Vox ex Machina » Harmonix

Beatles: Rock Band to Drop Sep. 9,Viacom Betting 10-Mil in Royalties on Sales

Nelson Williams — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:13:41 +0000

I can safely say there is an end to the wasteland desert that was gaming these past months, as a cool ocean breeze wafts in from the coast. New titles have arrived on sailing ships from lands afar; Madden, Batman, and soon, the Beatles. Combined with price cuts on the Xbox 360 and PS3, gaming is set to surge ahead as the top consumer of our time, outpacing family, friends, and religion by a wide margin.

Beatles: Rock Band is an interesting title. The Beatles are, of course, the most powerful and moneymaking band in history. But the audience for this upcoming title, by and large, wasn’t even born yet when Yoko broke up the Beatles. It’s an open question if Our Gaming Generation will respond to a band they’ve never known, from an era they have no connection to.

Viacom, ultimate corporate puppetmaster of MTV Games, who published Beatle: Rock Band, has wagered a hefty sum on the game’s success. Not only did they pay 10-million human dollars in royalties to secure the songs from the Beatles rights holders, but they dealed to send out up to 40-million depending on sales. That’s some confidence.

The LA Times has more on this story. Plus, a picture of what two Beatles might look like.

Gorillaz Go To Rock Band

Nelson Williams — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:28:13 +0000

The Fake Guitar Wars that have so divided our nation’s youth show no sign of stopping, and even now Harmonix has prepared another salvo to rake across the bow of its competition. Rock Band has grabbed the Gorillaz.

Gorillaz, being an entirely fake band, is a wonderful choice for a fake guitar game. According to this thread on the Rock Band forums, the songs “Feel Good, Inc,” “Clint Eastwood,” and “Re-Hash” will make their debut in the latest round of downloadable content. The release date is set for August 11 to 13, depending on your choice of console.

Oh, and Harmonix also threw in some songs from people who choked to death on their own vomit during a drug-induced coma before you were even born, if you care about such things.

Rock Band Bags the Beatles

Nelson Williams — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:16:21 +0000

Although the battle of the fake bands has been heating up for some time, Harmonix has taken things to an entirely new level by signing up the Beatles to their popular Rock Band series. The result will be a game pack that lets you pay good money to pretend to play the timeless Beatles classics that you’ve already paid good money for on tape, then CD, then a second CD after the dog chewed up the first.

“It gives me great pleasure to be part of the Beatles/Rock Band partnership,” said former Beatle Ringo Starr, “Once again, the gig I lucked into over 30 years ago will keep my aging, careerless ass in money.”

The computer company, Apple, who gave their blessing for this use of the Beatle’s music in the project could not be reached for a quote as they were too busy shoveling fistfuls of raw cash into a gaping corporate maw.

The full announcement is online at rockband.com.