How it Works: SingStar PS2-PS3 compatibility

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Alyssa Casella PR Manager, SCEA

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update on some recent SingStar news. Yesterday we announced that SingStar PS3 Vol. 2 will be coming to the U.S. this October. You can check out the full details on SingStar PS3 Vol.2, as well get the latest on today’s SingStore update at IGN.

Coming out of Leipzig, you may have read about a cool new SingStar PS3 disc swap feature which incorporates the SingStar PS2 library. We wanted to make sure everyone was up to speed on what the disc feature entailed, so here’s the lowdown from the SingStar development team:

SingStar track compatibility across PS2 & PS3 is enabled via the Disc Swap feature.

The feature has previously been available on SingStar games for both PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3, but for the first time owners of SingStar for PS3 will be able to play songs from PS2 discs in their collection.

While playing a SingStar PS3 disc, at the song select screen, hit the [select] button to swap discs and play the songs from the inserted disc. The songs are not saved to the hard drive.

This is a unique feature for SingStar and makes it possible for fans who have already built up their PS2 SingStar collection to continue enjoying it on PS3. It will be delivered via a free game update later this year and will work with all current SingStar PS3 discs. It will also be included on future SingStar PS3 discs releasing next year.

This new feature will work with all current PS3 system models and does not require a system software update.

playstation gamesps2singstar

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89 Comments

  • cs8alm
    August 21, 2008 at 4:12 am PDT

    Firstly, I am in the UK so have been enjoying the delights of Vol 1 & 2 for some time now…

    Resigned to the fact that Vol 1 songs cannot be ripped to the PS3 and that you need to use the disc swap facility…

    I understand the reasons why (but hopefully one day we will be allowed to store the tracks on the HDD)… and the swapping of discs works okay…

    BUT… it would be really cool if the carosel could be updated to ‘remember’ what songs you have on your various discs… that way you can choose a song and the SingStar tell you to put in disc X or disc Y… at the moment you need to know what song it is you want to sing, and on what disc, do the disc swap first and then sing sing sing… surely having an intelligent carosel isn’t too much to ask for?

  • Calumba
    August 21, 2008 at 4:14 am PDT

    Any news about wireless mics? :(

  • Keith K
    August 21, 2008 at 4:23 am PDT

    Curious. Why is it that suddenly any PS3 model can read PS2 discs?

  • chrizs
    August 21, 2008 at 4:26 am PDT

    Will u be able to post PS2 recordings to the Singstore?

    • Richard Bates
      August 21, 2008 at 7:15 am PDT

      Unfortunately it won\’t be possible to upload any saved media for PS2 songs because of licensing restrictions.

      In doing this feature we thought the most important point was being able to play all of the songs from your SingStar collection regardless of whether they\’re from PS2 or PS3.

  • PirateThom
    August 21, 2008 at 4:38 am PDT

    Is the PS3 then playing PS2 discs, in emulation, through the Singstar software?

    • Richard Bates
      August 21, 2008 at 7:25 am PDT

      We added to the PS3 SingStar game \’engine\’ the ability to read and decode the tracks from a SingStar disc for PS2. Keeping it within the PS3 game also means you can still play your downloaded tracks.

  • Ti_dus
    August 21, 2008 at 4:46 am PDT

    That’s really cool, but everyone is waiting 4 the wireless mics :( When will we get them?

  • THATPSPGUY
    August 21, 2008 at 4:49 am PDT

    This is really cool and yeah the wireless mic’s, where are they? I keep triping over the cord knocking my ps3 to the floor(which can’t be good for it). Also can I get a home beta invite?

  • kspraydad
    August 21, 2008 at 5:06 am PDT

    The PS3 is NOT playing the PS2 game in this scenario…no emulation of the PS2 software is required. It is streaming the track info from the disc (which is merely a DVD that the PS3 is quite capable of handling)…you are still playing the PS3 game though.

  • Johnbot5k
    August 21, 2008 at 5:11 am PDT

    Slick – I just picked up singstar for my PS3 and I’ve been having a BLAST! – I’ll keep my eye’s open for PS2 versions at my local retailer ;)

  • El-Suave
    August 21, 2008 at 5:13 am PDT

    Does the region-lock of the PS2 Singstar Discs still matter if you swap discs?

