There is a big hub bub on the net right now over the use of Kurt Cobain’s likeness as an unlockable character in Guitar Hero 5. This means Cobain can be the front man of your band while you perform the hits of Flava Flav and Bon Jovi.

While that may not initially seem like a big deal- gamers love unlockable characters- anyone familiar with Cobain’s work will get a creepy vibe upon watching this video of Cobain’s doppleganger in action.

Now compare that to some real footage of Cobain performing:

And now Cobain’s widow is threatening via Twitter to sue. Activision says she signed off on it. She says she thought his avatar would be on screen only during Nirvana tracks. He said, she said…. blah, blah, blah. Let the courts figure that out.

But Activision could have easily avoided this mini controversy if it took a little bit of time and evaluated how it utilizes the likenesses of rock icons in Guitar Hero. What they have been doing for years is simply paying for the rights for a familiar skin on their 3D models. Like many record companies, they viewed the rock artist as something that can be replicated for profits.

And they were right for a long time. But when they tried to copy the unmimicable anti-rockstar, Kurt Cobain, it blew up in their faces. Nirvana was a revolutionary band, and they forgot that. In many fans’ eyes, Cobain was more than a rock star, his music sparked a culture and way of life.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that Cobain’s suicide note states that the pressure of performing and pretending to have a good time when he wasn’t was a driving factor in his decision to take his own life. That’s OK, Activision says, We’ll just create a digital Cobain to replace you when you’re gone who won’t have those issues and we can all still get rich.

Nirvana’s entrance into the national spotlight sounded the death knell of hair bands and power ballads and introduced the world to a new genre: Alternative Rock. Bands with flamboyant stage shows, finger-blistering guitar solos and crates of hairspray in the trailer, bands like Bon Jovi and Van Halen, lost prominence as the teens began dressing in flannel shirts and baggy pants and listening to “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Cobain’s music was darker, moodier. It was the antithesis of the excess and corporate feel of every pop and pop-rock band from the 1980s. His songs were about conformity, apathy, societal contradictions, love and codependency. Cobain was very much against the macho man image, and even wrote songs like “In Bloom” that point out the irony of a “macho guy” listening to Nirvana because they were popular yet not understanding the meaning of their music.

“He’s the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Knows not what it means
when I say”
-In Bloom

Guitar Hero, Activision and Neversoft exemplify the irony in that song. This is where that little pit in your stomach comes from when you see Cobain’s image belting out “Shot through the heart, and you’re too blame, baby you give love a bad name,” while an adoring crowd sings along.

The Beatles: Rock Band

The most interesting part of the whole situation is the timing. This comes out at the same time when Guitar Hero’s rival, Rock Band, released an entire rhythm game based on The Beatles to critical acclaim.

Harmonix understood that they would be taking liberties with one of the world’s most cherished bands and went to deep lengths to make sure they paid sufficient reverence to the band. They ensured that the game was more than a quick money grabber by focusing on the Beatles, their music and their message. Harmonix didn’t try to force the Beatles into a Rock Band game… they tried to adapt Rock Band to accommodate The Beatles.

Neversoft and Activision, on the other hand, obviously didn’t put that much care into incorporating Cobain into Guitar Hero 5. It appears as if the Cobain avatar is just running through the same pre-programmed motions as the rest of the avatars in the game. There’s no consideration of his mannerisms, philosophy or his art. It’s cut and paste. There’s no context, and that’s a disservice to Cobain.

In the game he jumps around on stage like he is having the time of his life. In reality the pressure of performing and being the spokesperson for Generation X was too much for him to handle. Sure, Cobain wanted to be a rock star, but felt guilty when he realized that the greenness of the grass was highly overrated and he wasn’t enjoying his success as much as he should.

From his suicide note:
“I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things.

For example, when we’re backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begin, it doesn’t affect me the way in which it did for Freddie Mercury, who seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy. The fact is, I can’t fool you, any one of you. It simply isn’t fair to you or me. The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I’m having 100% fun.

Sometimes I feel as if I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on stage. I’ve tried everything within my power to appreciate it (and I do, God, believe me I do, but it’s not enough). I appreciate the fact that I and we have affected and entertained a lot of people. It must be one of those narcissists who only appreciate things when they’re gone. I’m too sensitive. I need to be slightly numb in order to regain the enthusiasms I once had as a child.”

