Timstuff
Avenger
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2004
- Messages
- 19,914
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Less than a year ago when this game was announced, many of us were skeptical. How would Rock Revolution hold up against Guitar Hero and Rock Band? Is there room for a third band game franchise, when customers can already pick between the top notch Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Guitar Hero's dozen-plus spinoffs? What was Rock Revolution going to offer that was going to set it apart from the competition? A better track list? More realistic instruments? And then, E3 came along, and we were treated to one of the worst on stage game presentations of the year:
The game has about half the tracks of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, and unlike those games, which use all master recordings, this game uses exclusively cover recordings-- and some of them, like the cover of the Romones' Blitzkreig Bop, are absolutely awful. As if Rock Revolution's drum peripheral wasn't embarassing enough at the E3 demonstration, they even had the nerve to demonstrate the guitar portion of the game using a Guitar Hero 3 controller-- and then proclaim that their game would be "the most realistic rock band game availible." Now you're probably asking yourself "How can they possibly say that? How can they say this piece of crap toy for 5 year olds is a more realistic band experience than Rock Band or Guitar Hero?" Well, Konami apparently knows that their game is crap, which is why they have an ace up their sleeve:
A lawsuit.
See, Konami knows that their game is garbage... In fact, they're not even going to try and hide it, which is why it offers a inferior track list to its competitors, has a stupid looking drum kit, and doesn't even have a karaoke feature. This year, Konami filed a lawsuit against Harmonix and Viacom, stating that they wanted all Rock Band products removed from store shelves, and for Harmonix to pay them a heft sum in damages, because Rock Band is similar to Guitar Freaks (I am not aware of wether or not they are suing Activision over Guitar Hero, too). So their strategy comes down to this: if you can't win the race, kill the other runners. Sure their game is garbage, but if it's the only music game that can legally be sold, then does it really matter? The only way the game was going to sell was going to be if parents were Christmas shopping and both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero 4 were sold out, so why not improve their odds by making sure that nothing is in stock but their game from day one?
So to sum up: Rock Revolution is not bringing anything to the music game genre except for a bogus lawsuit. It's a step backward from Rock Band in almost every way imagineable: it doesn't have a single master recording; the drum peripheral is a giant piece of junk that would be more at home in a daycare center than a game room; it has no sing along mode; and it doesn't have half the amount of songs availible in either of its competitors. Why would anyone want to play this game, let alone buy it? KONAMI DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THEIR OWN GUITAR PERIPHERAL! The game costs $130 and includes only their crappy drum kit-- they made a guitar game, and expect you to play it using one of their competitors' guitars!
I heard someone say "I'm glad this game is coming out, because competition drives the industry forward!" but how does this game contribute anything to the genre? It has nothing to offer that its competitors don't already do better, so that means that is is not contributing to the competition. Even the price is worse! It's nipping at the scraps that fall from the table of two superior franchises, and will only leave a few thousand little Jimmies crying on Christmas morning when their parents buy it for them by mistake.
The game has about half the tracks of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, and unlike those games, which use all master recordings, this game uses exclusively cover recordings-- and some of them, like the cover of the Romones' Blitzkreig Bop, are absolutely awful. As if Rock Revolution's drum peripheral wasn't embarassing enough at the E3 demonstration, they even had the nerve to demonstrate the guitar portion of the game using a Guitar Hero 3 controller-- and then proclaim that their game would be "the most realistic rock band game availible." Now you're probably asking yourself "How can they possibly say that? How can they say this piece of crap toy for 5 year olds is a more realistic band experience than Rock Band or Guitar Hero?" Well, Konami apparently knows that their game is crap, which is why they have an ace up their sleeve:
A lawsuit.
See, Konami knows that their game is garbage... In fact, they're not even going to try and hide it, which is why it offers a inferior track list to its competitors, has a stupid looking drum kit, and doesn't even have a karaoke feature. This year, Konami filed a lawsuit against Harmonix and Viacom, stating that they wanted all Rock Band products removed from store shelves, and for Harmonix to pay them a heft sum in damages, because Rock Band is similar to Guitar Freaks (I am not aware of wether or not they are suing Activision over Guitar Hero, too). So their strategy comes down to this: if you can't win the race, kill the other runners. Sure their game is garbage, but if it's the only music game that can legally be sold, then does it really matter? The only way the game was going to sell was going to be if parents were Christmas shopping and both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero 4 were sold out, so why not improve their odds by making sure that nothing is in stock but their game from day one?
So to sum up: Rock Revolution is not bringing anything to the music game genre except for a bogus lawsuit. It's a step backward from Rock Band in almost every way imagineable: it doesn't have a single master recording; the drum peripheral is a giant piece of junk that would be more at home in a daycare center than a game room; it has no sing along mode; and it doesn't have half the amount of songs availible in either of its competitors. Why would anyone want to play this game, let alone buy it? KONAMI DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THEIR OWN GUITAR PERIPHERAL! The game costs $130 and includes only their crappy drum kit-- they made a guitar game, and expect you to play it using one of their competitors' guitars!
I heard someone say "I'm glad this game is coming out, because competition drives the industry forward!" but how does this game contribute anything to the genre? It has nothing to offer that its competitors don't already do better, so that means that is is not contributing to the competition. Even the price is worse! It's nipping at the scraps that fall from the table of two superior franchises, and will only leave a few thousand little Jimmies crying on Christmas morning when their parents buy it for them by mistake.
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