On the PlayStation 2, SingStar has done almost all it can, which is no small feat for a superpower of gaming that has dominated the closing chapter of Sony's last-gen console. In a relatively short period of time SingStar has reinvented the PlayStation 2 and sold countless units to consumers specifically interested in a karaoke machine. The vocal-stretching behemoth has courted the pink pound, redefined post-pub gaming, and flirted with a whole new kind of gamer without having to rely for a moment on mini-games and motion gestures.
Sony's USB microphones may have sent the odd core-gamer running for cover as a gaggle of drunken girls with wine in hand and voices cracked invade his room, but on the whole it has also been embraced by traditional players, who are delighted and a little surprised by the fact that their antisocial hobby and wire-clad gaming den is now the place to be come the early hours, filled with laughter, hedonism, music and dancing.
IGN India says: “ Interior Night’s Charu Desodt on bringing Singstar to life on the PS2, winning a BAFTA, and upcoming Xbox Series X|S and PC game, As Dusk Falls.”
This may come as a bit of a shock to Americans, since it never really took hold in the US, but Singstar was one of the most important series ever released on a Sony console. And in January 2020, after 15 years of PlayStation karaoke, it’s finally going to be shuffled off the stage.
This game could live on as a VR game. Karaoke as different created characters or franchise characters from other games. Sing as Kratos or Nathan Drake or Parappa the Rapper, etc and post to social media if you're into that internet thing. Would be funny. And interesting if you had individuals who could really sing. Alloy becomes a virtual singing idol.
Sounds crazy but it's creative for VR. And you could use Dreams to create your backgrounds and music videos. I don't really sing but don't think they should give up on Singstar.
I think your last point might be a big one. Who needs SingStar when Dreams is coming out?
So if you invested potentially hundreds of dollars in the game with DLC songs, will all of it continue to work or are you just SOL now?
It'll still work. You just won't have the online features. The game can be played locally either singing together, or competing against one another, and is generally considered a pretty good party game....if you go to parties where karaoke is a thing at least. It basically doubles as a karaoke machine.
I'm not into karaoke, and you'll just have to trust me that anyone would be happy that I don't try to sing publicly, or even privately among friends. But, I've been to parties where people are having fun with it, and it's about as hit or miss as going to a karaoke bar....without the one girl who wants to sing Shania twain songs, yet can't carry a tune, or hit a high note without your pet cat committing ritual suicide.....most of the time anyways.
I loved SingStar but it hasn't been supported most of this gen. It had a half-hearted revival with a couple of discs but very little of the PS3 library transitioned across. I will probably keep my PS3 just for SingStar when PS5 comes out.
SingStar was huge in the US. Where did the idea that it wasn't popular in the US come from? It wasn't a hardcore game, so the hardcore gaming community never really noticed it much, but the game was a huge money maker for Sony.
Sony is shutting down online servers for SingStar and Driveclub in early 2020.
Extremely disappointing how Sony has treated one of its best exclusives this generation. Love Driveclub. Such a shame it never received the love, attention and respect it deserved from Sony, post-launch.
@Brave_Losers_Unite
A PS4 Pro patch would be nice. Same goes to Bloodborne.
@Obsucre the team was on the way to being closed and barely finished driveclub vr. A ps4 pro patch was asking to much
That reminds me, i need to get the motorcycle expansion before it gets removed. I already got all the free dlc but that one is paid and I forgot about it.
DC is such a well made game. I'm so surprised Sony would let the devs slip right through their fingers. Motorstorm deserved a PS4 follow-up.
Bikes, along with the two or three paid DLC's got removed in August. Even though the DLC was cars, they had to put it under bikes because of trophy amount requirements. Can only get Bikes by buying a physical copy.
Ya Driveclub turned out to be so dang amazing. Bummer this won't continue online. But SP lives on!
What? It was broken on launch delayed an entire year had one of the best season passes ever new tracks new cars added streetbikes but it never received the love post launch?
I think he means that the gaming press and community in general didn't show it any love post launch. I mean, you see broken games that people rave about how it's awesome they got fixed and get lots of articles about it, but you didn't really see that with DC, despite the launch issues being only trivial annoyance to one aspect of game play which offered up challenges to the player....and I guess online racing. Took like a month to fix, but the game was doomed to be neglected due to the console wars, and people moving on, and ultimately, was probably a big reason that Sony closed the studio, because they were having financial difficulties at the time, and had to make decisions based on sales.
