During a conference call, Apple Corps, administrators of the Beatles' catalog, Harmonix, and MTV officially announced the upcoming release of a Beatles Rock Band standalone game, which features a "visual exploration" of Beatles history. This is the first time the Beatles' music has been featured in a video game, according to the announcement. This will be a separate disc release "built from the ground up" (according to Harmonix president Alex Rigopulos), rather than downloadable content, and features production supervision by Giles Martin, son of longtime Beatles producer.

We'll have more details as they are announced.

[Update: It will "not be a Rock Band title; it will be a custom game," according to Rigopulos. It sounds like it will be visually different, and not just a Beatles skin for Rock Band. It is planned for next year's holiday season. In addition, Harmonix is "not ready to talk about" Rock Band interoperability.]

[Update 2: they're "not prepared to discuss" new peripherals.]

[Update 3: they're also not prepared to specify the platforms on which the new game will be released.]

[Update 4: specifics of the music included in the game are not being discussed, but Harmonix wants to include music from the "span" of the Beatles' career.]