Rock Revolution is the newest foray in to the world of peripheral gaming. With the market dominated by Guitar Hero and the soon to be released (worldwide) Rock Band, Japanese publisher Konami are out to prove that they started this new trend in gaming over ten years ago, and hey intend to reclaim their crown. 

Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania were the two games released by Konomi a long time back, many of the hardcore gamers believed that Guitar Hero and Rock Band directly ripped off the style and turned it in to a multi-million buck business – Guitar Hero’s made over $1bn and Rock band has sold over 3 million units and 10 million song downloads. 

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.”  

The game is set to feature tracks from Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot and Avril Lavigne. Unlike Rock Band and later Guitar Hero’s, 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. 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.  

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