Beatles Rock Band tunes up Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper

With The Beatles: Rock Band set to launch September 9, the game is just about ready for a mainstream media blitz. The inevitable flood of coverage kicked off in earnest today with an in-depth feature in The New York Times.

The feature primarily delves into the genesis of the game and how Harmonix is progressing under the strict oversight of the Fab Four's surviving members and widows. However, the Times also brought to light some news of the developer's downloadable content plans.

Previously, Harmonix had only confirmed that The Beatles' legendary Abbey Road would be released as a downloadable add-on to the game. According to The Times, the band's classics Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would round out the first three full-album offerings.

The article also goes into some detail about some of the changes made to the Rock Band formula in order to satisfy Beatles license-holder Apple Corps. For one thing, failing a song will no longer result in the player's character (in this game's case, The Beatles) being booed off stage. Poor performance will instead just bring up a failure screen. Additionally, the improvisational drum fill and big finish sections of previous Rock Band games have been done away with in order to faithfully re-create the songs as approved by Apple Corps.

When the game launches September 9, it will include 45 songs on the disc, from early tracks like "Twist and Shout" to Let It Be highlights like "Dig a Pony." Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase "All You Need Is Love" on day one, with proceeds going to the Doctors Without Borders charity.

For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of The Beatles: Rock Band.