Possible proof that all the world's newsmakers are on vacation this week: The New York Times editorial board has, at last, weighed in on the possible Beatles video game (actually, they did yesterday, but we missed it since we don't typically get our news about Beatles video games from the Times' editorial page). So far, the game itself is just a rumor; Apple Corps are reportedly in talks with Activision and MTV Games about the possibility of bringing the Beatles catalogue to a version of Guitar Hero or Rock Band (though, according to an MTV Games spokesman, "We are talking to virtually every major rock artist all the time about ways we might get them involved in Rock Band"). But the Times apparently felt strong enough that they wanted to have their say while it still might make a difference.

For fans of a certain age, those of us who literally grew up with the Beatles, the idea [of a Beatles-themed video game] produces a certain sense of loss" they write. "When it comes time to script this new game, we hope the developers will notice that the Beatles' two early movies … embed the band's music in action that's nearly as frenetic and sweetly fun as anything a frenetic kid with a game controller could ask for. We would like to hope that it might also be about the extraordinary musical chemistry of Lennon and McCartney, those long, long hours at Abbey Road and the unreal sense of discovery and freshness that came out of that studio.

That's fine, we guess. But we just hope the developers will consider how badly we want to rock out to "Helter Skelter" and "Glass Onion."

Let It Be [NYT]
Beatles seek to join video game revolution [FT]