The Beatles: Rock Band = Financial Disaster Waiting to Happen.

[XXXela]

Alright, before we begin, I'd like to point out I'M A HUGE BEATLES FAN. I'm also a huge Rock Band fan. Naturally, I'm psyched about The Beatles: Rock Band.
That being said, I'm thinkin' it's gonna be a financial disaster for HMX.

Think about it: Activision has run the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground, with 8 games*, released or to be released, in 2009 alone. That's a little much. Let's face it, music game popularity is going down.

Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?

Not to mention, we're in a recession. People don't have a ton of money to throw around these days.

Maybe I'm just being negative. There are probably still a lot of Beatles fans out there willing to shell out that much money, or Rock Band fans willing to sell it out to something that could be justified as a replacement for RB3. It could also turn out to have more songs than even RB2! Hey, who knows?

Your thoughts?

*this includes the mobile games, arcade games, unconfirmed Van Halen game, and DJ Hero.
EDIT: Van Halen HAS Been announced.

EDITEDIT: "Financial Disaster" and all that is just an exaggeration for "it'll sell badly." I'm not predicting "the end of harmonix."

[pinhead5700]

I don't think HMX needs to worry, there are many beatles fanatics.

[GCY0627]

I agree about the recession, but remember that the video game industry has thrived in this recession.

[Tego1in]

Aerosmith had 31 songs in its career mode.
It was Aerosmiths biggest selling thing with their name on it.

[justin19954]

Well with DLC coming HMX will probably be smart and say something on the case like "45 songs and more by the month" or something like that. Also, there are tons of Beatles fans buying consoles just to play this game. This game will be a big success.

[XXXela]

Well with DLC coming HMX will probably be smart and say something on the case like "45 songs and more by the month" or something like that. Also, there are tons of Beatles fans buying consoles just to play this game. This game will be a big success.

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

[XXXela]

Aerosmith had 31 songs in its career mode.
It was Aerosmiths biggest selling thing with their name on it.

Haha, wow, I didn't realize it had so few songs! No wonder nobody bought it!

[micoolnamasi]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

Same

[micoolnamasi]

Aerosmith had 31 songs in its career mode.
It was Aerosmiths biggest selling thing with their name on it.

I heard a lot of people really didn't like GH: Aerosmith, I mean my friend bought and played it and he loves Aerosmith like he did projects for school about the band and he had to sell the game to Gamestop because he found to be a crappy game.

[crivit]

I'm sure at some point along the way HMX did the market research to confirm that this would be a finacially feasable game. As cool as it is to get the Beatles, no responsable company would invest this much in licensing costs and development resources on the coolness factor without some actual data to justify the investment.

[RMThompson]

I heard a lot of people really didn't like GH: Aerosmith, I mean my friend bought and played it and he loves Aerosmith like he did projects for school about the band and he had to sell the game to Gamestop because he found to be a crappy game.

Yet it outsold every single one of their albums.

[elitemastersam]

Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?
45 songs from a single artist. The Beatles. Compare that to GH Metallica or Aerosmith which contained much fewer songs than 45 from those bands. Then take into account all the effort that is going into the game compared to those half-assed GH titles. I am a big Beatles fan. And I'm buying the $60 game, but not the bundle nor the instruments. Rock Band 2 had 80-something songs, less of half of which I like, so this Beatles game will be much more worth it to me, because I'm guaranteed to like all 45 songs.

[justin19954]

There always seem to be posts where people are coming here and asking what to buy to play the game.

[General Lein979]

Aerosmith had 31 songs in its career mode.
It was Aerosmiths biggest selling thing with their name on it.With this logic Beatles will sell so good hmx will be able to buy any artist no questions. But more realistically I think it will make what ever hmx has projected for it no more no less. I think if the sales are going bad I could see it drop to the 40- 50 range before x-mas

[cherokeesam]

Haha, wow, I didn't realize it had so few songs! No wonder nobody bought it!

GHAerosmith sold over 1.75 million units. GHAerosmith, by Steven Tyler's own estimate, made more money for them than all their albums combined.

"Nobody bought it....?" Guess again.

But GHA had the advantage of being the first, and breaking new ground. When GHM shipped this year, it hasn't even moved *half* as many units. There are lots of possible reasons for this, but I'm sure that market saturation, lack of innovation (oh wait, they added a second bass pedal -- woo woo :cool: ), lack of export capability into the core game, and the general nagging notion that stuff like this is better served up as heaping portions of DLC rather than standalone discs played a large part in GHM's failure (as compared to GHA).

Here's *hoping* that TB:RB doesn't fall into that same trap. The fact that TB:RB is the first band-showcase game that will follow up with DLC will extend the game's shelf-life somewhat; but the fact remains that better music + better graphics + some bonus songs as DLC does *not* erase one's suspicions that music gamers are having a backlash against these kinds of standalone games.

If GHM sold a LOT less than GHA (it did), then I have no doubt that GH Van Halen will be even MORE of a failure (for more reasons than one; internal band politics also plays a large part there). I'd hate to see that backlash apply to The Beatles game as well.

I just hope there's more secrets HMX will reveal about the game than just what was shown at E3. Because so far, TBRB *is* just another in the GHAerosmith mold, only with prettier music 'n' graphics and some minor bells 'n' whistles.

[eke826s]

As long as Harmonix continues to make a quality game by spending the proper time to create it, AND they don't go the GH route of having a load of songs spread out across multiple game, I'll continue to buy, and I'm pretty sure many others will as well.

The biggest thing they have going for them is that like me, loads of us have hundreds of songs which we have spent hundreds of dollars on. As long as I can continue to use what I've paid for, I'll be happy.

[hawkofva]

Is it going to sell well with the people who already have 8 Guitar Hero games? Hell no! But it's going to sell incredibly well with Beatles fans, many of whom have never played a Guitar Hero or Rock Band title. I'm actually thrilled to death that most of the people I play with already in Rock Band 2 aren't going to get it, because I'll finally be able to play a Rock Band game where people don't just play the three or four hardest songs over and over again in quickplay. :rolleyes:

[KISSfan84]

45 songs from a single artist. The Beatles. Compare that to GH Metallica or Aerosmith which contained much fewer songs than 45 from those bands. Then take into account all the effort that is going into the game compared to those half-assed GH titles. I am a big Beatles fan. And I'm buying the $60 game, but not the bundle nor the instruments. Rock Band 2 had 80-something songs, less of half of which I like, so this Beatles game will be much more worth it to me, because I'm guaranteed to like all 45 songs.

^This.
Many people here (presumably those too young to really know much about The Beatles) have shot down this game and predicted doom and gloom for months now. Reasons given are that it's gonna be too easy, not enough songs, no exportability into RB2, it's "only" Beatles songs, blah, blah, blah. The fact is that this generation has no ability to grasp the concept and plain truth that The Beatles were/are really that damn big. Believe it or not, there are going to be many many sales by people who won't even play the game or open up the box for that matter; the game will be a collectible item to add to their Beatles memorabilia. A lot of people from my generation (35-45) are going to buy this game and play the hell out of it. People who have never heard of GH or RB are going to buy this game simply because it's The Beatles. And that is a very good thing, because it's going to bring more people into the Rock Band Universe wanting to buy the next Rock Band game. TB:RB is going to turn out to be a huge stepping stone for HMX. Believe it.
:cool:

[adoraz]

I'm a huge Beatles fan as well. I'm getting Beatles Rock Band day 1 and I'll purchase a ton of DLC (more than what I have for RB1/2) because the Beatles have so many songs I love.

There is no doubt that this game will be FAR better than GH: Aerosmith or Metallica critically. Aerosmith was pure garbage... I only bought it for $10 and it still sucked.

That said, I think music games are being run into the ground and by year's end consumers will mostly be sick of them (thanks to the GH brand).


Now I think it's a bad move to have the bundle at such a ridiculous price.

Why? Because I think it's absolutely vital that this game is a BIG success day one. It needs to sell as many copies as possible when it first arrives.

Beatles Rock Band isn't a game. It's a platform, just like Rock Band 1/2. The DLC will be crucial to how well the game does financially.

The DLC is being made exclusively for this ONE game, and judging by the size of the Beatles catalog, they will be making a lot of DLC for months and possibly years to come.

If the main game isn't a hit right off the bat, that's bad news for HMX.

Aside from being a big hit day one, they also need to find a way to keep fans interested in the game for a long time so they buy lots of DLC (similar to RB2). Simply releasing more Beatles music as DLC won't cut it for most people. They need to make sure theres a ton of gameplay in the main game itself to keep people coming back for months. With other band specific games, most people I know simply play them for a couple weeks and stop playing them because they don't have much replay value and can be very repetitive without many different songs.

Fortunately, it's the best band ever, The Beatles. It's the best music game developers, HMX. I think it will end up working out for them. :)

[AthenaBast]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

I bought an Xbox 360 during the Arcade sale 2 weeks ago just so I could buy/play Beatles Rock Band in September.

I'm going to be buying the software for RB1 & 2 plus track packs (AC/DC included) until that time. I'm planning on getting the Big Box plus George and John's guitars opening day.

[Samuel346]

There are tons of Beatles fanatics out there.

Fanatics of bands would rather own memorabilia than eat, and I'm not kidding on that one.


Game will do fine, although I think it will be relatively boring.

[Runesmith]

I wouldn't be surprised if many people bought the game with absolutely no intention of ever playing it or even removing the game's wrapping. Never underestimate the power of fanatical collectors, especially those of The Beatles variety.

[Samuel346]

I wouldn't be surprised if many people bought the game with absolutely no intention of ever playing it or even removing the game's wrapping. Never underestimate the power of fanatical collectors, especially those of The Beatles variety.

Instead of eating today. =p

[justin19954]

I can imagine them buying a copy for each system lol.

[astronautcowboy3]

GH:A was also released at a time when there wasn't a whole lot of DLC available yet, if I'm not mistaken. Or, at the very least, not a Goliath amount of DLC like there is today. You don't need to buy a new disc to get 31 new songs to play anymore. Heck, you can get more than half of that for a single band. But back then, in made sense. Aerosmith had only had 1 or 2 songs in Guitar Hero by that point. Superfans wanted it, genre fans needed it, et cetera.

GH:M isn't selling because Activision is the new EA and people are forgetting that EA is the old EA. They've saturated the market, blocked people from using their DLC, et cetera. A lot of people are fed up with that. Also, you don't need GH:M to rock Metallica tracks. Metallica has been in every guitar game since GH3 and covered extensively by DLC on both platforms. Why get the game?

Here's where TB:RB is different. With DLC available en masse, why does a dedicated Beatles game make sense? Because without one, you would probably never play Beatles music in a music game. The Beatles can easily just say "no" or hold out for infinite moneys because they are The Beatles. So that a dedicated outing is their first entry into video gaming leads me to believe it's the only way they'd let it happen. Additionally, I think HMX is significantly more respected, so people don't anticipate the "slippery slope" effect of XXXXX: Rock Band without exporting.

Don't expect this to ever happen again, unless it's a Led Zeppelin game.

[BStu78]

Think about it: Activision has run the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground, with 8 games*, released or to be released, in 2009 alone. That's a little much. Let's face it, music game popularity is going down.

Granted, Activision is saturating the market. Which is why it made sense to produce a more focused title rather than a big sequel. You're making a mistake if you presume the title needs to sell as many copies as Guitar Hero III. We don't know what Harmonix expects. We know that they are taking into account Activision's saturation strategy, though.


Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?

What higher price? The disc is $60. Same as RB and RB2 were at launch. And same as Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith were. Both which had roughly the same number of songs and far less from the signature artist. So evidently a lot of people are fine paying that price for that number of songs.

[princeofcups]

I don't think HMX needs to worry, there are many beatles fanatics.

... who have no interest in buying a video game. Do a Google search on Beatles fan sites and see how many are talking about TB:RB. Not many. They will sell many units. But enough to justify the cost, and delay of RB3? We'll see.

[TheStudent]

I Love The Beatles First Of All, And I Think This Game Will Do Well Because Aerosmith Was In GH And I'm Certian RB Is 10 Million Times Better So I Think It'll Do Good. I'm Going To Buy It.

[princeofcups]

I wouldn't be surprised if many people bought the game with absolutely no intention of ever playing it or even removing the game's wrapping. Never underestimate the power of fanatical collectors, especially those of The Beatles variety.

And never underestimate the stigma of plastic rock instrument games. Do you really think your average Beatles fan wants the Ringo drums with the cardboard cutout bass drum? Maybe a REAL replica guitar, but a plastic game controller? I'm really not convinced.

[RockBandRocker]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

Than clearly you don't visit Beatles fan sites.

There are a lot of Beatles fans asking questions about this game (most of which deal with which console should I get to play the game).

[astronautcowboy3]

And never underestimate the stigma of plastic rock instrument games. Do you really think your average Beatles fan wants the Ringo drums with the cardboard cutout bass drum? Maybe a REAL replica guitar, but a plastic game controller? I'm really not convinced.

Since when are dropping-hundreds-of-dollars-on-Beatles-items-not-to-be-opened fans average?

[Bellyflop]

Granted they are a huge band and they have millions of fans I understand dedication to a band. If Harmonix releases "U2: Rock Band" with a replica of Edge's Explorer and a pair of "Fly" glasses, I'd pre order it on the day its announced. But I honestly don't think Harmonix is going to see huge return on this investment. I enjoy some of the Beatles music, but there is no way I'm buying the game day one. I have enough "instruments" including the Mad Catz Bass and there are only a few Beatles songs I would want. I do know some baby boomers that have every intention of buying this game, but I personally don't think its wise to market a video game to the baby boomers.It is a huge gamble. If it pays off, I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong. But I just cannot see people 5 years older than me shelling out $250.00 for the game, let alone playing it.

[Samuel346]

I do know some baby boomers that have every intention of buying this game, but I personally don't think its wise to market a video game to the baby boomers.It is a huge gamble.

The Baby boomers are a HUGE section of the population, and they love this band.

[AthenaBast]

I do know some baby boomers that have every intention of buying this game, but I personally don't think its wise to market a video game to the baby boomers.It is a huge gamble. If it pays off, I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong. But I just cannot see people 5 years older than me shelling out $250.00 for the game, let alone playing it.

How old are you? I'm 33 and buying it.

