Jun

2

Beatlemania- 2009 Edition

Filed Under Updates 

This week is the big professionals-only gaming conference E3, or Electronic Entertainment Expo. I’m a casual gamer, but haven’t followed the coverage closely. I have heard all the hubbub about The Beatles Rock Band game, though, as well as watched this trailer. At first glance, I am the target audience for this game. I own an Xbox 360, love The Beatles, and am only somewhat ashamed to openly admit I have completed Guitar Hero II, III, Aerosmith, and World Tour on Hard or Expert difficulties.

     On first announcement, though, this game just seems boring. Why? Because I’m among the people who like rhythm games for the challenge they present. Not since Guitar Hero III has a genuine (most would say too difficult) challenge been presented to the rhythm gaming community. Rhythm games have taken a great turn, with the Rock Band franchise clearly taking the lead, toward being group oriented. This may seem obvious and a smart business choice, which it has been, but there’s a group of gamers that it’s left behind. Yeah, it’s fun to crank up the TV and blaze through “Foreplay/Longtime” by Boston with your buddies, but when everyone goes home and you need to shred, every current incarnation of a rhythm game just comes up short. There are individual songs that present challenges, but nothing that matches the intensity of the past. I’m sure I sound like a Transformers fan complaining about how they painted Optimus Prime’s bumper blue when it was originally red, but bear with me.

 

Rickenbacker-style controllers

Rickenbacker-style controllers

     I only know one person who doesn’t like The Beatles and it still baffles me. This person is one of my good friends and it’s frustrating that he just doesn’t see why people like The Beatles. I try to use reason: the killer hooks, the harmonies, the staggering contribution to music in general. It doesn’t sink in. Honestly, what is wrong with him? I just don’t get it. Who doesn’t love at least one of their songs? This isn’t Bob Dylan, where some folks can’t get past the nasally whine, or the Rolling Stones, who some folks can’t… wait, why don’t people like the Stones? I can’t figure that out, either. I think what really bothers me is that “everyone” likes The Beatles and he doesn’t. As humans, we naturally seek a certain level of conformity, and my ideals of conformity include owning The Beatles catalog on CD or record.

     This is what makes me realize why this game is important. “Everyone,” except my friend, of course, will want to play this game. The whole thing. Every song is a winner. No more fighting because you want to play “Alex Chilton” and someone else wants to play that annoying Paramore song one more time. In our increasingly fractured world, a unifying cultural force is not only rare, but it’s necessary. To draw a somewhat poor comparison, The Beatles are the Greek gods for contemporary society, embodying values that most everyone can agree on. They are our mythology. Maybe I won’t be able to rip some crazy guitar solos, but I will get to sing three-part harmony with some friends on “Here Comes the Sun”, and that’s not only fun, but it’s a culturally significant experience and the closest we’ll come to 73 million people watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964 for a long, long time. Besides, the guitar solo on “Taxman” isn’t bad.

“The End” from Abbey Road by The Beatles

Will Thompson is currently a level 27 Savior of Humanity with +7 charisma in Fallout 3. He also saw Paul McCartney live in 2003 and it was more awesome than he’d hoped.

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Comments

3 Responses to “Beatlemania- 2009 Edition”

  1. Samuel McConnell on June 2nd, 2009 11:24 am

    You might then be interested in DJ Hero/Scratch. DJ rhythm games tend to be fairly high on the difficulty spectrum.

  2. JStevenson on June 2nd, 2009 12:12 pm

    Will,
    I have two friends who don’t like The Beatles, one of whom contributes here on Stereopathic, and both of whom know that mentioning it is the surest way to frustrate the living hell out of me. Both of them also claim to like music, which I deny.

    I’m no kind of gamer (which means I own a Wii), but I considered for exactly one minute getting an Xbox just for The Beatles. It looks pretty excellent, especially since I’m more interested in the Karaoke aspect of Rockband than the rhythm challenge.

    -Josh

  3. Will on June 2nd, 2009 3:18 pm

    You let that person write for this site?

    I have the same thing with my buddy. He’s been in bands, is a good guitar player, drove hours and hours to see Radiohead with me, but he doesn’t dig the Beatles. Baffling.

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