I thought SingStar was one of their more successful franchises. I know during the PS3 days it was pretty popular. No one around here ever talked about it, but I know a lot of people who I wouldn't classify as gamers who were into it.
DCVR is amazing. Removes my biggest complaint about driving games, which is that 2D makes it hard to tell where you are in the corners to know when to turn. With VR, I can drive like I would a real car....assuming I actually drove that fast, and staying in lanes, and actually racing is so much more fun.
Makes me wish that GT:S had a full on VR mode for every race mode. I'd take the graphics hit to be able to race more than one car, on a mode that gives practically no progression.
Bikes is also fantastic.
everyone can make mistakes and definitely Sony made one by letting to die Driveclub, if you didn't know is still best looking racing game out-there , not only looks heavenly stunning but plays awesome as well, not sure how hard affected Sony to take such decision but for what we know is a very bad decision taken.
No, Horizon 4, and Forza Motorsport 7 absolutely look better than Drive Club. They are also Xbox One X enhanced and run in 4K.
I play all 3, driveclub still looks better, from cars to graphical effects, understandable because horizon 4 is open world, as for forza 7, while it looks good, it still dont top driveclub, neither does gt sport for that matter, or project cars, or need for speed.
As someone that still plays driveclub, forza horizon 4 is leaps above all. Free roaming with that fidelity or 60fps? Sweet jesus
DC both looks better, and drives better than either version of Forza. Forza has better competitor driver AI though.
I really love FH4, but I still think that DC looks and plays better.
Please explain how sony let it die. They gave them an entire extra year to fix still promoted it even though the launch was broken had tons of content and still has lasted almost the entire gen. It's obvious you dont even play it online because even the ps plus version tracks barely can get more than 4 or 5 people let alone the full game. You act like thousands are still getting online everyday and sony just doesnt care
Last time I played was a few months ago and couldn't fine other players online .
I was playing sp because no one else was there.
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it wasn't really Sony the game receive a lot of post launch content. Driveclub got crucify for not being forza horizon.
I can only agree with Yi-Long and masterfox...Sony just made a HUGE blunder with no doubt.
I'd say a lot of people like SingStar as well. It was one of Sony's top selling games last gen. Plus, it had tons of content DLC/MT. It was a GaaS game, and was quite popular among the casuals. Basically just a karaoke game, which was fun at parties....for better or worse depending on your thoughts about karaoke at parties.
I guess the game has fallen off people's radar though, because it's hard to imagine Sony would drop it if it was still generating significant revenue like it used to.
I adore DriveClub and I've been playing It a lot the last couple months. I even just got Platinum in both DriveClub and DriveClub bikes this week. But the multiplayer in both is absolutely baron. There's no matches on either to play online. You need to arrange online meet ups
You'll still find a few of us still racing online on an evening fella and when I fired it up last week I had a couple of full lobbies.
Just needed a pro upgrade to 60 fps instead of the VR version and I think it would still be going strong now
I remember a few months before the devs were shutdown they talking about adding tire deformation and a few other things.. Damn shame
I thought the VR version was awesome. Plus, it was it's own thing, and shouldn't have interfered with a PS4P update. the lack of update was likely due to the studio being shut down though.
Thank you this is what people dont understand no one is playing online. All these fake supporters but they dont even play it. I'll join a race and it will cycle about 10 races before I actually find ONE other person
Any Americans who can give an input on how popular Singstar is over there? Cause in Europe it´s huge and I can only imagine how big it is in Japan with karaoke beeing the most widely practiced cultural activity there.
Don´t underestimate the power of Singstar!
Despite not having wireless microphones I quite enjoyed this title. I had to utilise it for a conference and it went down well though the crowd seemed to lean more toward SingStar Legends after they discovered it. My only qualm is that using the wired mics seemed to give more feedback than usual... like the amount necessary to let my ears bleed!
this is going to be a hit on gaming
I've been looking forward to this title for quite some time. I can't wait until it's released. The SingStore adds a ton of potential.
first Singstar I pick up...the online element is huge ... hopefully integrated into our HOME apartments too.
The Bollywood Singstar localization will be a big seller I bet.