[justin19954]

I'm just a teenager and I can not wait for this game!

[itzJV]

I'm getting the game, my friends are getting the game, my cousin is getting the game, my older bro is getting a copy for himself since he has his own Xbox 360; judging from the amount of people that are anticipated for this game, I have total faith in HMX right now.

[Captain Zepp 07]

GH Games - 59.99 per game, with 6 games due this year. thats 359.94 or 299.94 for Wii Users (no tax included)
TB: RB - 59.99 for game alone.

I think I could afford the game thank you... maybe you're just unhappy about the bundle?

GH Bundle - Guitar, Game, Drums, Mic for 189.99
TB: RB - Guitar, Game, Drums, Mic, Mic Stand for 249.99 (Mic stands cost about 30 for nice ones)

I'm paying for a warranty and equipment I wish to replace with authentic Beatles replicas. It's only an extra 30 to achieve a real Beatle vibe, may not be for everybody but if I can afford it and if I want it I'll get it

[zepplinmike]

I'm getting 3 copies. One on Xbox 360 for myself, one on Wii for my mom, and another on Wii for my sister. I'm 23, btw, and the Beatles are my favorite band. Making assumptions about the age of Beatles fans is just stupid.

[Samuel346]

Making assumptions about the age of Beatles fans is just stupid.

Who did? It's an indisputable fact that the baby boomers are the most fans though.

[zepplinmike]

Who did? It's an indisputable fact that the baby boomers are the most fans though.

Eh, that's true by default but to imply that success for this game is dependent on their interest is flawed reasoning. There are huge numbers of Beatles fans in all age groups.

[AKALink]

Not to burst a bubble in your recession thing, but during a recession people tend to find cheaper ways to entertain themselves. Video games though can be expensive upfront offer much better price of entertainment than lets say DVD movies. When in a recession people was more time for there money than flashiness. Since HMX is putting out something flashy that does have replay (ie DLC) Beatles will sell in that regard. DLC also tends to boom since it expands the length of a game without buying a new game entirely.

[Samuel346]

Not to burst a bubble in your recession thing, but during a recession people tend to find cheaper ways to entertain themselves. Video games though can be expensive upfront offer much better price of entertainment than lets say DVD movies. When in a recession people was more time for there money than flashiness. Since HMX is putting out something flashy that does have replay (ie DLC) Beatles will sell in that regard. DLC also tends to boom since it expands the length of a game without buying a new game entirely.

What's the reported price of this game going to be?

[PCTraitor]

People who are fans of the Beatles will pick up this game somehow. They might not buy a PS3 and the full band kit, but they just might get an 360 arcade and a second hand GH guitar to play it. My mother in law who is over 70 was asking me about the game and I never mentioned it to her. Once they actually start running commercials on regular TV watch it reach a fever pitch.

[PCTraitor]

Since when are dropping-hundreds-of-dollars-on-Beatles-items-not-to-be-opened fans average?

I personally know about 8 people like that with the Beatles stuff.

[elitemastersam]

Once they actually start running commercials on regular TV watch it reach a fever pitch.
When they start airing commercials, the magic is going to happen.

[AKALink]

What's the reported price of this game going to be?

$60 for PS3 and 360
$50 for Wii

Think about this I spent $50 on RB2 Wii and have been playing it since Christmas. Let say that is 150 hours. That is $.33 a hour of play. I expect to play the Beatles Rock Band for a long time. Movies on the other hand cost $15 and you watch it, lets say, 5 times. That costs you $3 to watch it once.

[Samuel346]

$60 for PS3 and 360
$50 for Wii

Think about this I spent $50 on RB2 Wii and have been playing it since Christmas. Let say that is 150 hours. That is $.33 a hour of play. I expect to play the Beatles Rock Band for a long time. Movies on the other hand cost $15 and you watch it, lets say, 5 times. That costs you $3 to watch it once.

Um, are you sure? With the instruments and all?

[AKALink]

Um, are you sure? With the instruments and all?

That is $250. If you play 150 hours of it. That costs about $1.50 an hour.

[Alright_Computer]

$60 for PS3 and 360
$50 for Wii

Think about this I spent $50 on RB2 Wii and have been playing it since Christmas. Let say that is 150 hours. That is $.33 a hour of play. I expect to play the Beatles Rock Band for a long time. Movies on the other hand cost $15 and you watch it, lets say, 5 times. That costs you $3 to watch it once.

Not true. Just look at the official press release (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126447):



• The Beatles: Rock Band Software - Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $59.99 MSRP
• The Beatles: Rock Band Standalone Guitars - Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $99.99 MSRP
• The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle: Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $249.99 MSRP

The standalone game is $60 for all instruments.

[Samuel346]

That is $250. If you play 150 hours of it. That costs about $1.50 an hour.

Here's the point:

In an economy like this, $250 is a lot of money.

Hell, $40 is.

I've gone to Cedar Point twice this year, and have gone on 7 big rides in 4.5 hours. The Maverick, the newest ride[the wait last year was 3 hours minimum] has a wait of less than an hour this year, and that's the longest wait in the park. I also want you to understand that one of the days I went was a Saturday where it was 85 degrees and sunny.

While Beatles fanatics will be spending the money to keep it in a closet to collect dust with their Paul McCartney Bobble heads, the average person might be thinking twice.

Moreover, while video game sales may be up in this economy, that's for $50, not $250.

[SatansBestBuddy]

When they start airing commercials, the magic is going to happen.

This, this, and this.

Once word gets out that there's a Beatles game, where you get to play as The Beatles, touring as The Beatles, playing The Beatles songs as The Beatles, then the hype for this game is gonna go into overdrive.

Hell, if they get enough marketing power behind this, and I mean good marketing power, the kind that skips the McDonalds toys and slushie cups and goes for the over the top 5 minute trailers in theatres and tastefully done commercails during Superbowl half-time (little late for that one, but there are other sports with finals coming up) and billboards and marketing gimmicks that can catch CNN's attention, then they'll be able to turn those old grumps who think, "Great, now The Beatles are selling out, I don't want no stupid electric toy thingy." and make them think, "Oh my God, this is gonna rock!"

...or they could release the game with, like, no advertising at all, and make sure it stays on store shelfs, and it'll still do fine.

I mean, it's The Beatles.

You know, those guys who've sold over 1 BILLION records since 1960?

They don't need to do anything to make this game sell other than make it.

[justin19954]

This, this, and this.

Once word gets out that there's a Beatles game, where you get to play as The Beatles, touring as The Beatles, playing The Beatles songs as The Beatles, then the hype for this game is gonna go into overdrive.

Hell, if they get enough marketing power behind this, and I mean good marketing power, the kind that skips the McDonalds toys and slushie cups and goes for the over the top 5 minute trailers in theatres and tastefully done commercails during Superbowl half-time (little late for that one, but there are other sports with finals coming up) and billboards and marketing gimmicks that can catch CNN's attention, then they'll be able to turn those old grumps who think, "Great, now The Beatles are selling out, I don't want no stupid electric toy thingy." and make them think, "Oh my God, this is gonna rock!"

...or they could release the game with, like, no advertising at all, and make sure it stays on store shelfs, and it'll still do fine.

I mean, it's The Beatles.

You know, those guys who've sold over 1 BILLION records since 1960?

They don't need to do anything to make this game sell other than make it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTmXHvGZiSY&feature=PlayList&p=468762EDBEF82F9F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=33

Someone had to post it.

[astronautcowboy3]

I personally know about 8 people like that with the Beatles stuff.

I think that actually proves my point. Why? I said that the average Beatles fan isn't buying and shelving this stuff.

If you know 8 people like that...well then that might just be average.

And then HMX will make millions and billions of dollars.

[red_fraggle76]

I, for one, will not be getting it. Not that I have anything against The Beatles, in fact I like them alot, but without the ability to export it just dosen't warrent a purchase in my book.

I do think it will sell very well though. Not only does it include master recordings of their songs, but the ability to virtually play as a member and live through their experiences as well as exclusive content will not only make this a huge hit, but will without a doubt raise the bar for band-exclusive track packs.

I also haven't heard of any console selling projections, but it really wouldn't surprise me that this does become a console seller. The wise child might use this as a selling point to get their Dad to buy that PS3.

The Beatles are considered to be one of the most popular bands in recorded history ever. This will without a doubt sell like mad.

[sperine]

Really, the key is going to need to be some sort of clever advertising. RB is constantly getting out-advertised by GH, and I feel like that is causing huge losses.

[Chaosraiden]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

I have :)

[Sambo110]

No reason it won't sell. It's not just RB2 with different songs like all the GH spin offs, it is a completely new game with an awesome new UI, great art style, DLC etc. It is a great RB spin off.

[varsas]

Alright, before we begin, I'd like to point out I'M A HUGE BEATLES FAN. I'm also a huge Rock Band fan. Naturally, I'm psyched about The Beatles: Rock Band.
That being said, I'm thinkin' it's gonna be a financial disaster for HMX.

Think about it: Activision has run the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground, with 8 games*, released or to be released, in 2009 alone. That's a little much. Let's face it, music game popularity is going down.

Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?

Not to mention, we're in a recession. People don't have a ton of money to throw around these days.

Maybe I'm just being negative. There are probably still a lot of Beatles fans out there willing to shell out that much money, or Rock Band fans willing to sell it out to something that could be justified as a replacement for RB3. It could also turn out to have more songs than even RB2! Hey, who knows?

Your thoughts?

*this includes the mobile games, arcade games, unconfirmed Van Halen game, and DJ Hero.
EDIT: Van Halen HAS Been announced.
I'm sure that someone has already mentioned it but clearly The Beatles game is aimed at a broader market than the existing Rock Band games. If they get this right especially on the Wii then they have a great chance at success because families and older casual gamers new to the market will pick it up.

[GloiGloi]

Really, the key is going to need to be some sort of clever advertising. RB is constantly getting out-advertised by GH, and I feel like that is causing huge losses.

TB:RB has The Beatles advertisng it. Money couldn't buy the amount of press coverage that that will bring, especially combined with the interest the Beatles remasters are going to have in the music magazines.

[frankieman]

Trust me, anything with the word Beatles on it sells like crazy, there are so many(old and young) Beatle fans out there who want to get everything of their favourite band.

And you've gotta remember, The Beatles CD remasters are coming out the same day. The hype around The Beatles will be growing big towards September.

When the Anthology CD's and Documentary came out they sold like crazy and if you looked at the media coverage you'd swear the Beatlemania was at it's height all over again. The Love album in 2006 also was a huge succes just as the show it was for.

[LoopyChew]

Then take into account all the effort that is going into the game compared to those half-assed GH titles.

I wouldn't state that GH:M is a half-assed effort; stuff like Metallifacts, the drum samples, mo-capping live performances by the band, all that are a pretty good indication that they went into it full-assedly. It's more like TB:RB is a triple-or quadruple-assed one.


I just hope there's more secrets HMX will reveal about the game than just what was shown at E3. Because so far, TBRB *is* just another in the GHAerosmith mold, only with prettier music 'n' graphics and some minor bells 'n' whistles.

I don't know if I'd agree with that statement. "Just another in the GH Aerosmith mold" is pretty subjective, since there's not much more you can do to a plastic rock game BESIDES the cosmetic stuff. Those minor changes are what make the difference.

Personally, I believe that they are worlds different based on appearances alone. GH:A and GH:M were both games cramming the artists into the Guitar Hero aesthetic. TB:RB is the opposite: they're taking the Rock Band engine and giving it a Beatles aesthetic. If nothing else, that shows the underlying difference in the philosophies taken in each game.


Why? Because I think it's absolutely vital that this game is a BIG success day one. ... It needs to sell as many copies as possible when it first arrives.If the main game isn't a hit right off the bat, that's bad news for HMX.

...

Aside from being a big hit day one, they also need to find a way to keep fans interested in the game for a long time so they buy lots of DLC (similar to RB2).

I don't think it needs to be a huge success Day One. All it needs is good word of mouth, and given the previews at E3, I'm sure it'll get it. It's like box office totals--while Week One is the moment people look out for, it's really Week Two that'll show how long a movie'll last in the theaters, because that's when people tell their friends who were kind of doubtful about a movie about how awesome or sucky it was, or when they go and make a return trip to the theater. (People do that. Somehow, I saw the Star Trek reboot three times in two different countries.)


I Love The Beatles First Of All, And I Think This Game Will Do Well Because Aerosmith Was In GH And I'm Certian RB Is 10 Million Times Better So I Think It'll Do Good. I'm Going To Buy It.

School-teacher time: Don't confuse critical success with commercial success. While I agree that the game will do well, the reasoning "it'll sell better because it IS better" is, rather unfortunately, a flawed one. It would be awesome if it were true, but considering people's definition of "better" will vary (there are people out there who PREFER GH to RB, strangely enough), it's kinda not something you can say and expect it to be true 100% of the time.

Wow, I just negative-responded to several comments at once. Wonder what side of the haystack I woke up on this morning.

I'm in for the game-only package, but only because I'm planning on picking up a Gretsch as well.

Edited to add:

TB:RB has The Beatles advertisng it. Money couldn't buy the amount of press coverage that that will bring, especially combined with the interest the Beatles remasters are going to have in the music magazines.

Far as I understand it, that's not the only thing money can't buy.

[GloiGloi]

Far as I understand it, that's not the only thing money can't buy.

"Money can't buy me love"
"Fun is the one thing that money can't buy"

make your minds up ;) :D

[siee]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

You really do underestimate the Beatles fans out there. ;)

[LoopyChew]

"Money can't buy me love"
"Fun is the one thing that money can't buy"

make your minds up ;) :D

Easy. Money couldn't buy love for Paul McCartney, specifically. I mean, look at Harpy Girl. She didn't need him, she wouldn't feed him, when he turned 64.

[vcalzone]

My mother-in-law has never played Rock Band for more than a couple of minutes, she is buying. A friend of mine that is a casual GH:WT gamer hadn't even heard that the game was coming out, she's getting it. Another friend of mine that is a heavy gamer but not on Rock Band plans to get it.

ALL OF THESE PEOPLE want it expressly for The Beatles music. When you tell them that they painstakingly designed the game to look amazing, they pay attention. When you say that full albums will be available in future, they are more intrigued. When you say that you can do three part harmony, that sells it.

