BEATLES 4

Look at this, you. The Beatles are now officially a video game, or will be when it is released on September 9, 2009:



http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

I look at this with some awe and admiration and a bit of head-shaking bemusement as well. It was completely and utterly impossible to imagine that 50 years ago (!!! almost 50 years! Holy Sgt. Pepper!) this kind of technology would be real and that the Beatles would still be the icons that they are. Absurd! Amazing.

It looks like a beautifully-produced game. I won’t be able to play it, because I have zero game coordination, but I can appreciate what they have done here. Just go ahead and watch this opening sequence:



That is as good as any modern-day animation I have seen, especially the ending sequence with “I Am The Walrus.” Just lovely.

It does not surprise me that the person who generated this project was Dhani Harrison, the 30-year-old son of the late George Harrison. He is just the right age to understand how important video games are in reaching people, and how this is another fantastic way for kids to become Beatle fans and for Beatle fans to enjoy the band even more with the interactivity of the game. Another relative (pun) “youngster” joined in the project, producer Giles Martin, who is the son of George Martin, the Beatles’ producer. Giles also helped bring the Cirque du Soleil’s hit production of the Beatles’-based “LOVE” show to fruition, so he knew how to work with the music in fresh ways.

I am so pleased to see that all in the Beatles camp were able to collaborate and set aside any remaining discord to get fully behind this project. I am sure it will sell very well, but more importantly, it lets more people discover and love their music in a new way, and that is very good.

It sure is a long way from this!