Remember Eight Days? The game that was being developed by Sony’s London Studio before being cancelled halfway through development? I remember being utterly enthralled by early footage of this game, but now footage of the game has been unearthed on YouKu of all places. Of course, the footage is of a half-finished game, but I’m starting to get a vibe for why Eight Days was cancelled in the first place.
Jamie MacDonald may not be a household name, but as boss of Sony’s London Studio for eight years, he’s overseen some of the most successful game series of all time. But no more.
Americans may not be fully up to speed on the details, but know that nearly half of all PlayStation 2 consoles sold have been sold in Europe.
I’ve had many issues with SingStar’s DLC before, but let me make this clear: none of them are issues with the game’s technical delivery. They’re all to do with the tracklist, which is so half-assed it doesn’t even qualify as an arse anymore. It’s just a lump of flesh sitting awkwardly above a leg, just under the back. It throws pop songs at you, but they’re not popular songs. It throws rock songs at you, but they don’t really rock. But once in a while, they get things right. Like this week’s inclusion of Cutting Crew’s (I Just) Died In Your Arms, showing that once in a while, London Studio remembers that SingStar’s at its best when played drunk, by friends, and you’re not singing rubbish pop songs, you’re singing the awful/brilliant/cheesy classics of yesteryear.
It’s Friday, and the PlayStation Network’s up and running again after the recent overhaul, which means it’s time for SCEE to start updating the SingStore again. This week sees 48 tracks added to SingStar’s online store, with 23 english-language tracks joined by 25 songs for Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Portugese and Spanish fans. I can’t speak for the non-English stuff, but the English tracks, they’re still just bringing over songs already available on the PS2 versions. Who knows, maybe they’re saving the new stuff for the game’s US launch later this month.
Sony have gotten around to announcing that second PS3 SingStar game we’ve known about since March. It’s what you’d expect: 30 new songs, a new “Harmoney Duet” mode and the addition of PSP remote play compatibility, which they’ve added so you can “get your favourite party tracklist ready before you’re heading back home”. Heading back home? Look, if you can’t be arsed organising the tracklist for a SingStar party well in advance, you shouldn’t be having one. No word on price or launch date (for PAL, obviously, with the main game itself still not out in the US), or even a tracklist, but we’re assured it’ll feature The Killers, Eminem, Kaiser Chiefs, Gorillaz and…Paul McCartney & the Frog Chorus. No, really.
Guess the SingStore’s not as big a hit as Sony were hoping. That or they’re just accommodating PS3 owners without an internet connection, because a listing’s turned up on Aussie retail systems for “SingStar Vol. 2″, which is apparently due in June. SCE Australia couldn’t confirm the title’s existence, though a rep did tell us that it’s “feasible” SCEE’s London Studio are working on expanding the franchise via another disc-based update. If this does turn out to be the case, here’s hoping there’s some new content on there, and it’s not just a rehash of the PS2 versions. Or… if it is a rehash, that they at least throw Broken Wings in there.