It is entirely possible this won't sell well at all. But I doubt it. It is, however, likely that most people will forgo the bundles and just get the game disc. Or buy used/older versions of the instruments for less money.

Look, the PR has not even begun to hit yet. Wait until MTV has blanketed the airwaves with Beatles Rock Band ads. That will get a LOT of attention.

[Buffdog18]

With how many people are going to buy, I'm gonna go with its gonna bring in a lot of cash.

[thirdmortal]

Think about it: Activision has run the Guitar Hero franchise into the ground, with 8 games*, released or to be released, in 2009 alone. That's a little much. Let's face it, music game popularity is going down.

Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?

My first thoughts are: what possible grounds do you have to make such statements? How much market research have you done in the video game industry? According to you, what are the projected retail sales of music games in the next 6 - 12 months to confirm your "music game popularity is going down" statement? What marketing and advertising firms have you consulted and what was their feedback?

In other words, besides your own personal feelings what shred of evidence do you have to support any of your statements? It seems completely naive to come out and say such a thing unless you have some knowledge and foresight into retail sales, marketing strategies, and video game industry trends. If you do have such information please share it with the rest of us.

[Moony_Lupin]

This game will be awesome and it will sell very well. It's definitely pulling folks who never play RB, or video games in general, into the game. I welcome them to this exciting world.

[XXXela]

Wow, I come back a few hours later and six pages worth of people are slapping me in the face.

Nah, I'm kidding, I don't take this THAT badly, especially considering that's kinda why I made this thread.

Anyway, I guess I didn't take into account the mass amount of dedicated Beatles fans.

If I can figure out how, I'm gonna add a poll to see who's buying what.

[XXXela]

...take that, smelly.

[T-Hybrid]

That being said, I'm thinkin' it's gonna be a financial disaster for HMX.
Yeah because those Metallica and Aerosmith versions certainly ran Activision out of business.

*sigh*

I love how suddenly everybody's an economist.

[overdriveguitarman]

I'm not rolling in money so I'll just stick with the game

[statboyinva]

I'm buying the entire bundle (and likely selling or giving away my RB1 instruments-2 guitars and drums) along with both guitars and a third mic stand. I'm also planning on buying all of the remastered CDs the same day and attempting to put together a Beatles party that week.

[Big_Daddy]

My two cents...

The Rock Band franchise will be fine until RB1/RB2 instruments become non-compatible with a platform release or DLC is unable to be imported to the next in the series. I believe that the $200+ Beatles bundles will be slow on sales, but the game itself will probably sell quite well.

[Tego1in]

Well the could buy TB:RB for their grandchildren...maybe.

[Jixzer]

They don't need to do anything to make this game sell other than make it.

This.

[Sargehalo51]

I am getting the bundle and both guitars. They are a no question must have for me, even thought the drums will never leave the box (I have my Ions).

[Ramirez16]

another one? lol

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146360

[T-Hybrid]

No no. This one's different because it's predicting the destruction of HMX...not just the failure of the game.

[cherokeesam]

Poll has no option for "rental only"....????

Right now, I'm waiting to see what else HMX will reveal about the game that will give it staying power on my 360. As it stands right now, I see little replay value and I'm only interested in renting it for a quick playthrough, then I'm back to the core RB2 game.

[moose39]

This game is going to be awesome. I guarantee it'll make money.

[RMThompson]

Interesting. Last time I answered this pole I said I was going to get the SE Bundle... now, I've decided to save the $100 dollars and JUST the game and the Lennon guitar.

I am underwhelmed by the bundle. Unless the "additional special content" is something awesome, I am not getting it.

I picked up the Lips mics for $12 dollars, so assuming they'll work, I will already have the full complement of equipment needed... and basically will be paying the $100 dollars to get the Lennon guitar "Just Because".

[SgtBarone]

Game and an extra guitar. I'm gonna get an extra mic too so I can do harmonizing vocals!

[HeadHunter67]

Now, let's take in account the much higher price and (rumored) relatively small setlist. Who wants to pay more for a smaller setlist?
How about... huge Beatles fans? ;)
I'm planning to buy the works. I still don't have any RB2 instruments anyhow, so it will be nice to upgrade from the crappy RB1 Strat and drum kit.

Plus the new instruments look great, and while my little old Les Paul has served well, I could use something that doesn't look ridiculous and tiny when I'm playing the game.

I can imagine all this isn't for everyone - but it will attract some new players and there are sure to be others like me who want the goods.

I can't imagine that the richest man in the UK would endorse a "financial disaster waiting to happen", and I don't think HMX ever expected to outsell RB or RB2 with this anyhow.

[SonicRocker15X]

Also, a note on your recession comment: Game sales have been up since the recession.

[Ramirez16]

No no. This one's different because it's predicting the destruction of HMX...not just the failure of the game.:D

[Unpleasant Nerd]

I work at Future Shop.

A women bought the Rock Band set just to be able to play the Beatles game this september.

[n4sc4r]

I agree in thinking that the game won't sell well. I'm sorry, but I just don't think many gamers are going to buy a game around the Beatles. I have a feeling that Guitar Hero 5 will kill it in sales. I hope not, though!

[XXXela]

I agree in thinking that the game won't sell well. I'm sorry, but I just don't think many gamers are going to buy a game around the Beatles. I have a feeling that Guitar Hero 5 will kill it in sales. I hope not, though!

Noooo.
Nooooooo.
Just...just no.

GHV isn't gonna kill in sales. I went to gamestop at midnight for GHIV (you know, expecting it to be good) and there was only one other person there.

[princeofcups]

This game is going to be awesome. I guarantee it'll make money.

I hope so. But make as much as an improved RB3 would have?

[varsas]

I agree in thinking that the game won't sell well. I'm sorry, but I just don't think many gamers are going to buy a game around the Beatles. I have a feeling that Guitar Hero 5 will kill it in sales. I hope not, though!
Don't you mean core PS360 gamers? As my Wii comment noted earlier The Beatles will sell more to the broader market of gamers.

[DerTommissar]

I was going to order RB:TB with the Rickenbacker from Game Stop, but decided to just get the game because you have to pre-order the guitar online only. I prefer to support brick and mortar stores at times.

If I can get the guitar alone later I will, for Captain Eddie. I just wish it was the 425 and not the 325 because I can't stand Lennon.

[HeyRiles]

I hope you realize that no Guitar Hero game has EVER lost revenue from releasing a disc - which is exactly why they continue to release discs over DLC, because that's how they make the most money. It's not going to happen

[gamrrpol]

I'm sure at some point along the way HMX did the market research to confirm that this would be a finacially feasable game. As cool as it is to get the Beatles, no responsable company would invest this much in licensing costs and development resources on the coolness factor without some actual data to justify the investment.

That's what the Coke company said about "New Coke"...."all our research showed people wanted this". Not saying it won't be successful, just saying "research" doesn't equal success.

[gamrrpol]

Yet it outsold every single one of their albums.

Not true; GH: Aerosmith did not outsell all Aerosmith albums. It generated more revenue than any Aerosmith album. That's b/c the game sold at $60 compared to $8 an album (70's prices) or up to $15 per disc by 90's 00's. Big difference between units sold and revenue.

[HylianBowcaster]

I'll be honest, I'm a little worried about the sales, but when I think about it, it doesn't really effect the people who are going to enjoy this game really. Even if the game was a flop that doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it less or anything.

[princeofcups]

I'll be honest, I'm a little worried about the sales, but when I think about it, it doesn't really effect the people who are going to enjoy this game really. Even if the game was a flop that doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it less or anything.

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.

[Samuel346]

Also, a note on your recession comment: Game sales have been up since the recession.


Here's the point:

In an economy like this, $250 is a lot of money.

Hell, $40 is.

I've gone to Cedar Point twice this year, and have gone on 7 big rides in 4.5 hours. The Maverick, the newest ride[the wait last year was 3 hours minimum] has a wait of less than an hour this year, and that's the longest wait in the park. I also want you to understand that one of the days I went was a Saturday where it was 85 degrees and sunny.

While Beatles fanatics will be spending the money to keep it in a closet to collect dust with their Paul McCartney Bobble heads, the average person might be thinking twice.

Moreover, while video game sales may be up in this economy, that's for $50, not $250.

^

[ArchangelZero]

Considering that the video game industry hasn't been hit too hard this recession, and that this game will be able to sell, I don't think HMX has too much to worry about.

[hawkofva]

I picked up the Lips mics for $12 dollars, so assuming they'll work, I will already have the full complement of equipment needed... and basically will be paying the $100 dollars to get the Lennon guitar "Just Because".

Have no fear, a Microsoft press release last week indicated that the Lips Mics (and the identical-but-twice-the-price soon-to-be-released Xbox 360 Mics) will work with The Beatles right out of the box.

[DerTommissar]

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.

Can I borrow your time machine?

[chumsicles]

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.

Personally I think it's WAY too soon for an RB3. It hasn't even been a year since RB2's been out

[T-Hybrid]

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.
How does a game that doesn't exist get delayed?

[CONAN9845]

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.I would like to know when you've thought HMX has EVER been all about making cash. Don't get me wrong, I know there has to be good profit. But they're into making Rock Band as musicians first, and as game developers second. When someone gives you, as a musician, a chance to work with the Beatles music, you take that chance. There'll be plenty of time for Rock Band 3.

[justin19954]

I don't he meant like that guys. They're delaying putting out the game until next year because they want to focus on the Beatles. It's in a interview somewhere.

[CONAN9845]

I don't he meant like that guys. They're delaying putting out the game until next year because they want to focus on the Beatles. It's in a interview somewhere.I'm sure most responders know what he means. There's always a lot of sarcasm around here.

[RedMage23]

How does a game that doesn't exist get delayed?

They're hypothetically delaying a hypothetical game.

I'm glad we won't see Rock Band 3 for a while. I'm happy with Rock Band 2 (and Beatles:RB) and I will be for a while. RB3 just means I'll have to spend more money to update my game.

[GNFfhqwhgads]

Yep, a lot of people will play and enjoy this game. Good for them. My bone to pick is the delay of RB3 caused by HMX dedicating their entire effort the this game. And RB3 would have made them a lot more cash.
They didn't delay the true RB3. They've said themselves, they wanted to really revolutionize the genre again with the next game, and in order to appease EA, they showed them they'd still have Unplugged, LEGO, and The Beatles this year.

[PCTraitor]

I would like to know when you've thought HMX has EVER been all about making cash. Don't get me wrong, I know there has to be good profit. But they're into making Rock Band as musicians first, and as game developers second. When someone gives you, as a musician, a chance to work with the Beatles music, you take that chance. There'll be plenty of time for Rock Band 3.

You're right 20 years from now most of them aren't going to consider making Rock Band their proudest moment, but making Beatles: Rock Band will be.

I am for one glad that they are making a game between RB2 and 3 because they will at least have to learn from the experience of The Beatles and it will likely make RB3 a better game in some way.

I'm really hoping for some type of harmonies in RB3.

[DarkHeartsDie]

you suck at making poll choices, just because someone dislikes the beatles doesn't mean they also dislike everything good, maybe everything you in your own opinion considers to be good, but you're far from making a reasonable poll that appeals to everyone, fans and people who aren't fans, i'm not a fan because personally i don't like old music, i mostly listen to music from the 90's and 2000's, almost nothing from the 80's or before that, but thats just my personal opinion

1. make a poll with better options for everyone, not just beatle fans
2. no way in hell am i buying anything thats with this game
3. i do believe that this game will sell worse than activions worse selling GH game
4. theres no use in flaming me for my opinion, i have my opinion, i'm going to make it, deal with it
5. make a better poll!

[RedMage23]

4. theres no use in flaming me for my opinion, i have my opinion, i'm going to make it, deal with it

Ok, we won't flame you, we'll just ignore you.

[T-Hybrid]

4. theres no use in flaming me for my opinion, i have my opinion, i'm going to make it, deal with it
Somebody who makes a post like this deserves any kind of flame that's fired their way. Because seriously...that's just arrogant.

[DerTommissar]

you suck at making poll choices, just because someone dislikes the beatles doesn't mean they also dislike everything good, maybe everything you in your own opinion considers to be good, but you're far from making a reasonable poll that appeals to everyone, fans and people who aren't fans, i'm not a fan because personally i don't like old music, i mostly listen to music from the 90's and 2000's, almost nothing from the 80's or before that, but thats just my personal opinion


Lighten up, Francis.

[fatalvendetta]

I'm planning on splitting the bundle with my brother or a friend of mine. My friend has neither a microphone nor a drum kit (exacerbated by the fact that I don't let people play on my ION). Neither of them like RB guitars, so I'd get Sir Paul's bass, brother/friend gets drums, mic and stand, and then we'll split The Beatles game.

[chrth_rb]

I apologize if this has been covered already, but I'll add this:

right now, the group that has the most disposable income are the near-retirement baby boomers, many of whom grew up on the Beatles. If they own a Wii*, they'll buy this game. Heck, some of them might even buy a Wii to get this game. At least, that's what Harmonix is hoping.

---

As for the poll, I've said this before and it bears repeating: "How do you know you're not the target market for RB:TB? You post in this forum." This game is for casuals and fans -- especially the fans. That's why there's so many extras, etc., that are geared towards the fan. You're not buying a music rhythm game, you're buying the Beatles.

*Someone posted a presale count a little while back; the Wii was leading in presales. This is *not* coincidence.

[RMThompson]

you suck at making poll choices, just because someone dislikes the beatles doesn't mean they also dislike everything good, maybe everything you in your own opinion considers to be good, but you're far from making a reasonable poll that appeals to everyone, fans and people who aren't fans, i'm not a fan because personally i don't like old music, i mostly listen to music from the 90's and 2000's, almost nothing from the 80's or before that, but thats just my personal opinion

1. make a poll with better options for everyone, not just beatle fans
2. no way in hell am i buying anything thats with this game
3. i do believe that this game will sell worse than activions worse selling GH game
4. theres no use in flaming me for my opinion, i have my opinion, i'm going to make it, deal with it
5. make a better poll!

MJ Dead? I LOL'd when I saw the breaking news, so ironic.



Pure ignorance right there. Stating "You shouldn't flame me for my opinion" doesn't make your opinion RIGHT. We cannot debate whether you like a band or not, that's personal choice, but I cannot WAIT to save this post and show you were wrong after tha game comes out and sells better than GH:Aerosmith or Metallica and quite possibly more than RB2.

