Erk. What to say?
Well, first off, I've only had a couple of quick goes on it, simply because it's so bloody embarrassing to play. If there are other people in the room and you're not pissed, forget it. This isn't Samba de Amigo embarrassment, by the way - waving your arms around is funny, even for those people who haven't got any sense of rhythm. Singstar is more a form of public humiliation. It doesn't even have the (dubious) appeal of pub karaoke - the atmosphere in a pub is significantly different than that in your living room.
Technically, it's very clever. Pitch, volume and your ability to hold a note are all recognised and displayed on screen. Scores are based on notes hit and phrases completed. A duet mode allows two players to sing together for a combined score, while a battle mode dishes out individual scores.
In terms of presentation, it's absolutely horrible. I can see others liking it, though. It's cold and clinical, a video game for people who are embarassed about playing video games. It's obviously been designed with an audience of well-off, middle-class late 20s - early 30s in mind. Cosmopolitan chic. There's no sense of enjoyment about proceedings, no bubble or life to the thing. Yuck.
There's also a problem with the subtitles. It's something that'll be less of an issue if you know the songs, but the way that words are seperated into syllables makes them extremely difficult to decipher in the middle of a song.
The choice of songs reinforces the idea of the audience it's aimed at. A couple of tracks are fun - reaching for the high notes in Heart of Glass or putting on yr best rock growl for Ace of Spades - but I've no intention of ever going near a lot of them.
It's my kid sister's game, and even she's too embarrassed to play it in front of anybody. Other bemani titles promote fun, but Singstar seems to have never heard of the concept.
I'm interested to see what other developers make of the technology, though. Voice recognition in games is still very basic - I'm thinking that this stuff could be put into AI squad-based titles, with your team-mates responding not only to what you say, but the way you say it. Imagine a game where the AI could recognise panic or elation. If the tech doesn't just get recycled into more karaoke games, it could make for some interesting innovations in traditional genres.
Well, first off, I've only had a couple of quick goes on it, simply because it's so bloody embarrassing to play. If there are other people in the room and you're not pissed, forget it. This isn't Samba de Amigo embarrassment, by the way - waving your arms around is funny, even for those people who haven't got any sense of rhythm. Singstar is more a form of public humiliation. It doesn't even have the (dubious) appeal of pub karaoke - the atmosphere in a pub is significantly different than that in your living room.
Technically, it's very clever. Pitch, volume and your ability to hold a note are all recognised and displayed on screen. Scores are based on notes hit and phrases completed. A duet mode allows two players to sing together for a combined score, while a battle mode dishes out individual scores.
In terms of presentation, it's absolutely horrible. I can see others liking it, though. It's cold and clinical, a video game for people who are embarassed about playing video games. It's obviously been designed with an audience of well-off, middle-class late 20s - early 30s in mind. Cosmopolitan chic. There's no sense of enjoyment about proceedings, no bubble or life to the thing. Yuck.
There's also a problem with the subtitles. It's something that'll be less of an issue if you know the songs, but the way that words are seperated into syllables makes them extremely difficult to decipher in the middle of a song.
The choice of songs reinforces the idea of the audience it's aimed at. A couple of tracks are fun - reaching for the high notes in Heart of Glass or putting on yr best rock growl for Ace of Spades - but I've no intention of ever going near a lot of them.
It's my kid sister's game, and even she's too embarrassed to play it in front of anybody. Other bemani titles promote fun, but Singstar seems to have never heard of the concept.
I'm interested to see what other developers make of the technology, though. Voice recognition in games is still very basic - I'm thinking that this stuff could be put into AI squad-based titles, with your team-mates responding not only to what you say, but the way you say it. Imagine a game where the AI could recognise panic or elation. If the tech doesn't just get recycled into more karaoke games, it could make for some interesting innovations in traditional genres.
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