Comments on: Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna

Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna

Toekneesan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:47:19 -0800

Passion Pictures has just released Pete Candeland's gorgeous cinematic for the forthcoming game The Beatles: Rock Band.

Candeland is probably best known for his work with Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the Gorillaz, and their collaboration on the videos: Clint Eastwood Feel Good, Inc. Dirty Harry Rock the House El Mañana Dare and the BBC Sports Olympic short Monkey: Journey to the East He also does obvious commercials.

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:56:47 -0800

Loved it. Loved it from the first shot of Liverpool, which I recognized from Yellow Submarine. But then, I was obsessed with the Beatles as a kid and watched that movie too many times. (But where was Moko Jono?)

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:59:19 -0800

Absolutely, I love this. Without reservations. (And Pepsi Blue this all ye want, this is undeniably beautiful work.)

By: painquale

painquale — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:17:43 -0800

That was fabulous. I loved how the animation changed as they moved through their careers, and I loved all the easter eggs (Maxwell's Silver Sundries, Strawberry Fields Farm, etc.).

By: czechmate

czechmate — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:21:11 -0800

I can't remember the last time I giggled. I mean truly giggled like my 4yr old daughter. Now for some reason, I can't stop. This was awesome.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:24:30 -0800

Yeah, I'm absurdly excited for the prospect of Rock Band Beatles considering that I don't own a console or have the money lying around to get a copy... but still... EXCITED! A small aside... hearing Paperback Writer (my favorite Beatlesong back in my early teens) reminded me of this clip of The Beatles playing that song in Japan . Seeing that clip helped me understand how annoyed they were at playing live. That's a lot of noise that audience makes.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:26:42 -0800

Wow. I wish there was an artbook for the opening alone, so I could stare at the imagery. Or at least some desktop wallpaper. Wow.

By: Michael Leung

Michael Leung — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:31:06 -0800

I love this stuff. I can't wait for it to come out.

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:31:35 -0800

This is what, what you'll see when you first fire up the game?

By: JibberJabber

JibberJabber — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:32:16 -0800

Wow. This is going to be so fun when it comes out! Plus, that cinematic was very amazing it left me wanting for more - like a full length CG-movie a la Yellow Submarine.

By: moxiedoll

moxiedoll — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:36:04 -0800

I have no video game apparatus whatsoever but my friend is getting it and I am so fucking pumped for Beatles Rock Band.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:37:14 -0800

The art they have for that game is very nice. It's too bad that it's not compatible with the other Rock Band software.

By: Stunt

Stunt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:38:58 -0800

Okay, yeah, wow. That was pretty fabulous. Really looking forward to this coming out, and really wishing I didn't have all the instruments for RB2 already. Have you SEEN the instruments coming with the bundle for this? Gah. So neat.

By: empath

empath — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:39:34 -0800

i wasn't expecting much, but that was lovely. (LSD not included)

By: RakDaddy

RakDaddy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:43:29 -0800

Agreed. This is going to be a hell of a lot of fun, though getting three singers for the harmony...oof.

By: Stunt

Stunt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:44:23 -0800

Not compatible how so? All the rock band instruments will work with it as far as I know. I assume you mean the way in the same way that RB1 tracks can be downloaded to the hard drive and be imported into RB2. If so, yeah, that's kind of a shame but I'm really not surprised. When I first heard rumblings of this being made by Harmonix it seemed like it wouldn't carry a Rock Band name at all (I suspect if that was originally true it was changed to market it better) and would be a totally standalone project. After reading about what they're doing with this and seeing that cinematic though? I am less concerned about the importing thing than I previously was. Kind of feels like the whole experience will be way richer than if I could just import the tracks. I think I can manage a bit of disc swapping for the neatness.

By: milkwood

milkwood — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:45:09 -0800

Sold! Where do I get one!

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:47:12 -0800

I could watch hours and hours of that. Maybe an animated Beatles biopic?

By: hincandenza

hincandenza — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:51:13 -0800

Also fun is this Harmonix demo at E3, with people playing a couple of songs and a brief interview. For those (heathens) who've never played Rockband, game play video is included. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkVNC-h_TE&fmt=22

By: Item

Item — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:57:05 -0800

I'm not a fan of the Beatles. I could go the whole rest of my life without hearing them again. This, however, is beautiful.

By: Scoo

Scoo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:59:02 -0800

I'm sick and tired of Beatles worship, even really beautiful CGI Beatles worship.

