SingStar - Australian Review

Also check out our interview with SingStar Producer Paulina Bozek.

When it comes to the finely honed art of Karaoke singing, there’s pretty much two lines to fall behind. You either can’t wait for your next Friday night saki inspired singing along, or you shake your head in disbelief at those that can put themselves through such public humiliation. Well Sony’s Studio London plans to break down the barriers with their latest PlayStation2 innovation.

From the smart cookies that brought you the hit peripheral of 2003, the EyeToy comes another clever plug and play gadget designed to get you up off the couch and flexing more than just your thumb muscles. SingStar utilises brand new technology to transform the pixel popping engine beneath the PS2 bonnet into a digital karaoke machine on steroids.

This software/hardware combo consists of a custom designed USB interface plus two full size handheld microphones to plug into it. Then there’s the software, featuring a collection of singing based challenges and activities. And while that right there is enough to get any Japanese businessman jumping with joy, thanks to some additional smart technology, the software is also capable of accurately processing a singer’s voice and checks it for correct pitch and timing. So at the end of each song, the performance is analysed on how well or badly the player sang and points are awarded accordingly. And frankly, that’s the whole concept in a nutshell.

There are 4 modes to choose from, including Sing, Party, Star Maker, and Freestyle. Sing is equivalent to an arcade or quick fix mode. You can select solo or duet, the level of difficulty from easy to hard, and then either a short or full length version of any one of the 30 available songs. Then as the track begins, the bottom of the screen displays the lyrics to the song, and in the middle of the screen a series of bars show the correct pitch and rhythm for the lyrics, along with a real time display of what you’re actually singing into the mic.

So the main aim is to try and replicate the ‘guide’ bars as closely as possible with your own singing. Then at the end of each performance the game analyses how well or badly you sang and provides feedback plus a score. In our experience, while it was essential to be familiar with the song you were performing, as long as the timing and pitch were ok, it made little difference what actual words are sung, as the software is just listening for phrases that are in time and in tune.

In other words, you can actually get away with humming the melody and it makes little difference to the score. Though selecting a tougher difficulty setting certainly increases the challenge. While ‘easy’ is less sensitive to flat notes and bad timing, the medium and hard settings detect and analyse every single good and bad note, so you need to be much more in the tune.

Party mode is where the multiplayer showdown takes place, and is really where the greatest replay value lies in SingStar. Up to 8 players can take on each other, or work together in two teams. Challenges include simultaneous battles, seeing who can score the highest points during the same song, to Duets where 2 players from each team take each other on.

There’s also a Pass The Mic mode, where players take in turns singing the next line when their name appears on the screen during the song, plus there’s some modes specially for 2 player battles. As with the Sing mode, Party is all about scoring the highest points at the end of each round, and again players are ranked according to the pitch and timing of the performance. These games prove not only highly competitive, but also plenty of fun as you cheer and support the singers on your team.

Odd as it may sound, SingStar also has a single player career option. Star Maker mode lets players experience going from home town amateur to big time celebrity, complete with music awards and number one hits. Essentially players are faced with similar singing challenges to the other modes, only a story plays out in Star Maker, where you start out being invited to sing the odd song in a small downtown club, and need to work your way up to becoming a successful popstar.

The mode sees you transported to a futuristic locale called Harmony City, containing 8 different venues to perform in, each with their own repertoire of songs to choose from. By scoring well at venues you’re invited to sing at, you receive more messages and invitations that in turn unlock other singing opportunities and venues to perform at on your road to fame.

SingStar’s song repertoire is a mix of pop, urban and (karaoke) classics, including hits from Jamelia, Pink and Dido, to The Darkness, Roy Orbison, Elvis, The Village People, and even Motorhead. Plus there are video clips to accompany each track.

But perhaps the most innovative feature SingStar has to offer is the option to replace these video clips by attaching an EyeToy camera, and being able to see yourself on the screen as you perform. Not only that, but in playback mode the original video clip reappears but with highlights of your performance ala picture-in-picture style. Add to this the fact you can include special effects to your voice, and you’re well and truly set for the next round of Australian Pop Idol auditions.

Score = 9.5/10

Tracklisting

• Liberty X - Just a Little
• Mis-Teeq - Scandalous
• The Darkness - Believe in a Thing Called Love
• A-Ha - Take On Me
• Pink - Get the Party Started
• Jamelia - Superstar
• Motorhead - Ace of Spades
• George Michael - Careless Whisper
• Avril Lavigne - Complicated
• Petula Clark - Downtown
• Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder On the Dancefloor
• Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not the One
• Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting
• Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
• Westlife - World of Our Own
• Ricky Martin - Livin La Vida Loca
• Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
• Madonna - Like A Virgin
• Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
• S CLub - Don't Stop Movin
• Deee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart
• Sugababes - Round Round
• Elvis - Suspicious Minds
• Busted - Crashed the Wedding
• Village People - YMCA
• Good Charlotte - Girls and Boys
• Blondie - Heart of Glass
• Dido - Thank You
• Atomic Kitten - Whole Again / Eternal Flame
• Blue - One Love

Also check out our interview with SingStar Producer Paulina Bozek.