According to a report from Financial Times, the Beatles tunes will soon be included in the popular music games, Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
The financial newspaper informed that there are ongoing negotiations between Activision, the company which developed Guitar Hero and the Beatles representatives, Apple Corps and EMI.
Although, the companies have held talks with MTV, the owner of Rock Band franchise.
Quoting people familiar with the matter, Financial Times noted that the deal could be announced within weeks. However, Apple Corps and EMI refused to comment on the rumors.
Both games, Guitar Hero and Rock Band, are hugely popular. For
example, the latest title released by Activision, Guitar Hero III: Legends of
Rock, was the number 1 title in units and dollars for calendar year 2007.
The success of the games was predictable since its launch, as the title earned
more than $115 million in its first week on sale only in
That third edition of “Guitar Hero” contains 70 rock songs of various artists
or bands such as: Disturbed, Slipknot, The Killers, Aerosmith, A.F.I., Guns N’
Roses, Metallica, Muse, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Smashing Pumkins and more others.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock includes a multiplayer action-inspired battle
mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually
stunning rock venues.
Since its initial release in fall 2005, the Guitar Hero franchise has sold in
excess of 14 million units in
Its competitor, Rock Band, the game released by MTV and Harmonix, has reached the six million downloads mark this March. The game was released last November for Xbox 360 and PS3 and a Wii version was launched this month.
Rock Band is a party game that was released bundled with controllers shaped like guitar, drum set and microphone. The full package costs $170 and it seems the price doesn’t represent a problem among the music-themed video games fans.
Activision also announced it would release Guitar Hero World Tour, a game that will combine the guitar gameplay, with a cooperative band experience.
In addition to a newly redesigned guitar, Guitar Hero World Tour
will feature a genuine electronic drum kit and a microphone, as well as an
innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit
and share their own rock and roll anthems, along with online Band Career and
8-player “
Activision also announced its plans to release two new versions of its game, specially dedicated to two famous rock bands: Aerosmith and Metallica. I guess that a Beatles edition of Guitar Hero will be a huge success.
Apple has been trying for years to sign a deal to sell the
Beatles catalog through its iTunes music store.