Also, what's so ironic about MJ's death? You have to be one cold person to laugh at someone dying unexpectedly, regardless of your opinion of them.

[AthenaBast]

Personally I think it's WAY too soon for an RB3. It hasn't even been a year since RB2's been out

RB2 was released something like 9-10 months after RB1 iirc.

[AndywinXp]

On day one I'll buy the Special Edition Bundle. And I will buy Abbey Road DLC.

[OakTea]

you suck at making poll choices, just because someone dislikes the beatles doesn't mean they also dislike everything good, maybe everything you in your own opinion considers to be good, but you're far from making a reasonable poll that appeals to everyone, fans and people who aren't fans, i'm not a fan because personally i don't like old music, i mostly listen to music from the 90's and 2000's, almost nothing from the 80's or before that, but thats just my personal opinion

1. make a poll with better options for everyone, not just beatle fans
2. no way in hell am i buying anything thats with this game
3. i do believe that this game will sell worse than activions worse selling GH game
4. theres no use in flaming me for my opinion, i have my opinion, i'm going to make it, deal with it
5. make a better poll!

Hai guys
OP ur opinyons sux U CANT SAY THOSE THINGS AROUND HERE
but mines gud bcuz DEAL WIT IT IT IS MINE I HAEV HUMON RITES

[Testaverde]

Game only. Liked both GH: Aerosmith and Metallica, but my expectations are much higher for this one.

[aspiring]

I will probably get flamed for this but i have ZERO interest in this. And in all honestly i expect the genral public to also not have much interest. Sure The Beales are classic and all, but can you see the majority of the music game market, Teens to 20s or so wanting to buy this? I cant. I also dont see the people who really love the Beatles, like my mum, going out and buying it. Im sure it will sell, but not as great as some may think. Metallica IMO would of been the better licence.

[iceman345]

I will probably get flamed for this but i have ZERO interest in this. And in all honestly i expect the genral public to also not have much interest. Sure The Beales are classic and all, but can you see the majority of the music game market, Teens to 20s or so wanting to buy this? I cant. I also dont see the people who really love the Beatles, like my mum, going out and buying it. Im sure it will sell, but not as great as some may think. Metallica IMO would of been the better licence.

Well I'm 20 years old and can't wait for this game and this will be the third straight Rb title that I will have bought the special edition bundle.

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

Your mom is a financial disaster waiting to happen.

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

I will probably get flamed for this but i have ZERO interest in this. And in all honestly i expect the genral public to also not have much interest. Sure The Beales are classic and all, but can you see the majority of the music game market, Teens to 20s or so wanting to buy this? I cant. I also dont see the people who really love the Beatles, like my mum, going out and buying it. Im sure it will sell, but not as great as some may think. Metallica IMO would of been the better licence.

yeah because they don't have their own game right?

[zepplinmike]

I will probably get flamed for this but i have ZERO interest in this. And in all honestly i expect the genral public to also not have much interest. Sure The Beales are classic and all, but can you see the majority of the music game market, Teens to 20s or so wanting to buy this? I cant. I also dont see the people who really love the Beatles, like my mum, going out and buying it. Im sure it will sell, but not as great as some may think. Metallica IMO would of been the better licence.

I can see a large portion of the music game market buying this, and I can also see people like MY mom going out and buying it (she already has it preordered for her Wii).

Also there are people who "really love the Beatles" who fall into younger age groups than your mom. I'm a pretty obsessive Beatles fan and I'm only 23.

[Dr._Frasier_Crane]

I don't see how people being "burned out" on music games would have any effect on this game. If a potential buyer is a Beatles fan, why wouldn't they want the game?

This game will sell well. Beatles fans are insane (at least if my friends, relatives, and myself are any indication) and do not care about cost. Sales will not buy as strong as if the game came out in better economic times, but the recession does not affect everyone. There will still be plenty of people lining up to buy the game at launch.

[Dr._Frasier_Crane]

I also dont see the people who really love the Beatles, like my mum, going out and buying it.

Why not? Older people have bought up the Wii like crazy, and they haven't been obsessed with Nintendo for the last 45 years.

[Lawdog1521]

I don't get the whole "burned out" thing anyway. The rhythm game things been going strong since 05... I think we can assume it's not a fad and is a new form of gamestyle like FPS, RPG's, or sandbox games.

[MostSpartan14]

Why are some people saying only adults will like this game. Pretty much everyone that I know at my high school LOVES the Beatles and I know a lot of them will be buying the game. These people are 15, 16, and 17 years old, not 40 or 50. It's not just older people that will like this game. People from every age group will.

[BoboBx]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.
I bought a PS3 just for BRB....

[Elegy]

So teenagers really aren't that interested in the Beatles? That's weird. I thought the Across the Universe revolution made a bunch of scene kids fall in love with the Beatles. I guess that might just be my state, lol.

I'm getting the Special Edition Bundle and Harrison's guitar.

[XinZ]

Aerosmith had 31 songs in its career mode.
It was Aerosmiths biggest selling thing with their name on it.

And 13 bonus songs, all Aerosmith or Joe Perry.

[Davisrocks]

I'm getting the bundle plus the Gretsch! I'm not sure why people think that only older people like The Beatles, I'm 17 and I ADORE them. :)

[RoCKHeR0_GaLaXYT0UR]

Game only.

seeing as i have 4 mics long story and i also want to play it on my Wii/360 online with others.

[chrth_rb]

In 2005, there were roughly $500 million dollars in Bible sales worldwide. Since the Beatles are bigger than Jesus, that translates to at least 8.33 million copies selling :D

[Ardius]

Not to mention, we're in a recession. People don't have a ton of money to throw around these days.


Actually, ironically, the video games industry does a lot better than other entertainment industries in a recession because people see games as better value for money because they feel get many more hours of enjoyment out of them than films or music.
Anyway, I'm planning on getting the Gretsch and the game, though I might only get the game depending on how I feel about my money at the time (plus the possible close release of Gran Turismo 5).

[chumsicles]

So teenagers really aren't that interested in the Beatles? That's weird. I thought the Across the Universe revolution made a bunch of scene kids fall in love with the Beatles. I guess that might just be my state, lol.


Yeah don't believe anyone who says teenagers aren't interested in the Beatles. Ever since that movie, everyone (at least where I live) all of a sudden knew who the Beatles were and started claiming to be "omg liek the biggest beatles fan evar"

[Elegy]

Yeah don't believe anyone who says teenagers aren't interested in the Beatles. Ever since that movie, everyone (at least where I live) all of a sudden knew who the Beatles were and started claiming to be "omg liek the biggest beatles fan evar"

uh huh. I think it kind of sucks that a lot of those fans won't go into their deeper stuff, but ATU DEFINITELY crafted a lot of Beatles fans who will be interested in the game.

[AthenaBast]

So teenagers really aren't that interested in the Beatles? That's weird. I thought the Across the Universe revolution made a bunch of scene kids fall in love with the Beatles. I guess that might just be my state, lol.

I'm getting the Special Edition Bundle and Harrison's guitar.

Hopefully, at the least that's what I'm getting. I'm hoping one of the big box electronic stores will have an opening day special for all of the instruments.

I really wish there were different SE bundles so you could choose what guitar you got with the drums but seeing as how Ringo and Paul are the ones still alive the bundle has a kind of logic to it.

[cherokeesam]

Actually, ironically, the video games industry does a lot better than other entertainment industries in a recession because people see games as better value for money because they feel get many more hours of enjoyment out of them than films or music.
Anyway, I'm planning on getting the Gretsch and the game, though I might only get the game depending on how I feel about my money at the time (plus the possible close release of Gran Turismo 5).

There's a huge difference between gamers spending 40-60 bucks for your average Halo/Fallout/CoD/MGS/Madden/NFS/whatever game versus dumping a few HUNDRED dollars on a bunch of plastic peripherals.

TB:RB will sell well in the "I'm getting the disc only" arena, and it will be a *very* popular rental on Gamefly and Blockbuster. The bundles aren't going to sell for sh*t, except to you diehards on the Forum and a few "I'll collect anything that has 'Beatles' stamped on it --- even a stapler and a box of rubber bands" Beatlemaniacs.

You don't have to go out on a limb to realize that the VAST majority of TBRB players are going to bring their own gear from previous RB/GH iterations to the game.

[rocknrolxdx]

Haha, wow, I didn't realize it had so few songs! No wonder nobody bought it!

I don't think you understand what the poster before said, he said that GH:A was the BIGGEST selling Aerosmith product. I think that means people bought it.

[Zaita10]

Financial disaster? I convinced my mom to pay for some of this game so she can play it with me!

[aspiring]

Ok you guys might think i am wrong, but you are all Beatles fans. Looking from a non fan point of view i dont think its going to go as well as you guys think. I hope it does and i eat my words but so far the reaction from everybody that i know that all play Rock Band, is meh'. None are interested, all in the age of 18-26. Workers friends family. As Beatles fans you guys will disagree but i am telling you, it will not sell as much as GH: Metallica. Want a bet? Which Julio, rather than trying to be funny you should read posts and get an understanding of what i meant.

Honestly though i REALLY hope i am wrong. This game deserves to sell by the bootload. But you guys ae avid Rock Band fans, and like the Beatles. The official forums are not the place to see how well a game will sell. Heck neither in the internet. Just look at Killzone 2. Hype EVERYWHERE, yet slow sales.

[rocknrolxdx]

Ok you guys might think i am wrong, but you are all Beatles fans. Looking from a non fan point of view i dont think its going to go as well as you guys think. I hope it does and i eat my words but so far the reaction from everybody that i know that all play Rock Band, is meh'. None are interested, all in the age of 18-26. Workers friends family. As Beatles fans you guys will disagree but i am telling you, it will not sell as much as GH: Metallica. Want a bet? Which Julio, rather than trying to be funny you should read posts and get an understanding of what i meant.

Honestly though i REALLY hope i am wrong. This game deserves to sell by the bootload.

I get what you're saying and all but I think that RB:B will sell better that GH:M. Metallica sold a very good amount, I'm not going to say it didn't I mean it had the GH name which sells a lot on its own AND it had Metallica on it too. PLUS metal seems to be the genre of the generation so GH:M had/has a lot going for it in all ways. Although GH:M sold because of all of this I will go out on a limb and say that RB:B will sell more for a few reasons similar to why metallica sold a lot.

1) The Beatles name: The Beatles are a very well known band. (I think it's fair to sell more well known than Metallica) and they haven't put anything out since Love. (but of course they can't because they are no longer an active band)

2) It's more family oriented than GH:M. Now I'm not saying that Metallica is evil or that they worship satan, no this one falls on the lines of song diffculty and appeal. It is a lot easier for a family to crowd their living room to play songs they all have heard ( or find catchy) and songs that they can all pass on difficulties other than easy than for any other song. (trust me my family has tried, its not too fun trying to play RB2 with 6 family members and play a decent song and yes I realize there's no fail mode but you can't do that on tour. This particular point can be further supported by looking a wii sales. I mean how many people have gone out and bought a wii because of its orientation to the average family.

3)HMX as the developers. Now the RB name isn't as big as the GH name but many serious gamers prefer the RB style graphics and gameplay over the GH. Plus you know you're in good hands when HMX is backing you. You'll get your DLC and support through rain sleet or snow (figuratively and literally)

4) It's something new. Some people will go out and get this game just because it's new and they have to have every single music title out. But this won't be a huge factor.

5) Adds new gameplay. Now GH:M added expert plus for drummers only but nothing really that a whole band can enjoy. RB:B will have multiple vocal tracks that you can enjoy ON ANY DIFFICULTY. This IMO proves to be a bigger and better change than by just adding a higher difficulty, only great players, sorry DRUMMERS, can use expert plus. With the extra vocals you can have your normal vocalist and your bassist and guitarist sing, plus you can always change it so your drummer can sing and enjoy it too not just one player.

Now I'm not meaning to be attacky I just wanted to lay these reasons on the other side of the table. And I understand where you are coming from as a poster.
P.S. I hope you are wrong too and that it sells a lot =p

[tkavil3]

GH Games - 59.99 per game, with 6 games due this year. thats 359.94 or 299.94 for Wii Users (no tax included)
TB: RB - 59.99 for game alone.

I think I could afford the game thank you... maybe you're just unhappy about the bundle?

GH Bundle - Guitar, Game, Drums, Mic for 189.99
TB: RB - Guitar, Game, Drums, Mic, Mic Stand for 249.99 (Mic stands cost about 30 for nice ones)

I'm paying for a warranty and equipment I wish to replace with authentic Beatles replicas. It's only an extra 30 to achieve a real Beatle vibe, may not be for everybody but if I can afford it and if I want it I'll get it

are you suggesting that the Mic Stand is 60 dollars?

[aspiring]

I get what you're saying and all but I think that RB:B will sell better that GH:M. Metallica sold a very good amount, I'm not going to say it didn't I mean it had the GH name which sells a lot on its own AND it had Metallica on it too. PLUS metal seems to be the genre of the generation so GH:M had/has a lot going for it in all ways. Although GH:M sold because of all of this I will go out on a limb and say that RB:B will sell more for a few reasons similar to why metallica sold a lot.

1) The Beatles name: The Beatles are a very well known band. (I think it's fair to sell more well known than Metallica) and they haven't put anything out since Love. (but of course they can't because they are no longer an active band)

2) It's more family oriented than GH:M. Now I'm not saying that Metallica is evil or that they worship satan, no this one falls on the lines of song diffculty and appeal. It is a lot easier for a family to crowd their living room to play songs they all have heard ( or find catchy) and songs that they can all pass on difficulties other than easy than for any other song. (trust me my family has tried, its not too fun trying to play RB2 with 6 family members and play a decent song and yes I realize there's no fail mode but you can't do that on tour. This particular point can be further supported by looking a wii sales. I mean how many people have gone out and bought a wii because of its orientation to the average family.

3)HMX as the developers. Now the RB name isn't as big as the GH name but many serious gamers prefer the RB style graphics and gameplay over the GH. Plus you know you're in good hands when HMX is backing you. You'll get your DLC and support through rain sleet or snow (figuratively and literally)

4) It's something new. Some people will go out and get this game just because it's new and they have to have every single music title out. But this won't be a huge factor.

