Konami acquires license for American Idol

Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

Konami today announced that it has reached an agreement with FremantleMedia giving them exclusive rights to future games based on the American Idol franchise. What does this mean for the future of Karaoke Revolution? Time will tell.

Konami Digital Entertainment Acquires Interactive Game Rights for the Hit Franchise American Idol

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2005-- Leader in Music Video Games To Publish Titles For Current And Next Generation Video Game Systems Based On America's Most Watched Television Show Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced a multi-year agreement with FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas (FLW, Americas), the U.S. licensing division of FremantleMedia, one of the largest international creators and producers of program brands in the world and the co-producer and licensor of American Idol, that gives the company the exclusive interactive video game rights for American Idol. Pursuant to the agreement, FLW, Americas grants Konami the rights to develop games for current and next generation video game systems based on America's number one television program. The games will be distributed throughout America, Canada and Latin America with more details to be revealed at a later date.

"Not only is American Idol one of the biggest television programs in the U.S., but its format lends itself perfectly for making compelling video games," said Kazumi Kitaue, Chairman and CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "With Konami's leadership and expertise in music video games and American Idol's popularity and strength as a recognized franchise, this is a powerful synergy that will greatly benefit the consumer."

American Idol, which just completed its fourth season in May 2005, continues to dominate television ratings and break viewership records. Last season's finale, produced by FremantleMedia and 19TV for the Fox network in the US, saw 30.3 million viewers tune in to watch Carrie Underwood be crowned as the newest American Idol. The debut of American Idol's fifth season will air this fall.

David Luner, Vice President Licensing for FLW, Americas, added, "The Idols format has already proven itself successful in a variety of categories including electronics, toys & games, wireless and online applications. We look forward to establishing a solid presence in the video games market with an industry leader like Konami."

As the industry leader in music video games, Konami has a strong line-up of titles that allow gamers to sing, dance, and mix music all in the comfort of their own living rooms. Among its catalog of top music games, Konami publishes the highly-acclaimed singing game Karaoke Revolution and the number one dance game, Dance Dance Revolution. Next year Konami will also release beatmania -- the first-ever DJ simulation game created for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system.
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Skit · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:48 am Post subject:

LOL!

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skeet

tora · Trick Member Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Location: Memphis, TN

o_o Damn... just...

...damn.
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Falling/Fading/LostItAll · Trick Member Joined: 14 Jun 2004 Location: The Wired

Oh... my... God... o.O

skie · Vivid Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: olr studios

Honestly, while it might make you go "huh?" it's really a good matchup. The previous video games based on the American Idol series were sub-par at best, and the karaoke peripherials have been nothing to scream about. Konami has a really great concept and formula with the Karaoke Revolution games, that needs to be seen by a wider audience. I mean, hats off to Fremantle for realizing all of this and making the deal with Konami. I think it's a win-win situation.
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iwrestledamudkiponce · Trick Member Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Location: California

Maybe this won't be a Karoke Revolution game, but it will become Dance Dance Revoltion: American Idol Mix.

The Horror!!!!
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act deft · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:36 am Post subject:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[/Vader]

Seriously though we should start calling Karaoke Revolution: "American Idol"
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Xayro · Trick Member Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Location: Kokomo, IN

umm...

Songs from American Idol on DDR maybe

That would suck though <.<

Oh well... I don't play KR.

Oh god... American Idol DDR spin offs O.O *shoots himself*
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Uiru · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:23 pm Post subject:

Look on the bright side: if this deal impacts DDR in any way, it just means that the trashy recycled generic pop American music bullshit that infects our mixes will now be relatively current.

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN, AGAIN, LOL
~Uiru
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Melvis at the Disco! · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:51 pm Post subject:

Konami can't do any worse than Codemasters did with that bad boy.
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Wakka Lakka · Trick Member Joined: 12 Mar 2005

It's brilliant actually

I love playing KR, enough to buy the hard to get 1st mix even. My biggest beef with the product (other than needing to 'lead' the song transitions to score well) is the lack of exciting feedback. I play with a bunch of people who have never played it and it's just arbitrary. Ooo I scored 32,000 out of a possible 50,000. The posts above for some unfathomable reason talk about the music from AI, but in reality there isn't a huge brand association involving the particular songs on AI (especially since Konami already has the standard fare like Ain't No Mountain and Against All Odds in it's catalog of liscenses) The real draw is the judges comments. They could give feedback as to the pitch, and the phrasing used in performance. Imagine stumbling through ABC only to hear Simon compare your vocal to a bell-hop in a Vietnameese youth hostel. Hearing Paula gush over a modiocre rendition of Red Red Wine would also be amusing. The judges could be programmed to pay attention to certain aspects of the performance. I think there is great potential here. I really hope they include a 'carreer' mode where you have to face vote-offs with other players/computer opponents.

act deft · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:18 pm Post subject:

Heffenfeffer · Trick Member Joined: 22 Apr 2002 Location: Las Cruces, NM

I'm suprised that no one's made the obvious joke about how American Idol is now being published by a Japanese company.

What's that? Codemasters is British? D'oh!

(And I don't really have too much to say about it - so long as Harmonix remains the developer, the only things that will really change are the window dressings and skins. Hopefully the critique can be toggled off as well.)
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AceJay · Trick Member Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Location: Princeton, NJ

YES! YES!

SHE BANGS WILL NOW BE SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN FFR!

SHE LIKES CROSSOVERS! - William Hung and TAKA feat Banya - 180 bpm - Classical Country

Or something along the lines.

BONUS MINIGAME: SIMON COWELL'S FACE IS A NOTESKIN! DESTROY!
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midnightclub x · Trick Member Joined: 17 Apr 2005

it's a mixed bag for me, could be good, could be bad.

Ebisumaru · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jul 2003

Unknown Gamer · Trick Member Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Location: San Diego, CA

This news makes me giggle and feel tingly in my special areas.

I would imagine that American Idol would somehow fuse into the Karaoke Revolution series.

Now I'm just waiting for Konami to announce their partnership with MTV and fuse that brand name into DDR. Then watch the fur REALLY fly around here!

kamron_1 · Trick Member Joined: 15 Nov 2002 Location: YAY AREA

this seems like an ok move for Konami, i just hope it's not a gigantic flop to the non-konami fan boys and girls (basically, the general public)
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Zonic · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:15 pm Post subject:

DIE, SIMON!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!!..............Wait, JUST da game?......Dang.....Now THAT is going to be wierd. AI songs on KDR....okay....AI songs on DDR......Oh No.....PLEASE NOOOOO!!! I DON'T WANNA LISTEN TO THEM ON DDRADIO (DDR Freak Radio. I like DDRadio better)!!!! Maybe DDR characters will sing on AI:Konami Version

triad.spacefight · Trick Member Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Location: OKC

So long as it doesn't affect Party I'll be okay.
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