Maybe this cut & paste tactic could have flown in earlier releases. But as more bands sign up for Guitar Hero and Rock Band as a new format to release their music the medium is becoming a more than just a game. As The Beatles: Rock Band shows, it’s about exposing people to music and art. It’s about interactively listening to music and paying more attention to the subtleties in the song.

But hell, maybe for Guitar Hero it is still only about making a buck. I guess this is the twelfth release within the franchise in four years, if that tells you something.

Activision, how about taking a couple years off and releasing DLC for existing games and spending more time in between titles? Do some soul searching. Figure out exactly where you want Guitar Hero’s place in our culture to be. Or is the franchise is going to end up being the next: “Now That’s What I Call Music #61.” A money maker, for sure, but void of any cultural relevance.

While I’ve been pretty harsh on Activision and Guitar Hero, surely Courtney Love has plenty of blame to share for this fiasco. I’m sure Activision was acting on good faith. Ignorant, maybe. But they didn’t wish to cause harm. Love signed some sort of agreement in the first place then obviously detached herself from the creative process if it took this long for her to make a fuss.

Why didn’t she catch this earlier in development and air her greivences then? On that note, why didn’t any of Activision’s employees pick up on this?

Let’s let surviving Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have the final word on this subject:

We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate – we have no control whatsoever in that area.

While we were aware of Kurt’s image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn’t know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in “re-locking” Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future.

It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.

-Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl

RIP Kurt.

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The band’s original fans will get a kick out of seeing The Beatles perform in the Cavern Club or on the Ed Sullivan Show. Younger fans will love finally seeing Beatles songs released on the interactive Rock Band format. Parents can play with children to expose them to their favorite band, and children can play with parents to expose them to video games.

Even if the Rock Band guitar intimidates mom and dad, they know every word to every song and will not be shy about belting out “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

If you have never played Rock Band or Guitar Hero before, they are rhythm games where you try to match notes sliding down the screen by pressing the corresponding colored button on a guitar or drum shaped controller. They require attention, rhythm and finger dexterity.

Beatles fans who are not necessarily video game fans will relish in being able to pretend they are one of the Fab Four and picking up a microphone. Unlocking photographs and videos are the icing on the cake. The game is loaded with exclusive content, even the loading screens are filled with between-takes banter and jams captured in recording sessions at Abbey Road Studio Two.

Rock Band fans that are not necessarily Beatles fans may not be as enthusiastic about the game. Sadists will not find challenges beyond what is currently on the market, and 45 songs is half of what was included with Rock Band 2. Nevertheless, there is still find plenty to love. First, is the inclusion of three-part vocal harmonies providing a new challenge and allowing up to six people to play at once. Secondly, the visual style, cut scenes and general polish are amazing and unmatched in previous releases.

The development team watched a ton of reference footage and submerged itself in the Beatles and their history, said Josh Randall, creative director of The Beatles: Rock Band. Recreating four of the most famous faces in the world was a daunting task, and one that had to be performed perfectly to appease lofty fan expectation, he said.

The Beatles Rockband Intro from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

Creating 3D representations of Paul, John, George and Ringo was one of the most challenging aspects of the game, Randall said. The team spent a lot of time trying to make them as evocative of the individuals they were based on as possible. But when early models looked a bit stale, Harmonix went back to the footage and discovered they were missing a critical element: joy.

The Beatles had joy pouring out of them every time they played, Randall said. Therefore, relatively late in the development cycle, Harmonix developed new technology to “turn up the joy filter” by making their eyes more expressive and increasing reactions to the camera and each other, he said.The team focused not only on their faces, but also on each Beatles’ mannerisms. From the way their mouths move when they sing, to the way their hair bounces and how wide they open their eyes, Randall said.

About once a month Randall and other members of the development team had a meeting with the shareholders: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono. Even Giles Martin, son of producer George Martin, was an instrumental collaborator. Their feedback helped drive the look and feel of the game, Randall said.

For example, Olivia Harrison invited some of the team members to her home to see private photos of George Harrison to help capture his essence in the game, he said. After watching game footage of the rooftop concert, Yoko Ono mentioned how it was a windy day. So Harmonix went back and simulated a brisk wind whipping the Beatles’ hair around to make the experience more realistic, he said.

