Original Beatles advising on Rock Band

By Ellie Gibson Published 25 June, 2009

McCartney's been heckling the designers.

The living Beatles, and the wives of the dead ones, are full "creative partners" in the development of the new Rock Band game, according to Harmonix.

Speaking to Crispy Gamer lead designer Chris Foster said, "The shareholders, as we call them - Paul and Ringo, Olivia and Yoko - were really creative partners throughout the project.

"They were involved in picking and approving the song list, the venues we went into. With the dreamscapes, they saw storyboards of all of the material, and gave feedback on whether or not they felt like those interpretations supported the songs in the way they wanted."

The fab two and the other two also cast their eyes over the character designs and animations. "With Rock Band, you've got these avatars that are, you know, anyone, so it's pretty easy for you to believe in them. But when you know who the Beatles are, and you know the joy in their faces when they play, you have to capture that on-screen; you have to be true to that, and they were really good about keeping the standard high."

That applied to the standard of playing, too: "I think Sir Paul McCartney heckled our project lead's bass-playing when he saw one of the game demos," said Foster.

"So yeah," yeah, yeah, yeah, "They were involved. I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but seeing all four of them at the Microsoft press event is about as validating as everything. They don't get together for almost anything... It has to be something important, something they believe in."

The Beatles: Rock Band is due for a release on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii on 9th September. You can find out all the business via the gamepage.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (22) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • 4thVariety #1 3 years ago

    They were involved. I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but seeing all four of them at the Microsoft press event

    All four of them?? Is there something fishy going on at Harmonix involving some sort of necromancy? Or do we list Yoko Ono as a Beatle now?

  • doragor #2 3 years ago

    @ 4thVariety

    'Speaking to Crispy Gamer lead designer Chris Foster said, "The shareholders, as we call them - Paul and Ringo, Olivia and Yoko - were really creative partners throughout the project.'
    The four shareholders, as they call them.

  • LazyDan #3 3 years ago

    Yeah, I do wonder why Lennon and Harrison's choice of clunge to pork seems to have any bearing whatsoever with regards to how qualified the aformentioned clunge are to represent them professionally.

    Will my wife have a say on my web development projects when I die!? That's a scary thought.

  • schnide #4 3 years ago

    The living Beatles, and the wives of the dead ones

    Do you think you could write about these people with just a little more respect? Not just for the fact that they're part of one of the indisputably greatest musical groups of all time, but just the fact that they're fellow human beings?

    "The living Beatles, and the wives of those no longer with us.."

    or

    "The living Beatles, and the wives of Lennon and Harrison.."

    Either of those would have been nicer.

  • schnide #5 3 years ago

    @LazyDan

    I think if I were to be represented beyond the grave, I'd want whoever knew me closest to take their best guess at what I'd want that to look like. So obviously if I had the chance for my missus to do that..

    ..I'd prefer my best mate to have a go, or possibly my boss, or my milkman.

    ;)

  • skillian #6 3 years ago

    "They were involved. I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but seeing all four of them at the Microsoft press event is about as validating as everything."

    Validating? What I saw of that press event actually seemed to show that they had about as much interest and involvement in the project as Tom Clancy did in HAWX.

  • Triggerhappytel #7 3 years ago

    Bloody hell schnide, calm down; it's only a throwaway news story! Besides, it's written by Ellie who doesn't do sensitivity.

    EDIT - also, I agree with Skillian. I doubt they really give a shit, so long as (potentially) their album sales increase as a result and their royalty cheques come through in a timely fashion.
    Edited by 1 at 25/06/09 @ 10:17

  • jack_klugman #8 3 years ago

    "They don't get together for almost anything... It has to be something important, something they believe in."

    Money.

  • Deckard1 #9 3 years ago

    God I hate Paul McCartney, he's such a ponce. I wish Heather Mills had beat him to death with her wooden leg.

  • zabeu #10 3 years ago

    "They don't get together for almost anything... It has to be something important, something they believe in."

    Right, something they believe in. In all likelihood, the only thing all of them believe in is a biiiig pile of cash.

    Basically, the guy says they glanced over it, and one of them even told them he played the bass with a plectron instead of finger-picking.

    Still, I'm a big Beatles fan and I guess this could be a very nice game. I'm also a big Ellie fan, but just quoting some carefully worded PR bits tells me nothing of much value.

  • schnide #11 3 years ago

    @Triggerhappytel

    I'm perfectly calm. Just because this article was written by someone with breasts, doesn't mean I lose my objectivity.

    I've been raised to believe it's nice not to talk ill of the dead, and especially the dead who had more talent in their right hand than you or I have in our entire bodies.

  • LiamK #12 3 years ago

    I'm not sure how saying "the dead ones" was speaking ill of them. A touch informal, sure, but we're not in church.

  • schnide #13 3 years ago

    “A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.”

    Do as you will, gentlemen.

  • skillian #14 3 years ago

    Oh man, I'm not really bothered about Ellie's 'disrespect' but you get a fat +1 for that quote :)

  • Metalfish #15 3 years ago

    Oh, get over yourself, it's not like she said she fucked their grandaughters is it? Which is the new line of moral outrage, of course.

  • schnide #16 3 years ago

    And her fucking their granddaughters would be bad because..?

    It read to me like it was deliberately harsh-worded to get a small laugh out of it or to setup a tone for the rest of the article.

    If I'm right about that, it's disrespectful and it's cheap journalism.

    If I'm wrong about that, I apologise.

  • Triggerhappytel #17 3 years ago

    @schnide

    "I'm perfectly calm. Just because this article was written by someone with breasts, doesn't mean I lose my objectivity."

    And I made no mention of the fact she's female, so I'm not sure why you've focused on that. I try not to speak ill of the dead either, but like Liam said, I think Ellie's comment was a little informal but hardly offensive or in need of editing.

    Anyway, I don't want to be confrontational over this and I appreciate everyone has a different opinion (particularly over a topic which can be so sensitive) so I can see how you might find this a little more jarring than I. Fair enough.

  • SEVQA #18 3 years ago

    “A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.”

    Do as you will, gentlemen.

    " The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation. "

    Start your engines, gentlemen...

  • schnide #19 3 years ago

    "The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation."

    I disagree with that. My greatest hope for salvation lies in me, not anyone else.

    But then I am the nuts.

    I wouldn't, for instance, feed my baby a huge Greggs sausage roll and watch him get fat at the age of 2 like the women I saw on the bus just now. Or allow my kids to get some shit tattoo halfway down their arm. But that's just me.

    *rant over*

  • skillian #20 3 years ago

    Yeah, I thought it was a bit of a strange quote.

    Sounds like it's asking me to give myself over to Jesus, which may work for some but probably not for the bunch of heathens that are EG's readers.

  • Garulon #21 3 years ago

    Day 1 purchase for me, but Macca as an adviser? I don't mean to be rude but that one legged ex-porno gold digger bint really brought his judgment into question.

  • zzyzx #22 3 years ago

    I've never seen a human being look more bored than Ringo did at E3. If that validates everything...