  • Herby
    August 21, 2008 at 5:37 am PDT

    I don’t understand why there needs to be volumes. Any future releases should be available for download. What is the point in having a Singstore?
    IN addition, there is a big flaw in the game that if your Hard Drive crashes you are not able to re-download the songs you already purchased for free. You have to buy them again. So all of you that are looking to invest a large amount of money into songs, think twice because one day you might loose them all.
    Check this thread, http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=singstar&thread.id=3143

  • Enforcer_X
    August 21, 2008 at 5:53 am PDT

    Someone needs to put a muzzle on David Reeves of SCEE.

    Yeah he makes way more money than me but he says some crazy stuff. Like “ripping” tracks to the PS3 vis Firmware update.

    “Downloading PSP ISO’s from BitTorrent”

    The guy is a crackpot.

    Way to clear up any misunderstanding Alyssa!

    David obviously has no idea the difference between a game update and a Firmware update.

  • Mana Knight
    August 21, 2008 at 5:55 am PDT

    I’m very happy to hear this news. I’m a HUGE SingStar fan, and bought lots of music. :D

    Btw, although it’s PAL exclusive for now, I’d be happier than any other game announcement if SingStar Singalong with Disney would come stateside (I don’t care if it’s the PS2 disc or download packs on the SingStar Store for PS3, I’d be crazy excited regardless, even would be willing to pay extra for it). I love Disney AND SingStar big time.

    Regardless, the conference was awesome for us SingStar fans. :D

  • LN_MEXWARRIOR
    August 21, 2008 at 6:05 am PDT

    ALSO SONY DON’T FORGET TO MENTION THAT IF YOU BOUGHT SONGS FROM THE SINGSTORE AND YOUR PS3 BREAKS AND YOU GET ANOTHER PS3 THERE IS NO WAY TO GET YOUR SONGS BACK!

    http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=singstar&thread.id=3143

    Check this out my fellow singstar fans…

  • Fersis
    August 21, 2008 at 6:06 am PDT

    @7
    Well its something ive seen on every single comment section of every single blog .
    Its not something specific at this post.
    Im curious ,im new to this internet stuff .
    So i ignore a lot of things and dont get a lot of things too.

  • bnz
    August 21, 2008 at 6:07 am PDT

    I was disappointed by the announcement. I was really hoping for some real online gameplay, but it seems that the Singstar people have different things on their roadmap.

  • Mana Knight
    August 21, 2008 at 6:19 am PDT

    @19

    THe problem with real online play is that there will be a singing delay (since there’s always a tad bit of lag when playing online, and voices are a tad delayed). It would make doing duets hard because both players would sound off tune.

  • tripl3fast
    August 21, 2008 at 6:28 am PDT

    meh, i don’t want to have to swap discs to access all my songs. can’t they just add all of the songs to the singstore, so i can dl them instead?

  • Aprisaiden_22
    August 21, 2008 at 6:30 am PDT

    Hmm sounds like a good Singstar update. I would of preferred to be able to rip the songs onto my PS3’s HDD – but this will do fine.

  • Morgus
    August 21, 2008 at 6:38 am PDT

    Disc swapping, BAH! I guess its better than nothing. I’d really prefer it to rip the tracks and update the carousel browser. I am still hugely disappointed with the Singstore song selections, why is it region locked??? The UK has Depeche Mode songs , and i want them. Give us a region free Singstore! or add Depeche Mode tracks to the US Singstore.

  • Vistrix
    August 21, 2008 at 6:40 am PDT

    I think 95% of Singstar owners would prefer a “copy to HD” option instead of this.

  • Vistrix
    August 21, 2008 at 6:41 am PDT

    Also, can we get a confirmation that wireless mics are on the way?

    Isnt this a next gen console? Why are there cables still?

  • ThAGriZZ45
    August 21, 2008 at 6:42 am PDT

    Not really interested in karaoke but I guess this is a good feature for past users of singstar on ps2.

