It's still rock 'n roll to me

Kiss, Soundgarden and David Bowie were rocking out in front of the Penn Bookstore yesterday in a big purple bus.

Granted, they were animated and on a screen.

The promotional tour for Rock Band, a new MTV video game similar to the popular Guitar Hero, stopped at Penn, where about 100 students tried to be the world's next hit rock band yesterday afternoon.

The new video game is meant for gamers who "don't necessarily have any experience as a musician," said Ben Korn, who does PR for the tour and organized the stop at Penn.

Players hold mock instruments, pressing buttons on a guitar or hit certain drum heads, for example, that correspond to instructions on the television.

During tryouts yesterday, bands comprised of a drummer, guitar player, bass player and singer warmed up "backstage" on three different demo sets before taking the stage to show off their skills in front of an MTV camera.

Two "bands" from the 24-city tour will be flown out to New York City to duke it out on a Total Request Live Battle of the Bands.

The winning team will be trained by a real band to improve their gaming and performance skills and will then open at a rock concert for a yet-to-be-announced real band.

Korn promises that people will be impressed with the caliber of the band.

There is "a lot of hype about it in the online community," said Wharton junior Rish Chaudhuri, who is a vocalist in his own, real-life rock band.

He says the game is very different.

"You don't put your heart into it - it's very robotic," he said, suggesting more flexibility for the vocalist.

Playing at the expert level does demand precision: vocalists must match their pitch, volume, tone and diction to that of the real song, Korn said.

Wharton and Engineering junior Doug Tritton said past experience playing guitar helped his rhythm.

"It was fun," he said afterwards. "I'm definitely going to buy it."

The game even drew people from outside of Penn - Ruben Negron of New Jersey came on his day off from work to try the game.

Although the game could be heard from blocks away, the stores on the Walnut block of 36th Street weren't bothered; Cosi employee Charles Allen said the game's spectators definitely boosted business for the restaurant.

Students who want to check out the game can do so tomorrow from 11 a.m to 6 p.m. outside the bookstore, or this weekend at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

The game, priced at $170, will be released on Nov. 20 for Xbox360 and PlayStation3, and on Dec. 18th for PlayStation2, Korn said.

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