Indeed, the only clues as to tracks we can expect when the game ships sometime in 2010 come from this single screenshot, above, which is...eclectic, quality like Dre and Snoop's "G Thang" and Pete Rock & C. L. Smooth's "They Reminisce" joined by stuff like...Gold Digger and Live Your Life, which I now can only think of as "that song from The Hangover".

Ah well. These games can't help but try and cover all the bases. It's how money is made.

And hey, it could be worse. Much worse.

At Gamescom today, we got our second demo of Def Jam Rapstar, with 4mm Games' Jamie King and Def Jam's James Waller battling it out with a bit of two-player in the game's party mode. Like Lips, Rapstar combines pitch detection portions with phoneme recognition, scoring players on both their abilities to sing in tune and rap on beat. We watched King and Waller go head to head in a few of Rapstar's confirmed tracks, including "Live Your Life" by T.I., "Gold Digger" by Kanye West and "They Reminisce Over You" by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth.

But it was the non-licensed beats and what players can do with them that's far more interesting.

Sure, players can upload 30 second snippets of video performances while rapping over pre-recorded, licensed tracks, videos that the community can vote on and players can compete against others with for high scores.

But the freestyle portion of the game, using a suite of custom beats included in Rapstar, lets budding rappers write and record full, original songs. Waller says that the built-in tools will allow for multiple takes, allowing for layered tracks on top of a core rhyme, including ad-libs, background singers, whatever.

Rapstar freestylers can upload their full performances—recorded via their Xbox Live Vision or PlayStation Eye camera—to the game's web site and let the community rate those original songs.

Waller says that Def Jam, the company, will be keeping a close eye on the Rapstar community, trawling it for talent and using the Rapstar fanbase as a cultivator for up and coming hip hop artists. The cream, they hope, will rise to the top courtesy of community ratings.

That will likely be aided with the help of Def Jam Rapstar's online meta-game, which should appeal to the hip hop fan too shy to get in front of the camera. The community web site will also enable Rapstar fans to act as managers and promoters, encouraging contributors to help find and publicize the best talent. Based on the description of that feature set, it sounds part fantasy football league, part analytical tool.

Def Jam Rapstar's community will have a major focus on battles, essentially letting players join leagues, in video game terms. That could mean something as broad as east coast versus west coast or something more specific, like Queens versus Brooklyn or high school versus high school.

While my own rap skills aren't going to be put to the test any time soon—because they're godawful—what Rapstar and 4mm Games are putting together is compelling. If done right, it could serve as a genuine audition tool for aspiring musicians. But at the very least, it appears to be a capable rap game with a decent selection of licensed tracks.

Expect Def Jam Rapstar to hit officially this "Winter," which likely means sometime in Q1 2010. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii versions are in the works "for now."

Before we go on, it's important to note that this is only seven tracks. And all appear to be for the game's contemporary section (the game's tracklist will ultimately span the past three decades of hip-hop). But anyway, enough disclaimers; here's the list:

Flo-Rida-"Right Round"
Lil Wayne-"Mrs. Officer"
2 Much-"Wild Thang"
Dem Franchize Boyz-"Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It"
Lil Kim-"Put Your Lighters Up"
Black Eyed Peas-"My Humps"
MOP- "Ante Up" (Murray/Ginnage/Pitman)

Might not be to your liking, sure (definitely not to mine), but then, like SingStar, isn't that the whole reason this game exists?

Reached for comment on Wednesday, Rapstar officials had this to say about the song list:

"There has been no official confirmation of the finalized track list for Def Jam Rapstar. Any reports detailing confirmed tracks or artists in the game are speculative and rumor at this point. 4mm and Def Jam Interactive are working with their wide array of music label partners to deliver an amazing line up for the final product that will represent the best of the past 30 years of hip-hop. We will have more official news and information to share on Def Jam Rapstar soon."

As is par for the course with these stupid pre-E3 announcements, there's not much else being announced aside from the game itself. No platforms, no mechanics, no peripheral info, no tracklist, nothing.

About the only useful thing we can pick up is that, despite the game carrying the Def Jam name, the included songs won't be restricted to just Def Jam's catalogue.

Which gives anyone else dreaming of a good old-fashioned Wu-Tang singalong hope! You can catch the surprisingly enjoyable trailer below.

Def Jam Rapstar Announced [IGN]

4mm Games is developing "online worlds that will define social gaming", according to the company's website. The studio is teaming with CEA Autumn Games in a multi-year partnership that will encompass multiple titles and platforms.

"4mm Games has a pioneering vision for the future of interactive entertainment," said Alex Collmer, CEO and co-founder of CEA Autumn Games. "We believe the 4mm management team combines a unique blend of design, technological prowess and cultural understanding in a way that that will speak to a broad audience, and we look forward to working together to create blockbuster entertainment."

Nicholas Perrett, former general manager of Image Metrics, will be the new studios chief executive officer. Paul Coyne, former VP of NBC and SVP of Warner Music group, will be the executive vice president of 4mm. King will be the studio's president and Foreman the chief technology officer.

"I was hugely honored to be approached by talent of Jamie and Gary's caliber to co-found 4mm Games," Perrett said. "It is an utterly unprecedented time in the history of video games, as the web and new business models disrupt the existing value chain. We are excited to create a new type of business to deliver groundbreaking content with global appeal to a consumer who lives online."