from The Beatles: Rock Band. Better yet, we've got the videos from the game as well for your viewing pleasure, just after the break. While we're partial to the video for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band," who are we to go all willy nilly suggesting what you choose to enjoy? Kick off your slippers and get ready for sheep counting with a handful of Beatles music from us to you. Oh, and if it's your birthday, happy birthday to you. (Sorry, we couldn't resist.) %Gallery-68343% [Thanks, Jon Q!]
Fallen Earth set to release on September 9th
Almost as if they could read our thoughts, Fallen Earth LLC announced the game's release date just as we were wondering when said announcement would be made. The game will be made available at both retail and through digital distribution, although no mention was made of which services will be offering the game for download. Launch day is now set for September 9th and, come to think of it, really isn't too long from now. Strangely enough, this happens to coincide with The Beatles: Rock Band's release date. We're sure there isn't too much overlap between people who love post-apocalyptic games and fans of the fab four. Then again, The Beatles fanbase is pretty huge and diverse, plus we're talking about a new Rock Band game.Well, those of you who plan on getting both games could always blend them into your day. Jam on about your octopus garden and then shoot some ghouls in the face with a shotgun. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good day! Yeah, those Fallen Earth guys are onto something with this idea.
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%
