E3: All you need is love, a console and Beatles...Rock Band
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney promote an upcoming game featuring The Beatles' music. Credit: David Sprague / For The Times
It was a Beatles reunion, with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney sharing the stage at this morning's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The two living members of the legendary band dropped in on the Microsoft press conference to show off a new video game: the Beatles: Rock Band, developed by Harmonix and published by MTV Networks.
The game, due out Sept. 9, will let players jam along with the Fab Four as they roll through the ages. The game will feature classics such as "Here Comes the Sun," "A Hard Day's Night" and "Octopus' Garden." Players will be able to download playable tracks from the entire "Abbey Road" album.
Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon, and Olivia Harrison, widow of lead guitarist George Harrison, also took their bows at the press conference.
As for Lennon and Harrison, their in-game likenesses played across jumbo-sized screens at the press conference.
"Who would have thought we'd end up as androids?" McCartney joked.
-- Alex Pham
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This is a great opportunity to keep The Beatles in vogue. New generations will be getting this wonderful music and the band will live forever.
Whoever had this great idea, desrves a big star.
Posted by: Emilio Pastrana | June 02, 2009 at 01:40 AM
Thank god Paul died 40 years ago...
Posted by: Dave Wilson | June 02, 2009 at 06:42 AM
I own almost every Beatles release including the half-speed mastered vinyl boxed set. And now a game? This may pull me, finally, into the Xbox. But I'd like to see my face up there singing Hard Day's Night. Thanks for covering it, Alex.
Posted by: Kevin Strehlo | June 02, 2009 at 07:21 AM
This sounds (pun intended) like it's gonna be a great video game. I'm glad that tracks from the Abbey Road album are included, it's one of my favorite Beatles albums. The Beatles magic continues... (and I hope that Paul & Ringo will make a new song together)
Cheers,
David Rubin
http://www.davidrubinmusic.com
Posted by: David Rubin | June 02, 2009 at 07:38 AM
Paul referred to himself as an android!! Another (final?) clue in the 'Paul is Dead' theory!! Turn me on, dead man!!!!! :) :) :)
Posted by: Paul is Dead? | June 02, 2009 at 07:58 AM
I was watching this live and it was the most awkward appearance of celebrities I'd ever seen. Imagine you are trying to show grandma how cool your game is and what her reaction might be.
Posted by: Steve Case | June 02, 2009 at 09:50 AM
Yea they were very cold about the whole thing. Like they didn't even know what an xbox was or what the game was even about. They didn't seem to interact to well together either.
It was I'm on and get me out of here kind of thing....
I'd say that even if they are making something off of this game it isn't much compared to what they already have or other investments...so it was a joke to even show up.
Posted by: Joe | June 03, 2009 at 06:16 AM
June 9th is a weird day to release All you need is love:
http://history2.absoluteelsewhere.net/June/june9.html
Posted by: Joe | June 03, 2009 at 06:23 AM