SingStar belts out encore

Sony Europe announces a second volume for the PlayStation 3's karaoke title, will add a Harmony Duet mode and a new interface.

For those times in life when people just feel like they have to break into song on their games consoles, there's SingStar. Released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, the original game saw sequels tapping into new musical territories with titles such as SingStar Bollywood, SingStar Amped, and SingStar '80s.

SingStar, Part Deux
(Photo from Sony-produced blog Threespeech.com)

The PlayStation 3 version of the game, developed by Sony's London Studio, was released in Europe on December 7, 2007, but remains unreleased in North America. SingStar PS3 brought with it the online SingStore, which allows crooners to browse an ever-growing library of songs and purchase their karaoke favourites.

Despite an increasing amount of downloadable content, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today confirmed the release of SingStar Volume 2 for the PS3. As well as new tracks, the new title will add a Harmony Duet mode and enable remote play functionalities via the PlayStation Portable. The PSP features won't allow wannabe singers to serenade the public on their portables, however, as the service just allows for browsing of the SingStore and My SingStar Online. A "slick new look" to the SingStar carousel will also be added.

According to the announcement, there will be 30 songs on the Blu-ray disc, which will include the "ace" Paul McCartney and The Frog Chorus number "We All Stand Together," and the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreamin'," both of which will be singable in the new Harmony Duet mode.

There will also be tracks from The Killers, Eminem, the Kaiser Chiefs, Gorillaz, and "many many more," according to Sony. The game has not yet been dated, and it is not clear if the new tracks or features will be made available to owners of the first volume via the SingStore.

18 Comments

  • R-Force

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 6:32 pm GMT

    More Gorillaz? Yay!

  • HamsterOfFury

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 1:19 pm GMT

    Shoddy and disappointing really. I can see why they'd want more shop sales space as Singstar always sells well but really the Singstore is the big important focus and they need to get loads more songs on there (to part me from even more of my money).
    This worries me mostly cos of the upcoming Buzz...Are they gonna release full game updates for that too?

  • Rhubarb9

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 12:19 pm GMT

    remember that casuals want discs more than download able content

  • pwlodarczyk

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 9:27 am GMT

    I thought the SingStore was supposed to prevent the releasing these sequels?

    Exactly, raghraghragh. Maybe it's because they figured out they won't get so much money as they would by releasing the new software packages every few months. If the songs from the voume 2 of SingStar won't be available to download from the Internet, then the whole idea of SingStar for PS3 is worthless.

  • Calmed_Fury

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 8:33 am GMT

    why isnt this out in the US yet?

  • brigula

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 8:29 am GMT

    i just wish they'd make the game more fun to play. Like, give me a reason to play. Unlocks, charecters... ala K. Rev. which is by far more fun. I don't care about the stupid videos. I'd rather put my face up there and feel like it's me gettin a crowd excited.

  • AriotUK

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 8:24 am GMT

    Damn it, Sony Europe, don’t release a new game to buy on the high street, just do the right thing and update the software to use these features and allow us to buy the songs we want.

    You should have been a bit more forward thinking in this and released SingStar on the PS3 for the tiny price of £10 (no microphones obviously) because all the money is in the songs, not in the software.

    Please don’t make the same mistake here and try and sell some add on software and some more songs for £20 because I guarantee you, not everyone will want all of those songs.

  • SpartanDavie

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 8:18 am GMT

    If the PS3 version 2 songs are not available on SingStore for us who bought the first version i will be selling the game and never buy anything Singstar again. So far we have been let down so much and they should do something about it! Still not 300 songs on Singstore like there was ment to be on release!

  • Humidity

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 7:57 am GMT

    Where's the news about SingStar METAL!!???

  • Deluka

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 7:12 am GMT

    @BigC43

    LOL I never would have noticed that

  • BigC43

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 6:47 am GMT

    Apparently it was released in Europe 8 months from now. What, they have a time machine?

  • KingSigy

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 6:11 am GMT

    I really enjoy the harmony duet mode. Rock Band should have the option for guitarists to plug in an extra mic and give them backup vocals.

  • zeldawrocks

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 5:45 am GMT

    Harmony Duet mode? Unless the harmonies are very simple, this mode will be for song veterans only. Very very very few people can pick up a songs harmony without many play throughs, and often only once the song has been broken down into its separate parts.
    It seems as if they are scraping the barrel here, desperate for something new and interesting.

  • ajmetz

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 5:42 am GMT

    Teehee....Chavtastic. ^_^

  • TTDog

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 5:38 am GMT

    That's Chavtastic!

    Surely no one was foolish enough to believe they'd never need release a sequel?

    It's like assuming that every FIFA or Madden game EA release will be the last.

  • ChrnoTrigger

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 5:33 am GMT

    Sweet, tracks from The Killers and Gorillaz? Can't wait

  • raghraghragh

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 5:29 am GMT

    I thought the SingStore was supposed to prevent the releasing these sequels?

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