Karaoke Revolution

DDR motivated idle Americans; now Karaoke Revolution wants to create American Idols.

Vocal Forecast
Dance Dance Revolution was aptly named?the game that made you get up off the couch and move your feet caused a sensation and expanded the boundaries of what a video game could be. Now, the music-based Bemani series charges further forward with Karaoke Revolution, which hopes to turn idle Americans into American Idols.

The setup is fairly straightforward: You are a singer, one of eight predetermined characters until you unlock some secret special guests. Therefore, you sing, starting at a friend?s party, working your way up to local clubs, a TV show with lots of oval screens (hmmm), and ultimately the Enormobowl. The accuracy of your singing counts?if you match the pitch and timing of the words and notes, you?ll please the crowd, earn bonus multipliers, and get the chance to play bigger venues as you move on. If you flub too many notes or can?t hold them long enough, the room lets you know, and you?ll be off the stage quicker than you can say Milli Vanilli. The beta version worked extremely well and recognized when voices shifted up or down an octave. If competition isn?t your thing, there?s a regular karaoke mode with full-screen lyrics where you can warble with your friends.

Rock the (Headset) Mic
Naturally, this isn?t a game you?ll enjoy with just a gamepad; plug in any PS2 USB headset (Logitech?s SOCOM gear and Datel?s TalkNet both work fine), and you?re good to go. At press time, the song list was still being assembled, but the final game will ship with 35 tracks made famous by artists like Barenaked Ladies, Norah Jones, Hoobastank, REM, Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, Michelle Branch, Madonna, and even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (though, as with real karaoke discs, they?re close remakes, not the original versions). What?s more, Konami has plans for expansion discs. With Harmonix (developer of Frequency and Amplitude) at the helm, Karaoke Revolution looks destined to hit all the high notes.

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