MTV: Green Day's more familiar to "the core" than The Beatles

MTV Games GM Scott Gutherie has said that the Rock Band core audience is more familiar with Green Day than The Beatles.

Speaking with MCV, Guthrie said sales of Beatles: Rock Band were not as high as the team has hoped, and it's expecting Green Day to fare better with 16-34 year-olds.

"We were pleased with the performance of Beatles: Rock Band but we were expecting higher sales,” he said. "Our core audience of 16 to 34-year-old males are much more familiar with Green Day music than The Beatles.

"This isn’t a band that has been around for a short period – they’ve been going 21 years. They have a great history. It is in fact a much wider audience than some people might give them credit for. Green Day probably has a much higher awareness than perhaps The Beatles did."

The Green Day game will be compatible with Rock Band's existing music library, and you can also export the tracks your PS3 or 360 hard drive to use with other Rock Band games - which you couldn't do with the Beatles.

Green Day: Rock Band's out worldwide for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 on June 8, and Rock Band 3 will be getting its first public viewing at E3.