After 17 months of negotiations and signoffs with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, it was announced last week that the Beatles will star in a videogame that has been authorized for a Christmas 2009 release. It’s the result of a partnership between MTV and Harmonix (the companies behind Rock Band) and the Beatles' business enterprise, Apple Corps Ltd. And, like anything involving the Fab Four, securing the deal was no small feat. But Ono tells EW exclusively that it makes perfect sense. “All of us are actually pretty hip, so we said yes,” she says. “I’m personally very excited. [The game] lets you participate in a way where you’re really [immersed in] the music. With so many young kids into the Beatles, it’s a start to a beautiful new page in [the band’s] history. Maybe they’ll start to make music and not just listen to it, and really understand what it’s about.”
In a conference call at 10 a.m. ET this morning, the Beatles' Apple Corps. Ltd., MTV Games, and Harmonix announced a new videogame using the Fab Four's catalog. And little else.
The game, which will have music supervision by Giles Martin, son of longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin and co-producer of the Beatles' Love project with his dad, is slated for the 2009 holidays. It will not be a Rock Band game, however; it will be a wholly new, stand-alone title. Details will unfold in the coming months.
As of 10:15 a.m., an iTunes rep officially declined comment as to whether this finally opens the gates for the Beatles' catalog to be offered on iTunes.
There has been talk of an all-Beatles videogame for months, but where it would land -- MTV Games' Rock Band franchise or Activision's Guitar Hero -- remained a mystery. Whether it will also include the band members' likenesses is still unclear, although the game will feature different eras of the band's career visually, starting with the black-and-white feel of the early '60s and moving into the mod Rubber Soul years, Yellow Submarine, and their final hippie phase. (No word yet on whether the game will introduce new instruments, but here's hoping for a plastic sitar.)
With AC/DC's Black Ice locking in the second highest sales debut of the year, there's no doubt the shift toward exclusive deals with a single major retailer is paying off for a beleagured music business. The Eagles scored platinum-plus success with their latest album, Long Road Out of Eden, through a partnership with Wal-Mart, and now the Aussie rockers are poised to do the same.
But one rock veteran isn't mourning the way things used to be. "At the end of the day, it's about marketing," Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan told EW.com at the launch party for Guitar Hero: World Tour, which, appropriately enough, kicked off at a Hollywood Best Buy. "I've heard literally 25 to 30 commercials for AC/DC; that's the most amount of energy I've heard about an AC/DC record in 20 years! Because the labels weren't gonna do that. They treat a band like AC/DC with a sort of reverant distance. Throw it out there and if it clicks, great. If not, they'd bury it. So great for AC/DC and great for Wal-Mart."
As for his own band, who kick off their 20th anniversary tour on Halloween, they remain free agents after deals with Virgin and Warner Bros. expired. But Corgan says they're starting to write a new record. "And just trying to figure out how to live in this new world."
With less than a week to go before Guitar Hero: World Tour hits stores, the rhythm game giant is preparing for a major blowout to celebrate its launch. Much like the party for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, World Tour will also kick off at a Los Angeles Best Buy. Last time around, Poison entertained gamers and celebrity fans on the retailer's rooftop, but with the popularity of music games reaching new heights over the past year, an upgrade was most certainly in order. So on Oct. 25, the Hollywood store will host Smashing Pumpkins, who are expected to play an hour-long set in between turns by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the official Guitar Hero band. Capping off the festivities? The first Guitar Hero: World Tour sale at midnight to one lucky party-goer.
More on Guitar Hero and Smashing Pumpkins:
Smashing Pumpkins video: "Starla" (from their upcoming ''If All Goes Wrong'' DVD)
"Rock Band" vs. "Guitar Hero"
Coldplay making "Guitar Hero" debut
Ten days after the Foo Fighters issued a statement
protesting the McCain/Palin campaign's use of their song "My Hero" at
rallies, Dave Grohl still has politics on his mind. At a private performance on Thursday night, it seemed
singer Dave Grohl came close to dedicating "Everlong," one of the
band's most beloved hits, to...Republicans? Could it be?
Playing for several hundred videogame enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the much anticipated launch of the post-apocalyptic Fallout 3,
the Foo frontman kicked off the evening with a disclaimer, telling the
crowd, "I don't work here, so I'm not afraid of what the f--- I'm gonna
do tonight." So after praising the open bar at the downtown Los Angeles gig several times, and a
short rant about office life (something Grohl never experienced, he
explained, barring a stint at Scotch-Guarding furniture), the band's
resident funny-man toasted gamers everywhere.
"I'm proud
of you guys," he said. "You're living the American dream. You get to
drink
free booze and play f----n' video games. Who knows, maybe someday you
can be vice president!" While readying his guitar for the song
"Everlong," Grohl segued from the V.P. reference into a near-dedication: "Speaking of that, I'm gonna dedicate
this one to all the..." And then flinched. "Never mind." Whoa. To all the...Republicans? Several people in attendance certainly wondered if that was what the singer was thisclose to doing. Tongue-in-cheek perhaps?