5) Adds new gameplay. Now GH:M added expert plus for drummers only but nothing really that a whole band can enjoy. RB:B will have multiple vocal tracks that you can enjoy ON ANY DIFFICULTY. This IMO proves to be a bigger and better change than by just adding a higher difficulty, only great players, sorry DRUMMERS, can use expert plus. With the extra vocals you can have your normal vocalist and your bassist and guitarist sing, plus you can always change it so your drummer can sing and enjoy it too not just one player.

Now I'm not meaning to be attacky I just wanted to lay these reasons on the other side of the table. And I understand where you are coming from as a poster.
P.S. I hope you are wrong too and that it sells a lot =p

No, your not being attacky at all. Thats probably the most honest and thoughtful post on the subject. I just wonder how many average joes will care about some of these features because as you said metal is the genre of this generation and i know and im sure all do that first and foremost is a great setlist. Now people love variety as well as the bands they love. Now i would love one or two Beatles tracks, but a whole disc with nothing but?

On your points. I think that only 1 and 2 will add up to much. If thids game sells great it will do so on the Wii. And only because of the kids/parents who game on them. But how many parents actually play games? Wii Fit not included.

Will many people actually know/care about who HMX is? Sure gamers might, but parents/young kids? Tthey know what guitar hero is, but i bet you they have no idea about Activision. If its new doesnt mean it will sell and how many people will care/use two singers? Sure its requested on here a lot, but the official forum is not the place to see how a feature will be liked. We are the hardcore. My mates and family have no idea.

You raise some points but to me only the fact that it has the Beatles name holds up. I guess only time will tell and i hope i eat humble pie.

[TehLawGiver]

Not getting it. Not because I don't like the Beatles though... because stand alone music games at this point are just dumb... don't become Activision HMX, or should I say MTV?

[AthenaBast]

are you suggesting that the Mic Stand is 60 dollars?

I would think the pricing takes into consideration that:

1) The name.

I work in a bookstore and noticing the amount of crap that we've gotten in that has had Twilight or Edward or Bella stamped on it that people will snap up just because of that. $10 for a wristband. $15 for a gaudy
keychain. $60 for a crap hoodie.

The Beatles are worth more than Twilight any day of the week but it shows the power of a silkscreener.

2) The instruments were replicated with tonnes of love and affection. They look more like real instruments than plastic toy knockoffs.

3) Paul has that divorce to supplement.;)

[DerTommissar]

But how many parents actually play games? Wii Fit not included.

Sure gamers might, but parents/young kids? Tthey know what guitar hero is, but i bet you they have no idea about Activision.


Hey, I'm inferring that you're young and that's cool, but you're going on a horrible stereotype here. What sort of magic fairy dust do you think gets sprinkled on people when they have kids that makes them stop playing video games? You do realize that parents come in all age ranges and types. Some guy that's 25 and has a kid, he's a parent. Why would he suddenly not know stuff or care about video games?

And I'll take your bet. You ask any parent under 40 who Activision is and they will tell you. Activision made Pitfall!

[Dr._Frasier_Crane]

Ok you guys might think i am wrong, but you are all Beatles fans. Looking from a non fan point of view i dont think its going to go as well as you guys think. I hope it does and i eat my words but so far the reaction from everybody that i know that all play Rock Band, is meh'. None are interested, all in the age of 18-26. Workers friends family. As Beatles fans you guys will disagree but i am telling you, it will not sell as much as GH: Metallica. Want a bet? Which Julio, rather than trying to be funny you should read posts and get an understanding of what i meant.

Honestly though i REALLY hope i am wrong. This game deserves to sell by the bootload. But you guys ae avid Rock Band fans, and like the Beatles. The official forums are not the place to see how well a game will sell. Heck neither in the internet. Just look at Killzone 2. Hype EVERYWHERE, yet slow sales.

As long as the game is advertised well, there is no reason that this will not sell to Beatles fans. For example, the game will be shown in August at BeatleFest in Chicago http://www.thefestforbeatlesfans.com/fest/Current/Chicago/ch.php

I would think that showing the game to people that paid to go to a Beatles festival will lead to a decent number of sales right there. That's not to mention all the other non-gaming outlets where the game will be advertised. For example, Entertainment Tonight did a story on the game the same week as E3. And how did I find out about that? My mom (who has never purchased a video game or system in her life) saw the show and told me about it, and then told me she was going to buy the game before I even had a chance to tell her I had already planned on buying it myself.

[cherokeesam]

Hey, I'm inferring that you're young and that's cool, but you're going on a horrible stereotype here. What sort of magic fairy dust do you think gets sprinkled on people when they have kids that makes them stop playing video games? You do realize that parents come in all age ranges and types. Some guy that's 25 and has a kid, he's a parent. Why would he suddenly not know stuff or care about video games?

And I'll take your bet. You ask any parent under 40 who Activision is and they will tell you. Activision made Pitfall!

ABC News and CNN have reported many times that the average age of a video gamer is 35. I don't know why these kids still subsist on the stereotype that only kids play video games.

[justin19954]

As long as the game is advertised well, there is no reason that this will not sell to Beatles fans. For example, the game will be shown in August at BeatleFest in Chicago http://www.thefestforbeatlesfans.com/fest/Current/Chicago/ch.php

I would think that showing the game to people that paid to go to a Beatles festival will lead to a decent number of sales right there. That's not to mention all the other non-gaming outlets where the game will be advertised. For example, Entertainment Tonight did a story on the game the same week as E3. And how did I find out about that? My mom (who has never purchased a video game or system in her life) saw the show and told me about it, and then told me she was going to buy the game before I even had a chance to tell her I had already planned on buying it myself.

Now I wish I can live Chicago right now.

[osteofight]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.

My brother is a huge Beatles fan, and not a gamer in any way. If the Beatles game is good, I will buy him a console and the full set so he can partake.

[Niteperson]

As long as Harmonix continues to make a quality game by spending the proper time to create it, AND they don't go the GH route of having a load of songs spread out across multiple game, I'll continue to buy, and I'm pretty sure many others will as well.

The biggest thing they have going for them is that like me, loads of us have hundreds of songs which we have spent hundreds of dollars on. As long as I can continue to use what I've paid for, I'll be happy.

I like The Beatles, but I'm not a huge fan. Still, I plan on buying this game (already have it preordered) to support HMX and the great things they do.

[GloiGloi]

As long as the game is advertised well, there is no reason that this will not sell to Beatles fans. For example, the game will be shown in August at BeatleFest in Chicago http://www.thefestforbeatlesfans.com/fest/Current/Chicago/ch.php

I.

I heard it's going to be demoed (along with the remasters) at the Liverpool Beatles convention in August too. I really hope so 'cos I'm going.

[CHK10063764]

I agree about the recession, but remember that the video game industry has thrived in this recession.

It's a relatively cheap form of entertainment, so it makes sense that the game industry is doing well.

[aspiring]

Hey, I'm inferring that you're young and that's cool, but you're going on a horrible stereotype here. What sort of magic fairy dust do you think gets sprinkled on people when they have kids that makes them stop playing video games? You do realize that parents come in all age ranges and types. Some guy that's 25 and has a kid, he's a parent. Why would he suddenly not know stuff or care about video games?

And I'll take your bet. You ask any parent under 40 who Activision is and they will tell you. Activision made Pitfall!

Umm i'm 23, own a home and im a parent. Thats not what i am saying. I am referring to the Wii mums. I thought i made it quite clear in my post. And than most gamers that are my age, who i am sure is a massive range for this type of game, would not buy a Beatles game. We will see.

[Keld0r]

when is the last time that something with the name "beatles" on it, lost money?

i think the game will do just fine.

[DarkHeartsDie]

Not getting it. Not because I don't like the Beatles though... because stand alone music games at this point are just dumb... don't become Activision HMX, or should I say MTV?

i think HMX is pretty much saying "we're going to be just like activision" when they first announced the beatles getting their own game, if the beatles said "we dont' want to be DLC, we want our own game" and i was apart of HMX, i would have told them "oh so you want to be that way huh? heres the phone number to the CEO over at activision, they handle guitar hero, they'll make you a financial failure, good luck making any money, if you want to even see a dime, you'd decide to license your music as DLC instead of being greedy"

besides MTV owns Harmonix so a little late for that don't you think?

[Ardius]

There's a huge difference between gamers spending 40-60 bucks for your average Halo/Fallout/CoD/MGS/Madden/NFS/whatever game versus dumping a few HUNDRED dollars on a bunch of plastic peripherals.

TB:RB will sell well in the "I'm getting the disc only" arena, and it will be a *very* popular rental on Gamefly and Blockbuster. The bundles aren't going to sell for sh*t, except to you diehards on the Forum and a few "I'll collect anything that has 'Beatles' stamped on it --- even a stapler and a box of rubber bands" Beatlemaniacs.

You don't have to go out on a limb to realize that the VAST majority of TBRB players are going to bring their own gear from previous RB/GH iterations to the game.

Well, yeah, but that would apply whether there was a recession going on or not. Which is what I was talking about, or did you just randomly quote me?

[davidshek]

i would have told them "oh so you want to be that way huh? heres the phone number to the CEO over at activision, they handle guitar hero, they'll make you a financial failure, good luck making any money, if you want to even see a dime, you'd decide to license your music as DLC instead of being greedy"

A financial failure? Did you perhaps miss the post on the very first page of this thread where cherokeesam quoted Steven Tyler saying that GH:A made them more money than all of their album sales COMBINED?

Yeah, that's a financial failure alright. :rolleyes: You should check your facts before posting nonsense like that.

[Lady Siara]

A financial failure? Did you perhaps miss the post on the very first page of this thread where cherokeesam quoted Steven Tyler saying that GH:A made them more money than all of their album sales COMBINED?

Yeah, that's a financial failure alright. :rolleyes: You should check your facts before posting nonsense like that.

Well, to be fair, that was the first band exclusive game with very few other titles out at that time. RB: Beatles will be the third one, with GH:VH on the way, in an already saturated market. It'll be interesting to watch, for sure.

[T-Hybrid]

How can the market for Band-Centric games become oversaturated? While each one is targeted at music game players...each one also has the target audience that is fans of the band.

The release of Guitar Hero Metallica won't impact The Beatles Rock Band when it comes to that second audience. Because they'll buy The Beatles AND Metallica if they're buying games with bands their fans of.

[Perfxion]

This game will not be a failure. EVERYONE who likes th Beatles will at least want to try to play this. It might not be a HALO 3 level of sales but far far from a failure.

[cherokeesam]

How can the market for Band-Centric games become oversaturated? While each one is targeted at music game players...each one also has the target audience that is fans of the band.

The release of Guitar Hero Metallica won't impact The Beatles Rock Band when it comes to that second audience. Because they'll buy The Beatles AND Metallica if they're buying games with bands their fans of.

The idea of game spinoffs that showcase big-name bands isn't a bad idea in and of itself. *Of course* it makes sense from a fan-service standpoint.

The problem with oversaturation comes if all these games are standalone --- which *100%* of them are so far (so there's no reason to assume that future endeavors won't follow the same no-export format). So with each new band that gets shoved off onto its own little gaming island, that's one less band that you'll EVER see on your RB or GH setlist.

The whole draw of RB/GH is that it's like a giant iTunes where you can pick and choose (at least in RB) the songs you want and play them when and where and how you want. When you start isolating/segregating bands into their own little virtual prisons, then you take away the whole mix that music platforming is supposed to create.

ITunes has taken away the whole concept of making albums in the music industry (yeah, I know they still make albums, but they also still make vinyl too --- dinosaurs = dinosaurs). People have become accustomed to picking and choosing the songs they want for their setlists, and Rock Band reflects that. Isolating bands like The Beatles goes against that grain.

[KozmicRiff]

Well, I think this game will be a success for HMX because I think that HMX learned a lot from RB2. HMX /EA put a whole bunch of resources into the bundles/special editions just to find that most people who already had RB1 just bought the game and then slowly upgraded instruments as the old ones wore out. (I am still using the RB1 drum, 1 RB1 guitar and a RB2 guitar). I think that the RB2 game itself probably met or exceeded expectations while the more expensive bundle struggled and was bought mostly by people new to the game. And I imagine a lot of the newer players bought old discounted RB1 bundles and the RB2 game to save money.

I think this time HMX is really making the Bundle more of a collectors item for hard core Beatles fans and is not making as many of them. I imagine that they are expecting the game to sell very well and are pricing the limited edition bundle for people who want a white pearl drum set with The Beatles branded on it and a Paul McCartney replica bass. I think that HMX would be foolish to think that the bundle will sell nearly as much as rb1 did and they are marketing and pricing it this way. They are assuming that most current RB players are just going to buy a game and maybe a guitar.

That said, I am a huge Beatles fan and am buying the bundle. My drum set is getting old anyways, and I have been practicing my Ringo Starr chops.

I think that HMX is a very intelligent company and the only way they are going to get burned is because sells of the bundles exceed expectations and they run out (which will only enhance their value) and not because HMX invested too much in them and they do not sell as expected.

[General Lein979]

Game and maybe a guitar.

[ScottWAR]

Rental. Not going to buy anything that isnt part of RB.

[Socko8q3f]

I'm gonna buy the everything, then buy an extra copy of the game the sell the bundle on the eBay or something :0

[Skullfire]

Although I'm not a huge fan of The Beatles, I do like their songs and will be buying the bundle (as I'd like a set of wireless drums; plus the Höfner bass looks great) as well as the Gretsch guitar (I also need a wireless RB guitar).

In hindsight, I'm glad the RB2 instruments were never released in the UK, as it means I can get the much cooler looking Beatles instruments.

[ScottWAR]

It would sell so much more if it were exportable to RB2. It would also sell much better if it were made the new RB platform,...and RB1 and 2 +DLC were exportable to it.

[Wave57]

I think that the bundle will sell MUCH better in the U.K. Anyways I'm a huge Beatles fan, I'm only $110 away from the bundle. Me and my bro might buy it together.

[Skode]

I think that the bundle will sell MUCH better in the U.K. Anyways I'm a huge Beatles fan, I'm only $110 away from the bundle. Me and my bro might buy it together.

