Beatles seek help to join the video game revolution on the Financial Times reports that representatives of the Beatles are exploring the possibility of video games based on the band's music. Like efforts at bringing the fab four's music into the digital age on CDs and services like iTunes, the process has been glacially deliberate, but apparently the new CEO at Apple Corps is having an influence on this:

The representatives have held discussions with both Activision and MTV Games, the respective makers of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, in which players strum along to favourite songs or form virtual bands.

A final deal would be worth several million dollars, according to a person familiar with the talks, and could be reached in a matter of weeks. However, it would have first to win the blessing of both Apple Corps, the company established by the band to oversee its business interests, and EMI, the UK music group that owns the Beatles master recordings. Both declined to comment.

The surviving Beatles and their heirs have been cautious about exploiting their material on new platforms. They were slow to re-issue their albums on compact disc.

In spite of repeated discussions, EMI and Apple Corps have yet to license Beatles recordings for digital use, including for sale through Apple's iTunes music store.

Apple Corps has become more active in recent months since Jeff Jones took over as chief executive.

The company, whose board includes Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon, has allowed Beatles compositions to be used on American Idol and in a Las Vegas show.