SingStar series

Cool Yule Rating: 4 stars

Price: $29.99 (for most games, PS2 and PS3)

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Description: I used to hate karaoke with a passion – in fact, I once wrote a column for a local newspaper asking that people who get up and sing karaoke have some sort of musical talent test before they go up (I admit, I was young and bitter back then). While I still may not get up on stage at a local drinking establishment on Karaoke night, my attitude towards singing has changed. The series of SingStar games for the PlayStation 2 have helped change my attitude.

The series of games includes different versions ('90s, Pop and Pop 2, '80s, Legends, even a Country songs game) to appeal to many different age groups. Several of the games include two microphones bundled with the game, which connect to your PS2 through the USB port (it comes with an adapter).

The games themselves are pretty simple – just pick a song and watch the music video, and sing along with the song at the appropriate moment. If you've ever seen or sung karaoke, you'll know what to do. The song gives you scores based on whether you've achieved the correct pitch, and have also sung the words at the correct time. You can have a second player play along, which of course is more fun, you might as well share the pain of your singing with others.

A lot of these games reminded me of Rock Band, but without the guitar controller or drum kit (just the vocals). These make some good party games, and it's even more fun if you provide some liquid refreshment before hand. This would also be good for kids, who are less inhibited in terms of their singing, and wouldn't need (nor should they get) the aforementioned liquid refreshment.

I suppose you could use these games as training if you wanted to someday audition for American Idol, but that would be taking things a little bit too seriously. I could just see a potential superstar going into the audition and announcing to Simon Cowell, "Well, I got a million points in SingStar '90s, so I'm ready to be the next American Idol." Hee.

On a personal note, I was a fan of the '80s version, but mainly because I knew most of those songs – the game reminded me how old I was when I looked at the Pop version and barely recognized any of the songs on the disc.

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