Well you would think so having been completely overlooked with the bundles for Rock Band 2 = thus anyone wanting to update there instruments or replace broken ones have to either buy long outdated ones at same price as ever (heh...plastic bass pedals for the fail) or wait all the way to September to actually get new ones which really are cosmetic versions of ones available elsewhere for a good while now.

Im getting the game and the Harrison Gretsch personally...its all i can afford at the moment but will see what the future holds in regards to the other instruments (save for microphone, those things are flawless)

[ElysiumOrion]

Harmonix went with one of the three best options for a standalone game. The ONLY other bands who could make such a big splash in the pond would be U2 (who have dominated the charts for over twenty years) and the almighty Led Zep (who are the best choice for a standalone but will never get one). The Beatles, U2, and Led Zep are all still making great album/song sales and plays even today, so there's no competition for the best standalone games.

Harmonix put one of these three into a game at long last. Releasing this standalone game is like throwing a boulder into a pond; what more needs to be said?

[zepplinmike]

Harmonix went with one of the three best options for a standalone game. The ONLY other bands who could make such a big splash in the pond would be U2 (who have dominated the charts for over twenty years) and the almighty Led Zep (who are the best choice for a standalone but will never get one). The Beatles, U2, and Led Zep are all still making great album/song sales and plays even today, so there's no competition for the best standalone games.

Harmonix put one of these three into a game at long last. Releasing this standalone game is like throwing a boulder into a pond; what more needs to be said?

You forgot Pink Floyd.

[Skode]

Harmonix went with one of the three best options for a standalone game. The ONLY other bands who could make such a big splash in the pond would be U2 (who have dominated the charts for over twenty years) and the almighty Led Zep (who are the best choice for a standalone but will never get one). The Beatles, U2, and Led Zep are all still making great album/song sales and plays even today, so there's no competition for the best standalone games.

Harmonix put one of these three into a game at long last. Releasing this standalone game is like throwing a boulder into a pond; what more needs to be said?

Strange as i had Metallica down as one of if not the biggest selling Metal band over the last twenty years and still churning our great album/song sales and getting plays even today. The game did not sell fantastically well for all it was an awesome game - Standalone games are always a risk, even with The Beatles...we still do not know how well its going to see for all im sure it will do enough to cover the substancial costs involved in its licensing and production.

Band specific games are always a risk and never compete with the mainstream games for these series - winning the band standalone game rivalry is scant worth if it in fact does not attract anywhere near as many sales as GH5 does (and in perhaps what RB3 would have had they not invested all there time and focus on TBRB instead of it)

[Ryuzaki]

If we were talking about any band besides The Beatles, then I would be inclined to agree with the OP.

[Niteperson]

Band specific games are always a risk and never compete with the mainstream games for these series - winning the band standalone game rivalry is scant worth if it in fact does not attract anywhere near as many sales as GH5 does (and in perhaps what RB3 would have had they not invested all there time and focus on TBRB instead of it)

TB:RB is currently blowing GH5 out of the water (game only) on Amazon.com preorder sales rankings. It may not stay that way, but right now it's not even close.

[fatalvendetta]

Ok you guys might think i am wrong, but you are all Beatles fans.

I didn't start listening to The Beatles until well after the announcement for the game and I'm getting it. Maybe you should stop assuming that only the die hard fans are getting this game.

[mva5580]

Ok you guys might think i am wrong, but you are all Beatles fans. Looking from a non fan point of view.....

And you're not a fan, so that means your opinion is as jaded as ours. So why even mention that?

I don't know how many more people have to post stuff like this on here, see the poll results, and realize that this game WILL sell well.

It's.

The.

Beatles.

Now you people who don't like The Beatles for whatever reason can not understand/be skeptical all you want, but this is THE MOST POPULAR BAND OF ALL TIME. Not debatable, not an argument, not even worth being 5 seconds worth of a discussion. They just are. Period.

They were the #5 selling artist in the 90's and are going to finish the 2000's as #1. With a whole ZERO "new" amount of material in the last 40 years. You don't sell like that only being popular with "old geezers," ok? If your particular "group" of people aged 18-26 aren't going to buy it, do you know what that means? Nothing. And for that matter how do you KNOW none of those people will buy it? How do you not know that when Sept 9th rolls around, after all of the songs have been revealed, all of the game modes, etc, they won't be in Best Buy/wherever, see the game being played live and think "you know, that looks like fun. I'll try it." Because I can damn well GUARANTEE YOU that some of the people on this site who are acting all big and bad saying they won't buy it, will. And please don't be generalization guy and responded "Well I'm not, I promise you that." Good for you. But for every one of you, there's at least one of the opposite who will impulse buy it on 9/9/09.

I'm not of the opinion this will be the best selling game of the year or anything like that, because I would be very surprised if it was. But I really think come the end of September, holiday season, whatever, a lot of you are going to be eating your words because you're going to see what The Beatles name does for the sale of a product. If this doesn't sell more than GH: Metallica, Smash Hits, Van Halen, and either come very close to or eclipse Aerosmith, I will be shocked. And yes, I think the sales figures will be very close between this and GH: 5. Because where as many RB will stay away from GH, you can rest assured GH Beatles fans are going to buy TB: RB.

The game will sell. How anyone can think otherwise is beyond me.

[T-Hybrid]

It would sell so much more if it were exportable to RB2. It would also sell much better if it were made the new RB platform,...and RB1 and 2 +DLC were exportable to it.
How so? Most people would probably try and rent a copy and then rip the code before taking it back...

[SithLordDrummer]

Personally I respect the Beatles of course, I enjoy some of their songs, but I think one of the big reasons for me to play a rhythm game is a challenge. I don't know if there will be any very challenging songs, I'll wait and see before I judge, but I don't think there will be. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the game will sell but it is really too early to say how well it will sell.

[maniac3000]

Really, the key is going to need to be some sort of clever advertising. RB is constantly getting out-advertised by GH, and I feel like that is causing huge losses.
Really? I don't recall seeing any ads for Guitar Hero games at the moment, while I do remember the people playing Rock Band in the back of some guy's head. Guitar Hero certainly had the brand recognition, but I still remember the press conference or whatever for GH4. They announced the addition of drums and mic and one of the announcers proclaims "I've heard of that, it's called Rock Band".

[Tralfmadorian]

Only buying the game and really only doing it because my wife wants it.

I like The Beatles and all, but the game itself doesn't impress me and I'm not too thrilled about the lack of DLC compatibility and disk swapping.

[PCTraitor]

Personally I respect the Beatles of course, I enjoy some of their songs, but I think one of the big reasons for me to play a rhythm game is a challenge. I don't know if there will be any very challenging songs, I'll wait and see before I judge, but I don't think there will be. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the game will sell but it is really too early to say how well it will sell.

Doing the vocal harmonies correctly will be insanely hard on some of the songs. I'm sure you're only into challenges involving the plastic guitar/drums, but you can't say it's challenging. I think we can also consider this an open challenge by Harmonix for us to all start singing and playing. If you don't do that and say it's too easy then many of us are not going to take your gripes seriously.

[varsas]

Personally I respect the Beatles of course, I enjoy some of their songs, but I think one of the big reasons for me to play a rhythm game is a challenge. I don't know if there will be any very challenging songs, I'll wait and see before I judge, but I don't think there will be. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the game will sell but it is really too early to say how well it will sell.
It may not be as challenging but it will definitely be fun especially in a group; isn't another big reason to play the fun factor?



Only buying the game and really only doing it because my wife wants it.

I like The Beatles and all, but the game itself doesn't impress me and I'm not too thrilled about the lack of DLC compatibility and disk swapping.
I'm not sure how any music rhythm game is ever "impressive"? They've all been very similar since the days of Guitar Freaks.

[Helloblue]

Except Guitar Freaks/Drummania were extremely hard to play and its lack of good music. It had horrible covers. Konami should have learned their lesson when they spewed forth Rock Rebellion, but they didn't. I own the original Drummania "drum" kit if you want to call it that.

Conclusion: Rock Band definitely impresses the hell out of me.

[BigJAG2004]

You don't seem to know how big the Beatles are.

/topic

[Skode]

TB:RB is currently blowing GH5 out of the water (game only) on Amazon.com preorder sales rankings. It may not stay that way, but right now it's not even close.

Sadly Amazon pre-order sales are merely a drop in the water to the actual sales both games will recieve in the end really - The Beatles are now nearing the peak of its advertising drive, weve seen a lot more details and footage of it and even had the Beatles themselves showcasing it where ever they can...this will have boosted it where as well we dont really know much about anything about Guitar Hero 5 yet. As far as im aware unlike TBRB GH5 is not offering anything special in return for pre-ordering the titles so that will also have helped pre-orders.


In my own opinion i think all the casuals new to the rythm game series interested because of the Beatles alone will probably wait to see the game for themselves before buying the title so like the vast majority of all the sales each game i suppose will make will be after general retail release

[varsas]

Except Guitar Freaks/Drummania were extremely hard to play and its lack of good music. It had horrible covers. Konami should have learned their lesson when they spewed forth Rock Rebellion, but they didn't. I own the original Drummania "drum" kit if you want to call it that.

Conclusion: Rock Band definitely impresses the hell out of me.
I don't think the GF games are hard to play at all but I agree the music selection isn't great although that appeared to be partly remedied; the main arcade in London imported a Drummania game and I tried out an Asian Kung Fu generation track on it; the arcade kit is pretty cool.

Conclusion (as you would put it ;)): Rock Band is fantastic game but only "impressive" due to the music selection. I really don't see where the game mechanics are "impressive" being only evolutions of Konami's games.

[GloiGloi]

- The Beatles are now nearing the peak of its advertising drive, weve seen a lot more details and footage of it and even had the Beatles themselves showcasing it where ever they can

The Beatles have hardly started the advertising drive. All there's been is E3 really. It's certainly going to come as we near the release date. There was some sort of press gathering at Abbey Road studios one day in the middle of June (probably mainly for the remasters) but there must be some sort of date specific gag on what went on there as noting has come out from it yet, and I'll bet the music papers are gagging to write about it. Wait till August and it will hit, I'm positive about that.

[cherokeesam]

The Beatles have hardly started the advertising drive. All there's been is E3 really. It's certainly going to come as we near the release date. There was some sort of press gathering at Abbey Road studios one day in the middle of June (probably mainly for the remasters) but there must be some sort of date specific gag on what went on there as noting has come out from it yet, and I'll bet the music papers are gagging to write about it. Wait till August and it will hit, I'm positive about that.

I don't even really expect to see much more advertising this month; the ad blitz will probably come in August.

July will probably see a ton of updates/new info on the website, though.

[dragonflyr]

Rock Band 2 had 80-something songs, less of half of which I like, so this Beatles game will be much more worth it to me, because I'm guaranteed to like all 45 songs.

ditto.

imo .. i really don't think this game will tank. i can see it selling pretty good. not sure people will be banging down the doors for the whole bundle ... but, i'm pretty sure the whole beatles "line" (with dlc and all) will hold it's own.

[chrth_rb]

I'm more concerned about the Abbey Road DLC flopping then I am the game. If the DLC flops, we might not see Sgt. Pepper complete, etc., on DLC. If the game flops, all it would mean is that HMX or Activision would be very wary of giving the same treatment to a Zeppelin or Floyd game. It won't put HMX out of business, and the game will still exist.

[slickpitt]

I think it's going to flop... the majority of Beatles fans that were in that generation have zero interest in video games. This forum not withstanding.. I don't know anyone that is a Beatles fan... much less a Beatles fan AND a Rock Band fan. Also keep in mind that the people that frequent this forum is NOT a good representation of the general population.

[GloiGloi]

I'm more concerned about the Abbey Road DLC flopping then I am the game. .

They need to make sure all the people who are playing for the first time know how to buy DLC and they'll be alright.

[dragonflyr]

I personally don't think its wise to market a video game to the baby boomers....But I just cannot see people 5 years older than me shelling out $250.00 for the game, let alone playing it.

well ... baby boomers usually have money to blow.

i think if a "baby boomer" walks by a Beatles demo unit in walmart, they'll be much more inclined to pick it up and give it a shot instead of a RB2 display playing an offspring tune.

so ... i dunno ... i know a lot of baby boomers who have picked up a Wii just to throw a virtual bowling ball a few times.

i wouldn't consider marketing to baby boomers to be a bad idea.

[GloiGloi]

I think it's going to flop... the majority of Beatles fans that were in that generation have zero interest in video games. This forum not withstanding.. I don't know anyone that is a Beatles fan... .

Okay so you're saying that you don't know any Beatles fans outside this forum, and altough you don't actually know any of these people you somehow know they don't like video games.
I wonder how many of these people you don't know own a Wii fit?

[zepplinmike]

I think it's going to flop... the majority of Beatles fans that were in that generation have zero interest in video games. This forum not withstanding.. I don't know anyone that is a Beatles fan... much less a Beatles fan AND a Rock Band fan. Also keep in mind that the people that frequent this forum is NOT a good representation of the general population.

I seriously doubt you don't know any Beatles fans, maybe you just aren't aware of it (or you only know like, two people). And anyway what if I said I know a ton of Beatles fans? Does that cancel out the fact that you know none? Also, does your personal experience with Beatles fans trump the fact that they are the top selling artist of the last 4 or 5 decades, making them the most popular band of all time? Get real.

[slickpitt]

Okay so you're saying that you don't know any Beatles fans outside this forum, and altough you don't actually know any of these people you somehow know they don't like video games.

Sorry... don't know any that play Rock Band. Should have clarified. I'm talking generation gap here. I'm not debating the beatles were larger than life in their day... I just don't think they will relate well... as a whole... with today's gamers/Rock Band players.

[chrth_rb]

Some interesting things looking at Amazon.com:

Beatles Rock Band (game only) for the X360 is outselling Batman: Arkham Asylum for the X360.

The full bundle for the Wii and X360 are outselling Game Only for the PS3.

The Rickenbacker is outselling the Gretsch for the Wii, but the Gretsch is outselling the Rickenbacker for the X360 and PS3.

Guitar Hero 5 (game only) is getting its butt kicked by the RB:TB bundles -- even the PS3 bundle.

[dragonflyr]

If they get this right especially on the Wii then they have a great chance at success ...

very true!

a great "casual gamer" base already installed regarding the Wii. without the Wii, much harder to get this game out to the "casual gamer".

even tho i don't have a Wii and have no interest whatsoever in EVER having one ... this game must work great and play nice with the Wii platform.

