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A shopper with The Beatles: Rock Band game during its launch in London - Source: Reuters -
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A wave of Beatlemania struck Britain's streets as the Fab Four
released a specially re-mastered edition of their albums, complete
with an interactive video game for a new generation of fans.
The Beatles collection, launched worldwide on 09/09/09 and priced
at 180 pounds ($430), is expected to dominate the charts in the
United States and Britain, bringing a windfall to the group's label
EMI Music and the Beatles' company, Apple Corps.
While queues formed at major music stores in London, there was also
Beatles nostalgia across Europe and parts of Asia.
A front page cartoon in France's Le Monde newspaper showed
France's divided opposition leaders dressed as Beatles.
"It would be nice if we played the same music," says one. "All
you need is love," replied another.
In Ireland, a radio station hosted a karaoke event with people
invited to sing and play Beatles tunes on guitar.
Ahead of the launch, Beatles singer and songwriter Paul McCartney
wrote a letter to Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper saying
how he once imagined the band, which changed the face of popular
music in the 1960s, would only last a couple of years.
"Now it feels like the Beatles will go on forever," he wrote in The
Sun, nearly 50 years after the group first formed.
While the re-mastered catalogue, its first overhaul since 1987, is
seen appealing mainly to Beatles' fans who would appreciate subtle
variations and improvements, most excitement surrounds MTV's video
game, The Beatles: Rock Band.
"I'm buying the game," said Stefan Krupicki, 32, who queued for an
hour at the launch at the HMV store in central London and declared
himself more a fan of Metallica than the Beatles.
"I just want to try the game and see how it is going to
work."
Developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by Viacom Inc's MTV
Games and distributed by Electronic Arts Inc, analysts say the game
could sell two million units in the first month.
The re-engineered music collection is expected to boost sales of
CDs in an era when more and more songs are downloaded online and
fans can pick and choose their favourite tracks.
However, the Beatles appear set to move into the digital age - with
some of their music likely to be made available as downloadable
content for the video game.
"I'm probably not going to buy the album. I'll probably download it
because it's free," said Robert Gold, 21, who works at a clothing
store in central London.
Fans of arguably the world's most successful pop band, with album
sales of more than 600 million worldwide, have waited for years to
be able to download the Beatles' coveted body of work, but have
been frustrated partly by a trademark dispute.
Quality improved
The new music collection - with its hefty price tag - comprises 16
Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as
originally released in Britain, and Magical Mystery Tour, which
became part of the Beatles' core catalogue when the CDs were
released in 1987.
Allan Rouse, who oversaw the re-mastering, said improved computer
software had allowed his team to improve the quality and sound of
the Beatles' catalogue, including the removal of bad edits,
electrical clicks and sibilance.
The game, which offers 45 songs from the band's catalogue, has won
rave reviews from critics and analysts who see it tapping into a
new, younger demographic for families.
"With all due respect to Wii Sports, no video game has ever brought
more parents together with their teenage and adult children than
The Beatles: Rock Band likely will in the months and years to
come," The New York Times said.
Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said the significance of the Beatles
release was the introduction of a new generation of fans worldwide
to the group's music.
"Music-based franchises such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero now sell
in the tens of millions and have huge family appeal," said
Castaldo, which is why the release of Beatles Rock Band, combined
with the simultaneous release of the re-mastered Beatles albums,
promises to be such a global event.
With video game sales falling sharply in the United States, the
makers of the game are aiming to appeal to older consumers who have
not yet experimented with the format but may be attracted by their
love of the music.
However, Jeff Howells, a 36-year-old civil servant, said he was at
the launch to get the discs.
"I'm not interested in the game, quite a few people are not I
suspect. I think most people will be interested in the music. The
game is just a nice little fad - I don't think it will last.
