There is a joyous, hopeful article on the New York Times website, regarding the significant cultural impact that The Beatles: Rock Band has/will have cross-generation. The author makes the claim that no other video game in history has ever brought people together the same way this game will. “In that sense it may be the most important video game yet made,” he claims. For those of you who are used to reading me rant about all manner of nonsense, you might expect me to decry this claim and take the writer to task for his ridiculous assumptions … but I find I agree with him.
However, as with all things, this story needs context and clarification. What the author is saying is that
1) Music is an entirely subjective, transformative experience. You either like something or don’t, and you will invest music you like (or even music you don’t like) with emotional resonance based on what you were experiencing the first time you heard it. This explains why people get so passionate when talking about The Beatles — for many, their songs were the soundtrack to some of their formative experiences, while for others, they might merely be the accompaniment to commercials hawking products. What’s likely is that you will probably have heard more of the Beatles than you might think, and be familiar with more of their songs than you would ascribe to them. “Oh, that’s the Beatles?” is heard during more than one play session.
2) Video games tend to be divisive, owing to generational differences. There aren’t too many games that you and your mother or father have played with you, I’ll wager, though the advent of the Nintendo Wii has certainly done its share to bridge that gap.For an older generation, hearing the Beatles come over the TV set, and seeing their avatars performing on-screen might be the thing that pulls them in to possibly picking up the controller.
3) There’s a huge difference between hearing a song and playing it. There have been enough examples of players feeling so-so about a particular track before playing it, then really getting into it after playing, that it isn’t just an isolated incident. There’s a strange alchemy that takes place that transforms people from casual listeners into actual fans, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find sales of Beatles albums on the sharp incline before too long.
4) These elements aggregated makes The Beatles: Rock Band the most important video game yet made. The difference is that it isn’t self-referential. It doesn’t invent its own world and asks you to accept it at face value; it takes an existing history and gives you an alternate viewpoint. Culturally, it unites generations. Musically, it offers fans and non-fans alike a look at why the Beatles have been called the greatest band in history. Game-wise, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to play. I don’t own any of the Guitar Hero or Rock Band games, but I’m seriously considering picking this one up. There’s just something in the way it moves.
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