May 2008: "The following is all in-game footage." These words preceeded the first trailer for EA's Mirror's Edge. What followed was a glimpse of something unusual: a first-person platforming game. Sure, Jumping Flash did it in 1995, but Mirror's Edge looked sleek, fluid, and had that catchy Swedish electronicapop song playing in the background. This was going to be awesome.

I'll admit it: this post is a copout. I'd written approximately 1400 words, 9 reasons, detailing why The Beatles: Rock Band is a game to be excited about. I'd written about the game's music producer Giles Martin, son of famed Beatles producer George Martin, and co-producer of the phenomenal creative and technical achievement called Love. I'd written about the care and attention to detail that Harmonix has already shown to be present in the game. I'd written briefly about the title's history; how Dhani Harrison, son of the late George Harrison, championed the game to Apple Corps and the remaining Beatles, and how this will be Harmonix's first artist-specific title (one that focuses on what can be objectively called the most popular rock band of all time). I'd written about the great marketing, the new (and totally optional) fake plastic peripherals, and all the hype and excitement surrounding the hype and excitement. But when I finally hit my ninth reason, I realized that it rendered the previous eight ridiculous by comparison.

"9. It's The Beatles."

Editor's note: Rock Band's (and Guitar Hero's) PR army loves to trickle out new track lists, but Benjamin may have gotten the jump on the PR drip feed with his analysis of the amazing The Beatles: Rock Band intro trailer. Check the jump for full details.... -Demian

Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference revealed ten songs from The Beatles: Rock Band. The final game will contain 45, and developer Harmonix is clearly planning to tease the rest for quite a while -- the game won't be out until 9.09.09.

The title's showcase at E3 also included the release of two videos; one of gameplay and one of the game's beautifully animated opening cinematic, directed by Paul Candeland of Passion Pictures. In preparation for a more general article on the game, I watched this cinematic for maybe the fifth time in the last four days when I began noticing some of the finer details. Now, many eager Beatles fans have already noticed that the video features three songs that weren't included in the original list of ten: "A Hard Day's Night," "Paperback Writer," and less prominently, "Twist and Shout." There's not a doubt in my mind that these songs will be included in the game.

However, there are several subtle references to Beatles songs hidden throughout the video. While it might be a stretch to assume that any of them will be playable, it's sure amusing to geek out about.

Nobody could have seen it coming.

The 1996 PlayStation title PaRappa the Rapper was pretty out there. The first thing I ever played on Sony’s gray box was a demo for the game that contained its first stage. Set in a dojo, there stood a dog in a red hat on the left, and a karate instructor with an onion-head on the right. The karate instructor, Chop Chop Master Onion, would bark out simple instructions and have you, PaRappa, perform them.

Editor's note: I'm one of those people who doesn't quite 'get' Noby Noby Boy, having played it for an hour and then so far never again, but Benjamin makes a strong case for this game about chefs with dinosaur heads. I might need to give it another chance. -Demian

"You know what game is really great?"

"No, what?"

"Noby Noby Boy."

"Huh?"

"Noh-bee noh-bee boy."

"Never heard of it."

"Oh, it's fantastic. Just this morning I was on the moon and I wrapped my Boy around the play area nearly four times. Then I decided to create a hybrid race of elephant-human sumo wrestlers. That kind of got boring after a while, though. Ultimately, I ended up eating a bunch of houses and pooping them out."

"...wait, what?"

The secret best part about Namco Bandai's Noby Noby Boy is getting to see the reactions of friends and acquaintances after you tell them that a game exists in which you can eat several houses and poop them out. Often when I describe such a feat, I'm asked to clarify as if I had been misheard. Some react with laughter, some with disgust, some with intrigue. Sometimes it's sort of a mix of all three. In a few cases, my stories were met with total disbelief. "Come on. This isn't a real game."

Ladies and gentlemen, Noby Noby Boy does exist, and I am not lying to you when I say that it is possible to eat an entire helicopter only to poop it out a moment later with such force that it knocks over a windmill.