Apparently the Beatles are Really Popular…

Do you live under a rock? You would have to if you don’t know that the Beatles are back, with a vengence… Not only have 14 Beatles albums been simultaneously re-mastered and re-released, but a new game has also been released for Xbox, in the veign of the popular guitar hero and rock band titles.

According to the Daily Mail in the UK, EMI have shipped about 5 million copies of the Beatles box sets around the world, and expect to make somewhere around 850 million pound (that would be about 128 billion, with a ‘B’, yen) from the sales. So far, their expectations look set to be met, with all of the albums storming the record charts around the world. On Japan’s Oricon Charts, the Beatles Box Set currently sits at number 6 in overall album sales, with another three albums in the top 20, including Abbey Road. In Oricon’s list of foreign album sales, the Beatles occupy 7 of the top 10 spots, and 15 of the top 25…

The Beatles version of Rock Band hasn’t been released yet in Japan, but it is expected to sell more than 5 million copies of its own by the end of the year. Below is a review of the game, which I included here because while I don’t play games much I enjoyed this for the music and the great graphics.

I also came across this recent CNN story about a Japanese Beatles cover band. There are several such bands kicking around Japan, and another similar story from a couple of years ago can be read (and heard – podcast available at the link) from NPR in the US.

Buy the Beatles Rock Band Game for Wii, Xbox or Playstation from Amazon US: