Sorry, rant-like opening post incoming.
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved singing. I've been in smaller vocal bands, I've sang in professional choirs. Lately less so. It would come as no surprise that I really cherish singing as a gaming genre. And there really is no better singing application than SingStar.
SingStar started out on PS2 and it also matured on that platform. During the PS3 era, SingStar became even bigger because for the first time you could purchase and download new tracks, piecemeal. I am sure many GAF members have accumulated a properly huge song collection. The PS3 received less disc-based SingStar iterations just because the SingStore got implemented.
Come PS4, many die hard SingStar fans were hoping for Sony to take the franchise to new heights. But it did not quite go that way.
In late October of 2014, Sony released SingStar Ultimate for the PS4. The digital application release was quickly followed by a physical disc release in EU. Returning players came back to see a totally new interface, an odd goal-based leveling system and the genius feature of using any smartphone as a microphone. This last bit should have given an immense boost to the proceedings.
But there were other, less positive news. First of all, the new SingStar application omitted various basic features from the game. Party mode was gone, duets were removed. Players were pretty much stunned by these purges. Another massive blow to the game was that the SingStore was not up and running. And then, when it came online, many people found that a massive list of their favorite tracks simply wasn't there. Bear in mind - these were the tracks that people had purchased in the past. The developers promised that any past purchases can be re-downloaded for the PS4. But as time went along, it was evident that many popular tracks would never appear on the SingStore. They still aren't, to this day. Many people felt that they were simply robbed. To make matters worse, Sony also forcefully patched other game versions, also removing features from them.
And now here we are, six months past the release of the new game. I recently booted up the game on PS4. I am still missing a large chunk of my songs library. The latest updates to the SingStore happened back in March, and even that was a bunch of Oasis shit.
So here's my question: has Sony decided to kill off SingStar? Surely it deserves better. There still seems to be a vibrant, albeit smaller player base. Why cannot they release the missing songs on the SingStore? Is it a licensing issue or lack of interest? Does the future contain any SingStar games at all?
TLDR: SingStar seems to be dead. Do you miss it?
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved singing. I've been in smaller vocal bands, I've sang in professional choirs. Lately less so. It would come as no surprise that I really cherish singing as a gaming genre. And there really is no better singing application than SingStar.
SingStar started out on PS2 and it also matured on that platform. During the PS3 era, SingStar became even bigger because for the first time you could purchase and download new tracks, piecemeal. I am sure many GAF members have accumulated a properly huge song collection. The PS3 received less disc-based SingStar iterations just because the SingStore got implemented.
Come PS4, many die hard SingStar fans were hoping for Sony to take the franchise to new heights. But it did not quite go that way.
In late October of 2014, Sony released SingStar Ultimate for the PS4. The digital application release was quickly followed by a physical disc release in EU. Returning players came back to see a totally new interface, an odd goal-based leveling system and the genius feature of using any smartphone as a microphone. This last bit should have given an immense boost to the proceedings.
But there were other, less positive news. First of all, the new SingStar application omitted various basic features from the game. Party mode was gone, duets were removed. Players were pretty much stunned by these purges. Another massive blow to the game was that the SingStore was not up and running. And then, when it came online, many people found that a massive list of their favorite tracks simply wasn't there. Bear in mind - these were the tracks that people had purchased in the past. The developers promised that any past purchases can be re-downloaded for the PS4. But as time went along, it was evident that many popular tracks would never appear on the SingStore. They still aren't, to this day. Many people felt that they were simply robbed. To make matters worse, Sony also forcefully patched other game versions, also removing features from them.
And now here we are, six months past the release of the new game. I recently booted up the game on PS4. I am still missing a large chunk of my songs library. The latest updates to the SingStore happened back in March, and even that was a bunch of Oasis shit.
So here's my question: has Sony decided to kill off SingStar? Surely it deserves better. There still seems to be a vibrant, albeit smaller player base. Why cannot they release the missing songs on the SingStore? Is it a licensing issue or lack of interest? Does the future contain any SingStar games at all?
TLDR: SingStar seems to be dead. Do you miss it?
