MTV Games Announces Beatles Music Video Game

Yes, it's true. While remaining Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have been dragging their feet for months on allowing their music to be sold on Apple's iTunes Store, it was announced on Thursday, Oct. 31, that Apple Corps (that is, the original Beatles' Apple) will license their music for a video game to be published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the creators of the popular "Rock Band" video game. The music part of the game will be produced by Giles Martin, the son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin.

While the game has yet to be developed, the game-play concept is similar to "Rock Band" or its equally successful competitor "Guitar Hero": wannabe rock stars play along with Beatles songs from every stage of their music career from first album to last.

Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos assures fans that the Beatles game won't be just another branded version of "Rock Band" like the AC/DC version of "Rock Band" that will be released during this holiday season. And Apple Corps president Jeff Jones assures that McCartney, Starr, along with Beatle widows Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono will "be involved in the design and the implementation of the design."

The game is set for release during the 2009 holiday season.

Sources:

Katie Marsal, "Beatles strike video game deal ahead of iTunes distribution", AppleInsider.com

Matt Rossoff, "Happiness is ... Beatles version of 'Rock Band'", CNET News

Dave Itzkoff, "Digital Mystery Tour: The Beatles' First Video Game", New York Times