Engine Software: Just Sing!

Just Sing! is Engine Software’s big release right now: a karaoke game on the DS. The idea of singing karaoke using the built-in DS mic is quite strange considering that it’s mostly been used in mini games which only consisted of blowing into the mic or clapping, but never anything as precise as pitch recognition. Engine Software, however, managed to pull it off quite well from what we’ve seen.

One of the problems they had to overcome was the fact that they had to filter out the sound from the song itself which is constantly playing from the DS speakers located about three or four centimeters from the mic, so that the player’s voice is the only frequency recognized. Because they actually got it working properly, the game actually works, and we must admit that it’s a cute concept.

The player starts off singing in a club for fun, and after the first show they are asked to sing again at another date, and from then on the player continues up the ladder to stardom. The player can customize their character in terms of physical appearance and choice of clothing, and of course the choice of male or female is presented as well. There will be roughly 20 songs in the final list, and there will not be any form of DLC for this game; what you get when you purchase it is what you get, period. The songs we saw played were Poker Face from Lady Gaga, as well as one custom track entitled “Just Sing!” which was recorded specifically for the game. We were told that the song list would consist of very recent music, and there will be a varying selection of slow and fast songs to allow for different levels of difficulty.

The game will feature two different forms of multiplayer: a hotseat mode where up to four players pass the DS between them line after line, and sing in turns, as well as a two player wifi mode, where two players can sing a duet simultaneously.

Something interesting to note: EA wanted to publish the game for Engine Software, under one condition: it had to be called “Boogie Wonderland” and be tied into the Boogie franchise. Engine Software said “not a chance”, and luckily found DTP Young Entertainment, who agreed to publish it as is.

Engine Software seems quite proud of Just Sing!, and from what we’ve seen, they have every right to be.