The 45-song game sells for about $60 while the premium bundle - including replica plastic guitars, drums and microphones - was expected to be popular despite its $250 price tag.

Video-game analyst Jesse Divnich reckoned the game would sell about 1.7 million copies by the end of the year - generating a hefty payback for a catalogue of songs more than 40 years old. With record sales slumping from $12 billion in 2001 to $5 billion last year, the music industry desperately needs new revenue streams.

Divnich doubted that many youngsters would flock to the game, but judging from the standing ovation Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr received at the E3 videogame conference when they announced the game last year, that assumption might not be accurate.

Further bolstering the game's appeal, reviews have been approaching rave levels both on hardcore gamer sites and in general-interest newspapers.

'This game is a love letter to the legend and music of The Beatles,' crowed a reviewer at Ars Technica, an ubergeek site. 'Get ready for a great experience that captures, encapsulates and recontextualizes a huge part of our collective popular culture.'

Many stores are upping staffing levels in advance of the expected rush, including Best Buy, the biggest electronics retailer in the US.

'For the next few weeks it's all Beatles,' said Jason Levi, a worker at a Best Buy store in San Jose, California. 'It's The Beatles for our generation.'

Economics student Noah Riley said: 'I am totally waiting for this game. It takes the music game genre to another level of fun.'

His father, Tom, an engineer, said that he, too, is looking forward to trying it with his kids.

'I've been buying them games for 20 years now,' he said. 'Finally, this is one that I'm looking forward to playing.'