Beatles toys are back in 2009!

It’s not a surprise as it’s been bantered about in video game and music circles for the better part of year, but the official announcement came today.

Apple Corps, Harmonix and MTV Games officially announced the global release of Rock Band: The Beatles this morning.

The press release declares:

The Beatles: Rock Band will allow fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic
or drums and experience The Beatles extraordinary catalogue of music
through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and
evolution of the band’s legendary career. In addition, The Beatles:
Rock Band will offer a limited number of new hardware offerings modeled
after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
and Ringo Starr throughout their career.

A teaser website is up at www.thebeatlesrockband.com and the game will be available for XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii with retail ranging from $59.99 for basic verison to $249.99 for a premium bundle.

While The Beatles: Rock Band is not the first video game platform to highlight a single band’s music (that milestone belongs to last year’s hohum Gutiar Hero edition of Boston’s once badboys, Aerosmith)  it is significant is it’s the first time Apple Corps – along with EMI Music, Harrisongs Ltd, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing – has agreed to present The Beatles music for a video game.

It’s further remarkable to see such notoriously particular copyright holders unleash an entire catalog on such a scale but it says a lot of where the music business is right now and how it is hoped that legacies will be intact

With aim not only to hook the gamers but also legions of Beatles diehards, careful attention paying attention to details including Rock Band-playable  replications of the Fabs’ original gear to a release date of September 9, 2009  (Get it??? Number nine… Number nine… Number nine…)

Here’s to hoping there will be a sitar so I can virtually master “Within You Without You” or a Yoko Ono expansion pack to hover over the procedings and annoy your opponents.