The Beatles

Lore & Background

The Beatles: Rock Band was developed with the blessing and critical input of Apple Corps, including former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who both made public appearances promoting the game. George Harrison's son Dhani helped to bridge discussion between Harmonix and Apple Corps, while Giles Martin, son of the Beatles' music producer George Martin, ensured high-fidelity versions of the Beatles' songs would be available. The game was released internationally for PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on September 9, 2009, coinciding with the release of new, remastered compact disc versions of the Beatles' albums. It incorporates many gameplay features of the Rock Band series, but it is not an expansion pack and content for it and other Rock Band titles is not cross-compatible. Gameplay mechanics differ slightly from previous Rock Band games, including the addition of a three-part vocal harmony system. Subsequent games in the Rock Band series would reuse these new elements, including vocal harmonies.

In Their Own Story

The game's Story mode follows a linear progression through the Beatles' history, with optional challenges in each story 'chapter' tasking players to complete every song in a specific chapter as a single performance. By earning high score ratings for songs or challenges, players unlock photographs and video clips of the Beatles taken from the Apple Corps' archive to provide 'splashes of history'. One such unlockable 'prize' is an edited version of the 1963 Beatles Christmas Record. The game features virtual portrayals of the four band members performing songs throughout the band's history, including depictions of some of their famous live performances, as well as a number of 'dreamscape' sequences for songs from the Abbey Road Studios recording sessions during the group's studio years.

Reader's Guide

The Beatles: Rock Band allows up to six players to perform simulated rock music using three different controllers modeled after music instruments: a guitar controller for lead guitar and bass guitar gameplay, a drum controller, and up to three microphones for vocals. Players simulate performance by using controllers to play scrolling on-screen notes. For lead and bass guitar, this is accomplished by holding down colored buttons mimicking guitar frets and pushing the controller's strum bar; for drums, striking the matching colored drumhead or stepping on the pedal to simulate playing bass drum notes. A 'Lefty' mode allows left-handed people to play by switching which colour the beats are given. When singing vocals, the player must sing in relative pitch to the original vocals. For songs with multi-part vocals, players need only to stay in tone with the lead singer to score points and keep their performance meter up, but players earn additional scoring bonuses when they successfully complete phrases in harmony. The game features 'Beatlemania' (referred to as 'Overdrive' in other Rock Band titles), collected by successfully completing specially marked phrases. Activating Beatlemania is specific to each instrument: for guitar, the controller must be temporarily shifted to an upright position; for drums, a special 'cymbal' (Green, or red for 'Lefty' mode) is hit; and for vocals, a noise must be registered by the microphone when prompted. Some alterations to the Rock Band formula were made to preserve the sound of the Beatles' music: audio cues providing feedback on how well the band is doing are not included, and the virtual band members are not booed off the stage if a player fails a song. Variations on Beatlemania activation include the removal of player-controlled audio effects, and there are no freestyle drum fills in the songs for activating Beatlemania. Four new instrument peripherals modeled after those used by the Beatles members were introduced: a Rickenbacker 325 guitar, a Gretsch Duo Jet guitar, a Höfner bass, and a Ludwig drum set.

Did You Know?

• The game was released on September 9, 2009, coinciding with the release of new, remastered compact disc versions of the Beatles' albums.
• George Harrison's son Dhani helped to bridge discussion between Harmonix and Apple Corps during development.
• The game's soundtrack consists of 45 Beatles songs, with additional songs and albums made available as downloadable content.
• The game features a three-part vocal harmony system, which was a new addition to the Rock Band series and was reused in subsequent games.
• One unlockable 'prize' in the game is an edited version of the 1963 Beatles Christmas Record.