"Y'know that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was"

*Update* – The original file was corrupted and about a half hour of the episode was silence. Please re-download the episode, and don’t forget to enter the drawing for our PAX Pack Giveaway #2 by answering the question presented at the end of the show, “Which one counts as mine?”

On a very special thirty-second episode of Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast, the WingDamage crew of Men Without Hats gather to discuss the Uncharted 2 multiplayer Beta, the sword swinging 2D extravaganza that is “Muramasa”, and more iPhone game love from our own regular guest host Wesley Johnson.

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With all the rhythm games out there now that use those little plastic guitars, it is getting easier to become disenchanted with the whole experience. Activision and Red Octane in particular have been milking the Guitar Hero franchise ever since they ripped it from the bosom of its original programmers at Harmonix.

So when Harmonix (you know, the guys that took Konami’s original “Guitar Freaks” concept and improved on it by leaps and bounds?) themselves announced that they would be releasing not one, but two off-shoots of their popular Rock Band franchise, the eyebrow began to raise. “Lego Rock Band” is still a few months off and will have to prove itself when it does finally release. But in the here and now, we have “The Beatles: Rock Band”, a game that, unlike Guitar Hero: Has-been Metal Band, features the songs and performances of only one band.

Many have asked the question; Are the songs of a single band, even one as influential and well known as The Beatles, enough to sustain a quality gaming experience?

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I am a sucker for shiny things that I do not need. When I saw the first pictures of the special edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” guitars, I decided that I needed one. I ended up picking up the John Lennon Rickenbacker 325 because its design was the closest to the Rock Band 2 Stratocaster that I was already comfortable using.

The Rickenbacker 325 was one of the most recognizable guitars played by John Lennon, and MadCatz totally nailed the look and feel of the classic axe. From the faux-wood neck to the chrome plating around the whammy bar, this is by far the most detailed Rock Band peripheral out there.

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