[mva5580]

Sorry... don't know any that play Rock Band. Should have clarified. I'm talking generation gap here. I'm not debating the beatles were larger than life in their day... I just don't think they will relate well... as a whole... with today's gamers/Rock Band players.

You just don't get it, and you obviously won't until you see the sales figures.

"today's gamers/Rock Band players" doesn't apply in this instance. The Beatles are forever, with every generation. You don't know anyone who plays Rock Band who will buy this game. I know of at least 10. What really bothers me is when people try to associate their particular group of friends with what will or will not be popular as a whole. Your group means squat. Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that, but it's fact.

How many of your group of friends owns Wii Fit? That game seems to be SLIGHTLY popular. You can debate all you want whether that game is worth buying, or even a real game. I really don't care. But what you need to understand is that The Beatles go beyond "gamers." Period. They are cultural icons that will withstand the test of time, for all time.

Come 9/9/09, you're going to get a test of that. There's only one thing that can take away sales of this game, and that's themselves. The CD remasters come out the same day and obviously some will make the choice between the 2. But you better just be prepared for this game to sell well through the holiday season. Because it's gonna happen.

[mva5580]

Oh, and maybe you should read this:

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2662553#post2662553

[slickpitt]

But what you need to understand is that The Beatles go beyond "gamers." Period. They are cultural icons that will withstand the test of time, for all time.



So you're saying that my 50 year old Mom... who does not own a 360, a PS3, or a Wii, is all of a sudden going to go drop $500 just because they are the Beatles? My 60 year old uncle that LOVES the Beatles(actually has craploads of old records)... yet hasn't ever played PONG much less Rock Band is suddenly going to go buy it? That my 13 year old nephew... plays the crap out of Rock Band... is all of a sudden going to have interest in the Beatles?

I'm sorry... but for people to purchase this game, there needs to be:
A) Beatles fans (For the MOST part, people 45-50+ in age)
B) Rock band fans (I would venture a GUESS, people 35 and under, again for the most part)
C) People that have loads of money and buy everything anyway (These people don't count, F them anyway!)

I'm sorry... you just aren't going to convince me there are THAT MANY A +(PLUS) B people out there. The generations simply don't line up. I think a Rock Band:Megadeth would absolutely pound RB:Beatles into the ground as far as sales figures go, simply because I think the generation of Rock band players relate better.

[nbalive2005]

Oh, and maybe you should read this:

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2662553#post2662553

What a great post

[LoopyChew]

So you're saying that my 50 year old Mom... who does not own a 360, a PS3, or a Wii, is all of a sudden going to go drop $500 just because they are the Beatles? My 60 year old uncle that LOVES the Beatles(actually has craploads of old records)... yet hasn't ever played PONG much less Rock Band is suddenly going to go buy it? That my 13 year old nephew... plays the crap out of Rock Band... is all of a sudden going to have interest in the Beatles?

Maybe not them specifically, or maybe yes them. Have you talked to either of them about the game? Showed them trailers? Attempted to drum up enthusiasm about it to them? Sure, they could hear it from some other people, possibly, or maybe THEY can be the people to spread the word to others.

The concept is the same one Nintendo took with both the Wii and the DS. Make the game appeal to a market that hasn't been appealed to, with enough to keep the old player base on, and voilà! It prints money!

You never know the sources from where the gospel will spread. For your family, it could be you. For their friends, it could be your family. And so on, and so on.

[slickpitt]

Oh, and maybe you should read this:

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2662553#post2662553

Oh my!!!! You mean there are exceptions to the norm? You mean there are a few people that don't necessarily have the same views/likes of the general population? And that one of those people would post on an internet forum????? Wow what a breakthrough! You've uncovered something amazing! You should be given a medal!

:rolleyes:

[varsas]

I'm sorry... but for people to purchase this game, there needs to be:
A) Beatles fans (For the MOST part, people 45-50+ in age)
B) Rock band fans (I would venture a GUESS, people 35 and under, again for the most part)
C) People that have loads of money and buy everything anyway (These people don't count, F them anyway!)
Beatles fans aren't just those over 45.

You're right that the Beatles games isn't going to convince someone to buy a console and all the peripherals but that's not something HMX need to do for success.

All they need to do is convince the broader market of casual gamers to buy the game e.g. those that own a Wii due to Wii Sports, Wii Fit and similar.

[slickpitt]

Maybe not them specifically, or maybe yes them. Have you talked to either of them about the game? Showed them trailers? Attempted to drum up enthusiasm about it to them? Sure, they could hear it from some other people, possibly, or maybe THEY can be the people to spread the word to others.

The concept is the same one Nintendo took with both the Wii and the DS. Make the game appeal to a market that hasn't been appealed to, with enough to keep the old player base on, and voilà! It prints money!

You never know the sources from where the gospel will spread. For your family, it could be you. For their friends, it could be your family. And so on, and so on.

lol my uncle would look at me like I was nuts.

[west siide]

I haven't heard of anyone buying consoles just to play this.


I have friends of mine who have told me they will be buying a system just to play this game.

[LoopyChew]

lol my uncle would look at me like I was nuts.

Or, if he's as big a Beatlemaniac as you portray him to be, he may look at you like a messiah, or at least appreciate you trying to connect something you enjoy (RB) to something he does (Beatles).

[slickpitt]

Actually I want to retract a little bit... flop was a bad choice of wording... I think the game will sell and make money for HMX... I think they could have done much... MUCH better if they had used band/group that the majority of their RB fanbase could relate to better... generationally speaking.



Or, if he's as big a Beatlemaniac as you portray him to be, he may look at you like a messiah, or at least appreciate you trying to connect something you enjoy (RB) to something he does (Beatles).


lol trust me ;)

[solidsnakejt]

GHAerosmith sold over 1.75 million units. GHAerosmith, by Steven Tyler's own estimate, made more money for them than all their albums combined.

"Nobody bought it....?" Guess again.

But GHA had the advantage of being the first, and breaking new ground. When GHM shipped this year, it hasn't even moved *half* as many units. There are lots of possible reasons for this, but I'm sure that market saturation, lack of innovation (oh wait, they added a second bass pedal -- woo woo :cool: ), lack of export capability into the core game, and the general nagging notion that stuff like this is better served up as heaping portions of DLC rather than standalone discs played a large part in GHM's failure (as compared to GHA).

Here's *hoping* that TB:RB doesn't fall into that same trap. The fact that TB:RB is the first band-showcase game that will follow up with DLC will extend the game's shelf-life somewhat; but the fact remains that better music + better graphics + some bonus songs as DLC does *not* erase one's suspicions that music gamers are having a backlash against these kinds of standalone games.

If GHM sold a LOT less than GHA (it did), then I have no doubt that GH Van Halen will be even MORE of a failure (for more reasons than one; internal band politics also plays a large part there). I'd hate to see that backlash apply to The Beatles game as well.

I just hope there's more secrets HMX will reveal about the game than just what was shown at E3. Because so far, TBRB *is* just another in the GHAerosmith mold, only with prettier music 'n' graphics and some minor bells 'n' whistles.

that's a ridiculous statement, they sold over 150 million albums...
so even if they made only a dollar per album, they would have made at least 150 million$ on it...

now gh:a sold 1.75million x 60$ = 105 millions$ and out of this the majority goes to activision...

[varsas]

Actually I want to retract a little bit... flop was a bad choice of wording... I think the game will sell and make money for HMX... I think they could have done much... MUCH better if they had used band/group that the majority of their RB fanbase could relate to better... generationally speaking.

Perhaps that is true but what band out there has even an eighth of the mass appeal that the Beatles had in their day? Most of the band specific so far releases for RB and GH don't appeal to me at all because they aren't main stream enough.

[nbalive2005]

So you're saying that my 50 year old Mom... who does not own a 360, a PS3, or a Wii, is all of a sudden going to go drop $500 just because they are the Beatles? My 60 year old uncle that LOVES the Beatles(actually has craploads of old records)... yet hasn't ever played PONG much less Rock Band is suddenly going to go buy it? That my 13 year old nephew... plays the crap out of Rock Band... is all of a sudden going to have interest in the Beatles?

I'm sorry... but for people to purchase this game, there needs to be:
A) Beatles fans (For the MOST part, people 45-50+ in age)
B) Rock band fans (I would venture a GUESS, people 35 and under, again for the most part)
C) People that have loads of money and buy everything anyway (These people don't count, F them anyway!)

I'm sorry... you just aren't going to convince me there are THAT MANY A +(PLUS) B people out there. The generations simply don't line up. I think a Rock Band:Megadeth would absolutely pound RB:Beatles into the ground as far as sales figures go, simply because I think the generation of Rock band players relate better.

The Beatles are 2nd in sales in America this DECADE, wait do you feel that? it's your jaw dropping.

If you think that you can get 27M sales in the(US alone)THIS DECADE 40 YEARS AFTER THEY'VE STOPPED MAKING MUSIC only with a market of people in their 40's 50's 60's then you just dont know anything.

Megadeth will beat The Beatles in anything? maybe in who can play louder and angrier music and i am a fan of them.

Many people have bought wii's for wii sports/other games that arent the usual games on PS3/XBOX

[slickpitt]

what band out there has even an eighth of the mass appeal that the Beatles had in their day?


I won't argue that one little bit. Pound for pound... in their day... I don't see anyone being bigger than the Beatles, ever.

[slickpitt]

The Beatles are 2nd in sales in America this DECADE, wait do you feel that? it's your jaw dropping.



Because younger people listening to music for their generation don't buy music.. they steal it :p

[nbalive2005]

Because younger people listening to music for their generation don't buy music.. they steal it :p

Yes that is true but that number is physical copies sold IIRC

regardless if its digital or physical you can see that The Beatles still have a foothold in music sales

[zepplinmike]

Dude, slickpitt, you are embarassing yourself. The Beatles are incredibly popular in every age group. They are more popular than most modern bands among young age groups. They continue to be a top selling act year after year. They are my favorite band and I am 23. Everyone I know is a fan of theirs to some degree or another.

Listen, I don't like U2 at all really, but I'm not ignorant enough to claim that since my friends and I don't like U2 that I can extrapolate that to the entire population and say that no one likes U2.

And it isn't enough for you to say that there are exceptions. Based on their popularity, people who DON'T like the Beatles are closer to being the exception.

[GloiGloi]

I'm sorry... but for people to purchase this game, there needs to be:
A) Beatles fans (For the MOST part, people 45-50+ in age)
B) Rock band fans (I would venture a GUESS, people 35 and under, again for the most part)
C) People that have loads of money and buy everything anyway (These people don't count, F them anyway!)

.

I fit in A & B (and C when it comes to The Beatles)

The first game I played was Colossal Cave - every lunchtime for months on a mainframe in the 70s, so don't right off old fogies for not being tech savvy.

[davidshek]

that's a ridiculous statement, they sold over 150 million albums...
so even if they made only a dollar per album, they would have made at least 150 million$ on it...

now gh:a sold 1.75million x 60$ = 105 millions$ and out of this the majority goes to activision...

Uh, a dollar per album? In the words of Aerosmith themselves, "Dream on". Most major-label artists make a few CENTS per album sale. Yes, that's right, cents. Musicians don't make money from album sales, this is a well-known fact in the music industry. The real money is made from touring and merchandise sales.

[GloiGloi]

Because younger people listening to music for their generation don't buy music.. they steal it :p

The largest group of people buying The Beatles '1' album when it was released in 2001 was the under 25s

[fatalvendetta]

So you're saying that my 50 year old Mom... who does not own a 360, a PS3, or a Wii, is all of a sudden going to go drop $500 just because they are the Beatles? My 60 year old uncle that LOVES the Beatles(actually has craploads of old records)... yet hasn't ever played PONG much less Rock Band is suddenly going to go buy it? That my 13 year old nephew... plays the crap out of Rock Band... is all of a sudden going to have interest in the Beatles?

Yes.

[dsierra87]

http://blog.rapleaf.com/rapleaf-study-popularity-and-fan-demographics-of-michael-jackson-the-beatles-elvis-and-madonna-across-social-media/

study that shows the beatles are still very popular. this game is gonna do just fine.

[justin19954]

The last Beatles thread! :eek:

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

http://blog.rapleaf.com/rapleaf-study-popularity-and-fan-demographics-of-michael-jackson-the-beatles-elvis-and-madonna-across-social-media/

study that shows the beatles are still very popular. this game is gonna do just fine.

Thanks for that! bookmarked

[Sayburr]

The last Beatles thread! :eek:

Naw...click on the tag I put on these Beatles threads a long time ago, until I got bored with it anyway...

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

It's being moved to the new Beatles rock band subforum I assume

[Thekirby45]

This game is totally going to fail you know because The Beatles aren't the only band in the world to sell 1 billion copies of there cd's or anything... oh wait

[just-a-bassist]

45 songs from a single artist. The Beatles. Compare that to GH Metallica or Aerosmith which contained much fewer songs than 45 from those bands. Then take into account all the effort that is going into the game compared to those half-assed GH titles. I am a big Beatles fan. And I'm buying the $60 game, but not the bundle nor the instruments. Rock Band 2 had 80-something songs, less of half of which I like, so this Beatles game will be much more worth it to me, because I'm guaranteed to like all 45 songs.


I'm going to have to take exception to the highlighted part of your post. GH:A might have been rushed to some degree, but if you've played GH:M, you'd know that the game is VERY complete, front to back. There are all kinds of videos that shows the motion-capture that the band went through for the animation. The lyrics to all the songs are available (there's not a RB disc yet with that feature). The animation is definitely the best so far in any GH game. And the gameplay is really top notch, given what else has been put out in that franchise.



(truncated post) Here's where TB:RB is different. With DLC available en masse, why does a dedicated Beatles game make sense? Because without one, you would probably never play Beatles music in a music game. The Beatles can easily just say "no" or hold out for infinite moneys because they are The Beatles. So that a dedicated outing is their first entry into video gaming leads me to believe it's the only way they'd let it happen. Additionally, I think HMX is significantly more respected, so people don't anticipate the "slippery slope" effect of XXXXX: Rock Band without exporting.

Don't expect this to ever happen again, unless it's a Led Zeppelin game.


