[Gamers' Day 2007] Sing... Until Your Lungs Give Out
This ain't a scene, it's a god damn SingStar hands-on preview.
Published: May 17, 2007
It's starting to turn into something of a tradition. Whereas a night when we have people over at home (or, sometimes, if we're still here and stuck with work/just wanna blow off steam, the office) the night might start with a little Guitar Hero, as the bottles pile up, things transition into what becomes hours of SingStar. Because as everyone knows, karaoke, like bowling and pool, is something people get better at the more drunk they are (and of course this was proven wrong by a little video Sony played us of the first night when we all got sauced and they recorded us singing, one of the fun new features).
There's a reason why SingStar has sold millions in Europe: mixing actual videos of actual artists singing the actual songs while adding in a bunch of short recorded bits and the ability to add effects to your vocals during playback is fun. Really fun, and they're building on all the stuff in previous games (literally, more on that in a second) to create the ultimate karaoke hub in the PS3. And you know what? Even at this point, they're already there.
The first night we got in to the Gamers' Day gala, there was a simple cocktail reception that had a handful of PS2 games (you can catch the previews of those in [feature=7173]the same feature[/feature] where you likely found this preview) and, tucked away in a little corner, an early version of SingStar that had an early version of the downloadable song database, the SingStore[/i]. Since we got their early enough to check out the whole set-up process, we actually got to chime in on some of the songs for the evening and were absolutely floored by the number of offerings available.
The interface is much as you've probably seen in screens already, but things are broken down in a number of categories that help you find your way around with minimal button presses. You can sort by album name, artist, genre, and so on, and for each section the album art and artists (along with the song name, natch) are all listed. Simply pick a song, opt to either store it in the download queue or jump right into grabbing it now and keep picking. The layout feels influenced (or likely the other way around) by the PlayStation Store in that you can click on a song to get more info (plus a rather lengthy video preview of the song), and info on how big the download will be and whether or not the video is in standard or hi-def.
We didn't really get a chance to see some of the more interesting parts of the online experience, though we did get at least a peek. From the basic online landing page, you can see a person's rank, plus their country of origin and a portrait. All of this was flipped through quickly so we only caught a glimpse, but the simple, clean design aesthetic looked so damn good we were already in love. When the game ships, you'll have the option to record entire performances and upload them, then have other users rate things and comment. It's meant to extend the social experience beyond the living room (or, uh, office demo room as the case may be), and if they can pull it off, it'll be amazing.
The game itself, luckily, hasn't changed much. You're still graded on timing and pitch, which is where SingStar is rather unique, and it seems most of the initial library will pull from the suite of previous games. Whether that means we'll have access to all the songs that were in the EU games or if we're just getting the 60 song strong lineup of our US releases or if SCEA is busy courting music labels for selections is something we still don't know. We're betting it's a combination of all three, but if the store is anything like what we've seen so far (which was, we should mention, hundreds strong and almost entirely US or at least Top 40 import bands), there's going to be a ton of stuff to check out on day one -- and even more as the game evolves.
We're praying Sony sends along a build of the game at some point soon, but the SingStore will likely be even more fleshed out and possibly even finished when we see it again at E3 in a couple months. Updates then.
There's a reason why SingStar has sold millions in Europe: mixing actual videos of actual artists singing the actual songs while adding in a bunch of short recorded bits and the ability to add effects to your vocals during playback is fun. Really fun, and they're building on all the stuff in previous games (literally, more on that in a second) to create the ultimate karaoke hub in the PS3. And you know what? Even at this point, they're already there.
The first night we got in to the Gamers' Day gala, there was a simple cocktail reception that had a handful of PS2 games (you can catch the previews of those in [feature=7173]the same feature[/feature] where you likely found this preview) and, tucked away in a little corner, an early version of SingStar that had an early version of the downloadable song database, the SingStore[/i]. Since we got their early enough to check out the whole set-up process, we actually got to chime in on some of the songs for the evening and were absolutely floored by the number of offerings available.
The interface is much as you've probably seen in screens already, but things are broken down in a number of categories that help you find your way around with minimal button presses. You can sort by album name, artist, genre, and so on, and for each section the album art and artists (along with the song name, natch) are all listed. Simply pick a song, opt to either store it in the download queue or jump right into grabbing it now and keep picking. The layout feels influenced (or likely the other way around) by the PlayStation Store in that you can click on a song to get more info (plus a rather lengthy video preview of the song), and info on how big the download will be and whether or not the video is in standard or hi-def.
We didn't really get a chance to see some of the more interesting parts of the online experience, though we did get at least a peek. From the basic online landing page, you can see a person's rank, plus their country of origin and a portrait. All of this was flipped through quickly so we only caught a glimpse, but the simple, clean design aesthetic looked so damn good we were already in love. When the game ships, you'll have the option to record entire performances and upload them, then have other users rate things and comment. It's meant to extend the social experience beyond the living room (or, uh, office demo room as the case may be), and if they can pull it off, it'll be amazing.
The game itself, luckily, hasn't changed much. You're still graded on timing and pitch, which is where SingStar is rather unique, and it seems most of the initial library will pull from the suite of previous games. Whether that means we'll have access to all the songs that were in the EU games or if we're just getting the 60 song strong lineup of our US releases or if SCEA is busy courting music labels for selections is something we still don't know. We're betting it's a combination of all three, but if the store is anything like what we've seen so far (which was, we should mention, hundreds strong and almost entirely US or at least Top 40 import bands), there's going to be a ton of stuff to check out on day one -- and even more as the game evolves.
We're praying Sony sends along a build of the game at some point soon, but the SingStore will likely be even more fleshed out and possibly even finished when we see it again at E3 in a couple months. Updates then.
