Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game requires players to sing to rock 'n roll and pop music that are full of all kinds of innuendo, sexual and otherwise. While Sony has made great efforts to select music videos that are generally clean, it wouldn't be rock 'n roll if it didn't have an edge. An insightful rock critic once said that pop music is about having sex or not getting sex. You'll hear a lot about this angst and yearning in the songs featured in this game. The game encourages players to download new songs at $1.49/each. Players must use the special SingStar microphones to play this game. Players can also record 25 seconds of their performance and upload it to My Singstar Online for others to see and rate.
Families can talk about trends in pop music. Which new artist is your favorite and why? Families can also talk about each others' singing abilities and the goofy music videos you can upload online with a broadband connection and the PlayStation Eye.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Harold Goldberg
While the SINGSTAR karaoke game is far more popular in Europe than in the United States, this version for the PlayStation 3 may well even that playing field. That's because this edition unveils the new SingStore with 200 downloadable music videos. Sure, it's a bit overpriced at $1.49 per song, but with between 25 and 50 songs to be added each month, the variety of music will be vast. Sony hopes eventually to have thousands of songs available for purchase. However, Singstar comes with the 30 songs on the disk itself, everything from Britney's "Toxic" to U2's "Beautiful Day." Also included are songs from Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, OutKast, Scissor Sisters, and The Rolling Stones, a real variety of hits that's a little light on new acts.
SingStar is perfect for parties: with up to eight players and two included microphones, the caterwauling won't stop until the party ends. Two can also sing in duet or battle it out against one another. There's a single player mode for solo artists as well.
More ambitious fans can make small music videos of themselves as they wail to, say, Radiohead's "No Surprises." You can select a 25-second segment of your performance to upload because the PS3 will record your performance. Sadly, there's no video editing software included to make fancier videos. However, you can make a more creative snippet using the PlayStation Eye, but you have to stop and start as you record. Then, you upload it to My SingStar Online for all the world to see. That MySpace-look-a-like is actually more user-friendly that the popular social networking site. It's almost as much fun to watch the videos that have been uploaded. You can rate them, just as SingStar fans are sure to rate yours.
The upshot? If you like to sing in the shower, you just have to have this game. When another 200 or so songs have been added, SingStar Online should be the place to go when you want to do some karaoke for whatever theme your party may include.
Other fun music games worth checking out include: High School Musical: Sing It! or Singstar '90s.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentIt depends on the music video. Britney's "Toxic" is sexual. R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" isn't. |
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ViolenceThere are over 200 downloadable videos online. A few videos include mildly violent scenes. A wary parent should look at the videos on YouTube to decide whether these are right for your teen. |
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LanguageCheck the particular song or video for language. Nothing very graphic, though. |
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Social BehaviorIt's rock and roll and pop music. Think more rebellion and lack of rule-following. |
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CommercialismYou'll see the occasional product placement in some of the videos. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoMusicians smoke. You'll see it in some of the videos. |
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Educational ValueSingStar helps you to sing the right notes. |
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