MTV Multiplayer › SingStar

"SingStar" has been around for a while now. The PlayStation 3 version introduced an online store for downloading songs, but what all those old discs?

Sony released a patch yesterday for "SingStar" that enabled support for those PlayStation 2 discs. Tap select, pop in an old PS2 disc and all those songs -- including the attached music videos -- become accessible so long as the disc's inserted.

This applies to both the European and North American versions of "SingStar," but for those here in the United States, here's what games now work in the PS3 "SingStar." Time for a trip to GameStop...

Read more...

'Tis the season, so you might be planning or attending a holiday party sometime soon.

In fact, I'm trying to plan my own holiday party right now. And with several drum kits and guitars in my living room, there's no doubt my friends will want to bust them out.

But I wanted the party to fit the theme of the season. And while "Rock Band" now boasts over 500 tunes in its library, I didn't find any that are holiday-related. "Guitar Hero: World Tour" doesn't seem to have any either. There was a rock version of "We Three Kings" by Steve Ouimette that was released for free last December for "Guitar Hero III" but I don't have that, nor do I want it for just one instrument.

While the band games currently offer nothing, the karaoke ones do. Sony announced last week that "SingStar" would get a holiday DLC pack. For $6.99, you can get classic Christmas tunes sung by contemporary artists such as Toni Braxton, Babyface, Paul McCartney, Celine Dion and Shakin' Stevens.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft's new "Lips" singing game gave us holiday DLC in the form of "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams and "The Dreidel Song" by Sister Hazel.

So karaoke-wise, there are a few offerings but I have a feeling party-goers will gravitate towards the band games. As Patrick mentioned recently, why would you just sing and not involve other people in the room?

Does not releasing rockin', band-friendly renditions of holiday tunes seem like a missed opportunity for these titles?

[Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

Related Post:
'Lips' May Be The Best Karaoke Game Ever, But Is That Enough Anymore?

I knew little about "Lips" before a demo of Microsoft's microphone game with creator and Inis founder Keiichi Yano in a hotel last week.

An hour later, I was convinced that "Lips" is the most nuanced, well-crafted karaoke game that isn't "SingStar" -- it blows "Karaoke Revolution" out of the water -- but despite my positive impressions, a question lingered: is karaoke enough anymore?

Maybe it's just me, but since "Rock Band" came out, I've never felt compelled to just sing and not involve other people in the room.

But "Lips" has an ace card up its sleep. The problem: it's not something Microsoft is promoting well and it's the single biggest reason "Lips" is a revolution.

Read more...

There was some confusion today over the next karaoke "SingStar" game allowing users to bring tracks from PlayStation 2 editions onto PlayStation 3.

While that sounds like what Harmonix is doing with "Rock Band" clarification that we got from Sony shows it's a bit different. You're not exporting the music.

Instead, Sony is implementing a disc-swapping feature that was already present in some UK versions. Users just press select, pop in any PS2 "SingStar" disc and those songs drop into the PS3 version. The songs are not permanently brought over to the PS3 game, however. If you want to sing them, the PS2 disc needs to be present.

Worries that non-backwards compatible PS3s couldn't use the new feature have been averted. Sony says a free patch for the current "SingStar" is coming this year and disc-swapping will be present on all future "SingStar" releases.

Related Posts
Harmonix: How ‘Rock Band 2′ Lets You Access First Game’s Songs

It has taken quite a few months, but "Rock Band" has finally been dethroned, and it no longer rules supreme over the Rhythm Game Track Finder.

With the release of "SingStar" for the PS3 in the U.S., along with a massive list of downloadable songs, Sony's karaoke game is now the most populated title in our rhythm game database. With a total of 389 songs total, it has 185 more songs available for it than "Rock Band," which, with this week's addition of four songs now has 204.

"SingStar" and "Rock Band" weren't the only titles this week to receive an update, a couple "Guitar Hero" games beefed up their track listings as well. Last week, nine more songs were announced for "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith," as well as six downloadable songs for "Guitar Hero 3," all of which were added to their respective titles.

The full list of last week's additions is below:

Guitar Hero 3 (Xbox 360 PS3) 6 Songs Added
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii) 9 Songs Added
Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS3) 4 Songs Added (The Material's "Moving to Seattle," The Myriad's "A Clean Shot," Them Terribles's "Bullets & Guns" and Maxïmo Park's "Girls Who Play Guitars")
SingStar (PS3) 359 Songs Added

As always, go to trackfinder.mtv.com, for all this and more — it’s the definitive search engine for all your music gaming needs.

Earlier this week, a copy of "SingStar" on PlayStation 3 came across my desk. I've spent many a late night in karaoke joints, but never really played a karaoke game.

First problem: Sony didn't bundle any microphones with the game. They assumed I had some from the PlayStation 2 version lying around.

No worries. I figured I'd just pop in the "Rock Band" microphone already in my possession. Technically, it's an Xbox 360 accessory, but it works fine as a normal microphone on my laptop, so why not "SingStar" on my PS3? Singing The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" was within in my grasp.

Read more...