After a day of "The Beatles are coming to Rock Band, the Beatles are coming to Rock Band!" rumors, something slightly different was announced by Rock Band developer Harmonix:

an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles

A what? I tried to run that through Babel Fish using the "PR-speak to English" option and it crashed the site. However, I was able to translate a couple of comments from MTV producer Van Toffler. In the press release, which included four silly pre-made quotes from the surviving Beatles and representatives of the non-surviving Beatles, Toffler said:

Many of us have been part of a generation that has long enjoyed an enduring love affair with The Beatles and now we're looking to extend that love affair for future generations to enjoy.

That translates to: Look, you old people who like the Beatles aren't going to move copies of this game, so please turn your kids on to the Beatles before this time next year.

Toffler also said:

Our inspiration for this project comes from a keen sense of history and a place of utmost reverence and respect for the band, their music and their heritage.

Which translates to: They wouldn't let us just do it as downloadable content for Rock Band, so we're going to make it this whole separate other thing.

During a Q&A session at the press conference, which consisted mostly of "We're not ready to comment on that", there were two interesting points made. First, the as yet unnamed Beatles game will "take advantage of the Rock Band platform in many ways". Hmm. Second, they refused to say whether any Beatles songs would be available as downloadable content for Rock Band. That they're not denying it indicates they probably have plans to try some sort of arrangement.

On the whole, I smell a stand-alone Beatles game, much like Guitar Hero did with Aerosmith. Now can someone please get around to Led Zeppelin?