By: demiurge

demiurge — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:05:50 -0800

Yeah, the downloadable content that everyone has for Rock Band 1 and 2 won't be available from the Beatles Rock Band and vice versa. This could be a big problem for parties, you'll get some people who love the Beatles and some people who don't and instead of putting in a couple songs, you have to spend 5 minutes changing the disc.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:16:57 -0800

Have you SEEN the instruments coming with the bundle for this? Gah. So neat. When I first bought my Hofner bass more than 20 years ago, I used to occasionally just pop open the case to look at its beautiful lines. It's so PURTY! This keeps those clean lines (and Rickenbackers are handsome guitars, too...).

By: ten pounds of inedita

ten pounds of inedita — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:21:18 -0800

There's a somewhat longer intro cinematic on Youtube.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:25:55 -0800

And a different longer one at the Onion AV Club piece on it.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:45:47 -0800

So we will be able to play Beatles songs in Rock Band before we'll be able to download them. What kind of messed up world is this?

By: UrineSoakedRube

UrineSoakedRube — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:27:59 -0800

grabbingsand> Absolutely, I love this. Without reservations. Well, I have one reservation: they misspelled "raccoon".

By: hippybear

hippybear — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:29:19 -0800

smackfu: from what I understand, it may all happen on the same day. (I searched, and cannot find anything to back this up, but I know I read an article about Apple Records coming to agreement about online distribution.)

By: hurdy gurdy girl

hurdy gurdy girl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:35:52 -0800

Wow, that was lovely!

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:46:07 -0800

I like how the feel changed as they went from playing small venues to crossing the Atlantic where they were the center of the universe (note the arrows) and then the explosion into psychedelia. Why didn't the animation keep going into the Yoko era and fizzle out? It just left me suspended wondering if that big walrus thing survived the fall off the cliff.

By: Captain Cardanthian!

Captain Cardanthian! — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:48:05 -0800

That elephant/rhino thing is blowing my mind. I'd like to know how this was made.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:02:23 -0800

Oh shit! Is it okay to like the Beatles now? Or do all the Gen Xers who had it shoved down their throats have to die first? Fuckit, The rest of the world can come around later. I'm gettin' some records and having a party! Man, how they slowly changed from being drawn in a modish-venture brothers style to the yellow submarine look, wow.And that elephant walking up right to the end, that's some gooooood visual storytelling there. On a side note, in other awesome video game trailer news : Left 4 Dead 2: New Orleans.

By: 2or3whiskeysodas

2or3whiskeysodas — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:41:37 -0800

I thought it was an especially stylish (and funny and frustrating choice) choice to slip the final orchestral swell from A Day in the Life in there at the very end but leave out the big piano chord.

By: Midnight Rambler

Midnight Rambler — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:58:27 -0800

I thought the same exact same thing 2or3whiskeysodas, but after watching it again I think it adds (in a good way) to the tension that's built up by the end of the video.

By: Spatch

Spatch — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:15:27 -0800

That elephant/rhino thing is blowing my mind. "What is that thing, anyway?" "Elephino." I love watching the penguin-things jump on the heavy footfalls.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:14:18 -0800

crossing the Atlantic where they were the center of the universe (note the arrows) That is a reference to the set on the Ed Sullivan show where the Beatles famously appeared.

By: sixswitch

sixswitch — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:15:20 -0800

I watched this earlier and was so disappointed when I watched gameplay footage afterwards. Same boring venue and character design. Oh well, still excited to massacre some harmonies.

By: lapolla

lapolla — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:25:33 -0800

i am in agreement with empath. way better than expected. best part is when the english garden begins to move. triggered a tiny, but quite pleasurable acid flashback.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:30:43 -0800

Yep. This video is amazing.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:00:04 -0800

What is a cinematic? I clicked the link and saw an animated cartoon of the Beatles.

By: Spatch

Spatch — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:32:45 -0800

I watched this earlier and was so disappointed when I watched gameplay footage afterwards. Same boring venue and character design. Did you watch the same footage I did? I saw a trippy underwater scene for Octopus's Garden, and a very beautiful hilltop setting for Here Comes The Sun. It looked a hell of a lot nicer than the dive bars you start out with in the current Rock Band series.

By: mazola

mazola — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:13:11 -0800

Holy crap!

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:52:13 -0800

I myself would love some kind of 2D RPG/platformer combo set in the world of Yellow Submarine. I don't know what the game would be, exactly, but it would be gorgeous and I can just see it now.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:55:57 -0800

Outlawyr: a cinematic is a segment of a video game which you watch rather than control. They are generally higher-quality animation than the rest of the game, and often move story forward in ways that gameplay cannot. Basically, they are mini-movies, almost always CGI content, sort of mini-Pixar moments within larger games.

