Sophomore, Spenser Claiborne from Scottsville, plays the Beatles’ Octopus’s Garden on friend, sophomore, from Glasgow, Erin Napier’s Limited Edition Beatles Rockband. Napier picked up his pre-ordered game at Gamestop earlier that day. Napier invited friends over to play the game on Wednesday, Sept. 9th. The total set cost was $250. JENNY KANE/HERALD

Beatles fans love hard. They wait in long lines, save up to buy collectibles and can recite nearly every word in the band’s catalogue. And they will usually tell you good music is priceless.

For Glasgow sophomore Erin Napier, it was easy to drop $250 on The Beatles: Rock Band, a new version of the popular video game featuring 45 of the group’s songs.

The game was released Wednesday.

Napier and his roommate, Glasgow sophomore John Alexander, have been friends since ninth grade. They spent hours Tuesday studying and finishing homework to have free time to play.

“We’ve been anticipating this for a while,” said Napier, who reserved the game months in advance.

Growing up in a musical home, which Alexander calls “Beatlemania,” Napier was exposed to his father’s vinyl collection early.

“It’s a bonding thing between us,” he said. “Me and my father have a weakness for buying music, then sitting around talking about it all day.”

The best friends sat in the Bates-Runner Hall lobby waiting for two more friends to come over.

They challenged each other.

“I kill the vocals and the bass, and I can actually play,” Alexander said.

“Yeah, you’re pretty good on the real guitar, but I can beat the shit out of you on Rock Band!” Napier said.

A small white sign hangs over the entrance of their room, boasting the handwritten title, “THE MAN CAVE.” T-shirts and flip-flops are scattered on the floor. The walls are an indistinguishable sea of posters of everyone from Bob Marley to Pink Floyd. But The Beatles’ influence is heaviest, with multiple photos of the group and John Lennon and copies of remastered albums, released the same day, on the desk.

On their 1967 hit, “With a Little Help From My Friends,” The Beatles sang, “What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?” All four men playing the game said the song was one of their favorites.

Napier’s friend Daniel King, a Scottsville sophomore, sang “Revolution” first. He sang passionately, though sometimes off-key. His friends bobbed and swayed next to him as the clicks of guitar keys and taps on the drums matched the notes blasting from the TV.

Rock Band, a simulation game combining guitar, bass, drum and vocals, has become a staple in popular culture since its release in 2007.

“It’s good because it’s cross-generational,” said Tony Harkins, director of Popular Culture Studies. “It allows parents and kids to engage and have something in common.”

Harkins has played Rock Band and said he understands why it’s appealing.

“The remaining Beatles are aging, so this was a good way to reach a younger audience and collectively celebrate their work,” he said.

In some cities, pre-orders sold out.

In Bowling Green, there were no long lines at FYE. There was no riot control at Wal-Mart. And there was no midnight release at GameStop.

“We thought people would be busting the doors down,” said Russell Dorris, an assistant manager at Wal-Mart.

But many still agree The Beatles’ fan base is significant, even among the college crowd, 40 years after the band’s last performance.

“Their music never ages,” said Spenser Claiborne, a Scottsville sophomore who took George Harrison’s place on the guitar for the night. “I don’t think we’d have any modern music without them.”