THE BEATLES GET GAME

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison were all on hand at yesterday’s Microsoft-sponsored E3 Media & Business Summit in L.A. to premiere the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band game.

The game, a joint project between the Fab Four’s Apple Corps and MTV Games’ Harmonix, is set for release on Sept. 9 (9/9/09), the same day as the band’s entire, original, digitally re-mastered catalog on EMI Music.

The game captures the band from its early days in 1963 Liverpool to the final performance on the Apple rooftop in 1969. Also included are three-part vocal harmonies, as well as previously unreleased recordings from the band chatting between takes during an Abbey Road studio session.

The game includes 45 songs. George Martin’s son Giles, co-producer of The Beatles’ LOVE album project and Music Supervisor/Creative Producer for the game, unveiled the first 10 songs that will be available for play: “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “Taxman,” “Day Tripper,” Back in the USSR,” “I Am the Walrus,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Get Back.” More songs will be announced at a later date. Along with these 45 songs, the entire Abbey Road album will be available for future download purchase, as will additional music from The Beatles’ catalog.

In addition, “All You Need Is Love” will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 as a download, also on 9/9/09, with all Apple Corps, MTV Games and Microsoft proceeds benefitting Doctors Without Borders, the international emergency medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971.

The game begins during the band’s earliest days at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, then travels across the Atlantic to experience the unforgettable 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the sold-out concert at Shea Stadium in 1965, and includes their appearance at Budokan in Japan in 1966. The studio years will come to life at legendary Abbey Road. Highlighting the studio years are “Dreamscapes,” intended to transport players to imaginative environments that capture the essence of the band’s groundbreaking innovations in fashion and culture. The game follows the Beatles to 1969, where they give their final performance on the rooftop of Apple Corps’ London offices.

The Beatles: Rock Band will offer a new set of hardware representing the instruments made famous by the foursome. Featured in the set are the Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet guitars—two of the signature instruments played by John and George throughout their careers. Also included is a Höfner bass controller—a large-scale version of Paul’s famed bass. Rounding out the set is a Ringo-inspired, Ludwig-branded Rock Band 2 drum set with a classic pearl finish and vintage remake of a Beatles kick drum head.

The Beatles: Rock Band will be available simultaneously worldwide in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system from Sony, and the Wii home videogame console from Nintendo. The game will be compatible with all Rock Band instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero and other third-party music video game peripherals and microphone.

The Beatles: Rock Band marks the first time that Apple Corps, along with EMI Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Harrisongs Ltd and Startling Music Ltd have agreed to present the band’s music in an interactive video game format. Electronic Arts Inc. will serve as distribution partner.

For more information, as well as art and video assets, go here.