I know that I’ve already caught some flak for my taste in music, so I figure I might as well say ‘screw it’ and go for broke: in my (not-so-humble) opinion, The Beatles are the greatest band of all time. There, I said it. I’m a tremendous fan of the four Liverpudlians and what they did for music, and I love singing/playing Beatles tunes, so this news is incredibly exciting.
According to the Financial Times, representatives of the Beatles have been in talks with both Activision and MTV Games regarding a music videogame involving The Beatles. Activision is the publisher behind the Guitar Hero series, of course, and MTV Games represents Rock Band. Someone “familiar with” the discussions gave an amount of “several million dollars” for the cost of any such deal, and the person also mentions that a deal “could be reached in a matter of weeks” (at E3, perhaps?).
The Beatles are notorious for their stingy nature when it comes to allowing their music to be licensed, though they’ve become more amenable to licensing in recent years. 2006 saw the premiere of Love, a Cirque du Soleil theatrical production featuring Beatles songs that were remixed and reworked by famed Beatles record producer George Martin and his son, Giles. And this year, for the first time, the producers of American Idol were allowed to have the show’s contestants perform Beatles songs.
But the Beatles’ discography remains missing from the iTunes Store, and any deal would have to be vetted by both Apple Corps Ltd., the company that controls the band’s business interests, and EMI, the UK record company that owns the copyrights to The Beatles’ master recordings. There’s hope yet, though: Sony/ATV Music Publishing CEO Martin Bandier opines that “it’s only a matter of time” before the band opens up its catalog for use in all kinds of media.
Personally, I’d snatch up a Guitar Hero: The Beatles game on launch day, and I’d instantly buy any Rock Band DLC as well. What about you guys and gals?
[Via the Financial Times -- thanks, power-glove!]
6:26 PM on 06.23.2008
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No.
No.
No no no no.
FUCKING. NO.
Still, better than Coldplay.
I'm from Liverpool and I'm not a massive Beatles fan but surely Tommorrow Never Knows is one of the greatest tunes available to man's ears
The beatles are one of those bands that once I feel I've heard all their good songs suddenly a new plethora of completely different incredible songs appear.
Oh well, it will sell like hotcakes though because its' the Beatles, and it's cool to like the Beatles even if you hate them, because being cool is what it's all about. Ohh Yeeaa!
The Beatles were a gift of awesomeness (from somewhere) that drove people crazy because they weren't prepared for the greatness of four musicians that were talented, smart, young at heart, carefree AND wise. They had to stop playing concerts because people's minds kept exploding. They started the revolution in the 60's, and made the White Album.
But when Michael Jackson bought the rights to their songs, his career declined, his face melted off, and he now lives in the desert as a shadow of the man he once was.
The Ark of the Covenant and Beatle's rights... DO NOT TOUCH! It will be the end of gaming as we know it.
I'd probably be down, being a huge Beatles fan, but it really depends on what songs they plan on going with.
I would probably care more if I owned Guitar Hero/Rock Band.
Anyway on to The Beatles. I don't like them. I personally think they did more harm than good to pop music and ended their careers so far up their respective asses they almost choked on their own shit.
Some good songs? Of course, there are moments of greatness I cannot and would not deny them. Greatest band ever though? No, certainly not a breadth of material worth basing an entire game around.
Oh man it feels good to get that out of my system.
**Warning, history lesson ahead**
Also, the reason their music is not on itunes is because The Beatles started Apple Corps, which was their own company, who had a record label Apple Records (and a few other media related companies).
When Apple Computing came along, they asked if they could use the name Apple, which was trademarked to The Beatles at the time, but their company was falling from the limelight, Apple Corps supposedly agreed as long as Apple Computing never went into the music distribution industry, which they supposedly agreed to. Apple Corps took them to court when Apple computers became capable of playing MIDI files which they said went against this agreement. This was settled out of court.
When itunes and ipods burst onto the scene, Apple Corps again took them to court, this time it was fought in court, and Apple Corps lost, but they have never released the music on itunes, supposedly due to the fact they still believe Apple in defiance of the original contract.
or was that said with sarcasm?
I could see a Beatles Rock Band game (EA could afford that shit.)
But still I'd prefer some kind of a story-driven game that incorporates all the things in the "Beatles Universe." Think of "Kingdom Hearts" but with Beatles characters (Rocky Raccoon, JoJo, The Walrus, Mr Kite, Polythene Pam, etc) running around in a fantasized version of the 60's. Hell, it could still use the Rock Band instruments as peripherals.
But given that most hardcore Beatles fans are now in their 50's and 60's (and therefore not gamers) I think no such game will ever exist.
@Scientist tz - who says 50 and 60 year olds can't be gamers?! THIS IS PREPOSTEROUS!
Really though, I'm just dying for any game to make use of a crazy Yellow Submarine-esque art style. That would rock my metaphorical socks off!