If I really know the song, I can score literally millions of points. I score three or four million points on some of these songs, and that's great for the person that is very confident in his vocal capabilities. But, for the person who might not be, or if you're just drunk, it's just like you don't even care.

But you just want to jam to the song, and you're [warbles incoherently], and it's all this crazy stuff. But, you're still getting a score, right? And that's really important, because at the end of the song, you're drunk and you're still saying, "Ha! I scored better than you!" or whatever, right?

And that is really enough to carry the experience. People don't even question it. [They don't say], "Oh, yeah! It's not ending prematurely." I would even say that a lot of people that don't normally play games even think about that. If anything, it's the reverse. "Why did the song end prematurely? I want to enjoy the song." That's what we're giving them.

I'm glad to know that the needs of drunken karaoke singers enters into design decisions. Nice interview on an interesting subject, from the perspective of a company that has worked exclusively on music titles since their founding.

More Than Just Lips: Keiichi Yano On Music Game Innovation [Gamasutra]

Singstar 90's will be available as a stand alone game or it can be purchased in a bundle with two mics. It will also feature several play modes including the co-op Duet Mode, One-on-One battle mode, eight player Pass-the-Mic mode. And as if that weren't enough, it will also be compatible with the Eye Toy so you may record your performances for later posterity and embarrassment.

Make the jump for the full press release with all the details

Sony Computer Entertainment America Continues to Grow PlayStation(R)2 Social
Gaming Library With SingStar '90s

From Grunge Rock to Boy Bands, Fifth Installment in the Party Favorite
Franchise Features Artists MC Hammer, Nirvana, Sir Mix A Lot, New Kids on the
Block and more

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 18 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment
America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the release of SingStar(TM) '90s, the
latest installment in the ever growing multi-million selling SingStar(TM)
franchise, available exclusively for the PlayStation(R)2 computer
entertainment system. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's
Worldwide Studios, London Studio, SingStar '90s brings a hit list of Grunge,
R&B, Rap and Pop music from artists that defined the decade including Paula
Abdul, En Vogue, Vanilla Ice, Boyz II Men, Nirvana and more.
Available both as a stand-alone disc and packaged with two high-quality
USB microphones, the addition of SingStar '90s as the fifth installment to the
SingStar catalogue provides PlayStation(R) fans with over 150 chart-topping
songs and music videos to sing, compete and have fun with friends and family.
Players can easily access any of the song lists while playing from SingStar
'90s, SingStar(TM) Rocks!, SingStar(TM) Pop, SingStar(TM) '80s, or
SingStar(TM) Amped with the disc swap feature which allows for seamless
transition between titles.
"The SingStar franchise has been instrumental in making PlayStation 2 a
social entertainment hub in the home. SingStar '90s will build on this success
and provide fans with the songs and videos that made boy bands and flannel
shirts all the rage," said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA.
"This year will be landmark for SingStar as we continue to deliver compelling
content on PlayStation 2 while also revolutionizing the franchise as we bring
it to PlayStation 3 on May 20 by giving players access to purchase hundreds of
songs and videos across multiple genres, build and customize party playlists,
and build a community of user-created performances."
Regardless of music or gaming ability, aspiring rock stars can select from
30 hit songs to sing along with while watching the actual music video on
screen. Performing to such crowd pleasing favorites as "U Can't Touch This",
"Pump up the Jam", and "Ice Ice Baby", players can take their turn in the
spotlight solo-style or share the spotlight with multiplayer modes, including
cooperative Duet Mode, one-on-one Battle Mode, and the team-based Pass-the-Mic
which accommodates up to eight players. In addition, SingStar '90s is
compatible with the popular EyeToy(R) USB camera which allows players to watch
themselves belt it out as the main act and record their performance for
playback. Players can also save their favorite vocal performances onto a
Memory Card for future audio playback and customize and enhance playback with
numerous effects.
SCEA will support SingStar '90s with a media advertising campaign, full
promotional support including in-store demonstrations, retailer supported
Social Gaming Areas, merchandising support, broad-based public relations
support, and an immersive and interactive SingStar website at
http://www.us.playstation.com/singstar/.
The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated
SingStar '90s "T" for "Teen". For more information about the ESRB, please
visit www.esrb.org.

The SingShot group, a five person team, will join EA's Sims Division with their work contributing to "several different community projects" withing the company. I hope that means Tiburon will find some way to make John Madden record his legendary version of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" for Madden NFL 2009.

So, who wants to take bets on when The Sims 2: Karaoke Bar expansion pack will hit? I say December of this year. I now have a burning desire to go out and sing a little Thompson Twins in front of a drunken crowd. Michael McWhertor

EA Acquires SingShot Media

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the acquisition of SingShot Media, a San Francisco-based online karaoke community. SingShot's web-based social networking platform allows site members to record their own renditions of famous songs, share their recordings with friends, rate and comment on other members' tracks, customize recordings with photos and videos, and compete in a variety of contests. The acquisition will help accelerate EA's efforts in community-building and promoting user-generated content through a unique music platform. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Upon completion of the acquisition, SingShot CEO Ranah Edelin and CTO Niranjan Nagar will enter EA in the roles of Vice President. Prior to co-founding SingShot, Edelin and Nagar were part of the core team at Listen.com, the company that built the award-winning Rhapsody digital music subscription service which was sold to RealNetworks. Since February 2006, Edelin and Nagar have built a team and technology focused on establishing and maintaining live communities. The five person SingShot team will join the EA Sims Division. The technology can be applied to several different community projects within EA.

Nancy Smith, Executive Vice President and Group General Manager at EA commented, "We are thrilled to bring the SingShot team into EA. They are tremendously talented, technically adept and true experts in developing user-generated communities through music. We see a bright future for the technology and each of these individuals within EA."

For more information about SingShot Media, please visit: www.singshot.com

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS , EA , EA SPORTS BIG and POGO . In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Released in Japan in 1986 and designed by 'Beat' Takeshi 'I Hate Video Games' Kitano, Takeshi's Challenge is perhaps the only game to require you to shriek karaoke for an hour into your microphone, or beat a boss by punching him 20,000 times.

The opening screen apparently translates to: "This is a game made by a man who hates videogames." Just like me! Florian Eckhardt