How many plastic instruments does one man need? As I write this I'm looking at a closet door behind which resides three toy drum kits, six plastic guitars, eight game microphones, and an assortment of accessories (cymbals, USB hubs, a stool, etc.). Sometimes it feels like I'm spending more time pretending to be a roadie than a rock star.
And yet I would gladly make room in my closet for an instrument made of Lego.
Of course, I'd never had such a thought before this morning, when, while reading my email, I happened upon a Rock Band press release announcing a new Lego-themed game. All it took were the words “Lego” and “Rock Band” in the subject line to make me imagine myself wielding an axe made entirely of Danish building blocks.
Alas, Lego Rock Band will not ship with any new instruments. It's simply a game that features customizable Lego rockers and some kid-friendly tracks, including Blur's “Song 2”, Carl Douglas' “Kung Fu Fighting”, and Europe's “The Final Countdown” (which already makes me want to build a Lego man who looks like Arrested Development's Job Bluth). Expect this one to arrive before the end of the year.
While Lego Rock Band might not offer any new hardware for my growing collection of music game peripherals, I'll still have plenty of new toy instruments to play with this fall courtesy of The Beatles: Rock Band, which is slated for worldwide release on September ninth.
The first details regarding the Fab Four's first foray into music gaming were released last week. It will come with a full set of Beatles-branded instruments, including a Höfner Bass controller that's a large-scale replica of the guitar famously used by Paul McCartney, as well as a Beatles-inspired, Ludwig-branded drum kit with pearl finish and a vintage replica kick drum head. There's even a mic stand in the box—a first for a music game.
However, at US$249.99 The Beatles: Rock Band will be the most expensive mainstream music game bundle yet released. Luckily, it will be compatible with all past Rock Band peripherals, as well as recent instruments made for Activision's Guitar Hero games—good news for folks who want all of the music and none of the plastic.
No word on a track list yet, but it's unlikely that we'll see anything approaching the Beatles' complete catalogue. I suspect we'll be provided maybe four dozen Beatles tracks and some Beatles-inspired music (Apples in Stereo, perhaps?) on the disc, followed by a host of Beatles tracks released through Electronic Arts' lucrative Rock Band store at two bucks a pop.
No wonder the music game industry is creeping into the mid ten-figure range.
