Fresh Loaf

A Beatles-centric Rock Band game was announced last fall, but until this morning there’d been very little concrete information from anybody involved. The Beatles: Rock Band is the official title. It hits America Sept. 9 both as a stand-alone disc and in full instrument bundles for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Those whose living rooms are already cluttered with fake plastic instruments will be happy to hear that all Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour peripherals will work with the game. No word yet on a track list, but I’m pretty sure “Revolution #9″ won’t make the cut.

From the press release:

The Beatles: Rock Band will allow fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic or drums and experience The Beatles extraordinary catalogue of music through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career. In addition, The Beatles: Rock Band will offer a limited number of new hardware offerings modeled after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr throughout their career.

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Rock Band 2
Available now for the XBOX 360; in November for the PS3, Wii and PS2
Designed by Harmonix
Published by Electronic Arts/MTV Games

It’s been less than a year since Rock Band debuted and immediately made its precursor and chief competitor, Guitar Hero, irrelevant. Developer Harmonix, who created both games, consistently referred to Rock Band as a platform more than a game, seemingly precluding the endless series of ever-diminishing sequels that plague the video game industry. Still, it’s not at all surprising to see Rock Band 2 arrive so soon after the original. No entertainment industry is as crazed about sequels and name recognition as this one, and Rock Band’s publisher, Electronic Arts, is one of the worst offenders. There’ve been enough Madden Footballs to choke Madden himself, even though the annual installments’ chief selling point, updated rosters, could easily be released as downloadable content. With video games, if something sells, it will be repackaged, remade, and retailed at full price; so, Rock Band 2 was inevitable.

It’d be easy (and not entirely inaccurate) to dismiss Rock Band 2 as an expansion pack. The core game play is identical to the original. You’ll still be covering various rock hits of the last four decades on chintzy, space-wasting plastic instruments, while playing through a tour mode full of tongue-in-cheek humor. (more…)

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