Harmonix taking 'wait and see' approach with The Beatles DLC
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Oct 9th 2009 at 3:41PM } 
"It's not like Rock Band where we wait for the masters to come in and just author them ... its like, send people to Abbey Road, use the original tape, separate them out," Drake detailed. In addition to the audio work that must be done, Harmonix has also promised to include original dreamscapes for future downloadable content as well.
It seems likely Harmonix will find the sales necessary to produce more DLC, considering the retail success of the game so far. "If they sell well, we'll have a lot more content," Drake promises.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
The Novemberist @ Oct 9th 2009 3:46PM
When are they going to release music from OTHER BANDS?! Jeeez!
Peter Moore @ Oct 9th 2009 3:50PM
ಠ_ಠ
Maulok @ Oct 9th 2009 3:59PM
I LOLed.
Not to bash the Guitar Hero brand (I'm sure it's coming), but Guitar Hero: Beatles probably would have had at least one Blink-182 song in the "inspired by" category.
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Oct 9th 2009 4:00PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fry-oxfDM8I
cafecito @ Oct 9th 2009 4:03PM
....what?
The Novemberist @ Oct 9th 2009 4:05PM
Oh...it's called "Beatles Rock Band". Sorry guys. I feel so DUMB!
: )
Peter Moore @ Oct 9th 2009 4:14PM
...
Once again, ಠ_ಠ
bongoes is no longer a Black Lantern. @ Oct 9th 2009 4:50PM
Hey Novemberist, that's a cool name. You like the Decemberists?
The Novemberist @ Oct 9th 2009 5:48PM
I'm glad you fine folks who peruse this site have a sense of humor. I may have been down voted but it was a justified voting of the down kind.
No...I do not like The Decemberists. I got this name from a song by a band called "Brazil".
Peter Moore @ Oct 9th 2009 3:47PM
They're already doing Abbey Road and Sgt. Peppers. Just do the White Album and Let It Be and I'm good.
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Oct 9th 2009 3:52PM
I'd also like Revolver.
Wizzleteets @ Oct 9th 2009 3:54PM
I want to say that they announced Revolver. I know there was a third album announced.
Peter Moore @ Oct 9th 2009 3:55PM
Pretty sure the third was Rubber Soul.
Damian @ Oct 9th 2009 3:57PM
Yes hell yes I need Revolver, because of I'm Only Sleeping, Good Day Sunshine and She Said She Said.
White Album as well, if only for Hapiness is a War gun, that and Martha my Dear.
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Oct 9th 2009 3:59PM
Martha My Dear is really piano and horn heavy, though.
Damian @ Oct 9th 2009 4:03PM
Piano Peripheral Confirmed
Prof_Chaos @ Oct 9th 2009 4:03PM
Rocky Raccoon needs to be played in my household.
bongoes is no longer a Black Lantern. @ Oct 9th 2009 4:53PM
Truer words have never been spoken Prof_Chaos.
Young_Nastyman @ Oct 9th 2009 6:35PM
just do it all :P
B3astofthe3ast @ Oct 9th 2009 7:01PM
How would they chart revolution 9? I'd love to see the dreamscape for that...
OmegaVader @ Oct 9th 2009 3:57PM
Ideally, as indicative of the initial sales of All You Need Is Love, the Beatles DLC will sell damn well and in time, their entire catalog will be available. What an epic game that'll be!
charlie b. @ Oct 9th 2009 3:58PM
you all read the article! go buy Beatles Rock Band! right now!
Ghen @ Oct 10th 2009 7:35AM
already bought it. And personally, I don't think they should care about the $$'s even if they break even its still a service to the fans that must be done. This game will never happen again.
cafecito @ Oct 9th 2009 4:05PM
I thought one song a week wouldn't be too much to ask for. And I thought that was the original plan, too
spikeylee @ Oct 9th 2009 4:06PM
they're just taking a "wait and see" approach so that they can extend the life of the DLC for the game (since there's only a finite amount of songs) in order to pad the numbers for the next fiscal year.
we all know that eventually the entire Beatles catalogue will be available, it's just a matter of time!
vidGuy @ Oct 9th 2009 4:12PM
It's costs thousands to produce but will probably make them tens of thousands in revenue. Sounds like profit to me, although you can't blame them for waiting on the results of the initial batch.
