When Guitar Hero first appeared on the market, some hardcore gamers accused it of ripping off Konami’s guitar-peripheral-based rhythm series Guitar Freaks. Many of those same detractors cried foul again with the emergence of Rock Band, which featured a drum kit eerily reminiscent of that used with another Konami game, DrumMania. However, such criticism didn’t stop the Guitar Hero franchise from generating over $1 billion and Rock Band moving 3 million units and 10 million song downloads. Now, nearly 10 years after the first Guitar Freaks game hit the market, Konami is getting back into the instrument-game act. Two years after it trademarked “Guitar Revolution,” the publisher of Karaoke Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution will release Rock Revolution on DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The PS3 and 360 editions of Rock Revolution sound much like Rock Band, as it will sport a guitar peripheral and a “realistic” drum kit designed by real musicians. The game will come with 40 tracks on it, with more being offered via the Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store. Konami promised the game would encompass “a broad range of music styles.” Some songs already known are: Twisted Sister (”We’re Not Gonna Take It”), Motley Crue (”Dr. Feelgood”), Quiet Riot (”Cum On Feel the Noize”), and even Avril Lavigne (”Sk8er Boi”). Some selections, such as The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” and Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” are already featured in Rock Band. Unlike Rock Band and later Guitar Heros, all songs in Rock Revolution will be cover versions. Rock Revolution will also sport a variety of features similar to those included in the upcoming Guitar Hero 4 (see below). It will feature a virtual music studio, which lets players create songs that include up to eight tracks, as well as a “jam mode” that will let users experiment with and record free-form performances on the fly. Besides a career mode, the game will offer online and offline versus, Co-op and Band Battle multiplayer modes, as well as a variety of venues and characters. Rather than Rock Band or Guitar Hero, the Wii version of Rock Revolution sounds more like Sega’s upcoming Samba de Amigo. Instead of instruments, it will use the Wii Remote to offer “an air-drum and air-guitar experience,” letting players use motion to have their characters perform scissor kicks, smash their guitars, or light their instruments on fire. It will have the same modes and recording options as the PS3/360 edition, but will not support vocals. Last but not least, the DS Rock Revolution will use stylus gestures for “rhythm matching” to allow players to play drums, bass, or guitar. Konami says the game will also have a “vocal” option, but its control scheme is unclear. The game will have more than 20 songs and will support a variety of modes, including single-player Career and wireless multiplayer Co-op and Battle mode.

Earlier this week, rumors surfaced that the the June issue of Game Informer would be jam-packed with details of Activision’s Guitar Hero 4, due out this fall. That issue has since arrived in subscribers’ mailboxes, confirming the accuracy of the original post and providing more details on developer Neversoft’s second crack at the rhythm gaming franchise. As initially revealed by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in a recent interview, Guitar Hero 4 will add drums and vocals a la Rock Band. Game Informer’s feature includes a shot of the referenced drum kit, which includes three pads, two elevated cymbals, and a pedal (as opposed to Rock Band’s four pads and a pedal). For those keeping track, that means the Guitar Hero 4 kit has one extra input than the Rock Band equivalent, raising compatibility questions for the two series’ instruments yet again. The developer is going wireless with Guitar Hero 4’s drum pads, and will be making them pressure-sensitive so the game can tell if players are wailing on the drums or meekly tapping them. The details in Game Informer also clear up the mystery surrounding the “innovation” which Activision promised was coming to the Guitar Hero series in a recent earnings report conference call. The article outlines the game’s studio mode, which will give users a variety of ways to create their own songs. Players will be able to jam along with one of the game’s existing tracks, record songs as they’re played, or meticulously detail note charts. As rumored, the game will also allow users to share the songs they create. Players will initially only be able to upload five songs for others to enjoy, but if those tracks are rated highly by other users, the creators might “get signed,” raising the cap to 10 songs or more.

Ask any marketing exec, and they’ll say viral marketing is the Holy Grail for generating buzz around a product. Seeding word-of-mouth buzz isn’t a particularly easy feat, but the Google owned video sharing site YouTube has proven to be fertile ground. As indicated in a report by Japanese business news daily Nikkei Net (subscription required), Sony may be looking to cash in on the viral effect with its latest addition to the PlayStation 3’s feature set. Sony Computer Entertainment announced today in Japan that YouTube video uploads could now be integrated into PlayStation 3 games, “a first for home game systems,” according to Nikkei. The first title to make use of the functionality will be Japanese PlayStation Network title Mainichi Issho, according to the report. Based on Sony Japan’s Toro franchise, Mainiche Issho is a free-to-download casual game, and players will be able to record the in-game action for posting on YouTube. A Sony representative has confirmed the YouTube integration is now available in all regions. As noted by Nikkei, SCE is handing out the development software to various studios, and it’s up to individual developers to decide whether to offer it in their games,” according to the Sony representative. YouTube’s API blog has more information on the deal.