The Beatles have notoriously shunned any digital distribution of its music, so imagine our surprise when Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band, announced that they are making a game based on the Fab Four's career and music catalog.

This morning, MTV Networks, Harmonix and Apple Corps. announced a new Beatles video game is indeed in the works, confirming previous rumors. The unnamed game will be ready by the 2009 holiday season, and promises to take players on a journey through the Beatles music, sampling songs from all stages of the band's career.

Details on the actual game experience was scarce, but Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopoulus says the game will be a standalone product -- not an expansion pack -- but also that it would not be a 'Rock Band' game. He says that the game will "be compatible with existing Rock Band peripherals..."

Jeff Jones, CEO of Apple Corps., says they decided to partner with MTV and Harmonix (instead of Activision, who owns Guitar Hero) because they were "clearly the innovators" in music-rhythm games. The partnership is billed as "exclusive" to MTV and Apple, but there were no clear answers as to whether that means Beatles songs would not appear in the competition's game, Guitar Hero.

As for that digital distribution Beatles fans have been waiting for? There might be some hope after all. Jones says they are working out the details of song downloads on services such as iTunes or Amazon, so that might happen sooner than, well, never.

Rock band 2

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 1 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 2 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 3 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 4 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 5 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 6 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 7 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 8 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 9 of 22)

    Rock Band is back and better than ever! EA and Harmonix team up again to bring you the latest Rock Band experience, complete with new musical instrument peripherals, new downloads, and new party modes! The game will also support original downloadable content from the first Rock Band, along with the original instruements. Get ready to rock all over again in late 2008! (Screenshot 10 of 22)