Light up microphones. That's what you should take away from Microsoft's new karaoke game, Lips. Not only do they sparkle, but they also change color depending how you sing and move them. Yes, they're also motion sensitive, letting you add a little something extra to your performances, even if it's just shaking them for some tambourine. Beyond that (Lips ships with two microphones this fall), Lips is one heck of a singing game with an innovative feature that could revolutionize the genre.

Most current music games offer an assortment of songs on the disc and an online store where you can purchase more tracks, two of Lips' key features. However, Microsoft's game also lets you plug your iPod or Zune into your Xbox 360 via USB cable and sing along to those songs. Rather than install them to your hard drive, the game streams them off either device, so in theory, the soundtrack is as good or as bad as your music collection. No word yet on whether the game somehow includes lyrics and background visuals into the mix, but if Microsoft pulls this off, it could kill SingStar, or at least force Sony's hand.

As expected, the game does come with numerous songs, such as Mercy by Duffy and Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John. There's a duet mode (which includes true duets) medals you earn depending on your performance and plenty of master tracks and their accompanying music videos, the usual karaoke stuff. What really grabs our attention, however, is the ability to involve six players (two on the mics and four pressing buttons on regular Xbox 360 controllers to produce noise) and various special effects you can tweak. This includes audio effects (change the amount of echo), voice reduction (make the vocals loud or soft) and noise makers that switch up the sounds produced by hitting the microphones. All little touches, but important enough to impact a performance.

It's a cool game, but there's still a lot of work to do. Lips is pretty forgiving when it comes to bad singing and rewards you tons of points (more than seems normal) for doing well, though the intention might make players feel good about themselves. That said, the voice recognition needs tweaking, as it requires you to bring the microphone up close in order to register your words.

Aside from that issue (which is fixable), Lips is a sweet karaoke game that broadens Microsoft's ever-growing Xbox 360 library. Better yet, the final version will ship with two microphone so you can instantly beak into duets. While it may not unseat SingStar current karaoke stronghold, if this iPod/Zune functionality works, Lips could become one of the year's most sought after games.

Related Links

Lips Game Guide