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Rock Band Licenses The Beatles
eldavojohn writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that MTV's Rock Band has gained the licenses to an undetermined number of songs. Details are scant, but it would be nice to see a whole game based on just the evolution of The Beatles' music. According to Reuters, this has been in the works for months. Hopefully I can finally hide my strained vocals to so many beautiful songs within the privacy of my home instead of drunk off my ass at a bar."
You get bonus points for playing bass left-handed.
Better known as 318230.
The wife LOVES the Beatles. I'd get this for her, not even for myself!
It surprises me that this happened before the Beatles released their songs to iTunes. That's pretty revolutionary. Does the future of popular music rest with video games?
Seek and ye shall find.
I love the beatles, and having them included in Rock Band would make the game even more worth the purchase I made. I orginally bought it for my little sister for her birthday last week, but I've been enjoying it myself as well. I hope the songs aren't too expensive on xbl, though.
Longer straws get to be real musicians.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
This is tantamount to a complete change of rules in the sales of these. The original target markets are the youth. Most youth could care less about the Beatles and especially the early stuff. They want the metal, they want the punk-funk, they want that sort of stuff that is modern and from their era, not something from prehistoric times.
I can say that with a little moniker of authority as I am a working musician, and have been for quite a number of years both professionally and privately.
Also being a Dad, who at this juncture is 53 years old, (soon to be 54) with a 12 year old and 13 year old at home (yea' they're mine!), and a 20 year old that just moved back in. They like it when Dad plays his old Beatles albums (Yea, I still have the vinyl) and CD's, but when they are listening to their players or stuff on their computers, it's always their modern music that they like. Most times they tolerate Dad listening to this stuff in the car or van, but many times bring their MP3 players and plug their phones in their ears and they're off in their own worlds.
So I have a thought that this will be a gargantuan marketing flop. I don't see much out there in the way of parents my age that would buy this sort of thing. I could be wrong but even my band mates have indicated that they wouldn't spend money on that.
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So all that talk from Harmonix about how exclusive song releases was just meaningless bluster, huh?
Well, good for Harmonix, I guess. I don't like the Beatles personally, but I guess that gives Rock Band a couple of exclusives that are better than Guitar Hero's otherwise superior selection.
After you complete Abbey Road your disk breaks up.
Conservative, mod down for violating
If I remember correctly, Michael Jackson and Sony jointly own practically all of the Beatles licenses. I wonder how much money the king of pop will see after all is said and done.
I wonder if they will Helter Skelter? I hope they include Maxwell Silver. Some of the Beatles songs were happily dark.
Science is the Real TRUTH!
Honestly, I just think his lyrics and singing are insipid and inane. He almost kills every quality that I could like in the Beatles.
That being said, still a big fan of Sgt. Peppers and Yellow Submarine.
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
The fact that a videogame publisher beat iTunes
They're not still bitter over that Apple Corpse/Music legal fight are they?
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
The have a lot of songs that would be no fun in Rockband (except for maybe singers)
:)
But they also have a lot of songs that would be awesome in Rockband. Off the top of my head I'd like to see
She Said She Said
And Your Bird Can Sing
I Want to Tell You.
Taxman
Within You And Without You
I think I finally understand what a nerdgasm is.
Umm, the phrase is "*couldn't* care less". Why would we care if the youth *could* care less?
Because in practice, "could care less" is short for "could barely care less" or "could care less, but it would be a chore".
Oh please let one of them be Revolution 9!
This guy's the limit!
They've also licenced all of Mozart's works for their upcoming Harpsichord Hero.
I'm sure the kids are dying to pretend playing grandpa's music.
'All together now', 'Ask me now' 'Any time at all' 'Because' 'I should have known better'. 'I want to tell you' 'In spite of all the danger' 'I'll be on my way' 'With a little help from my friends'. 'Help', 'I'm so tired', 'I'm only sleeping', 'I'm down'. 'Good night'!
Smivs on the intertubes!
If you like The Beatles, it's well worth looking at composer Howard Goodall's analysis of their music and development. Not at all dull and dry, but accessible, entertaining and informative.
'Tis (mainly) on YouTube...
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 - can't find the damn thing. Curses!
Part 5
Part 5
Really, I can't recommend this enough.
Political language
Might as well go to the source.
i dont care about my ./ karma or pts. i have to say the beatles are the worst and most overrated band EVER... they were one of the first modern 'boy bands' they never cared about music, obviously because it all sucks, until they got into drugs. BUT that dosent make them O.K. i mean really put in one of their early albums, listen to it, and see if it dosent wanna make you have 'relations' with the same sex or some other sub-human form which they belong to. so yeah fuck the beatles.
but it would be nice to see a whole game based on just the evolution of The Beatles' music.
No, actually it wouldn't be nice to have another whole new game just for one band. What would be nice is to be able to purchase and download individual songs at a reasonable price. The AC/DC version of Rock Band costs $40 for 18 songs, and you can't buy individual songs - it's all or nothing. This shit has gotta stop.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
When you complete Helter Skelter on "Expert" mode, you actually do get blisters on your fingers!!!
Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea for an achievement name.
They get the rights to Man 'O War's catalog...
