May 2009 Archives

It was a week ago today that the preorder club opened for "The Beatles Rock Band" game from Harmonix. Now its Tuesday again, and we get to see the Paul McCartney Höfner Bass controller.

I'm a bit relieved to see that in a bow to the dominance of the right handers, this is a right-handed Höfner, not a lefty like Paul's. At first glance, it looks like a nice reproduction. And I should know, I have a real one! McCartney's lost the pick guard some time prior to the filming of Let It Be. A bit of the history of Paul's two Höfners can be read here.

If Harmonix keeps to this apparent pattern of adding stuff on Tuesdays, I expect that next week we'll get a look at the Ludwig-branded Rock Band 2 drums, with the famed drop-T logo of The Beatles.

This just in: Breaking box art, courtesy MTV Networks.

Playstation 3:

This art is incorrectly missing George Harrison's signature:

Wii:

XBox 360:

It could cost you about $450.

It was already announced that The Beatles Rock Band game would be released on September 9, 2009; both in a $60 standalone version and a $250 bundle. That bundle includes the game, a microphone, a microphone stand, and two controllers: One modeled after Paul McCartney's Höfner Bass, and a Rock Band 2 drum kit, fitted out with a classic pearl finish and a Ludwig-branded bass drum skin with The Beatles drop-T logo.

Today, two more things happened: Harmonix opened its preorder club. If you have preordered the game, you get access to an area that currently has a press release, and will soon have extra materials and behind-the-scene videos.

And that press release announced two new controllers! Most attractive, and most like the original, is a Gretsch Duo Jet, just like the one George played during the earlies years of the Beatles' success. Except that its not a real guitar. Think $99.99 is expensive? A new real Duo Jet will set you back around $2500. It is a classy, twangy, great guitar.

Also announced, a Rickenbacker 325. This is not the 12-string George is famous for. It's based on a guitar Lennon bought in Hamburg. The original had gold pickguards, the game controller has white. That's another hundred bucks, thank you.

Sadly, I'll probably have to buy it all.