The Gaming Experiment

My number one most anticipated game of 2009 is The Beatles Rock Band!

Growing up, my parents would listen to radio stations that had older songs; mostly from the 60’s and 70’s. Sure, you had some Neil Diamond, maybe some Barbara Streisand, and Bee Gees. I was never really a fan of that sort of music, I can’t lie though, I did enjoy some of it. But whenever the Beatles came on I was into it. Of course I was didn’t really know who they were, but I liked the music they were making. Most of the songs were upbeat, fun, and memorable.

Fast forward about 15 years, I was in my senior year of college, and I took a Beatles class. We started from the beginning, and went all the way into each of the Beatles solo careers. I found a new love and admiration for the Fab Four. Their music was infectious, groundbreaking, and overall fun.

Last year Harmonix, makers of the Rock Band series announced that a Beatles-centric Rock Band will come out in this year. I was through the roof when I heard that, being the huge Beatles fan that I am. At this year’s E3 event, the opening scene was shown and some gameplay footage was shown too. One of the things that I found to be even more exciting was that the game would allow for harmonies, so there can be more than one singer. This should help anyone who might be afraid of the plastic guitars and drums. E3 is where the complete set of instruments were revealed. They look fantastic.

So far only only 10 tracks have been announced.

"Back in the U.S.S.R."
"Day Tripper"
"Get Back"
"Here Comes the Sun"
"I Am the Walrus"
"I Feel Fine"
"I Saw Her Standing There"
"I Want to Hold Your Hand"
"Octopus's Garden"
"Taxman"

So far the revealed set looks great. Some songs that I hope to see would be “Hey Jude”, “Help!”, “Let it Be”, “Two of Us”, and “Come Together”. There should be somewhere around 45 songs on the disc, and Harmonix has already announced that the Abbey Road album with be released as downloadable content.

This should make for a really fun game. Check out the opening scene. The animation looks amazing!