I may be dead wrong, but I fail to see the appeal of a Beatles Rock Band. With Guitar Hero Metallica on the horizon, and hard rock/metal being the cornerstone of the guitar/band genre of music games, I just don't see it. Now, a Led Zeppelin Rock Band, or even a Rolling Stones Rock Band I can see, but the Beatles? For EA's sake I hope I'm wrong and the game is a huge success.

That was my initial instinct when I heard about this awhile back, but then I realized the appeal this may have beyond the core Rock Band/GH market. If the Wii could get our moms and dads to run out and buy a console, maybe a Beatles game can get that same demographic to give music games a try?

I will buy two copies, to offset a lame dude.

When I described Guitar Hero to my parents, the first thing they asked was "can you play the Beatles". I think this will sell to a lot of people who aren't currently playing rhythm/music games.

I'm more interested in seeing what makes the full bundle worth $250, especially considering the current bundle retails for under $200.

You're right Tom, metal and hard rock generally is the cornerstone of these types of games, but typically only at the higher difficulty levels and tiers. You can really see what crowds Harmonix and Neversoft are going after by their choices for full game bands, Neversoft is snagging Metallica (which will undoubtedly be a hard game) while Harmonix went after the Beatles (of which the hardest song in the game will probably not be harder then a mid-tier song in GH:M). Harmonix has said before that the single most important difficulty to them is actually Medium, they want to make sure the game will appeal to everyone, not just the ScoreHero crowed.

I wouldn't write off the difficulty. True when I hear most of the early stuff I can't help but think of "Gimme Some Money" by Spinal Tap (Go Nigel, Go!). However, the Beatles later stuff does ramp up the difficulty. I think it will come down to how they handle the arranged music on most of those songs.

This being a game developers trade site though I am REALLY interested in what is driving the criteria for which songs are included and which are excluded. For instance since McCartney came out and said "Got to Get You Into My Life" was about marijuana will that cause them to exclude it in order to get an E for Everyone rating?

Finally, I am also very interested in the "exclusive content created by Apple Corps, MTV Games and Harmonix" that will be made available who participate in a pre-order campaign through major retailers. If they are offering "Revolution #9" somehow as an easter egg I'M IN!!! =)

I am one of those who thought "Really?". Maybe the songs would be good for beginners, but it will never match Dragonforce or metal in general (unless you want players to play more notes in the game than the ones needed for the original version ;-)). However, it is good that they are trying to broad the market of the franchise.

If a film without known stars can win the Oscar as the best film, why not a game without very known tracks? You could even sell a keyboard for symphonic metal (Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, After Forever, etc), selling yet another addon.

Then again, The Beatles? Really?

Roberto,

Has it occurred to you that, in all likelihood, the majority of Rock Band players buy and play a given track generally because they like the music more than because it passes some threshold of difficulty and number of notes?

I have never played a Dragonforce track and never plan to do so. I will buy The Beatles on day one.

Oh, of course. No offense intended. Ultimately people play games to enjoy them. However, you are basically agreeing with Warner CEO that these games would be nothing without the soundtrack (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19741). That is where my comment was heading. I know a Guitar Hero: Michael Jackson would sell, just like a Rock Band: Queen would. However, Metallica, Aerosmith, The Beatles, none of them need help to sell products. Imagine if every film had to be directed or produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, or starred by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or some other known actor. I believe these games would also sell based on smaller, less known artists. Maybe not that much, but with lower royalties being paid, it should be as profitable. Pure speculation, mind you, which is impossible to test since gaming companies will always prefer to pay more to get a big name on board than risk with less known ones.

I believe the Dragonforce tracks are the final tracks of the game (I have never played a Guitar Hero/Rock Band game). Maybe one day you will manage to reach it ;-) Just teasing :-)

@Aaron:One of the Rock Band load screens had a pack of rolling papers, and one of the first DLC songs was Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf, so I think "Got to Get You Into My Life" will be safe!