The Beatles for sale (yet again)

Jasper Hamill

The Beatles’ musical legacy has been so guarded from the tumult of the modern music industry that their songs aren’t even available on iTunes.

But on Wednesday the Fab Four will be thrust into the 21st century with the release of The Beatles: Rock Band, a video game that will allow players to control eerily accurate computer-generated marionettes of the group, tap along to their hits using replicas of their signature instruments fitted with five brightly coloured buttons and even attempt to sing the famous four-part harmonies.

It will feature 45 of the band’s songs – a first for a game – and will tell the story of the Beatles, starting off with gigs at the Cavern Club, following the group through their epochal shows at Shea Stadium or Budokan in Japan and then ending with the famous swan-song performance on top of the Apple headquarters in London.

The game will even capture the psychedelic sessions that gave birth to Sergeant Pepper, with the walls of Abbey Road studios melting away to reveal a series of trippy “dreamscapes” designed to reflect the strange themes of the music.

Incredibly, the notoriously sensitive fan community have taken the game to their hearts, with some Beatles aficionados reportedly bursting into tears at the sight of the band back from the dead and in full fettle – if the player’s good enough, of course. Even Yoko’s happy with the result.

But who could blame her? Music games have broken records for computer games sales, with Guitar Hero, a game where players strap on a tiny guitar and rock out to hoary rock hits, selling 5.5 million copies worldwide since its 2005 release and becoming the first game to earn over $1 billion.


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