Video Of Konami's Rock Revolution Press Conference Cringe-off

Senior brand manager Lauren Faccidomo may be a capable bass player in the all-female Ramones cover band The Sheenas, but her performance on her own company's "band" game, Rock Revolution, is... awkward. Faccidomo is most likely very thankful that her Rock Revolution misfire was comfortably nestled within dozens of exciting Konami announcements and that this particular embarrassment was quickly forgotten about.

Sorry, what's that? This is how Konami wrapped up its press conference at E3? Oh. Oh my. Lauren, I have Jaime Kennedy's phone number if you need someone to help you through this rough patch.

Rock Revolution: The Rubber Drum Brigade

Konami, Konami...you have to try harder than this. With one major publisher already in and another getting ready to storm the rhythm band genre with drum sets that look like...well, drum sets, the best you can come up with is a rubber set with oddly shaped heads that resemble the old board game Perfection? The saddest thing about Rock Revolution is that if it had come out before the likes of Rock Band I would have absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the game company that pioneered the plastic instrument video game instead comes off like a second-hand copy.

MTV Calls Konami's Rock Band Lawsuit "Surprising", "Baseless Litigation"

Last night, word broke that Konami, publisher and developer of trailblazing rhythm games Guitar Freaks and Drummania, was suing Harmonix. The Japanese company claimed that the developer of Rock Band was in violation of three patents held by Konami, seeking damages (read: cash) and demanding that Harmonix and parent company Viacom cease the use of its inventions (read: more cash).

MTV News received a response from an MTV spokesperson on the matter — which, in my mind, was shouted across cubicles — who said the lawsuit was "extremely surprising." The rep further noted that "successful products such as 'Rock Band' can often become targets for baseless litigation." We agree, especially when the entity filing suit is showing up extremely late to the party with its own stillborn excuse for a rock game. At least those poor unfortunate litigation lawyers will finally get a few bucks coming to 'em.

Further details on the suit at MTV News.

'Rock Band' Creators Sued By 'Rock Revolution' Publisher Konami [MTV News]

Dance Dance Revolution X In Silhouette

On November 21st, Konami's Dance Dance Revolution will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Can you believe it? It's been ten years since DDR stormed arcades and home consoles. This year, it seems Konami is releasing Dance Dance Revolution X on the PS2 and in arcades as well it seems. As both commenter Riyu and arcade site Arcade Renaissance points out, the teaser page shows a somewhat different cabinet design. Nothing's really been announced by Konami, so sit tight for more details.

DanceDanceRevolution X [Konami Thanks, Riyu!]

Way back in 1991, PC publisher Microprose released Sid Meier's Civilization, and some fans still haven't slept since. The game is widely considered to be one of the greatest PC games of all time. Now with three sequels plus expansions for each, multiple ports, and even a rather fine board game under the series' belt, 2K and Firaxis are taking the franchise where no original Civ title has gone before - the console. Shoddy PC to console ports aside, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution is the first game in the series to be built from the ground up with game consoles in mind.

Will this new direction bring all-night Civ sessions to the console crowd, or should it be put to bed early? Get the verdict from the reviewing public, after the jump.

We've got a winner! Reader Christopher G. is the two hundredth and thirty-second entry in our Civilization Revolution contest, bagging a copy of the game. So, Christopher G. shoot us an email at tipsATkotakuDOTdom to claim your loot. Everyone else, thank you for playing and hit the jump for Christopher G's answers:

Win A Copy of Civilization Revolution

Konami: All Music Game Instruments Should Be Compatible

My frizzy-haired colleague Patrick Klepek may be hanging out with his brother on the Warped Tour right now, but he also managed to break down the competition between all the major music-based video games for MTV News today. It's always a tricky topic for us because some people assume we're biased. Trust me, we steer clear of insider info.

Klepek reports that Konami, makers of the upcoming Rock Revolution do not believe in proprietary peripherals.

"Compatibility is a big issue for music games," Konami Digital Entertainment associate producer Keith Matejka told MTV News. "Peripherals are expensive for the user and they are expensive to produce. The existing peripherals all deliver only a slightly different gameplay experience. Different teams have varying perspectives on what should be compatible with each game. I think all guitar- and drum-based games need to be compatible with each other to some level."

More Klepek goodness at the link, including some counter-arguments about why compatibility doesn't make sense for the big publishers.

Side note: He reported in just to me that they don't have real showers on the Warped Tour. Whoops! Now, I guess he's reported that to all of you as well.

'Rock Band'/ 'Guitar Hero' Rivalry Heats Up, Draws Third Competitor [The place that pays my bills]

Trying to shoehorn an RTS like Command & Conquer onto a console is one thing, but Civilization? The fanciest bottle of good booze on PC strategy gaming's top shelf? It's an impossible task, some will say. Or one that even if it is possible, just shouldn't be done. Under any circumstances. Lest the ensuing offspring (see Civ II on the PS1) be such a crime of nature, such an abomination, that the good Lord himself descend from the heavens and strike down all involved in its creation.

