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The format may not be unique, but the content is. It will be the first time that music by the Fab Four has appeared in a video game.

And as a newcomer to music gaming, it was astonishing how quick and easy it was to step from the 21st Century into the Swinging Sixties. 

The Beatles: Rock Band game is part of a wider marketing campaign that also sees the release of newly-remastered versions of the band's back catalogue on CD.

It comes at a time when the music industry is looking for new ways to recover some of its dwindling revenue as CD sales decline.

Of course, music video games are nothing new - Guitar Hero 5 was released this week in the US featuring tracks by Nirvana, Muse and Iron Maiden.

But getting a brand like The Beatles is a significant step in an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games analyst at Screen Digest, the Beatles catalogue is a powerful licence to have in gaming.

"It's an iconic collection of songs for the first time in the music game genre," he says. "When you bring The Beatles into the mix you're opening up the opportunity to a big cross-section of the consumer population."

He added that the peripheral kit involved in music games add a significant amount of revenue on top of software sales.

"Music games have really helped to grow the size of the market - and you're playing it with other users which helps expand this opportunity."

He says The Beatles game also targets a different audience to more rock-focused music games - like Guitar Hero.

"We're now seeing some experimenting from Activision with DJ Hero - an extension of the same kind of genre.

"With The Beatles you're introducing older players into the space - people who don't consider themselves 'rock'. A huge cross-section listen to the songs and they know the songs.

"The Beatles game does go beyond anything that has gone before."