  • CitizenErased
    August 21, 2008 at 6:56 am PDT

    Awesome feature guys! PLEASE ADD MUSE and Depeche Mode tracks to the US SingStore!!!!

    Wish more games were like this.If I had a save file from GoW 1 and 2 I’d unlock an outfit for Kratos in GoW 3.

  • mza49311
    August 21, 2008 at 7:04 am PDT

    Awesome news, this should have been a given in games like this, downloadable content and disc based content should go hand in hand, more sales for you guys that way!

  • EvoAnubis
    August 21, 2008 at 7:08 am PDT

    Thanks for the update, Alyssa. My g/f is gonna really like this news! One thing, though; is SingStar: Singalong With Disney going to see a US release?

  • Ghostm
    August 21, 2008 at 7:10 am PDT

    That sounds cool. It would’ve been nicer if we were able to just upload the songs from the PS2 disc to the PS3’s HDD.

    Will there be any Sing Star Trophy support?

  • TouchyEd
    August 21, 2008 at 7:27 am PDT

    QUICK QUESTION:

    Is SingStar a karaoke game? (In the sense that you sing along to songs that have had their vocal track removed?)

    Or is it a sing-a-long to the full-song (including original vocals) type game?

  • tuaamin13
    August 21, 2008 at 7:31 am PDT

    You guys realize you can’t get the tracks on the singstore, have a region free singstore, or rip the tracks because of licensing restrictions, right?

    Depeche Mode is in the UK because it was licensed there, and in the US the license holder probably won’t budge on rates. So you run into that issue going across regions (which is why we don’t have a region free PSN store).

    You can’t rip the tracks because people would just buy the game from Gamestop, rip the tracks, then return it.

    You can’t download the tracks because of the whole reselling thing, plus you’d have to get the license holders to put the tracks up again in a new format, and they’d probably want more fees for that, meaning your old tracks will get a price tag associated with it.

    This is basically the easiest method and still works for people with old games.

  • Ghostm
    August 21, 2008 at 7:38 am PDT

    I do have one really good question.

    How come the SingStore always gets updated with oldies and never newer songs?

    It’s a bunch of old songs all the time. I don’t mind, but it would be nice to have the current stuff to,

    I’m kind of glad that M$ has “Lips” coming out soon. That way you guys can step your game up. Same goes for PS Home. It’s looking like M$ is going to beat us to the market with their avatars.

  • Ghostm
    August 21, 2008 at 7:40 am PDT

    Is it possible to add an online versus battle mode? That’s one major feature missing from SingStar.

  • Traveler1990
    August 21, 2008 at 7:42 am PDT

    i really love this game but you guys try to get more mainstream music and bluetooth microphones?

  • jasoncourt
    August 21, 2008 at 8:00 am PDT

    Sadly this does not change my situation. I can, with my PS3, play all the PS2 Singstar games. So instead of ‘changing out discs’ to play them now I just… ‘change discs’. Though this way I suppose it will save me 10 seconds or so. It’s just tough, anything but instantaneous is too much for me these days I guess.

    Thanks for the info, definitely. I can always count on the PSBlog to break it down for me :).

  • Joe
    August 21, 2008 at 8:04 am PDT

    Is there any chance of letting the games be ripped off of the PS2 disks to be stored on the PS3. So this way you do not need to switch disks. I first thought that was what was going to happen then I found out it was not. Even if you needed to pay a few dollars to do it would be ok.

    Also any chance of bringing the Disney SingStar game to North America too. That would be one SS game that would sell really well.

  • mywhitenoise
    August 21, 2008 at 8:18 am PDT

    You guys should really take the Rock Band route. I know it isn’t possible to rip the PS2 tracks, but for Singstar Vol.1 and 2 for PS3, disc swapping is unacceptable. If you guys add a $5 charge to transfer over songs from old PS3 Singstar discs, then you have my money.

  • Mr_Pickle
    August 21, 2008 at 8:20 am PDT

    What will be the picture quality for the PS2 tracks?

    Also will all the Singstar games incl Vol 1 get trophy support or just the latest one?

  • jorgiex
    August 21, 2008 at 8:20 am PDT

    The disk swapping feature is really lame. How about a feature to allow you to install what ever features you are taking from the PS2 game and just be done with it. The PS3 is already setup to do installs of most games coming out for it, lol

    just a thought.

