Witness the on-stage Rock Revolution press conference failure

94 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Jul 21st 2008 3:20PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm, Business

Embarrassing on-stage moments were at a minimum this E3 -- especially compared to last year's Disney and Activision debacles -- but there was one shining moment of facepalm during the Konami press conference.

After rocking out on stage and playing real bass to The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" with a cover band, Lauren Faccidomo – senior product manager on Konami's Rock Revolution – proceeded to fail out of the very same song in Rock Revolution. It very well may have been one of the worst compare/contrast press conference ideas ever conceived -- not to mention, Rock Revolution looks like it drunkenly stumbled in from 2003. Check out the oopsie after the break.

Tags: e3-2008, embarrassing, Konami, Lauren-Faccidomo, Rock-Revolution

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Wise Guy: Jul 21st 2008; 3:28PM

This game is going to be a liability to Konami! IT LOOKS HORRIBLE!!! What were they thinking? How are they going to get any artists on board???

Erik: Jul 21st 2008; 5:59PM

I know, It looks like some homebrew Guitar Hero.

Hafk: Jul 21st 2008; 4:02PM

And they have Pull me Under by Dream Theater.

But it is a cover, so they will ruin LaBrie's amazing vocals and the song will be worthless.

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING GIVES NO MEANING TO IT ALL IF NOT TODAY NOR YET TOMORROW THEN SOME OTHER DAY!

*jams out*

Tom18230: Jul 21st 2008; 4:10PM

They're covering Pull me Under? This game will slaughter it and ruin the great name that is Dream Theater!

Hafk: Jul 21st 2008; 4:14PM

What I meant was, I am suprised that they actually went and got Dream Theater for this game, considering the people who would most likely buy this are confused grandparents.

Also, The whole band is amazing too. I just singled out LaBrie because vocals are the hardest thing to cover. I love all those songs on Images and Words. LaBrie was flawless back then. I am glad his voice is getting better, though.

Just saying this stuff so people don't get mad at me and whatever.

Hafk: Jul 21st 2008; 4:18PM

Yeah, I feel bad for Dream Theater.

What Rock Revolution is doing to slaughter DT, Rock Band is doing to save DT. Panic Attack is going to rock. I hope Guitar Hero also gets a DT song too. (it was hinted in the GI article a month or so ago.)

I think the Rock-rhythm genre is much like where fighting games were in the early 90s. Neversoft and Harmonix are the next Capcom and SNK.

Cian: Jul 21st 2008; 5:22PM

I can see it now Rock Band VS Guitar Hero 2 EX

...

Sorry.

Tiptup300: Jul 21st 2008; 10:47PM

I think the main downfall of these series is the interface which looks like foot.

unrelated: Jul 21st 2008; 3:29PM

So hard to watch.
It's like that kid on your block that's so proud that he got his new bike, but by this time all of his friends have moved on to cars. And he tries his best to show off and do some tricks but instead he ends up in a bloody pile on the ground.

Dave: Jul 21st 2008; 3:29PM

Amazing... this will literally sell 5,000 copies nationwide.

copa: Jul 21st 2008; 4:23PM

Maybe in the nation of Japan. This game will never be released in North America.

They are clearly investing the minimal amount of cash necessary to get a 'working' product (Clues: a senior product manager that is not familiar with the game. An all-cover setlist. No vocals. No drum fills. A 2-D interface that can be mocked up on a workstation in an afternoon.)

They feel this gives them extra leverage in their lawsuit against Harmonix. They will claim the only reason Rock Revolution didn't gross a hundred million dollars is because Harmonix stole their idea of hitting pads with a stick.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo): Jul 21st 2008; 3:31PM

HOLY SHIT!! LEATHER JACKETS!!! THESE GUYS LOOKS SO FUCKING HARDCORE!!!

Roofie: Jul 21st 2008; 3:32PM

Too bad they didn't have that "no fail" option turned on.

[.sm0ke.]: Jul 21st 2008; 4:31PM

I'd wager they forgot to calibrate lag before the conference. There's no way they'd let her on stage if she couldn't pass it.

Dan: Jul 21st 2008; 6:11PM

They would of had to turn the game off.

Kyouryuu: Jul 21st 2008; 11:57PM

Assuming that the five notes at the bottom of the board work as they do in Guitar Hero, it's not lag. She was hitting the wrong buttons. In particular, holding the Orange button every time those long chords came up. XD

Supino: Jul 21st 2008; 3:34PM

haha, ouch! this game looks horrible compared to the alternatives.

and with a demo like that -

andyg8180: Jul 21st 2008; 3:34PM

i think i pee'd a little... But admit it, we all want to see someone fail at an E3 demo!! lol It just so happened to be that poor old sap haha

Ed: Jul 21st 2008; 3:35PM

Horrible as in DrumMania? Sure, the graphical interface is out of date, but the gameplay is clearly paying homage to a fantastic (and innovative) rhythm game.

Rock Revolution appears to be aimed at the hardcore with its DDR-esque scrolling style (maybe Speed Mods) and complex drum kit. Right now though, it's getting about as much publicity as Shaun White Snowboarding.

