SingStar Hits 2 Million Units Sold

SingStar, a singing game for PlayStation 2 created by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's London studio, has reached the 2 million mark for all games in the series. The SingStar franchise, which debuted in 2004, numbers three titles to date: the original; SingStar Party, which added an increased focus on multiplayer modes; and the recent SingStar Pop, whose track list counted many currently popular songs. One curious aspect of SingStar's success is that the franchise is an entirely European phenomenon; despite the similarly-themed Karaoke Revolution series' success in the U.S., no SingStar games have been released outside of the European market by Sony. The unavailability of the game highlights a difference between the American and European markets - analysts indicate that European consumers are more open and interested in social, group-orientated music and party games than the fairly niche market for the genre in America. Sony London's EyeToy is another example of a socially-themed game that is far more popular in Europe than in the U.S., although several EyeToy titles did receive a release in North America. In addition to the cultural differences, licensing reasons may be another reason for the franchise's absence from U.S. shores: "We have licensed more than 250 songs for the SingStar series to date," said SCEE music licensing manager Sergio Pintel, "and we would like to thank all of the record companies and music publishers for their massive contribution to the success of the games."