SingStar (Stand Alone)

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Will supplement to what other reviewer's have said. Bought this for my wife. I have Rock band. Never owned a SingStar title before. If you like Karaoke this is the game for you. Much more difficult than the Rock Band vocals part, especially rapping which is tough. Resolution of videos varies from artist to artist, depending on resolution on which it was recorded originally (thus older videos or indie bands will have lesser resolution videos). Game with bundle brings 30 songs from different genres. Each additional song on the online store is $. For those of you that are multilingual you can have access to some songs (limited still) in your language by switching languange. Right now the store has about 250 something songs (excluding the multilingual thing I said) with some known bands and some I have never heard off. Adding the PS Eye adds another dimension to the game. You can record audio only and video tracks and export them to a media stick. The online features are also very interesting. Quality of music is very good. Some people have complained of the volume of the vocal tracks, which I don't find so distracting. I seem to get more distracted by the videos (especially the Blink 182 video, which in some parts i just burst out laughing.) I liked the vocals for Rock Band more but I have only played Sing Star this twice. I think its a great party game provided your guests know some of the songs. I have heard that they will bring some new songs every so often on the store. Rock Band owners: Very little overlap in the songs in Rock Band and Sing Star!

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Sony makes you buy their microphones to play SingStar -you cannot just take your Rock Band microphone and plug it into your PS2 or PS3. So if this is the first version of SingStar you are buying, make sure to get the one with microphones!

Otherwise the game is a lot of fun. The music selection feels like it contains more current music than Rock Band, and the songs that are from back in the day have a different feel. But there are tons to choose from online as well.

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This new version of Singstar for PS3 has many features that make it superior to its predecessors, such as the online capabilities, the wide range of competition modes, and the high definition videos.

Now we can create videos using the PS Eye and then post them online. It is also great fun to be able to watch the myriad of videos available from other users, which range from talented to crazy over the top. There is one big problem with the online capabilities though, and that is the reason why, even though the game is great, it gets only four stars: you cannot compete against others online! The other minor issue has to do with the limited length of the videos as well as the limited amount each player can create.

This is definitely a party game, and it is clear that the creators recognized this and provided a much wider range of battle modes. And the music is more varied in styles than before, catering to almost all tastes; by the way, I am not including the song list in this review because it is shown under the product description. For those that want a wider selection and do not mind spending some extra bucks, there is a humongous list of downloadable songs (200 at this point). On the other hand, those that have the microphones for any of the Singstar games for PS2 won't have to spend the extra money to buy the bundle, since the prior microphones work perfectly with this game; as a matter of fact, they look, and probably are, identical.

The bottom line is that those that like singing and want a game that is fun and can be shared by many cannot go wrong with this game. If they added the option of competing online, the game would be almost perfect.

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If you like singing, this is probably the best product you can get on the PS3--it has the real songs and videos, the scoring system is relatively good, and it's fun. As a party game it's great too--but held back by the song selection.

While the game is great, the Singstore is far from impressive, especially when it comes to North American artists. Sony has been lethargic with regard to adding songs from the back catalog (there are a number of more popular songs in the PS3 discs), and the selection is much smaller than that of other regions like the UK.

What makes this more frustrating is that Sony, already a few years in the PS3's life, is still making PS2 discs with new content, while the PS3 version stays stagnant, which is where it suffers as a party game--since a great of the songs are unknown (like Natalia, who has 5 songs)--a lot of people don't know the words, which makes the game less fun, especially with things like pass the mic. To make the game work at a party you need artists and songs that are more ubiquitous like Madonna or Michael Jackson, which you can get on the PS2 discs.

If the PS2 discs didn't have more popular songs I'd give this game 5 stars, but the best Sony will do is a disc-swap, where you're stuck with songs you won't want, which is the opposite of the a-la-carte selection we are getting used to. Sony said they would update the store every two weeks, and, aside from the poor update selection (in the US), they often miss updates. If I didn't already own the game, I wouldn't bother buying it, as the Singstore is horrid, which is unfortunate because for the songs I do like, it's a great game.

The other issue people seem to have is the wireless mic problem; while it would be nice I don't really play enough for this to be that big a deal.

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I have to admit I have been a skeptic of the Singstar franchise. With game after game on the PS2 it didn't really anything I was ever interested in. Now with it's new life on the PS3 it is a whole other game. Singstar is without a doubt the best party game available right now on the PS3. It is also a prime example of how much fun community gaming can be.

From the minute you pop the disc in it's simple to navigate the menu. You esentially have three options. Play Singstar, view gallery, and online. I am going to cover each option so that you can understand how much fun this game is.

Playing Singstar gives you a choice of thirty songs to croon over. The thirty songs are a mix of pop, r&b, and rock. Sorry country fans, your not going to find any of your favorite songs on this disc. Although you only get 30 songs to chooose from there are well over 200 available on the Singstore. More on that later. Now with Singstar you can just have a solo performance or if you have your friends around there are plenty more options. You can actually have contests with up to eight people. The possibilities are really endless. With multiplayer you can either perform a duet or battle others. There are specific songs for duet although every song will let you perform a duet. With a battle you can take on others to try and get the highest score. With the performances they are scored on a scale of 0 to 10,000. There are also difficulty levels if you want more of a challenge. The object is rather simple: Sing at the same tone as the artists. As you sing you really have to make sure you can keep the same level as the musician. On easy it's rather simple to get a good score. Upping the difficulty level makes it that much more difficult. What makes the performances memorable is that you can record your vocals. Now if your voice is or isn't very good you can adjust microphone level. What makes Singstar magic is having a USB camera that is compatible with the PS3 or a PS Eye. The camera will record a 25 second video of you belting out your greatest. You can even take the artists voice out of the songs. Of course I wouldn't advise anyone to do this unless they have a good voice. Now the audio clips, videos, and even snapshots the camera will take go into your gallery.

Now the gallery is what stores your best or worst performances. From here you can let other people see your performance at home. The gallery will store numerous videos, audio clips, and pics. What makes the gallery truly a gallery is that you can upload any of these things online to the Singstar interface.

Online is what takes this game to the next level. The Singstore is what the PSN should be. Immediately you get to choose from over 200 more songs that are available in the store. Each song sells for $1.49 and comes with the video. Not a bad price for some good fun. The Singstore will update with songs every other week. SONY is promising 25 to 50 songs a month. The artists cover a wide array of music genres dating back to the 1960's to songs that have just been released. I have already found myself downloading numerous songs I enjoy. The new music will keep this game fresh for quite a few months if not years.

The most amazing feature is the Singstar Online feature. From the main menu you can set up your profile listing your favorite song and musician. You can also have a picture taken from your USB camera. From your profile you can also view messages people leave you and check your uploaded videos to see if people are giving you good scores. You can also access other players. Set up like Youtube you can watch players from all around the world perform their best. The interface allows you to watch videos that have just been uploaded. You can also check out featured performances for the week. These are the higher scoring songs. And lastly they have a hall of fame featuring the highest rated most viewed performances. You can score any performance from 1 to 5 stars and even leave comments to the performer. If you really like someones performance there is an easy way to access your friends list and mailbox and request a person to be on your friends list. I have seen some stellar performances and I have also seen your very creative performance. This is a definite incentive to try and make something interesting for everyone to see. All in all this is what I enjoy most about the game.

If I were to sum up Singstar I would say it's an experience everyone should try. It's fun, a lot of fun. It's a great break from other gaming experiences and it's a good way to invite people over to do some karoke. I think that most who enjoy to sing in the shower or car should purchase this game. Those who have enjoyed it on the PS2 should enjoy it even more on the PS3. Have fun and try to become a Singstar...