That's what die-hard, myopic fans of the PC series will tell you, at any rate. And as one of those myself - having lost what must be thousands of hours to the series over the years – when a copy of Civilization Revolution for the PlayStation 3 turned up at my door, I greeted it with not just a signature, but a healthy dose of scepticism.

Zoë Mode Revealed As Rock Revolution Dev

Konami's answer to Rock Band - Rock Revolution - is being developed by a playful blonde girl sticking out her tongue. Brighton's Zoë Mode studio have been announced as the developers behind the latest ensemble rhythm game, set to go up against Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour in an all-out battle for the space in your living room reserved for plastic instruments.

Formerly Kuju Brighton, Zoë Mode has been responsible for several rhythm-action games over the past few years, including Dancing with the Stars and Singstar, in collaboration with Sony London Studio. The cheeky blonde's official website also indicates that they are working on five unannounced music and party games on top of Konami's Rock Revolution. That's one busy cute blonde right there.

Zoë Mode to develop Rock Revolution [GI.biz]

The promised demo of Battlefield : Bad Company is now live on Xbox Live, alongside a demo of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, giving gamers a lovely choice between creating and destroying. The Bad Company demo comes in both single and multiplayer flavors, with the single player giving you a taste of story-driven sandbox gameplay, while the multiplayer portion lets the more competitive among us battle it out in the objective based Gold Rush mode of the game.

The Civilization Revolution demo also contains both multiplayer and single player gameplay, and while I am no expert I am going to go out on a limb and say there is some civilization building going on.

Both demos weigh in on the hefty side, with Battlefield at 1.5 GB and Civ at a slightly more modest 1.25 GB. Enjoy!

Demo: Battlefield: Bad Company [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]
Demo Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution [Same Guy]

Hey, You Get A Civilization Revolution Demo This Week

And for once, it's a demo I'm genuinely looking forward to. No, really! I've still no idea how this is actually going to play. The PC version of Civ, I can see it in my sleep, but the nuts and bolts of a console version intrigue me. And a ton of other people, which is probably why 2K have announced that they'll be releasing the demo on both PS3 and 360 this Thursday. The 360 version will roll out globally, while the PS3 one is North America-only for the moment.

Civ Revolution demo upends XBLA, PSN [GameSpot]

Tucked into Boing Boing's look at the timeline of fitness gaming controls is something called the "Atari Puffer." It went unreleased because of the video game crash, but it sounds like, well, a blocky game representation of off-camera work in the porn industry. It actually was some kind of exercise bike you plugged into the 2600.

Dance Dance Revolution is celebrating ten years of people making dancing fools of themselves in public with the launch of three new DDR titles, each for a different console. Dance Dance Revolution X for the PS2, Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 for the Xbox 360 and Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 for Wii are all expected to launch in fall of this year and will provide DDR aficionados with even more songs to with which to get funky fresh on the dance pad.

If you are a PS2 owner you'll be able to link up to four PS2 up with LAN cables and provide a dance party for up to eight people. With that kind of set up you better have a huge living room and no neighbors if you wish to avoid arrest for disturbing the peace. You can also plug in your EyeToy camera and become part of the game.

Xbox 360 players will be treated to sixty five songs, Xbox LIVE compatibility and the ability to customize their own dancer. Also included are two new modes; DJ Mode where you can create your own tracks and set lists and City Mode where you can compete against various bosses to rule the dance floor.

Wii owners will get four player multiplayer, Wii remote and nunchuck support, new modes and an all new soundtrack. The new modes consist of the Dance n' Defend Battle Mode, a head to head dance off using the Wii remote, Course Mode and Groove Arena Mode. You'll also be able to use your Mii in the game!

Make the jump to check out the full press release and all the swinging details!

Seems like everyone is jumping on the music rhythm game bandwagon these days and seeing as Konami was somewhat instrumental in starting the whole genre it makes sense that the would come out with their own answer to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. That answer is Rock Revolution. Rock Revolution is mainly centered around the drumming although there will be guitar and bass available as well. There were no guitars in evidence but they were keen to show off their drum kit which features a total of six drum pads and a pedal. They also made sure to show us how quiet the pads themselves were so we could avoid the problem of "annoying family and neighbors with the constant tapping. I'm sure I have NO idea what they were referring to with that...

Colbert V Rain: DDR

Colbert is many things, but a graciously loser isn't one of them. After going off on Miyamoto for swiping the top spot in Time's 100 most influential people list (and calling Donkey Kong a game about hate crime), he settles on the person he's rally mad at. No, not himself: RAIN!!!

Hit up the jump to catch Colbert breaking it down, as the kids say, in a head-to-head dance-off with adorable Korean pop singer on Dance Dance Revolution.

Sid Meier Appearing At New York Comic Con