VH1’s The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band

Harmonix and MTV Games have teamed up with VH1 (also owned by Viacom, for the record) to create a special look at how The Beatles Rock Band was created, including footage of surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road Studios being presented with work in progress by the Harmonix creative team.

That special, “The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band” is 30 minutes long and features interviews from Giles Martin (co-producer of The Beatles LOVE album project) and The Beatles: Rock Band music supervisor), and Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO or Harmonix Music Systems and his development team. The special also promises to reveal the origins of the game and a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the music video game. The Making of The Beatles: Rock Band will premiere Friday, November 27th on VH1 Classic at 7:30 PM ET/PT.

For more info on the game check out www.thebeatlesrockband.com.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band next week

Apple Corps and MTV Games’ Harmonix announced The Beatles classic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), will be available in its entirety for purchase and playable as downloadable content in The Beatles: Rock Band starting November 17, 2009.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the second full album from The Beatles to hit The Beatles: Rock Band Music Store since the game’s launch on September 9. Last month MTV Games and Harmonix released Abbey Road (1969) as the first full downloadable album for use in the game. Additionally,
“All You Need Is Love,” the first downloadable track available for the game, has shown similar success with more than 100,000 downloads to date on Xbox LIVE. Proceeds to that song are being donated to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Available for Xbox 360 (Nov. 17) and PlayStation 3 (Nov. 19), songs that are not already part of the original game’s line-up - including “Fixing A Hole,” “She’s Leaving Home,” “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” “Within You Without You,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lovely Rita,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” and “A Day In The Life” - will cost $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points) per track. The “Complete Album Pack” will cost $13.49 USD, £7.49, €8.99 (1080 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360).

And if you own the Wii version, you can by individual tracks for $2.00 USD (200 Wii Points) each starting Nov. 17.

0D Beat Drop now on Xbox Live Arcade

Arc System Works has released 0D Beat Drop, a game promising a fusion of rhythm and puzzle elements. The game is available for Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 MS Points. The game revolves arounf getting “beat drops” in time with the music playing. To get a Beat Drop, players drop similar-colored jewels next to one another in time to the music. A meter on the side of the screen shows the rhythm of the music, which players will need to keep their eyes on so they don’t miss the beat. The more Beat Drops you get, the stronger your attacks will be against other players. With two or three chains of jewels, you’ll send dozens of shadow jewels to your opponent’s field but If you miss a beat, then the power you’ve built up will drop back down to zero.

0D Beat Drop Key features local or online multiplayer in versus, co-op, or battle royale with up to 4 players; a variety of modes such as Planet Quest, Survival, Time Attack, Co-op, and Task modes; and 21 types of backgrounds and blocks to experience.

Log on to Xbox Live Arcade to check out the trial or buy the full game.

White Stripes make Rock Band debut next week

Harmonix and MTV Games will release a three pack of tracks from The White Stripes and singles from The Damned and Kasabian will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Tracks from No Doubt and Dropkick Murphys will be available for download next week for Rock Band Unplugged on PSP.

Sadly, no LEGO Rock Band content mentioned unless I am missing something here, which Is highly doubtful. Anyway, here’s the completel list:

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 10) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 12):

- The Damned – “Smash It Up (Part II)” 

- Kasabian – “Club Foot”

- The White Stripes – “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”

- The White Stripes – “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine”

- The White Stripes – “Icky Thump”

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Nov. 12):

- No Doubt – “Excuse Me Mr.”

- Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”

Rocking your blocks off: LEGO Rock Band released

Warner Bros. Interactive has released LEGO Rock Band, much to the delight of kids and adults alike - assuming the game is good, of course. Combining Rock and Roll with the popular building blocks, LEGO Rock Band adds LEGO style into the Rock Band formula. The game features 45 songs and at launch and lets players of all skill levels play bass, drums, guitar and mic to such songs from Queen, Foo Fighters, Jackson 5, The All-American Rejects, Jimi Hendrix, Good Charlotte, Tom Petty and more.

Unique to LEGO Rock Band is the introduction of Rock Power Challenges, where players can harness the power of rock to pull off killer riffs that have the ability to do crazy things like demolish a building, stop an angry octopus or send players on wild missions. Naturally the game promises build-and-play elements that let players customize their own experience by creating a minifigure avatar, band and entourage.

The game will also be supported by the Rock Band Store’s regular release of weekly content as well, with some tunes already ready for purchase. LEGO Rock Band is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and various incarnations of the DS.

Jesper Kyd scores Assassin’s Creed II

If you didn’t know, Jesper Kyd has created the soundtrack for Ubisoft’s upcoming third-person stealth action game, Assassin’s Creed II. Kyd scored the first game’s soundtrack and hopes to bring the same kind of magic to the follow-up - an atmospheric score that offers a “new direction and crafts an immensely diverse, melodic and progressive musical palette featuring acoustic and symphonic orchestrations with emotional depth and diversity.” Sounds fanciful and footloose. The original score was recorded with a Hollywood orchestra and choir at the Capitol Studios. The Assassin’s Creed II Original Soundtrack will be available for digital download from popular music stores on November 16th.

The game is scheduled to launch on November 17th, 2009 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. For more information about Assassin’s Creed II, visit www.assassinscreed.com.

Nirvana headlines next week’s Rock Band DLC

Harmonix and MTV Games will release a three pack of tracks from Nirvana, a four pack of tracks from Foo Fighters and a single from Joan Jett & The Blackhearts to the Rock Band Music Store and the LEGO Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Tracks from Bullet for My Valentine and System of a Down will be available for download next week for Rock Band Unplugged on PSP.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nirvan’s Bleach album, Sub Pop will release a special edition of the album, featuring a complete and previously unreleased live concert recorded in 1990 in Portland, Oregon. The anniversary edition of Bleach will be released the same day and date as Nirvana Bleach Pack, which includes About a Girl, Blew and School.

Foo Fighters will release Greatest Hits Nov. 3, the same day the third DLC pack from the band will be available in the Rock Band Music Store. Greatest Hits will feature 14 of the band’s most-loved songs, as well as two new songs, Wheels and Word Forward, both of which are featured in Foo Fighters Pack 03, along with Best of You and The Pretender.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ Fake Friends from the 1984 album, Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth, will also be added to the Rock Band Music Store and LEGO Rock Band Music Store Nov. 3. Full track listing after the break.

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