These are strange days for the recording industry. With new albums from a number of top artists being illegally downloaded at alarming clips, a new chart battle is taking place on another battleground entirely -- video games. Billboard reports that 'The Beatles: Rock Band' is an arm's length ahead of 'Guitar Hero 5,' with 595,000 units sold versus 499,000, respectively. The Beatles-centric game was released on Sept. 9, nine days after 'GH5,' to massive fanfare that seemed to virtually recreate Beatlemania.

As for the larger video game market, these two releases ranked third and fourth overall last month. Still, the Beatles game was able to bring in more profit than better-selling titles due to its price points and packaging configurations, as one version of the game sold for $250 and included replicas of the Beatles' instruments. What this means for the crippled recording industry is that where the CD might fall, the video game could rise.

Additional Beatles tracks are being rolled out for 'The Beatles: Rock Band' -- including the full 'Abbey Road' album today -- while new games such as 'DJ Hero' and 'Band Hero' continue to hit the market. Strange days, indeed.