SingStar is a competitive music video game series developed by London Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The game also offers a "Pass the Mic" mode, which allows up to eight people to play a series of rounds in two teams.

SingStar games were sometimes localised for release in different regions, with customised track lists to suit foreign markets and territories.

In addition, a number of non-English language SingStar games have been released exclusively in some European countries.

In addition, a number of non-English titles have been released exclusively in some European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands.

[12] This release caused some complaints, as the application icon was made mandatory for all European PlayStation 3 users, and cannot be removed from the XMB menu.

The technology behind SingStar began as a research project into sound input by London Studio's prototyping department.

[14] The project was initially focused on developing a pitch detection system and game concepts aimed at a children's audience.

[16] A prototype game was developed, which included pitch detection technology, a basic interface display, a scoring system and samples of (then unlicensed) music.

The first game demonstration took place at a Team SCEE conference in Paris, featuring the songs "Wonderwall" by Oasis and "Independent Women" by Destiny's Child.

[15] The SingStar games require SingStar-branded microphones – one red and one blue – which connect to the PlayStation console via a single USB converter.

Regular singing segments do not feature speech recognition, and so humming into the microphones at the correct pitch will also score points.

[21] Tracks on the original SingStar for PlayStation 2 were mixed from master records, which allowed the artist's voice to be completely removed from the song.

This feature was dropped in subsequent games because the requirement for master tracks would have restricted the studio's choice of songs.

[22] The PlayStation 3 version also includes various VST plugins developed by Sound Forge, adapted to run natively on the console.

The space is called "The SingStar Rooms" and featured a dance floor, a jukebox, and different rewards for the users.

The first event was for the UK rapper Dizzee Rascal, a Mercury Award Winner, and occurred from 24 September to 9 October.

features two men singing Song 2 by Blur on a public rooftop, while onlookers watch in surprise.

[28] Similar style advertisements were created for the American launch of SingStar Rocks!, which feature public performances in a mall,[29] a subway,[30] and a fire escape.

SingStar sponsored MTV's Throwdown program, which consisted of a 3-minute clip of viewers lip syncing to a song.

In 2012 Julian Hill became A Guinness World record holder for his 24 hours 23 minutes continuous play of SingStar games.

This charity Event, Known as 'SingStar The Endurance Challenge' raised over £3,000 for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital,[34] and made Julian Hill an Internet Celebrity.

The games have received coverage in women's and girls' magazines, including Heat and Harpers and Queen in the United Kingdom.

[46] Australian website PALGN described the single-player as "a little lacklustre", but praised the multiplayer component as "the best asset of SingStar" and described the game as "addictive".

[50] The rapping segments introduced in SingStar Pop were described as "the hardest parts of the entire game", and were a feature which added variety to the series.

[52] The main difference between PlayStation 2 SingStar titles is the track list contained on the game disc.