Singstar
SCEA, SCEA London Studio
Available for the Playstation 3
Now I most cases I wouldn’t buy a karaoke game, but somehow I let that little voice that usually tells me to sing in the shower, talk me into buying a copy of Singstar for the Playstation 3, and boy, are my neighbours hating me right now. See though I have regretted every karaoke session I have been ever been involved in, I still love to sing, and buying Singstar still allows me to rock out and avoid embarrassing nights out at the bar with my friends . Win/win situation, right?
SingStar for the Playstation 3 is the newest instalment in the series which includes the ideal karaoke songs people love belting out in bars like Weezer’s “Buddy Holly,” OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” and MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”. You can choose from old school 80s tunes like “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie or something newer from artists like Amy Whinehouse. There’s something for everyone in the game’s line up of 30 rock, pop and rap songs.
Besides having broader appeal, SingStar is the best of best when it comes to singing games because it includes actual music videos in the background. As you sing the lyrics and match pitch bars in the foreground, the slick interface shows Hammer busting moves in his genie pants, Mick Jagger strutting his stuff and Amy Whinehouse trying to avoid rehab. It may also give you a chance to see videos from older stars like David Bowie which you may never have seen before.
Solo modes and practice modes have you singing your songs which trying to match your pitch and lyrics to bars that scroll by. You have to do this perfectly to get a good score and don’t even try humming if you forget the words; the game picks up on cheaters. Multiplayer modes include pass the mic which plays you against a friend to see who sings a song better and duet mode has you singing a song together in perfect harmony. How sweet! Both modes work well for more than two people, so don’t be afraid to invite a bunch of friends over and play some Singstar drunk.
While the 30 song list may keep some people busy for a while, the serious karaoke fans will want more songs to choose from and that’s where the online Sing Store comes in. Gamers can go online and purchase songs from different artists for only $1.49 and add them to their Singstar library. The list is a pretty decent size right now and Sony plans to keep add songs as time goes by. Singstar fans will probably love this feature because it will save them from having the run around looking for the different editions of the game like they did before on the old PS2 system.
Probably the best part about the new design of Singstar for the PS3 is the online community where gamers can use the Eye Toy to record 30 second clips of themselves and friends singing or lip-syncing to their favourite songs and post them on the online community page for everyone to watch and rate. So far the community is only available through the Singstar game, but I really hope Sony allows internet access soon, because there is some funny stuff on there.
There are videos of guys singing Pussycat Dolls, storm troopers singing MC Hammer tunes and puppets singing Elvis. The people of internet have to see this stuff.
Singstar is one of those games that great to pull out when company comes over and the booze has been flowing for a while. The Playstation 3 doesn’t have a lot of good party games yet, and Singstar fills the void perfectly. It’s great for everyone in the family to play and best of all, you can secret record your friends who don’t know what the Eye Toy is and post it in the online community later for them to see when they’re sober.
Rating 8 out of 10
Buy it!