Seriously, that is cool. It might be fun to get the whole family playing 'Hey Jude'.
Micheal Jackson gets a large sum of money, and Neverland is no longer in danger of being repo'ed.
Man, how the FUCK did MJ ever come into being?
--Toll_Free
(for those that don't know, M Jackson had/has controlling interest of the Beatles music)
In the mean time, I went the Randy Marsh way and went went for the real thing. I bought a 50 nylon string guitar, borrowed an el cheapo strat clone from a friend and an used amp from my brother.
I'm probably practicing less every day than the Guitar Hero player plays it's stupid toy, and in six months I'll be able to play a few songs in public. It's really rewarding, fun (it's called PLAYING an instrument for a reason) and teaches actual skills while maintaining other ones like mathematics, physics, dexterity, multitasking and such.
A guitar hero player only learns to repeat sequences with a useless joystick that they cannot reuse in real life (otherwise a musician geek would have done it already)
It's going to be a whole new game, not an expansion for Rock Band. Also, it won't be out until XMas 09.
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
I suppose you just didn't have friends who wanted to play with you. Poor baby, awwww... Now you can woo them with BUSKING . Now you're cool!
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Not the people, the band! I did not like them when they were new, and I do not like them now they are old. They irritate me vastly, and I would like them to go away and leave me alone.
when abbreviating a phrase, certain key words need to remain, for example:
I'd really like you to cut my penis off
I'd really like you to not cut my penis off
They mean the same thing; the first just says it with sarcasm. "I could care less" is likewise sarcastic.
Beatles music is not very intricate, elegant, or difficult to play (even LH bass). I think game devs would enjoy a better market response for the following titles.
- DOOM IV: Beatles Reunite!
- MS Flight Simulator Lynyrd Skynyrd bonus pack
- Leisure Suit Larry: Return of Neverland
- Wiifit: The McDonalds super-size me edition
About time this shamefully overlooked band got the recognition they deserve.
Now how about your license some real guitars and teach kids music rather than how to jack off with four colors.
Sincerely, someone with half a brain.
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
As someone called in to a local radio station, "Haven't those guys passed their sell-by date?". Will there be an Elvis expansion pack?
Some other genres are worse. Rock Band could probably emulate all existing house music with about half an hour of samples and a state machine to mix them. Oh, wait.
At my work, everyone plays rock band (ages 25-45). Many bought an Xbox just for only that one game.
Your premise, that the game is geared towards sub-20 year olds, is very wrong. When you're under 20, you're playing a real instrument hoping to form a real band. When you're 30 with a 9to5, you just want to listen to good music (from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's... which comes by default on the disc) and have some fun.
The fact that you don't know what songs already make up the game (us old people songs) indicates you aren't aware of its target demographic.
FWIW, I'm pretty sure this is how Guitar Hero: World Tour is treating its DLC. The DLC selection is pretty small at the moment, but you are allowed to pick and choose which songs you want to download. Right now, the only artist with multiple tracks up is Metallica, but soon there will be multiple tracks from REM, Oasis, and (I can't wait for this one) Jimi Hendrix. I'm guessing they'll continue with this fashion
I'd personally like to see a happy medium, a la iTunes - download each individually if you want, or buy an "artist track pack" and save a buck or two.
No, it would not. It would be nice to see downloadable content of the evolution of the Beatles' music. I'm tired of games that supporting DLC releasing add-on discs that force you to completely change discs to play music from these collections when the core game is *exactly* the same. Guitar Hero, Singstar, I'm looking at you here! Kudos to Rock Band 2's ability to import in the songs of the previous games. Here's hoping that the Beatles are no exception.
It's a supplement, really. I'll use myself as an example. iTunes and CDs can't get my business. I'm too open minded in my music tastes and just listen to whatever Pandora or the local radio stations (that have online streams) bring to me. But RB has opened my wallet wide, I've spent well over $150 on RB DLC. My criteria is simply "will be fun to play on drums".
But like I said, it's a supplement. I'm an odd case when it comes to music, and by using more mediums to sell their work, artists can find more super-niche markets like me to squeeze in every last penny of a song's value, but by no means would it ever replace iTunes.
Finally, keep in mind that these old bands like AC/DC, Metallica, and The Beatles aren't entirely hip to the new trends. Also, these games are separate games and NOT downloadable content. (DLC) AC/DC I know is one band that flat out rejects iTunes. They don't have to because their main audience is in their 40's, 50's, 60's and will probably buy traditional media for the rest of their lives. RB: AC/DC and GH: Metallica are simply extensions of traditional media.
Charisma is the measure of someone's ability to lie with a straight face.
Finally some songs where the drums are so easy I can't suck!
Someone moderated my taste. Awesome....in a retarded way.
I heard a rumor that the name of the game that the Beatles music will be in will not be called "Rock Band." Anyone have info on this?
How many boards would the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored?
You know, I wouldn't normally be retentive about this...but "Rock Band" isn't a company, it is HARMONIX that developed this single game, and they acquired the licensing for the rights to the Beatles music. They have more of a hand in this than MTV Games, who is merely the publisher to the game. Not only that, but the game isn't even to be branded as a "Rock Band" game, just that it will be identical. Just show the developer some respect man! :P