Harmonix might be respected within the gaming community and here on their own message board... but out in the general public, they aren't even a blip on the map. No offense to HMX in any way, but their name just isn't a "household commodity" yet.

When I talk to other gamers, even some of them are like "who?" when I bring up RB & HMX. When I'm talking to non-gamers, even people that are investors? Not a chance.

So, let's not get overblown in the way we're looking at these arguments about the viability of RB:TB. It's a completely risky venture that just might not pay off. It probably won't sink HMX, because they probably aren't even the ones footing the bill. MTV is hoping that a success will bring them back to prominence (let's face it, they aren't even "music" television anymore to most people).



You just don't get it, and you obviously won't until you see the sales figures.

"today's gamers/Rock Band players" doesn't apply in this instance. The Beatles are forever, with every generation. You don't know anyone who plays Rock Band who will buy this game. I know of at least 10. What really bothers me is when people try to associate their particular group of friends with what will or will not be popular as a whole. Your group means squat. Sorry, I know you don't want to hear that, but it's fact.

How many of your group of friends owns Wii Fit? That game seems to be SLIGHTLY popular. You can debate all you want whether that game is worth buying, or even a real game. I really don't care. But what you need to understand is that The Beatles go beyond "gamers." Period. They are cultural icons that will withstand the test of time, for all time.

Come 9/9/09, you're going to get a test of that. There's only one thing that can take away sales of this game, and that's themselves. The CD remasters come out the same day and obviously some will make the choice between the 2. But you better just be prepared for this game to sell well through the holiday season. Because it's gonna happen.


I know about 25 people that each own RB and RB2. Only 2 of us bought the AC/DC disc. Nobody yet has purchased any of the other packs (Country, Classic Rock, etc).

As for The Beatles, the count when we were all talking over the course of the last 2 weeks is: 15-18 rentals, no sales.

And I'm not talking about people that are my same age and live in my neighborhood. Our ages range from 17-42. We live all over the USA. Some of us have the means to buy any/every game that comes out; some have been very selective about even getting 10-20 DLC songs so far.

But the consensus is that standalone games are BAD for the genre. I'm the only person among this group that actually did buy all 3 of GH:A, GH:M, and RB:AC/DC. And I'm SUPREMELY disappointed that I did. I should have rented Aerosmith for sure. I'm a pretty big Metallica fan, but I'm still on the fence about whether I "needed" it in my collection. AC/DC was nice to buy because of the exportability.

And that's where my point will come in about The Beatles. Sure, they made pretty good music. Sure, they have a lot of fans. But how many people are going to spend money on something they can't incorporate into the rest of their rhythm game experience? GH games aren't selling like EA hoped, and if most gaming sites and internet message boards are to be believed, import/export is a huge factor (I think we can all admit that most of the GH games have pretty solid setlists of music, so that doesn't appear to be an issue to anyone but the most diehard fanboys of RB/GH in their arguments).

I'd buy the Beatles game disc if it was going to have exportability. I really don't care about having a "Beatles Experience". I care about playing some of their music alongside the rest of my library. Somebody made a good analogy a while back: would you buy a "Beatles-themed iPod for the same price as a regular iPod if that was the only way to hear their music". That's essentially what we're being asked to do here.

When/if RB3 comes out in the future, I'll be all over it... so long as it follows the path and we can export RB2 tunes to our HDD. I'm at a point where I refuse to buy any more games that are "their own little box of music gaming, incompatible with everything else". GH5 saved itself with the announcement that GH:WT DLC would work in it (now let's hope they do the disc export too).

[oRabbit]

But how many people are going to spend money on something they can't incorporate into the rest of their rhythm game experience?
Tons....no need to incorporate it. It will shine on its own.



I'd buy the Beatles game disc if it was going to have exportability. I really don't care about having a "Beatles Experience".
No you wouldn't...you'd rent it and steal the songs from it.

[folkeye]

I'll get the game, I'm the werid one who doesn't really care about having an exportability factor. I have only done RB1 to RB2 export and not interested in the other track packs out there.

I don't think the game will go into financial crisis. Fans of the Beatles will get it, and those RB people who have to have every song 'just to have it' might get it else they be left out. But if people just take the game as it is, A Beatles Game with the Rockband Title not it being a Beatles Rock Band Game it might just be less scary. Enjoy it, don't get too greedy about exports we've been REALLY spoiled so far. This isn't Pokemon and don't 'gotta catch 'em all'.

[mva5580]

The fact that this thread is as long as it is proves that the game WILL sell. And these are just a bunch of "hardcore" message board posters.

This is my last post on the subject, I'm sick of arguing the obvious. The game will sell plenty fine, no doubt about it. At worst it will top GH: Metallica by a fair margin, and at best it will outsell GH: Aerosmith. Which would mean 3 million + sold. Anything outside of those 2 parameters would be a big surprise to me.

[frankieman]

What I notice about the posts here from people who are afraid the game will be a financial disaster bring up arguments that are really important to hardcore rythm game players. While this game is going to be aimed at a mainstream audience that for the most part have never played a RB game.

These people are Beatle fans who get into the rythm games, so these people don't care about exportability. Yes the hardcore games care about that, but those people know enough about the genre and the game to know it's gonna be worth the bucks

[SatansBestBuddy]

From: http://blog.rapleaf.com/rapleaf-study-popularity-and-fan-demographics-of-michael-jackson-the-beatles-elvis-and-madonna-across-social-media/


Highlights:
The Beatles have nearly three times more fans online than the second-most popular artist, Elvis. The Beatles have more fans than Elvis, Madonna, and Michael Jackson combined.

I mean it when I say that somebody needs to screw up really, really badly to even have a chance to make this game bomb.

No, seriously, they need to be screw themselves over on purpose in order to even have a chance at not making money on this, and even that's a stretch.

I can see it now, not a single commercail ever made, only one copy of the game shipped to every store, they tell all their friends not to buy it cause it sucks, the game has bugs everywhere, the insturments work like crap, and the media at large, from the most humble game blogging critic to the biggest talk show host are all bashing the lack of quality in this obviously unfinished game... yet they make $100 000 000 on opening weekend.

[johnnymac949]

The poll would be more interesting with "none" and "rent" as options...

[Dante1847]

Harmonix might be respected within the gaming community and here on their own message board... but out in the general public, they aren't even a blip on the map. No offense to HMX in any way, but their name just isn't a "household commodity" yet.

Id like to see evidence that you have that you're basing this on. And be careful with what you're arguing here: HMX actually started developing the whole Guitar Hero franchise before Rock Band...so if you're talking name recognition here, you gotta rephrase it to Guitar Hero vs Rock Band, not HMX vs Rock Band.

The problem I have with this debate is that no one, especially the original poster, is defining what "financial disaster" is supposed to be, or on the flip side, what "financial success" would be. If any, the OP limits it to "it'll sell badly"...ok, so what the hell does that mean? That HMX sales goals won't be reached? That there won't be a profit? Obviously we dont know what their sales goals are, but with the latter, Im pretty confident that HMX and its co-developers will make money off this game, given that you have game, standalone peripherals, and DLC being offered.

How much money--or profit--The Beatles: Rock Band makes depends mainly on 1) how many Beatles fans that play video games are out there; 2) how many Beatles fans that don't play games but could be drawn to the franchise (i.e. Beatles name recognition) are out there; 3) how many RB-loyal customers (i.e Rock Band name recognition) are out there; and, quite simply, age among video game players. I think point 4 is important because while the Beatles popularity transcends generations--Beatles albums still sell well today--video game popularity is really limited to a certain population that reflects specific age groups. Video game generations, so to speak. HMXs challenge will be reconciling the two.

Ive said it before, and Ill say it again...these people arent dumb. Theyve undoubtedly crunched the numbers and did the market research, and I have to believe that if they didn't see the numbers/projections to their liking, they wouldn't have offered the game. Course projections can be wrong. As much as having a Beatles game would be a good story--especially for, lets keep in mind, offering their music digitally for the first time--video game business is still, well, a business. I think the fact that this game is being offered, however, should speak volumes about how big the "interested population" probably is.

[GloiGloi]

From: http://blog.rapleaf.com/rapleaf-study-popularity-and-fan-demographics-of-michael-jackson-the-beatles-elvis-and-madonna-across-social-media/

.

That was an interesting article

[Keld0r]

its a tough call overall. for those who like to get together, have a few drinks, a little party, play some rock band, going to an all-beatles disc might not have big appeal.

i think in the end, that this game is being made because of its chance to bring in a whole new customer. maybe it will work great. maybe it wont. but if the beatles cant do it, then nothing can.

[goofy173]

No thanks on the Beatles. Just too early rock to really be 'rock.'

[JasonDLT]

Well, my computer cost me my first post in this thread so I'll try it again.

I'm 35 and will be turning 36 on September 4th. The Beatles were history years before I was born and as I grew up, I was a child of the 80's. All I knew of Sir Paul was that he was that British dude that sang with Michael Jackson in "The Girl Is Mine".

As I grew older my music tastes changed and I wanted to expand my knowledge of music. I began listening to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and others. I found myself listening to more hard rock and heavy metal.

Then I found the Beatles...and all other music paled in comparison. When someone says "The Beatles weren't really Rock" they show their musical illiteracy.

Don't get me wrong, I like Disturbed, System of A Down, Alter Bridge...many of today's bands...but The Beatles, together with Elvis and Chuck - invented Rock. To see how they transformed from the poppy "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to what came on the White Album, Abbey Road, and some of the one off tracks (like Hey Jude) was a marvel in musical genius.

There's a reason while the Beatles are still popular - even in this day. They transcend generations.

Long after Nickelback, Megadeth, Switchfoot, Hollywood undead are forgotten - people will still talk about the Beatles.

Perhaps if you buy the game, learn the music, you'll understand why.

[Aragorn123]

Well, my computer cost me my first post in this thread so I'll try it again.

I'm 35 and will be turning 36 on September 4th. The Beatles were history years before I was born and as I grew up, I was a child of the 80's. All I knew of Sir Paul was that he was that British dude that sang with Michael Jackson in "The Girl Is Mine".

As I grew older my music tastes changed and I wanted to expand my knowledge of music. I began listening to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and others. I found myself listening to more hard rock and heavy metal.

Then I found the Beatles...and all other music paled in comparison. When someone says "The Beatles weren't really Rock" they show their musical illiteracy.

Don't get me wrong, I like Disturbed, System of A Down, Alter Bridge...many of today's bands...but The Beatles, together with Elvis and Chuck - invented Rock. To see how they transformed from the poppy "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to what came on the White Album, Abbey Road, and some of the one off tracks (like Hey Jude) was a marvel in musical genius.

There's a reason while the Beatles are still popular - even in this day. They transcend generations.

Long after Nickelback, Megadeth, Switchfoot, Hollywood undead are forgotten - people will still talk about the Beatles.

Perhaps if you buy the game, learn the music, you'll understand why.

Brilliant post. I feel the same way about The Beatles vs. Today's Music. There won't be a Jonas Brothers: Rock Band in 40 years.

Oh, and back on topic, just the game for me. Those instruments look gorgeous, but I have so many plastic guitars/mics/drums/etc. right now that it would be silly to buy even more (4 guitars, 2 drum sets, 2 lips mics/2 rock band 2 mics...you get the idea).

[mva5580]

Well, my computer cost me my first post in this thread so I'll try it again.

I'm 35 and will be turning 36 on September 4th. The Beatles were history years before I was born and as I grew up, I was a child of the 80's. All I knew of Sir Paul was that he was that British dude that sang with Michael Jackson in "The Girl Is Mine".

As I grew older my music tastes changed and I wanted to expand my knowledge of music. I began listening to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and others. I found myself listening to more hard rock and heavy metal.

Then I found the Beatles...and all other music paled in comparison. When someone says "The Beatles weren't really Rock" they show their musical illiteracy.

Don't get me wrong, I like Disturbed, System of A Down, Alter Bridge...many of today's bands...but The Beatles, together with Elvis and Chuck - invented Rock. To see how they transformed from the poppy "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to what came on the White Album, Abbey Road, and some of the one off tracks (like Hey Jude) was a marvel in musical genius.

There's a reason while the Beatles are still popular - even in this day. They transcend generations.

Long after Nickelback, Megadeth, Switchfoot, Hollywood undead are forgotten - people will still talk about the Beatles.

Perhaps if you buy the game, learn the music, you'll understand why.

This is a good man.

Anyway I don't even know why this is still discussed on this board. Look at ALL of the polls that are done discussing whether or not people are going to buy the game, if it's going to be a success, etc. All of them are overwhelmingly in favor of the game selling well and being a hit. And this is, of course, the place where the "hardcore" come to talk about Rock Band. It's pretty obvious The Beatles will be a massive hit among the casual video gaming audience, I fully expect this game to be a HUGE seller on the Wii.

It's. The. Freaking. Beatles. Anything that their name is put on, it sells. Across The Universe, a rather underwhelming film full of Beatles COVERS was a huge seller on DVD. Check the numbers. Anyone who REALLY thinks that a video game based on them, with all their original songs, allowing you to play along and sing to these classics won't be a hit.......there's just nothing I can say to you.

Ok. Now I'm done lol. But just seeing people even suggest that this game won't sell, only "Old" people will play it, and that apparently The Beatles aren't "rock" enough, it irritates me to no end. It's ignorance, pure and simple.

[Elegy]

i don't think Megadeth will be forgotten....


anyway.

About the guy that said they were too early to be rock...

umm, Helter Skelter?

[mercury11]

I would buy a Velvet Underground rock band bundle that is all. only band I would buy a whole game for. But the disc will sell tons.

[Leafs4Life84]

Well the game will start with 45 but they'll release some good dlc and it'll be up to probably around 65 by the end of the year.

[steve771]

I wish I had a nickel for every one of these they are gonna sell. It will be huge! Hopefully it will lead to some other 50's & 60's rock & roll. Not to say there isn't some good current stuff, just that it's fun to play across all decades.

[vcalzone]

The more I wait for this game and see the announcements, the more I think it will be huge, ESPECIALLY among people who don't have Rock Band. It will be a slow fire, but it'll eventually burn the house down.

[Kylekillgannon]

I know at least one other person who will be buying this game, unlike me, they'll be buying the whole kit...

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