By: Seekerofsplendor

Seekerofsplendor — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:34:05 -0800

This looks insanely great. Surely, a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:47:11 -0800

I myself would love some kind of 2D RPG/platformer combo set in the world of Yellow Submarine. I don't know what the game would be, exactly, but it would be gorgeous and I can just see it now. I can't believe no one has come out with a game that uses the guitar controller in a non-Guitar Hero-esque way. Maybe some kind of FPS on rails, using the colored fret buttons to target and the strum bar to fire? I think maybe Brütal Legend is doing this in some way, but since I only have a Wii and I am a HUGE Tim Schafer fan, I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and going "La la la" when it comes to that game.

By: nushustu

nushustu — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:20:26 -0800

Looks awesome. But I am reserving excitement until they do a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson's Smile version.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:22:26 -0800

Thanks Hippybear.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:27:52 -0800

Wow. I both wish that I could play this game and am quite glad that this is happening over John Lennon's dead body.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:28:17 -0800

Oh, PS: I can't play video games because I have a faulty brain, not because I don't own a console, which, oddly, I do.

By: chococat

chococat — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:02:49 -0800

Beautiful animation. The animated Beatles in the game look a bit goofy, though. Won't stop me from getting this, however. wishing I didn't have all the instruments for RB2 already. Have you SEEN the instruments coming with the bundle for this? I hear you. How can I not buy that Gretsch? That's my Duojet!

By: Nice Guy Mike

Nice Guy Mike — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:32:03 -0800

Really looking forward to this coming out, and really wishing I didn't have all the instruments for RB2 already. Ah-ha! My technique of being a serial procrastinator pays off! I never did get around to buying the full Rock Band 2 Bundle that I intended to. May as well pick up the Beatles pack instead... . .. ... How Much!?!

By: beowulf573

beowulf573 — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:08:36 -0800

Beautiful animation. The details are amazing, I've watched it half a dozen times. I'd love to see a movie done in this style, Beatles or not.

By: Listener

Listener — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:43:48 -0800

I still love the Beatles' music 40 years later, been loving it since I was a kid. I don't see anything interesting in this video display, no matter how well done, or a game about pretending to play their music and pretending to be them. I don't see how it could improve on or actually even touche singing the song yourself or picking up the instrument and learning to play some of their songs for real. I'm just squinching up my eyes, because I don't get it. "Amusing ourselves to death" is what comes to mind. Irrelevant. All style and no substance.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:20:39 -0800

Well, damn. I wish you didn't feel that way, because since you are in fact the arbiter of taste for all people on the face of the earth, now nobody can enjoy playing it. I mean, if *you* don't see anything interesting in it, surely anybody who did would be a drooling, degenerate philistine so much worse than Hitler that it would make baby Pol Pot cry.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:23:10 -0800

Good bleeding Christ, man. If someone registers a contrary opinion on something artistic you can let them have their opinion rather than spewing obnoxious hyperbole. How will their reckoning of something affect your own enjoyment?

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:12:58 -0800

One might ask listener the same thing. In general, "what you do for fun sucks and you're bad for doing that instead of what I do" is a pretty churlish thing to tell people. Nobody is going to take away his guitar, so what the fuck does he care about how inferior a video game that really boils down to Missile Command sychronized to music is to his pastimes?

By: Midnight Rambler

Midnight Rambler — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:19:34 -0800

I don't see how it could improve on or actually even touche singing the song yourself or picking up the instrument and learning to play some of their songs for real. Stop having fun!

By: chococat

chococat — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:34:10 -0800

I don't see how it could improve on or actually even touche singing the song yourself or picking up the instrument and learning to play some of their songs for real Ya, it's not really about that. You should try Rockband. It's a fun game. You can't approach it with the attitude that you're really playing the songs. I play guitar and the first time I played it I was all confused, "but you don't play it like that!" It's more about timing and coordination, like very elaborate game of Simon or something. With different instruments. And this is just a bonus to be able to play it with Beatles tunes.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:37:48 -0800

It's missile command. You have five buttons to launch your missiles and a sixth to detonate them, and you have to hit the incoming missiles at a specific altitude. Now that I think about it that way, I gots to get the "Two Minutes to Midnight" level next week.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:35:37 -0800

Wait, one of the controllers is going to be a giant trackball? Now I'm confused.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:11:11 -0800

Nobody is going to take away his guitar, so what the fuck does he care about how inferior a video game that really boils down to Missile Command sychronized to music is to his pastimes? This is the generation that thought they would be cool forever.

By: Listener

Listener — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:38:32 -0800

Wow, I actually didn't say anything about anyone else's experience of it. I said my experience. Sheesh.