Konami Joins The Battle Of The Bands News

Japanese game publisher Konami has announced Rock Revolution, a rhythm game to join the likes of Harmonix's Rock Band and Activision's Guitar Hero IV. The game is due for release this autumn on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, as well as Nintendo's Wii and DS.

Konami are leading with their drum peripheral on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, which will apparently feature six drum pads and a bass drum pedal. Konami's Vice President of Marketing, Anthony Crouts, is clearly very proud of Rock Revolution's drums:

"Rock Revolution will be the most innovative and realistic rock game to hit the market, that will provide a quality drum peripheral and music that players will appreciate.

"We put the emphasis on the drum kit," Crout continues, "delivering an experience unlike any other."

With Guitar Hero IV boasting two cymbals for the series' first drum kit peripheral, we foresee a drum peripheral Cold War between Activision, Harmonix, and Konami where each publisher tries to outdo the other in drum kit size until they reach the decadent proportions of an Alex Van Halen setup.

While there is also a guitar peripheral for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Rock Revolution (with support for lead guitar and bass formats), there won't be support for vocals in the game. Rock Band currently does offer vocal tracks and Guitar Hero IV is set to add the microphone option later this year.

40 songs will be on the boxed version of Rock Revolution, although gamers will be able to add more through a download service for both Xbox 360 and PS3. However, early reports are suggesting that the initial tracks will be cover versions rather than master recordings.

Both Wii and DS versions of Rock Revolution will not feature additional peripherals. The Wii version opts for the air guitar/drums angle by utilising the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, while the DS game uses the stylus for rhythm gameplay and the handheld console's microphone for some vocal interaction.

Similarly to the Create a Song mode recently revealed for Guitar Hero IV, Rock Revolution's Jam Mode for Xbox 360 and PS3 will allow players to create and record up to eight of their own tracks in the game.

Additional features include two Career modes, online multiplayer (for Xbox 360 and PS3 only), five difficulty settings, and an in-game Overdrive mode similar to the mid-track multiplier sections in other rock rhythm games.