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eir music was legendary. eir faces recognizable the world over. ey sparked controversy. ey inspired trends. ey were e Beatles. e English rock band formed in 1960, and soon after became one of the most critically acclaimed acts and commercial successes the world has ever known. Despite its meteor- like rise to fame, its years of successful record releases and sold-out concerts, the group disbanded after just a decade. Today, some 50 years later, e Beatles' music remains as popular as ever, as vinyl records and eight-track tapes of hits such as Yellow Submarine, All You Need Is Love, Back in the USSR, Can't Buy Me Love, Hey Jude, and I Am the Walrus have given way to CDs and MP3 downloads of the songs. And now, a new generation of fans—in addition to those of old—can do what every Beatles lover has always dreamt of doing: ey can be a Beatle and play alongside their idols in the music video game e Beatles: Rock Band. Developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts, the title is the third major console release in the Rock Band series. Like with the earlier titles, players use instrument-shaped controllers (including special ones modeled after those used by the actual band) to simulate their performance. What's diff erent about this release, though, is that rather than a collective of songs from various bands, this one contains all Beatles music and visuals. e game disc contains 45 Beatles songs, to which users can play along using the instrument peripherals. (Harmonix has made three additional albums available for download to play with the game: Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Rubber Soul.) " e Beatles: Rock Band is a journey through e Beatles' career, starting from their early days in e Cavern Club and going all the way through to their fi nal public perfor- mance on the rooftop of the Apple offi ces," says Josh Randall, project lead and creative director at Harmonix. "You get to see them in their authentically repli- cated outfi ts at a number of familiar venues." Prior to Rock Band, no song by e Beatles had been featured in any of the popular music video games, which began striking a chord with players a few years ago. So what prompted this virtual Beatlema- nia? According to Randall, it all began with a chance meeting between MTV president Van Toffl er and Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, in Decem- ber 2006, shortly after MTV's acquisition of Harmonix. Toffl er introduced the young- er Harrison to Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix, and in a casual meeting, the two discussed the idea of making a game based on e Beatles. Harrison then helped introduce the concept to Apple Corps, the music production company established by e Beatles. A fi ve-song demo fi nished in early 2008 helped seal the deal with Apple shareholders Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono (on behalf of John Lennon), and Olivia Harrison (on behalf of George Harrison), all of whom acted as creative partners in the venture. Rock Icons Work on the project did not follow a traditional schedule. Rather, fi ve artists spent several months working on preproduction, creating concept art and test models, and brainstorm- ing. "We worked closely with Apple and had to get a lot of the early art approved," notes Randall. " ey wanted to be comfortable with the way they were being represented." In addition to the character representations, the band members and heirs approved the songs and venues that would be used, as well. ey also provided feedback on all the artwork and storyboards for the animation sequences. Members of the Harmonix team even made trips to the UK to meet with Olivia Harrison, while Yoko Ono met with the artists locally. "John [Lennon] had an enormous amount of charisma, and reproducing that in the game was really diffi cult," says Ryan Lesser, Harmonix art director. "She came in and gave constructive criticism that helped us get the character to where it was in the fi nal product." e art team also delved into mountains of research material. In addition to reviewing personal photos, books, and other materials, the Harmonix crew watched a number of February 2010 31 Gaming ■ ■ ■ ■