The Who: Rock Band set for 2010?

Source: The Who lead singer Roger Daltry told Massachusetts paper The Republican that The Who will be getting its own Rock Band. When an interviewer brought up the recently released The Beatles: Rock Band, Daltry said, "The game, yeah, yeah, they're going to be doing a Who one next year. There is one planned."

What we heard: It makes some sense that The Who would be next in line for the Beatles treatment. In addition to being one of the biggest classic rock acts out there, The Who has been tied to the Rock Band franchise almost since day one. When Harmonix originally announced full album downloads, The Who's Who's Next was the first one revealed, even if technical difficulties forced it to be scrapped in favor of a sampler of the band's hits. And in a promotional push for the sequel, the legendary British rockers played a surprise set at Harmonix and MTV Games' big E3 2008 Rock Band 2 party.

On the other hand, the report contained no more details about the game, leaving some question as to whether Daltry spoke of a stand-alone title like The Beatles: Rock Band, a retail-exclusive offering like the AC/DC track pack, or simply another round of downloadable content. A dedicated Who Rock Band game would also raise questions as to which songs would be included in the setlist. Versions of many of the band's biggest hits are already available in existing Rock Band games, including "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Pinball Wizard," "Baba O' Riley," "My Generation," "Who Are You," and "Behind Blue Eyes."

There's a long history of loose-lipped musicians breaking Guitar Hero and Rock Band news in advance of official word, and a slightly shorter history of them flubbing the details in the process. When Joe Perry spilled the beans on Activision's plans for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, he said it would be Guitar Hero IV, not a stand-alone spin-off to the series. Then there's the Guitar Hero Jimi Hendrix and Rock Band Green Day downloadable content packs, which were initially reported to be full games by Slash and Billie Joe Armstrong, respectively.

While Daltry's statement about the game left room for interpretation, his endorsement of rhythm games was more concrete.

"Anything that gets nonmusical people interested in music is wonderful," Daltry said. "In my opinion, music is our last true great freedom. They can burn our books, they can burn our paintings, but they can't stop us singing and making music."

The official story: A Harmonix representative declined to comment.

Bogus or not bogus?: Plans change, and interviews with musicians are often as open to interpretation as the songs they perform. Another wave of downloadable content for The Who is a possibility. However, given some analysts' disappointment with The Beatles: Rock Band's sales and the numerous Who songs already available in Rock Band, the idea of a stand-alone game for the band looks less appealing than it once might have.