  • darkiewonder
    August 21, 2008 at 8:21 am PDT

    can we use PAL Ps2 version on US Ps3 right?

    Please say yes!

  • se7enthsign-psn
    August 21, 2008 at 8:22 am PDT

    [quote]Unfortunately it won’t be possible to upload any saved media for PS2 songs because of licensing restrictions.

    In doing this feature we thought the most important point was being able to play all of the songs from your SingStar collection regardless of whether they’re from PS2 or PS3.[/quote]

    This is disappointing, but it does lead to another question. Is it possible that these songs will be available to upload at a later date? If not, is there a possibility that PS2 Singstar songs become a part of the Singstore? 90% of the game is the ability to share the content online.

  • joostin
    August 21, 2008 at 8:22 am PDT

    This is way off topic, but to me this sounds like Sony is giving us 2 gifts! 1. Ability to use previous purchased songs from older singstars.; 2. The knowledge that Sony can in fact force the reading of the “ps2 engine” on non-backwards compatible PS3s.

    Could this mean that the rumour of software emulation for the 40 and new 80/160gb PS3s is really possible?

    Here’s to hoping for the unlucky owners of those systems.

  • Ghostm
    August 21, 2008 at 8:28 am PDT

    @ 31 Traveler1990 | August 21st, 2008 at 7:42 am

    That’s exactly what I was thinking. The whole wired mic thing is not cutting it.

  • Ac3theone
    August 21, 2008 at 8:32 am PDT

    hmmm it can work on all models of ps3….and this is all done via FW update rite? will the 40gb ps3 get ps2 b/c???????????

  • Mana Knight
    August 21, 2008 at 8:43 am PDT

    @ tuaamin13, you are pretty much exactly right.

    Trophy support for future SingStar games sounds great. :D

  • saintfighteraqua
    August 21, 2008 at 8:46 am PDT

    That sounds great.
    But what i really want to see are better Singstore updates! The one for August (today) was pretty horrible, I didn’t dl any of them.

    I love SingStar, but come on! These updates are no good.
    I di enjoy hearing new artists I’ve never heard of, Sanna Neilson and Elvira Nicolaisen are great….but most of those others are awful.
    I love 80′ and 90’s music, but where’s the good stuff?
    I have bought over 70 songs so far, and I’m getting anxious since it seems there are not going to be any good dlc.

    My wish list:
    J-Pop music….Sony owns it all, practically, but I know licensing it could be hard.

    Celine Dion, hey, she is a good singer. ^^
    More Delta Goodrem
    Collective Soul
    Viva La Vida from Cold Play, or any other Cold Play, I do love those in the update.
    Nightwish
    Within Temptation
    Cranberries
    Michael Buble
    S Club 7
    Josh Groban
    Moby
    More U2
    Savage Garden

    Maybe you could make a blog just for people to suggest songs?
    Maybe give us a limit too so we don’t go overboard.

    Hope we see Wireless mics soon too. (No, don’t make them light up or beep like you -know-who’s!)

  • cmargary
    August 21, 2008 at 8:55 am PDT

    My cousin wants to buy this game but he really want to know if there’s good (or any) reggaetón music or new latin music. Latin rock maybe?

  • ROLO_ONFIRE
    August 21, 2008 at 8:56 am PDT

    @14

    Man this sucks, no re-downloading?? I’m glad that rockband doesn’t has that problem

    http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=singstar&thread.id=3143

  • kidhero1000
    August 21, 2008 at 9:10 am PDT

    now if you guys could release an update to play ps2 games on the ps3 that would be better

  • Ac3theone
    August 21, 2008 at 9:13 am PDT

    yea it would b

  • wallbc01
    August 21, 2008 at 9:15 am PDT

    can we get some better song selections in the updates for singstar? we seem to only get the same update that the UK gets but with a lot of the good songs left out.

  • TouchyEd
    August 21, 2008 at 9:27 am PDT

    Can someone who owns the game please let me know if it’s a karaoke game, or a sing-along with the real singer game?

    Thanks!

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