The Sounds and Faces of American Idol
The AI-branded Karaoke Revolution game, of course, and there's plenty of both.
Published: August 23, 2006
The marriage of the most watched TV show in America with one of Konami's bigger surprise hit series is one of those things you sort of slap your forehead out of sheer "duuurrr" factor. It's not only a logical move -- particularly given that Konami already hooked up with CMT, the country music station run by the same folks behind MTV, for their last branded Karaoke Revolution outing.
But this time around, it's more than just fitting songs and slapping a logo on the box. Konami's deal with Fremantle Media for the American Idol license goes far deeper. In addition to featuring the kinds of songs that are popular on the show, they've gone one step further and fetched the faces and voices (thousands of lines of dialogue, actually) from Idol judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson (they're still working on Paula). Given that the in-game judges now critique performances' specific ups and downs, this seems rather fitting.
"Over the years American Idol has produced some amazingly talented singers, but let's be honest most of the people who turn up for the auditions are useless," began Simon Cowell. "For anyone who wants to know what it's like to audition in front of me, now you're about to find out. This game is a great representation of American Idol.”
“The number one show on television and the top karaoke video game around – wow, this is going to be big time!” screamed Randy Jackson. “It’s amazing what Konami has accomplished in making this game look and feel like the TV show.”
“Our goal with Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol is to deliver the experience of being a contestant on the television program. Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson have become synonymous with the show and having them as part of this game adds one more layer of authenticity,” glowed Konami Product Manager Matt Knoles. “Cowell’s and Jackson’s presence goes beyond just their likenesses. With the addition of our groundbreaking AI, their personality will really be felt in the game as they critique specific parts of a player’s performance.”
All of the previous games in the series were created by Amplitude and FreQuency developers Harmonix Music Systems, but when they opted to craft the amazing Guitar Hero using the basic construct of their original music action games, it was likely seen as a bit of an affront to Konami's own Guitar Freaks music games. We're not sure if that was the only reason why Konami handed the development reins to Blitz Games, but it couldn't have helped things.
It seems most won't notice any differences; there's still EyeToy support for putting your face in the game, the interface is identical, and from what we saw during our time with the game at Konami's BBQ event here in San Francisco, it just feels like a fairly seamless transition. The game borrows from AI's entry process and eliminations for the single-player game, but there is the normal Party Mode for just jumping into things. Of course, there is the matter of the song list, which we managed to pilfer just for you. Behold:
All My Life
Alone
(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me
Be Without You
Breakaway
Build Me Up Buttercup
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Dilemma
Do I Make You Proud
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me
Don’t You Want Me
Easy
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Flying Without Wings
Heartbreaker
Heaven
Hungry Like The Wolf
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
It’s Not Unusual
Just The Way You Are
Let’s Stay Together
Love Will Keep Us Together
More Than Words
Photograph
Piano Man
Proud Mary Rock With You
Saving All My Love ForYou
She Bangs
Stand By Me
Stickwitu
Straight Up
Sugar, We’re Going Down
The Real Thing
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Unwritten
What A Girl Wants
You And Me
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling
As with previous games, these are covers of popular songs, but that likely won't stop anyone from belting out horribly off-key versions of them with a little liquid courage all the same. And of course, we'll make sure we bring you any updates to things as soon as we hear about them. For now, though, dig into some new screens and count the days till November when you'll be able to finally become an American Idol contestant -- at least at home.
But this time around, it's more than just fitting songs and slapping a logo on the box. Konami's deal with Fremantle Media for the American Idol license goes far deeper. In addition to featuring the kinds of songs that are popular on the show, they've gone one step further and fetched the faces and voices (thousands of lines of dialogue, actually) from Idol judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson (they're still working on Paula). Given that the in-game judges now critique performances' specific ups and downs, this seems rather fitting.
"Over the years American Idol has produced some amazingly talented singers, but let's be honest most of the people who turn up for the auditions are useless," began Simon Cowell. "For anyone who wants to know what it's like to audition in front of me, now you're about to find out. This game is a great representation of American Idol.”
“The number one show on television and the top karaoke video game around – wow, this is going to be big time!” screamed Randy Jackson. “It’s amazing what Konami has accomplished in making this game look and feel like the TV show.”
“Our goal with Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol is to deliver the experience of being a contestant on the television program. Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson have become synonymous with the show and having them as part of this game adds one more layer of authenticity,” glowed Konami Product Manager Matt Knoles. “Cowell’s and Jackson’s presence goes beyond just their likenesses. With the addition of our groundbreaking AI, their personality will really be felt in the game as they critique specific parts of a player’s performance.”
All of the previous games in the series were created by Amplitude and FreQuency developers Harmonix Music Systems, but when they opted to craft the amazing Guitar Hero using the basic construct of their original music action games, it was likely seen as a bit of an affront to Konami's own Guitar Freaks music games. We're not sure if that was the only reason why Konami handed the development reins to Blitz Games, but it couldn't have helped things.
It seems most won't notice any differences; there's still EyeToy support for putting your face in the game, the interface is identical, and from what we saw during our time with the game at Konami's BBQ event here in San Francisco, it just feels like a fairly seamless transition. The game borrows from AI's entry process and eliminations for the single-player game, but there is the normal Party Mode for just jumping into things. Of course, there is the matter of the song list, which we managed to pilfer just for you. Behold:
All My Life
Alone
(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me
Be Without You
Breakaway
Build Me Up Buttercup
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Dilemma
Do I Make You Proud
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me
Don’t You Want Me
Easy
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Flying Without Wings
Heartbreaker
Heaven
Hungry Like The Wolf
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
It’s Not Unusual
Just The Way You Are
Let’s Stay Together
Love Will Keep Us Together
More Than Words
Photograph
Piano Man
Proud Mary Rock With You
Saving All My Love ForYou
She Bangs
Stand By Me
Stickwitu
Straight Up
Sugar, We’re Going Down
The Real Thing
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Unwritten
What A Girl Wants
You And Me
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling
As with previous games, these are covers of popular songs, but that likely won't stop anyone from belting out horribly off-key versions of them with a little liquid courage all the same. And of course, we'll make sure we bring you any updates to things as soon as we hear about them. For now, though, dig into some new screens and count the days till November when you'll be able to finally become an American Idol contestant -- at least at home.