Man, as a package, The Getaway sucked. But the driving parts, and the attention to detail in recreating London, those bits were pretty great, so it’s good to see they’re at last being put to good use by somebody. A modified version of the game’s driving aspect has been used by British scientists to study how London cabbies are able to find their way around the city’s winding streets. Their findings are all a bit scientific for our stimulus-soaked brains, but hey, we’re sure the surviving Team SOHO members are thrilled to bits regardless.
Sony’s PS3 SingStore hasn’t exactly set our great balls on fire (yet!). It functions superbly, but the majority of updates are old songs we’ve already seen on PS2, and even then, are usually the crummy PS2 songs. But anyway. Maybe we’re just mean, bitter old cynics, because Sony announced yesterday that for all its flaws, the PS3′s SingStore has still sold 2.2 million tracks since it launched late last year. Which is nothing but money in the bank for SCEE.
SingStar news! First item: SingStar producer Paulina Bozek has told PS3F that unlike certain other music titles available at the moment, the SingStar team have “no interest” in locking certain songs to certain regions of the world. Good news, that comes with a catch: they won’t do it on purpose; stuff like licensing issues can still split the stores. Second item: the ultra-cheesy “My SingStar” video repository, which displays 30-second vids of your SingStar performances, is about to move online. Presently, it’s available only within the game, but you’ll soon be able to view it via a browser, so anyone who does post on it, think twice: your chances of being seen by a friend/loved one are about to go up 100x.
‘My SingStar Online will hit the web this year,’ says Bozek [PS3 Fanboy]
Who said we wanted more PS2 SingStar games? Europe, was it you? Thought so. Thanks a lot. You could at least have asked for one with a specific theme or genre (the world still needs SingStar Gregorian Chants), but no. You had to go asking for some crummy “SingStar Summer Party” compilation, which feels a lot less like summertime and a lot more like “pop music hell”.
The PS3′s SingStore will be updated on Friday. With songs new to the game, that will inspire devoted fans of the series to actually buy songs they don’t already own from a PS2 version? No. No, it’s a 24-song update featuring 24 songs that have already appeared on PS2 SingStars. Look, Sony, we can understand a mix of the old and the new, for those who are new to the series. But just old stuff when most people who own the game at this stage are fans, and already own PS2 versions? Getting a little old. Even if it does include DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and Faith No More. Full update list is after the jump.
Oh, PS3 SingStar, how are you managing to blow such a sure thing? Since the game’s launch late last year it’s been a shell of an experience, with a crummy, limited tracklist making it a poor relation to the PS2′s varied and expansive libraries. In an effort to remedy this, Sony have been trying a little harder to update the game’s online SingStore recently, and will on March 7 continue this with a massive update, featuring 67 “new” songs. I say “new”, though, because they’re not new at all: most (might even be all) songs are already featured on the PS2 versions of the game.
Pity, that. Was really hoping for something new, and if not new, then at least varied. Ah well. Better luck next time, eh Sony?
Still waiting on those “hundreds of songs”, but Sony promised a SingStore update on February 6, and an update is what we’ve received. Only seven tracks are on offer, mind, but that seven includes MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”. Oh, and “Greatest Love of All” as well, though sadly, it’s the Whitney Houston version. Busting out the Randy Watson version will get you zero points. Don’t ask me how I know that…
My love-hate relationship with this game is, if you’re a regular reader, well-documented on this site. Most SingStars, I hate. But the PS2′s SingStar 90s? I…well, “love” is too strong a word, but I have played it, on more than one occasion (who am I to resist Technotronic?). And I was playing it last August, when it was released in Europe and Australia. Deciding late is better than never, Sony will be releasing the game in the US on March 18, with a number of changes made to the tracklist. Gone from the PAL version are EMF, All-Saints, the B-52s and Lisa Loeb, and in come Colour Me Badd, En Vogue, Hootie & the Blowfish, Santana (with Rob Thomas) and – amazingly – Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and Nirvana’s “Lithium”.
