The Beatles: Rock Band is a labor of love for the Harmonix and MTV Games teams, and it has been an honor to be entrusted with the legacy of The Beatles. It was critical that the game be both historically accurate and capture the spirit of John, Paul, George and Ringo. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon were all deeply involved in the project and very generous with their time and support.
Mrs. Lennon’s contribution to The Beatles: Rock Band was invaluable. At our request, she traveled to our offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to help us identify improvements in the presentation of the game and inspire the development team. As an accomplished artist herself, we were betting that she would know — better than any executive possibly could — how to connect with our designers.
For the better part of a day, Mrs. Lennon provided rigorous and constructive feedback on the imagery, character movement, game shell and other elements of the project with brilliant professional focus, tempered by personal warmth and a wonderful sense of humor. She gave our design team the direction they needed and helped identify ways to improve the product. She was such a source of positive energy for us that she was awarded a unanimous standing ovation and many hugs from grateful team members at the end of her visit.
We were then, and are now, tremendously grateful that she gave us the gift of her attention. We are devastated that Mrs. Lennon’s visit, a high point of the two-year development process for The Beatles: Rock Band, has been mischaracterized by some in the press. Bottom line: Mrs. Lennon brought our team together at a critical time, in a lovely way, and the game as published is far better because of her input all along — and especially from that day.
— Paul DeGooyer, SVP, Electronic Music and Games, MTVN Music Group, and
Alex Rigopulos, CEO & Co-Founder, Harmonix Music Systems
I’m much more inclined to believe the first account of Yoko Ono’s visit to Harmonix over this spin filled statement.
-Justin