We should point out that there were several fully executed dedications handed out during
the Foos' nearly 90-minute set. Grohl gave one to drummer Taylor Hawkins after a momentous solo and before the song
"Skin and Bones." He also dedicated the band's 1999 hit "Stacked Actors," widely believed to be about Courtney Love, to Jane's
Addiction frontman Perry Farrell (which is interesting in and of itself).
But as the crowd exited the event, there remained a question about who "Everlong" was going out to. And why did Grohl get cold feet? After the show, he headed off the stage and straight into his Smart car so we may never know, but any and all theories are welcome...
As if your television set doesn't get enough of the video game Rock Band, now comes Rock Band the TV show. EW.com has learned exclusively that Rock Band 2 The Stars, a spoof of VH1's celebreality competition, will air on the network's VH1 Classic channel and online beginning Oct. 15 (it'll eventually air on VH1, though no date has been set). Professional rock stars Alice Cooper and Sebastian Bach will play hosts to 12 wannabe rockers who live in a loft together and vie to out-skill each other in challenges designed to showcase Rock Band 2's new features. Rumors of a potential Rock Band show surfaced in early September when a casting call appeared on the game's website seeking "hardcore fans of the video game ROCK BAND to form the Ultimate Rock Band." Specifically, it called for players to "be a master of at least one instrument, and preferably excel at all of them." The show will air as six mini-episodes.
Combining game-play with general rock attitude, each week the contestant with the worst overall performance will be eliminated. Once it's down to three players -- drums, guitar and bass -- those two groups will back Cooper and Bach at a final showdown taped at Los Angeles' famed Viper Room. The winning band will then get to play in between sets at the L.A. stop of the Rock Band Live tour featuring Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, and The
Cab. That show happens to be tonight at the Staples Center.
Check out a sneak peek of the promo for Rock Band 2: The Stars...
Director Brett Ratner has been plenty vocal about wanting to develop a movie based on the game Guitar Hero. But Activision, the company that owns the franchise, isn't going for it. "I'd really like to do it, but they're not letting me," he tells EW.com. "I expressed my interest, but because it's such a success, it's like now there's no reason to make a movie about it." Ratner is a big fan of the game, incorporating it into videos he's directed for Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, and he envisioned a story about a small-town kid who dreams of fame and wins a Guitar Hero competition. "The game is wish-fulfilling, everyone can be a rock star." But despite the setback, Ratner is not giving up hope. "I might prevail," he says. "I usually do."
While there's been a lot of talk over the last few years about the inevitable death of the album format, the videogame industry doesn't appear to be listening. On Sept. 12, Metallica will release a gameplay version of their new record, Death Magnetic, through Guitar Hero, and two days later, Rock Band 2 debuts, and with it, the promise of 500 tracks by year's end. Stocking the digital bins, EW.com has learned exclusively, will be seminal full albums by Foo Fighters (The Colour and the Shape), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik), Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking), Megadeth (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying) and Stevie Ray Vaughn (Texas Flood), along with a specially-compiled No Doubt Best Of collection. All are slated to roll out in the coming months, according to MTV Games.
With the first Rock Band game selling over 3.5 million game units and 21 million songs since it first hit the market in November 2007, the appetite for downloadable content seems to be insatiable. The game began offering full album downloads earlier this year, kicking off with Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance and later adding the Pixies Dootlittle and the Cars' self-titled debut album. "We're surprised by how many people opted to get full albums," says Paul Degooyer, Senior Vice President at MTV Games. "But it’s a good value proposition. Talk about something that’s been lost and forgotten."
In addition to new songs and instruments, Rock Band 2 will also sport a new look. After the jump, check out an exclusive sneak peek at the game's new opening sequence.
This morning, as thousands of gamers descend on Los Angeles for the E3 Media & Business Summit, Harmonix and MTV Games, makers of the popular video game Rock Band, will announce the real set list for the much anticipated sequel Rock Band 2, scheduled to be released for the Xbox 360 platform this September. The game will feature 80 songs, all comprised of original master recordings, including "Shackler's Revenge," the first official track from Guns N’ Roses' (singer Axl Rose, pictured) long-awaited Chinese Democracy album, which has been 14 years in the making and rumored to be coming out this year. Bob Dylan will also be making his video game debut with "Tangled Up in Blue," while AC/DC signed an exclusive deal for use of their music, including the arena anthem, "Let There Be Rock."
Since its release in fall 2007, the Rock Band "music platform," as executives at the companies like to call it, has seen massive success, moving upwards of 2.5 million game units (priced at $169) and selling over 15 million downloaded tracks (at $1.99 a pop). In comparison, its competitor, Activision's Guitar Hero, which recently announced a full-band version of the game called Guitar Hero World Tour, has generated more than $1 billion in sales in just under three years. But in the arena of downloadable content, Rock Band aims to be the market leader, promising that by year's end, its music library will house more than 500 tracks, making it the largest catalog in game history.
See the full Rock Band 2 track list after the jump...