Courtney @ Oct 9th 2009 4:38PM
It might depend on what the sales demographics are telling them. What percentages of people buying it are gamers who already play RB/RB2 and understand the idea of purchasing additional songs versus people being drawn into the genre for the first time, who may be more hesitant or less likely to purchase additional content.
Doug @ Oct 9th 2009 4:15PM
Why should someone go out and buy a game with 40 songs, and then buy albums for $20 each... you could own the remastered box set for $179 on Amazon and get the Beatles, the music... on a format you will own forever.
If the entire Beatles catalog came out on DLC, you'd be paying way too much.
"...but it's the Beatles!"
vidGuy @ Oct 9th 2009 4:19PM
"you could own the remastered box set"
And how would I plug my drum, guitar, and microphone controllers into this amazing box set?
Doug @ Oct 9th 2009 4:25PM
True. ;)
I'm going to get hammered for my earlier post... but to own the Beatles game and DLC and the box set, you're looking at $350-400.... which... ouch. I'm getting the box set.
BleachMan! @ Oct 9th 2009 4:28PM
You can still do that. It'll just won't do anything except leave some holes in the box.
Christ-ian @ Oct 9th 2009 4:36PM
The boxed set itself isn't that great of a deal considering there's a fairly big consensus of audiophiles that agree early Beatles tracks are better in mono. And the mono boxed set is priced higher than the stereo set, includes less albums (the ones that were specifically made in stereo) and doesn't feature the video extras. Add the fact that you can't get the individual CDs in mono through legal means, and the cost to be a Beatles completest skyrockets.
"You haven't heard Sgt. Pepper's until you've heard it in mono" - George Martin
Doug @ Oct 9th 2009 5:31PM
The Beatles stereo box set is fine for all but 5% of old-school listeners. Don't know how you can argue out of buying Beatles music with some mono-only logic. I don't want to hear mono. George Martin heard the band play live, in studio, which was a tad better than stereo, so to say mono is the way to go makes no sense. It's nostalgia.
For the rest who downvoted my question without bothering to answer, you're predictable. The Beatles video game makes no sense financially, except to worship at the altar of Harmonix and stick it to Activision, I guess. If you have to choose between Beatles music and the game, it should be a no-brainer for any true Beatles fan. You guys are Harmonix fans, not Beatles fans, apparently.
vidGuy @ Oct 9th 2009 6:04PM
Wait, because I want to buy a game that allows me to pretend my friends and I are the Beatles and play along to a good chunk of their songs, /instead/ of rebuying a catalog of albums that I already own . . . I'm not a Beatles fan?
LOGIC FAIL
Doug @ Oct 9th 2009 6:13PM
Lemme get this straight.
You're using the word Fail, in a forum post... in 2009... O-kay.
If you want to spend $100+ pretending you're the Beatles in the game, it's a free country. It's amazing how amped up "Beatles" fans are on this site, though.
There are even people here saying, "hey everybody, buy this overpriced game so we can get Harmonix to sell us even MORE overpriced DLC!"
It's just rabid fanboy-ism. Harmonix has put a spell on on this game, charging $120 for a full game's worth of songs.
vidGuy @ Oct 9th 2009 6:31PM
You're arguing the ~$200 /audio/ boxset is more valuable than the ~$60 /interactive/ game. Even if you double that up, as you suggest, to $120, there's still plenty of argument that the game is the better value.
So is it rabid fanboy-ism to spend better than $100 on a music game? Maybe, but I'd say that goes double for a boxset buyer.
As for the use of fail, I'm sorry that I didn't realize the meme was unacceptable - maybe if I only had 67 comments I would be more up-to-date on these things.
Christ-ian @ Oct 9th 2009 6:32PM
Ok, I'm not even going to try to explain how mono tracks sound better because they're closer to the source material. you're clearly a trolling douche so it's not worth the effort.
Also, for a $60 game, where do the $100 and then $120 price points come from? As everyone has previously said, compared to Metallica, Aerosmith and Van Halen, there are nearly double the number of tracks from the featured band... which is the reason you buy the damn thing.
Also, how many people do you think really need the boxed set? That's like saying "Well to drive to work you need to pay 40K for the Lexus, then $50 a day in gas! That's just crazy." Some people want the premium things, most people don't. It's as simple as that.
