Album charts to see Fab Four's return as Beatles records are reissued

The new CDs are designed to appeal to not only those who want to upgrade their collections, but also potential younger fans whose interest has been sparked by classics from their parents' – or grandparents' – albums, or from bands who have name-dropped their influence.

Some 45 years after the first wave of Beatlemania, the album charts are expected to be swamped with 14 revamped albums by the band by this weekend, while the group is also expected to top the video game charts with the newly developed Beatles Rock Band.

Bookies are already predicting that John, Paul, George and Ringo will top the album charts once again with Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band favourite to be the biggest seller, according to bookmaker William Hill. The next most fancied is Revolver, then Abbey Road.

Online retailer Amazon.co.uk said a box set version of the band's stereo albums – priced at 170 – topped its bestseller list on pre-orders alone.

It is thought to be the most expensive item ever to head the chart.

The sets are being issued in two versions – as well as the stereo mixes of each album, which are being sold boxed or individually, and a collector's box of the band's recordings in mono.

Experts have polished the sound and enhanced the quality of the original recordings which have been processed digitally.

It is the first time the releases have been tweaked since they were first issued on CD in 1987.

And to keep up with changing technological tastes, the band's company Apple Corps has moved into the computer games market for the first time with the release of Beatles Rock Band.

In the Beatles' home city of Liverpool, there was great excitement about the release of the albums and the video game.

Shops located close to venues connected to the Fab Four, including the Cavern Club in Mathew Street and at the Beatles Story Museum, were expecting bumper trade.

Outside the city's main HMV store, which was selling the Rockstar game for 9.99 for the first 99 customers, people started queuing well in advance of the 9.09am opening time.

First in the queue for the game was Liverpool University finance student Daniela Gutierrez, 25, from Mexico City, Mexico.

She said: "My parents were huge Beatles fans and I grew up listening to their music.

"I can't wait to have the Rockstar game and start playing the songs."

Robert Rawlinson, 38, from St Helens, Merseyside, said the remastered albums would bring new joy to songs long familiar to music lovers.

He said: "These are masterpieces of music."

In London, hundreds of fans queued outside HMV on Oxford Street, which was also offering the game for a cut price for the first 99 customers.

Producer Giles Martin, who helped enhance the 1960s classics, said: "We're now at a stage where the experience of the Beatles is now what it should be.

"You can listen to the material in the same way people listened to them in the 60s, if not better.

"It's the single most well-known and beautiful collection of music in the world."

Gennaro Castaldo, of retailer HMV, said: "The combined release of The Beatles Rock Band game and the fully remastered Beatles catalogue on CD is likely to prove one of the cultural highlights of the year."

However, Sir Paul McCartney revealed he has still not played the game and fears he would be hopeless.

In an interview with today's NME, Sir Paul admitted: "I haven't tried it. When you go to a demo they play it and I go 'God, that looks hard'."

Sir Paul said he understood that some purists might not see the point of allowing The Beatles music to be used in the game but thought it would encourage younger fans.

"I started noticing lots of young kids were playing it, and for me the most interesting thing is that it will introduce Beatles music to people who might never have heard it because they game all the time, they don't listen to the radio, they haven't got much of a record collection," he said.

One area which the band is still to enter is the download market. Despite ongoing discussions with computer giant Apple, The Beatles' music is still not available to buy from iTunes which means fans will have to buy the albums, rather than buy songs on a track-by-track basis.

However internet rumours continue to circulate that a deal will soon be completed.