by Chris Buffa on Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Lips is Microsoft's attempt to compete with Sony's popular SingStar karaoke series. Pitched as a party game, Lips comes with 40 songs spread across a wide range of music genres, including a-ha's "Take On Me," Destiny's Child's "Survivor," Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Nirvana's "In Bloom." For $69.99, you also get two wireless microphones that not only sparkle with embedded LED lights, but also functions as instruments like tambourines that enhance the presentation (and adds points). Like most karaoke games, it measures your pitch and tone as you're singing, but Lips is so easy that you could sing anything and achieve a high score. There's also a lack of online options, most notably the ability to record and upload video performances to Xbox Live. Sadly, it doesn't support the Xbox 360 Vision Camera. We're also disappointed with what appear to be standard definition music videos that look fuzzy and stretched across HDTVs. However, it's still a fun karaoke game with excellent peripherals, a wonderful soundtrack and the option to import DRM-free songs from an iPod or Zune and put them into the video game. If you need a party game, you could do a lot worse than Lips.
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