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Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment

Gambling with expectation: Ars dives into Beatles: Rock Band

The Beatles: Rock Band has all the makings of a hit... but fans can be …

This September, Harmonix will release The Beatles: Rock Band. The Beatles represent perhaps the only band culturally relevant enough to get top billing over the Rock Band name. We don't know much about the game, only that the stakes for a game based on the Beatles are much higher than Activision Blizzard faced with Aerosmith, and certainly higher than the AC/DC product that tied into the Rock Band platform. How exactly do you give one band an entire rhythm game, along with a full set of instruments, and make it feel worthwhile? We have some ideas.

The first question concerns the music: in a career that's both as short and as varied as the Beatles', where do you start? You have to hit the band's bubblegum beginnings, but it would be a crime to leave out some of the more psychedelic songs from the tumultuous later years. There are hints that hardcore fans will be pleased by the selection in the new Rock Band game: Dhani Harrison, George's son, hinted that the game could contain "stuff that has never been heard, never been released."

Just dealing with what has been released presents a massive problem. How do you create a note chart for "I am the Walrus"? On the other hand, you have glorious rave-ups like "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid," but even then you have a piano solo that's going to feel out of place, and the guitar lines aren't as distinct as you'd like for a good Rock Band song. Putting together a track list will be a daunting task, especially considering that what makes a good Beatles song and what makes a good song for a rhythm game are often two completely different things.

There is also the possibility that, in lieu of the ability to import these songs into Rock Band proper, The Beatles: Rock Band is going to be its own platform. Why pick and choose songs when you can add more later? How much would fans pay for the full Revolver album to be added to the game? We have no idea how the licensing for the game is set up, and we likely won't until we get closer to the release.

We do know that we'll be getting quite a variety of tracks, thanks to Sir Paul McCartney himself. "[The game] will feature different periods of the band," he told Entertainment Weekly. "You get early days, Liverpool, then psychedelic, and on from there. It's very cool." We hope so, but we don't envy anyone with the job of picking these tracks... no matter how many you put in or what selections you make, fans will get upset.

The phantom $60

Another mystery has nothing to do with the songs and everything to do with the hardware. The special edition bundle of Rock Band is going to cost $250. A normal bundle for Rock Band 2 costs $190. Since the game itself is only $60, the price difference doesn't seem to have to do with content, but with what you get in that big box. We have a few guesses about what's in there, but this should all be treated as speculation for the time being.

Our first thought? The drum set is going to come with cymbals. This is something of a no-brainer, as there are already after-market cymbals for the Rock Band drums, made by Mad Catz, and the ION Drums come with cymbals as standard. Guitar Hero: World Tour has drums with cymbals. Considering that the Beatles game will be the big Rock Band release from Harmonix and MTV Games for 2009, adding cymbals would be a good way to give fans a reason to pick up the bundle, without changing how the songs need to be coded. As an added bonus the hardware would catch up with what comes standard in Guitar Hero: World Tour.


Also possible is a second guitar or, more likely, a bass. Every Beatle was recognizable, and everyone has a favorite... it would be a shame to ship the game with just one guitar and leave out the bass lines. It just so happens that Paul McCartney is known for playing a Viola Bass, so it would not be shocking if that very recognizable model has been licensed for inclusion in the bundle. That would make the $250 product a true out-of-the-box band experience, with all the equipment needed for four players to enjoy the game. Besides, wouldn't you be disappointed if you didn't have a good bass to play in "Hello Goodbye"?

A third possibility is another microphone and possibly some mic stands. This seems less likely than the other two ideas, but it also makes a certain kind of sense; why not give players the ability to sing harmony on "Two of Us"? People will be singing along to "Can't Buy Me Love" anyway, so it might be part of the game.

The last, and perhaps the most depressing option, is that the companies involved are charging more simply because they can.

What we do know is that the product offers great possibility

This is a game based on one of the most popular and successful bands in the history of... well, music, and there is every indication that Harmonix is going to make sure they do things correctly. "We're trying to create something that is an art object, that's really an extension of the Beatles' music into another medium," Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulous told Ars. "When that's the case, it's more than just a licensing question, you need sort of a creative resonance with all the principals involved."

From interviews given and hints dropped, it sounds like Harmonix has had a high degree of access to the Beatles catalog, and if there is a company that understands how to treat music with respect, this is it. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was a clumsy beast, with scarily animated characters and low-resolution video. The AC/DC Rock Band release was more of an expansion pack than anything else. The Beatles: Rock Band looks to be so much more than either of those products, although there is also the very real fear that it will crumble under the weight of the almost ungodly expectations put before it.

If this takes off, what's next? Led Zeppelin? Queen? The number of bands with the sort of career and variety of music to hold up an entire game are few, although we'll certainly get a variety of recommendations in the comments. If this game is a hit (and there is no reason to think it won't be), the entire music business could sit up and take note, and the Beatles will have conquered yet another medium. If it flops, or falls beneath expectation, the license-holders will likely still get a stack of cash and Harmonix will have dropped one of the most expensive balls in gaming history.

For now, all we can do is wait.

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