Beatles music to star in video game, but not Rock Band

At a press conference on Thursday, MTV Games and Apple Corps. announced that a variety of Beatles tracks will be licensed for use in "a global music project" -- but that project isn't the popular Rock Band title.

Representatives of Apple Corps, MTV and Harmonix, the Mass.-based gaming company actually building the game, were rather coy about what the project would be. Though the two surviving Beatles and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison have all been part of the design and have been privy to game demos, no information was forthcoming on gameplay -- not even to say whether the game will have a competitive aspect.

One statement from a person not on the call may provide some insight: Olivia Harrison is quoted in the press release as saying that "People are having so much fun playing Rock Band. Combined with The Beatles tracks, it is a great way to either listen or participate.... If you like the music, it doesn't take much persuasion to get you to play."

Company officials, however, were emphatic that the game is a standalone title built, according to Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopolus "from the ground up." Visuals, he said, are important to the project, as will be interactivity.

Apple Corps., of course, is the company founded by the Beatles in 1968 to care for their business interests, though its musical pedigree in recent years may have ben overshadowed by that of the iTunes-vending company of the same name. Likewise, though younger readers may struggle to remember when the TV channel was a vital player on the music scene, MTV Networks does in fact own and operate the popular Rock Band title.

The Beatles have been famously resistant to entering the digital age. So far, their tracks have not been licensed to iTunes, Amazon.com or any other online music vendor. A statement by Apple Corps' Jeff Jones at the end of the call (after the reporters' question-and-answer session) stated that the company was still working out the deals of digital distribution.

Further details on the new video game title as well as on any Beatles participation in Rock Band are expected to be available closer to the launch date. That date is also not yet set, though the game will be on sale for next year's holiday season.