With the success of standalone singing games seemingly a thing of the past, the free karaoke app on Xbox Live is generally a smart idea. Rather than charging players for a disc full of tracks, Karaoke allows anyone with a headset or compatible microphone to pay a rental fee for a block of time — $3 for two hours, $5 for six hours, or $10 for 24 hours — and then sing along to any of the 8,000-plus streaming tracks (all cover versions licensed from The Karaoke Channel) until the timer runs out. It even generously offers five free songs per day.
Karaoke’s developed by iNiS (the studio behind Lips) and features Achievements, but it’s hard to consider it a game. Much like a dive-bar singing setup, the app shows a song’s lyrics on the screen (atop images of your avatar vocalist), minus any pitch guides or active feedback on how well you’re singing. By voicing literally anything into the mic, you’ll gain fans and money as you reach various score milestones. Reading the lyrics can be challenging at times due to awkward placement and a lack of intelligent guidance on timing and flow.
Your earned cash nets you between-song stage upgrades, but because your “manager” handles these purchases automatically, it’s a missed opportunity to involve players. Optional Kinect poses during tracks add a little flourish, but our best efforts were occasionally foiled by finicky recognition. Think of Karaoke as a backup for a night at the pub with rowdy pals; serious singers won’t find much satisfaction here.
PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios • DEVELOPER: iNiS • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: None (game recognizes up to four mics, but tracks/scores only one vocal part) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Exhausting • COST: Five free songs per day; for full song catalog, 240 Microsoft Points ($3) for two hours, 400 Microsoft Points ($5) for six hours, or 800 Microsoft Points ($10) for 24 hours • RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2012
+ Free download with reasonable usage rates.
– Awkward lyrics display with no performance-judging.
– Giving you no control over the stage upgrades makes them pointless.
? Can iNiS please go back to making original games?
cmh
December 15, 2012 at 6:12pm
iNiS should have made another Lips game but with Kinect support. A lot of people have a lot of money invested in Lips songs and the community is still fairly large. Missed opportunity.