Paul and Ringo’s help really came through in designing the Cavern Club set, as there were only a few black and white photographs and one old film to go off, Randall said. Much of the work in the game is based off their memories, he said.

“It was really incredible, to sit with those guys and hear their stories,” Randall said.

Early on they understood the game and how it could expose a whole new generation to their music, Randall said. They appreciated it as a new way for people to experience their work and as a challenge to be creative in a new medium, he said.

The Beatles were arguably the best songwriters in the history of Rock. Selecting songs to include in the game from such a deep library was a challenge in itself, Randall said. Primarily the team considered whether a song would be fun as a Rock Band track, he said. Secondly, they wanted to ensure the tracks covered the evolution of The Beatles’ sound and included favorites and deep cuts.

Story mode roughly follows The Beatles career, from the Cavern Club to the Ed Sullivan Show to Abbey Road Studios and the rooftop concert. Trippy dreamscapes accompany the music from the band’s studio years. These animations perfectly capture and modernize the visual style of The Beatles.

“If we were going to go psychedelic, we were going to go modern psychedelic with a riff off the stuff from the 60s,” Randall said.

Research consisted of watching and rewatching Yellow Submarine, he said.

“We wanted to capture the spirit and vibe of the music and come up with fantastic locations and abstract visuals that matched the feel of the songs,” Randall said.

The Beatles: Rock Band is not a game you can review alone. This is a party game, best experienced with two or more people. So we enlisted the help of Omaha-based Beatles tribute band Yesterday and Today to give us their impressions of the game.

Drummer Tomm Roland said it nearly perfectly simulates Ringo’s style.

“As far as what you’re playing, it’s on the record,” Roland said.

Even the details are perfect, he said. All of the drum fills in the game are programmed the way Ringo would do it left-handed, Roland said. In Ticket to Ride, there is a presumed mistake where the beat changes in the middle of the song, and even that is represented in the game, he said.

Matt McGuigan, bassist & vocalist for Yesterday & Today, said the bass lines were also well portrayed in the game.

“They have all the rhythms in there,” McGuigan said.

Ryan McGuigan and Matt McGuigan from Yesterday and Today.

More importantly, the game will have the same timeless quality that The Beatles’ music enjoys, McGuigan said. The Beatles’ have never spoiled, they continually find ways to be creative in hot new mediums and genres, he said. The visual aspect of the game just elevates the audio aspect to a new level, he said.

Working with The Beatles has bee a dream come true for the Harmonix team, Randall said.

“We spent a lot of nights here making sure we did right by these guys,” Randall said.

Being incorporated into Beatles history is flooring, he said. Paul McCartney has been so impressed with the project that he is using footage from the game in his concerts right now, he said.

If you are not satisfied with only 45 Beatles tracks, more will be available for download soon. In October, the remaining songs from Abbey Road will be released as downloadable content, followed by Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band and Rubber Soul in November and December. Depending on those sales, it’s a safe bet that more albums will be released in 2010.

Or if the simultaneous release of the game and The Beatles’ remastered albums has you reliving Beatlemania, check out Yesterday and Today at the Omaha Community Playhouse where they will be performing all of December.

Track List:

Cavern Club

• I Saw Her Standing There
• Twist and Shout
• Do You Want to Know a Secret
• Boys

Ed Sullivan Theater:

• I Want To Hold Your Hand
• Can’t Buy Me Love
• A Hard Day’s Night
• I Wanna Be Your Man

Shea Stadium:

• I Feel Fine
• I’m Looking Through You
• Eight Days a Week
• If I Needed Someone
• Ticket to Ride

Budokan:

• Drive My Car
• Day Tripper
• Paperback Writer
• Taxman
• And Your Bird Can Sing

Abbey Road Dreamscapes:

• Yellow Submarine
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help from My Friends
• Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
• Getting Better
• Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows
• Good Morning
• I Am The Walrus
• Hello, Goodbye
• Hey Bulldog
• Back in the USSR
• Dear Prudence
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• Helter Skelter
• Revolution
• Birthday
• Octopus’s Garden
• Something
• Come Together
• Here Comes the Sun

Rooftop Concert

• Dig a Pony
• Get Back
• Don’t Let Me Down
• I’ve Got a Feeling
• I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
• I Me Mine

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