DeadPlasmaCell: Jul 21st 2008; 3:35PM

Ouch.. Why would they even do that?? Knowing she couldn't play the thing and this was their big chance to "Sell" it?

DeadPlasmaCell: Jul 21st 2008; 3:39PM

Also, she never had more than 2 notes to hit at a time and all of them were just repeats! You really couldn't figure out the pattern after the 3rd or 4th time!? How is she the Sr. Product Manager on a rhythm game and can't even play one??

Dick: Jul 21st 2008; 5:08PM

I want Candy,
Bubblegum and Taffy...

andyg8180: Jul 21st 2008; 3:35PM

and as Nelson from the simpsons would say:

HAA HAAA!

emirabal: Jul 21st 2008; 3:55PM

Exactly, my thought

Mr.ESC: Jul 21st 2008; 3:35PM

:/

So Rock Band 2 is coming this fall right?

Sora: Jul 21st 2008; 3:46PM

Whenever I slap my sick onto a real instrument, I'm regarded as a virtuoso.

baby sea tuna: Jul 21st 2008; 3:59PM

I think you meant "dick"...or maybe even stick. Either way, maybe you should try typing with your fingers next time instead of just slapping your sick [sic] on the keyboard.

Mr.ESC: Jul 21st 2008; 4:10PM

Wow you can do all those things with your Dick? Wow Sora is like I want to see it but then I totally don't want to.

Well I'm glad quadruple amputees can still use the internet but how do you use your mouse? Wait I don't want to know.

xGeneral DEATHx: Jul 21st 2008; 4:55PM

BST receives the "Win-Filled Comment of the Day" award.

AoE: Jul 21st 2008; 5:59PM

@Mr.ESC,

No he said slap his sick onto it... he's the world's first vomit virtuoso. Think Linda Blair... but with a guitar.

McWeen: Jul 21st 2008; 3:35PM

You should be able to play better than that just slapping your dick on the controller.

The_Punisher: Jul 21st 2008; 3:43PM

Are you saying there are no girls here? FEMINIST PIG!

McWeen: Jul 21st 2008; 3:47PM

Mmm no. I was suggesting that patternless slapping would sound better than what she played and was trying to spry up my statement but inserting a penis joke because penises are ALWAYS funny.

GoldenS1104: Jul 21st 2008; 4:05PM

+1 to The_Punisher for using the term femminist in the exact opposite way in which it is supposed to be used.

Bauer22: Jul 21st 2008; 3:37PM

And I thought watching the Wii Lady snowboard and throw Frisbees are dogs was bad....

ScottG13: Jul 21st 2008; 3:44PM

Awwww... I felt a little bad for her. A little. Small bit. Teeny bit. Its not her fault Konami dropped the ball on this 5 years ago when Guitar Hero was in its formative times in the States.

Dick: Jul 21st 2008; 5:10PM

IDk dude, I'm NO good at Sports games, but if I had to do a demo at E3, something tells me I would have asked for a beta, a demo, a take home version, whatever.

Just so I didn't look like a chode.

ScottG13: Jul 21st 2008; 5:34PM

God mode, maybe?

psyborg: Jul 21st 2008; 11:56PM

I feel really bad for her too. Clearly it was uncalibrated lag, shes the project manager so shes played the game before.

Giroro: Jul 22nd 2008; 6:07AM

It totally wasn't lag, she was hitting Yellow/Oj instead of red/blue. That's not lag, she just sucks.

They should have just rigged up a bot to the controller to play it perfectly...

Or, since we are copying ideas here, they should have hired a Guitar hero champion to play a small section of notes from an easy song, and then also have hired Slash to come out and play it for real for about 10 seconds... ... ... ... I think M$ did something like that at some point... ... ...

sohcahtoa: Jul 21st 2008; 3:45PM

OMG!!! I am not even gonna go into how shes playing! But is that a cover band of the Ramones in game?! Cuz i swear to god i heard a very heavy english accent singing it!

Ramones was renown for being a New York Punk band and while on the other side of the pond they had Sex Pistol and the Clashes as their Punks... Why didnt they use an American cover band >.>

Giroro: Jul 22nd 2008; 6:10AM

They sounded Australian to me XD

Saria the Cat: Jul 21st 2008; 3:45PM

Wow, that was embarrassing. Her performance basically admitted that the game was either too faulty to hit the notes or too boring to actually play enough times to become competent at it.

Viridium: Jul 21st 2008; 9:02PM

Didn't help that they were playing to some crap-ass cover of Blizkrieg Bop.

aristokrat: Jul 21st 2008; 3:45PM

They should have had some guitar-syncing. Maybe Konami should bring Ashlee Simpson in as a media relations advisor...

Doom3killer: Jul 21st 2008; 3:45PM

"Maybe they should have gotten someone else to play it"

-Yup, they really should have...

Vader582: Jul 21st 2008; 3:49PM

Yeah I'll be buying this...when it goes to clearance.

MV: Jul 21st 2008; 3:50PM

They should've never hired Monica Lewinsky to demo that game in the first place. :P

Jess Q.: Jul 22nd 2008; 12:02AM

eye. roll.

Ben: Jul 21st 2008; 3:53PM

Ouch, Rock Band this game is not

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