With another wave of Beatle-mania accompanying the launch of The Beatles: Rock Band, comes a wave of gorgeous custom Beatles-themed Xbox 360s up for auction, the proceeds of which will go to Doctors Without Borders.
In case you haven’t heard, The Beatles: Rock Band hits stores this week, and the latest wave of Beatle-mania is in full swing. While you might be tempted to just brush most of it off as an attempt to capitalize on the most popular band of all time for a quick buck, you can now get swept up in everything plus feel like you’re helping your fellow man: Microsoft is releasing a limited series of Beatles-themed Xbox 360s for auction, the proceeds from which will go directly to Doctors Without Borders.
Now, most special edition consoles tend to look silly to me – a new paint job here, a custom faceplate there – but holy damn, this thing is gorgeous. The paint work is incredibly detailed, featuring the Fab Four a la Help! and Sgt. Pepper, and I think I may well be justified in saying that it might be the most impressive “official” custom job I’ve ever seen. There’s no word on exactly how limited this limited series will be, but if they’re only being sold via eBay, there can’t be all that many of them, and they’re sure to go for a pretty penny.
On the other hand, if you don’t feel like shelling out the exorbitant price that these custom consoles are sure to fetch, you can always download “All You Need Is Love” via Xbox Live (sorry, PSN users) and support the charity that way instead. Doctors Without Borders is “an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971,” and was selected as the beneficiary charity by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.
The full press release is below. Now, don’t mind me, I’ll just be admiring this work of beauty:
Beginning Sept. 9, 2009, download “All You Need Is Love” exclusively on Xbox LIVE or purchase a unique “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 console today, and proceeds will benefit Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
A very special edition Xbox 360 console professionally customized to honor The Beatles will be auctioned for charity this holiday with proceeds benefiting Doctors Without Borders. The first of these limited consoles is available for auction starting today on eBay*, (item number 120467388504). Each console is numbered and adorned with illustrations from the eye-popping intro for “The Beatles: Rock Band.” The cinematic was created by Harmonix with the Oscar winning film and animation company Passion Pictures.
Starting Sept. 9, Xbox 360 will also give its more than 20 million Xbox LIVE members the opportunity to give to charity and support the Beatles’ eternal message of peace and love. “All You Need Is Love,” the Beatle’s iconic anthem of peace, will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 as a downloadable song for the game through Xbox LIVE with Apple Corps Ltd, MTV Games, Harmonix and Microsoft proceeds benefitting Doctors Without Borders. Good deeds never go unnoticed: purchasing and downloading the “All You Need Is Love” track for 160 Microsoft Points for charity will also register you for the “The Beatles: Rock Band” Download & Win* for a chance to win one of the limited edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 consoles and a Rickenbacker 325 replica guitar controller.
Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971 working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison personally selected the charity as the beneficiary of these proceeds.