Doug @ Oct 9th 2009 10:21PM
"Some people want the premium things, most people don't. It's as simple as that."
You're right. But those who don't--say, someone who likes the Beatles a lot, but doesn't want to buy 3 DLC packs and a $60 game to get to the number of songs available in Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour or Guitar Hero 5--these people who don't are downvoted on this site without explanation.
"Also, for a $60 game, where do the $100 and then $120 price points come from?"
That's where I get the $120 figure. 3 DLC packs and a $60 game, to get roughly 80-90 songs you get from a rhythm game worth buying.
"you're clearly a trolling douche so it's not worth the effort."
No, I am a gamer who isn't afraid to call BS on a game that uses pretty graphics and "unlockables" i.e. photos and sound bites, to substitute for GAMEPLAY. Not to mention a number of those Beatles songs are three-chords, which are boring to play on real guitar, Twist and Shout comes to mind, let alone pushing buttons.
"Ok, I'm not even going to try to explain how mono tracks sound better because they're closer to the source material."
Ridiculous. A snob attitude from reading audiophile sites. We have two ears, and the closest to the source material--given the limitations of current audio--is stereo.
"As everyone has previously said, compared to Metallica, Aerosmith and Van Halen, there are nearly double the number of tracks from the featured band... which is the reason you buy the damn thing."
I don't compare Rock Band Beatles to those other band only games. I didn't buy those either. I compare the game to other $60 rhythm games, which I mentioned above. Those are worth buying. A 40-song catalog with a lot of early-Beatles 3-chord songs is not worth buying, IMO.
Those of you who lurk forum sites and don't agree with the party line, whatever that party line is, Beatles Rock Band is holy, etc. it doesn't hurt to get downvoted. Get your opinion out. It's not the end of the world to be disagreed with.
Jonathan Fakenham @ Oct 9th 2009 5:42PM
Yeah, I can't wait for "The Beatles Rock Band: Game of the Year Edition - The Complete Catalogue Collection" next christmas.
taurus82 (HD ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, Please) @ Oct 9th 2009 4:23PM
DIE!! GUITAR HERO!! & ROCKBAND!! DIE!!
Peter Moore @ Oct 9th 2009 4:29PM
GO AWAY!! TAURUS82!! GO AWAY!!
taurus82 (HD ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, Please) @ Oct 9th 2009 4:37PM
:D :D
dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Oct 9th 2009 5:10PM
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY!! GUITAR HERO!! OR ROCK BAND!! SAVE MONEY LIVE BETTER WALMART!!
Jared Greenwald @ Oct 9th 2009 4:28PM
Is it just me or are the already-planned DLC albums comprised of too many already-in-the-game songs? I got to the point where I figured there were a bunch of trophies I just wouldn't ever complete (gold star these 4 songs, or expert drums, etc) and now I'm looking at the current slate of DLC and thinking it's not worth it to hold on to the game. I have to say that I'm not more than a casual Beatles fan at best, but it seemed like there weren't any interesting songs that weren't already in the game that I even knew, so no reason to buy it. I'm actually trading the game in today.
Drunk Ste @ Oct 9th 2009 4:35PM
I've never been a massive Beatles fan but having a father who's been playing their songs on guitar all my life means they are burned into my brain. I've learned to appreciate their music as I've gotten older so I picked up Beatles Rock Band and I’m glad I did, also anything that takes money away from Activi$ion and the “Cash Hero” franchise is a good thing if you ask me. I won't be downloading full albums but I'll at least get at a few tracks from each of the albums announced so far.
frzamonkey @ Oct 9th 2009 5:48PM
i thought that the album dlc for this game was gonna be "buy the whole album" not individual tracks for sale.
Drunk Ste @ Oct 9th 2009 6:50PM
It's like the normal Rock Band DLC, you can buy individual tracks or but the whole album at a discounted price. Most of the DLC I want is on Rubber Soul which isn’t released until December, “Norwegian Wood”, “Nowhere Man”, “Girl” and “It's My Life” are instant buys for me.
Mattazuma @ Oct 9th 2009 4:42PM
Damn, how long am I going to have to wait for the Wings DLC?
Ranben @ Oct 9th 2009 4:46PM
Don't worry Harmonix.
I'm going to buy all of the DLC.
bongoes is no longer a Black Lantern. @ Oct 9th 2009 4:52PM
I'll buy all of it.