The Beatles: Rock Band Gets More Guitars

[Keane Ng]

The Beatles: Rock Band Gets More Guitars

The price of the ultimate in Beatles virtual band role-playing has just increased even more with the announcement of two Rock Band guitars based on John Lennon and George Harrison's instruments.

As the dream of being able to pretend you're The Beatles gets more and more real, it gets also more and more expensive. Nevermind the cost of matching outfits, new haircuts and whatever it'll cost to hire a gaggle of teenage girls to scream their heads off wherever you go - these two new Beatles Rock Band guitars are expensive enough.

Designed as replicas of John Lennon's Rickenbacker 325 and George Harrison's Gretsch Duo Jet, the guitars will run you $99 each and be released alongside the game on September 9, 2009 (also the release date of The Beatles remastered catalog and the Dreamcast 2). A hundred smackeroos is a hefty price, no doubt, but the guitars do look mighty fine and are clearly designed with the connoisseur in mind.

It's really when you consider the entire package that your wallet will start to wince. See, if you want the total Beatles: Rock Band experience, you'll need Paul McCartney's bass and Ringo Starr's drums, too, which are only included in the Limited Edition bundle [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91016-The-Beatles-Rock-Band-Bundle-Revealed] of the game, which will cost $250.

So, all in all that's $450 for the ultimate in The Beatles role-playing fantasy. Are you a bad enough Beatlemaniac to shell out that much dough?


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[zoozilla]

No, I'm definitely NOT going to spend that much money on fake instruments.

September 9, 2009 (also the release date of The Beatles remastered catalog and the Dreamcast 2)

If only...

 

[oliveira8]

Hmmm...I think the dudes that make Rock Band, completly missed the point of The Beatles songs.

Can't wait to play All you need is Love on a $450 set...

 

[Avatar Roku]

And how much is it going to cost in AU? Or will it never arrive here?

Oh yeah. Have you guys got the first one yet?

 

[Keane Ng]

No, I'm definitely NOT going to spend that much money on fake instruments.

September 9, 2009 (also the release date of The Beatles remastered catalog and the Dreamcast 2)

If only...

Believe.

 

[Sir Ollie]

Nice but i'm not paying for that.

 

[Nazulu]

Maybe if I loved the game like some people then I would.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I hear the Deamcast 2 is controlled by your mind and powered by Sonic the Hedgehog related disappointment.

 

[Epifols]

Hmmm...I think the dudes that make Rock Band, completly missed the point of The Beatles songs.

Can't wait to play All you need is Love on a $450 set...

That made me lol. Good point!

I'm a fan of all their work, but I think I will be content with just playing the music without all the extra stuff.

 

[Virgil]

A hundred smackeroos is a hefty price, no doubt, but the guitars do look mighty fine and are clearly designed with the connoisseur in mind.

It's actually not that bad. The Rock Band 2 wireless guitar is normally around $70 (if you can find it anywhere), and from the pictures these look far more detailed. I have to wonder if the bass replica included in the full Beatles set is wired or wireless though.

Barely. I still have yet to pick it up though, cause I'm not sure which has the better quality instruments (I'm importing Rock Band 2, so I only need the instruments)

Rock Band 2 has, by far, the better instruments. There's no comparison, especially with the drums.

 

[zombiechef]

It seems far from worth it unless your a hardcore beatles fan or some kind of rock band/guitar hero guitar enthusist who plans to sell them later on.

 

[Virgil]

Rock Band 2 isn't available. My choices are Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour.

That's a tougher call then. In general, the World Tour set is going to be of slightly better quality. The guitars and microphones are easily interchangeable, but the drum sets between the two are different enough that playing with the 'wrong' one is going to be somewhat detrimental to the game.

The RB and RB2 drums have four pads, and a bass pedal. The GH drums have three pads, two cymbals, and a bass pedal. To compensate, if you're using the GH drums on Rock Band, you play with the three drums and one cymbal. In Guitar Hero, with the RB drums, the game has an adjusted note chart that only has four tracks.

I'd suggest going with the set from the series that you think you'll end up playing more.

 

[BonsaiK]

You could buy a decent Gretsch Duo Jet copy for real for $450.

 

[Abedeus]

You could buy a decent Gretsch Duo Jet copy for real for $450.

You could buy two decent guitars for $450. And drums. And bass guitar.

 

[JamesTehWench]

$450 for a game that will take 2 days to get 100% on every song on...

No.

 

[Huey1000]

Thought I could get a discount if I go to Liverpool and buy one there, but that alone would be much more of a realistic "Beatles experience" than playing Rock Band 2.

I hear the Deamcast 2 is controlled by your mind and powered by Sonic the Hedgehog related disappointment.

What do you mean by that? I've always loved Sonic, I just wish I could hunt down the recent makers and force them to make a better Sonic at gunpoint. I mean come on! I bet Mario and the Master Chief will never have to worry about their names being slandered like that.