MUMBAI: The Beatles made their first foray into digital music by signing an exclusive deal with MTV Games, owners of the Rock Band franchise, yesterday.

This is considered as the first significant move by Beatles into the digital world as fans will now be able to drum and strum along with their favorite Beatles songs. The surviving members of the band are known to be resistant to new technology. However, with this recent development, both Starr and Ringo will be involved in the games development and design. Sir Paul said. "I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out."

The Beatles game is expected to be interactive taking players on a journey from the first Beatles album, Please Please me till their last album Abbey Road. Negotiations continue, as to whether the entire back catalogue will be included.

Both Starr and Ringo have earlier been cautious about iTunes, fearing that digital downloads can be pirated too easily. Though video games can be pirated, it is extremely hard to copy only the individual elements of game, such as a game's background music or its graphics. This means there is little threat that individual songs from the Beatles game could be pirated.

Analysts estimate that the market for music-based video games, such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, are worth about $1.2 billion in the US alone. The music download market was worth about $2 billion in America last year.

"The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that the Beatles' legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in," Starr said. "Let the games commence."

According to MTV Networks and Apple Corps the company that handles the Beatles' commercial interests the game is scheduled to be released worldwide in about a year. It is believed that it will be a standalone game, not an add-on to Rock Band or Rock Band II. The sale price for the game has not been revealed.