In a studio in South London, professional dancers, choreographers, principal designers, members of the SingStar team and myself gathered for something pretty special.
This was the shoot for the upcoming SingStar Dance game, due for release later this year. The team were recording footage of the dancers that will be presented in-game for users to follow when playing.
Fully rehearsed and in costume, the dancers were ready to begin.
For me, watching anyone perform a well thought out dance routine is pretty impressive, and two people simultaneously performing a very long and difficult routine in perfect time is something that takes a lot of effort, practice and skill.
I spoke to choreographer Shaun Niles about how he creates a dance routine for SingStar Dance.
“It’s very hard! I have to pretend to hold the PlayStation Move motion controller myself when I work out routines to see what can be done with it. Some movements can be quite difficult, such as a flick of the wrist, and can feel a bit weird with the controller in your hand at first. Its hard work but I have choreographed a few routines for SingStar Dance now; it just takes a lot of practice!”
As the day went on, it was very clear that the dances had been carefully tailored to the song in question.
Principal designer Charlie Hasdell told me how the team decided on dance moves and routines.
“I go to all the dance rehearsals, record the performance and then play it back next to the original video. I think there is an expectation from SingStar users that when they see a dance move in a video, they want to recreate that themselves, so we try to keep it all as relevant as possible.”
Once all the dances have been perfected and recorded, they will be synced alongside the original video, then given the SingStar game treatment so they look lovely and colourful. The final step sees the dance transcribers go through each track and mark up the dance routines so you can bust some moves!
Watching the dancers, all I could think was “wow, I wish I could do that”. Thankfully, when I get my hands on a copy of the game, I’ll be able to. I hope.
17 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 2:07 pm by F4C33oFF
Nice!
2
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 2:34 pm by maddymad
Still can’t figure out how we can sing and dance with both the Move and the mic
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:16 pm by Charlie Hasdell
Hi, we have tried singing and dancing at the same time and it’s really tough! If you want to try you could get a mic stand. However we find it best played 4 player with 2 singers and 2 dancers.
3
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:03 pm by oxygenx
played it on gamescom and it sucked. holding a girl in one hand and the move controller in other isnt that great. kinect dance central pwns singstar dance. and btw. i’m a sony fanboy, not a microsoft guy.
4
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:03 pm by Byscott
I have probably missed this but do we know if current singstars will get a dance patch or if we have to buy the dance disk?
5
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:04 pm by Mr_BurnZ
The guy holding the clapper in the first photo looks like Adam Savage from MythBusters.
6
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:08 pm by xiked
SO will this and other MOVE games be advertised in EU? Because right know, SCEA is kicking SCEE ass so hard when it comes to marketing. They have Coca cola, subway and other partnerships. They are going all in and really want to sell Playstation MOVE. But here in EU…not a [DELETED] thing has been on TV or been co-marked whit other products or partnerships…The TV spots should been on right know 24/7 about MOVE and the games that support it. TV spots that tell the difference about MOVE. It has depth registration, 1:1 registration, pixel registration and have a camera for controller free motion gaming. BUT SONY Playstation EU dont give a [DELETED] about MOVE.
If it had been MICROSOFT…MY GOD, they would been all over the place. They have already started the marketing for MOVE whit the XBOX cases that it says “Kinect ready” and have marketing stands in retail like Mediamarkt and Elgiganten…
MICROSOFT has partnered whit GAME and they will help out to sell Kinect like madmen…but SONY EU…no no no, we dont give a [DELETED] about MOVE.
Here in Sweden the advertisement is god awful and you never here anything about Playstation on TV or other media. No co-marketing whit McDonald’s or coca cola or anything to spread the word.
7
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:09 pm by KatanaStrikes
Any chance of a song listing?
8
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 3:11 pm by Katy Macdonald
Hi Katana Strikes,
The track listing is not 100% confirmed yet, but once it is we will be sure to let you know!
9
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 4:47 pm by Carnivius_Prime
@6 Microsoft partnered with GAME? Yet when I walk into either of my local GAME stores I see lots of posters saying to reserve the Move now! And the staff actually stating the Move is actually the better product being cheaper and much more precise with better games lined up. So it sure ain’t like Microsoft have too much in that ‘partnership’ then.
10
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 4:48 pm by OttoT
It screems very much “MOVE SLAPPED ON” and isn´t confincing. I mean dancing with a stick in your hand?!?!
11
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 5:44 pm by niked
@Carnivius_Prime: Well that is fantastic! Im glad that SONY cares about UK, but is there any tv spots on tv in UK? Is there any partnerships going on? In Scandinavia it is dead when it comes to advertisement. They shows PS MOVE on Grönalund (a tivoli in Swedish capital Stockholm) for one day…thats it. Nordisk film that is responsible for Playstation in the Nordic states is not doing a good job letting people know about MOVE…
It should be massive ads everywhere right know to build up the hype and knowledge in the casual market. It is two weeks from launch and not much of a fuzz going on right know…
PS MOVE impress everyone I know that have tested it. It is from family that I know and hardcore gamers. But what good is that when the majority dont even know it exist.
BTW. For those that do know they have been late down by the god awful reviews it got from M3 magazine (giant tech mag in Sweden) and the newspaper Aftonbladet(biggest newspaper in Sweden). I hope people get there hands on MOVE because it is a fantastic tech and got me impressed. I hope MOVE get fantastic reviews when tech official embargo lifts.
12
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 6:29 pm by Topov81
Will any songs bought previously from the SingStore be updated to include Dance support ?
Posted on 1 September, 2010 at 11:02 am by Charlie Hasdell
Hi,
You will be able to upgrade your existing SingStore songs to be compatible with dance for less than the cost of a full song. We will be rolling out song upgrades in our regular SingStore updates. Pricing will be confirmed nearer to launch.
13
Posted on 31 August, 2010 at 7:46 pm by smokeypsd
u can use the eye if im not mistaken as a mic. That’s another way to sing and dance if im correct. I’m wanting a mic stand anyway regardless as I’m wanting to sing and guitar my way through rock band greenday.
14
Posted on 1 September, 2010 at 8:12 am by ChrisEngdahl
I’m just happy that people that don’t sing get more fun to do than to just sit on the couch and listen!
I can’t wait to get a hold of my copy! This will be awesome!
15
Posted on 2 September, 2010 at 1:00 am by Topov81
Hi Charlie, thanks for confirming that.
Until those song upgrades come through, will you be able to use ‘standard’ songs on Singstar Dance but without the dance functionality ?
Posted on 2 September, 2010 at 10:58 am by Charlie Hasdell
Hello again,
All SingStar songs from PS2 and PS3 are playable on the Dance disc (singing gameplay only) using the Swap Disc feature on the Song Selection screen. Just press the select button as you would on any other SingStar PS3 disc. SingStore songs will appear on the Song Selection screen just as they do now.
16
Posted on 3 September, 2010 at 7:50 pm by Worfthedog
Test message
17
Posted on 4 September, 2010 at 12:32 am by Topov81
Great… looking forward to it then.
Any chance of a sneak peak of the Singstar Dance tracklisting, or maybe some info about Singstar Guitar ?
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