--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game: American Idol Be a Star On TV
Distributor: Moose Mountain Toymakers(Jakks Pacific)
Release Date: 2008
Genre: Rhythm
American Idol. The singing reality show that started the careers of hundreds! Since its start in 2002, its competitive format and over-the-top presentation has wowed both American and international audiences with fresh, new talent, putting the spotlight on many singers who would otherwise have never had a chance to record and perform professionally. The show is responsible for bringing us such memorable and chart-topping artists like Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, and Chris Daughtry.
As well as bequeathing unto the world the hilarity of William Hung, but we won't hold that against them.
Unfortunately, I was never a huge follower of the show. Even back when reality TV was all the rage(what dark times those were), the only show I regularly watched was Fear Factor, as that was the only program on that satisfied my immature, adrenaline-pumped teenage brain that just wanted to see stupid stunts and people eating gross stuff.
Plus, pop music wasn't my thing back then, as I was more into alternative acts like the Gorillaz and My Chemical Romance than people performing karaoke of "Son of a Preacher Man"...
Still, American Idol is one of those pillars of American culture that's absolutely unavoidable. Even most people who actively avoided it back when still knew of the judges panel of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson, and the show's host and MC Ryan Seacrest. They were just that infamous and unique! ...Besides, we needed a British guy to hate before Gordon Ramsay became a thing.
And I'll bet you ten bucks to a doughnut that any American between the ages of 10 and 30 would recognize the theme to the show, just from the first few bars alone!
EVERYTHING about the show is as massive as the ego of a typical pop artist. The judges are comprised of well-known singers and other celebrities, the lighting and camerawork is as masterful and flashy as a Super Bowl performance, the intro theme is up-tempo and irresistibly catchy, and the attention given to it is something people running for president only WISH they could achieve! It doesn't matter if you win the competition(in fact, given the careers of the American Idol winners, you might be better off if you DON'T.) If you so much as appear on the show, you're almost guaranteed instant stardom and a place in the recording industry, this show grants that much star power!
With the show coming back for a 16th season, after being revived from two years of cancellation, it's clear this is the show most people count on to give them a glimpse of the future of music. Who will win? Who will continue to succeed? Who will be the next superstar? Who will be the new face of pop music? All these questions are answered by American Idol and the hopeful young newcomers that have unknowingly not just entered a singing competition, but a new way of life!
...With unfortunate results for some contestants, like Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais. Hope those Good Luck Charlie appearances helped to change his image for the better...
As with any cultural phenomenon, there has been an INSANE amount of merchandise bearing the show's name. Clothes, electronics, board games, video games, a McDonald's toy line, Barbies, DVD games, even a Disney World attraction are all based on the American Idol show in one way or another. The show's so big, everyone wants a piece of it, and various producers and distributors are all happy to oblige!
...Some less successfully than others...
There have even been a handful of American Idol Plug n Play games, most focusing around... Dancing... Well, it's still a music-based rhythm game, and I guess dance pads are easier to manufacture and are more cost-efficient than having to produce a vocal-recognition bit of hardware, so I guess I can understand this move. ...But it's still obviously a cash-grab. A Plug n Play dance pad will sell enough to buy a cup of coffee. But make a Plug n Play dance pad and slap the show's logo on it, you'll have enough to buy the entire Starbucks! That is the power of American Idol!
So with all that, I hope you understand why I'm absolutely BAFFLED that what I have today is one of the most obscure Plug n Play games I've ever come across! It's a game that bears the American Idol name, yet I think there are fewer people who have heard of this than who know about a knockoff Famiclone system you can play Ping Pong with! How is that possible?!
There is literally NOTHING about this system out there! Nobody else wrote about it on their blog, there are no customer reviews, it's not for retail sale anywhere, NOBODY has EVER acknowledged this exists!
Even YouTube, the ultimate resource for the most pointless of game videos, simply blows me a raspberry when I try to search for it! I can find full length gameplay videos for the Nuon and for seemingly every Famicom multicart under the sun, but the video making community as a whole has decided to ignore something stamped with the most popular reality show of all time!
Doing an image search for a combination of the manufacturer/distributor and American Idol simply directs me to pictures of the Plug n Play dance pads. The DDR ripoffs are getting more attention than the original(and technically superior) game!
I did find ONE picture of the game, which is just a Photoshopped picture of the front of the box with everything but the kid playing the game removed, which redirected me to the toy review site Time To Play Mag, where I thought I was going to get at least ONE other look at this thing.
Only to be told that it's "still under review..." Considering that it's over 10 years old now, I don't think they've made looking at this game a priority...
The only other listings I could find about this game were the VERY occasional posts for yard sales. What a shock, they didn't know what they had either...
This thing is SO obscure, I didn't even know the name of it when I first bought it! My first copy, I found in a thrift store several years ago, and it was just a jumble of parts and accessories with no markings or indication that it all belonged to the same game. The game itself doesn't display the title when you boot it up, so all I knew was that it was an American Idol game, and possibly a bootleg one given how little information I found about it.
But a few years after that, I actually managed to find a complete and boxed version in another thrift store, so I finally got an answer for the name, and confirmation that it is, indeed, an official game. ...It's just so obscure and generically named that the plastic the console is made of doesn't even recognize itself...
So, now that we've found the Bobby Fischer of Plug n Play games, what IS American Idol: Be a Star On TV? As always, let's start with a look at the box.
Like I pointed out several times, this is a game given the American Idol license, which they make clear by plastering everywhere on the box. Just in case you might have otherwise mistaken it for Big Buck Hunting...
And here's all the copyright information to confirm that it is indeed official. It's not a game someone made in China, then slapped on the logo to trick grandmas into thinking it had something to do with that pop show the kids were really into.
And it's Seacrest-approved, making this the greatest game of all time! ...No, not really...
Like I mentioned, the name is one of the most generic I've ever come across for a game. "Be a Star On TV." ...Well, that's the goal of American Idol anyway, so I'd imagine anyone looking for this game would instead be greeted by link after link of auditions for the show and filmed tryouts. Call it "Star Showdown" or "Home Audition Edition" or something else that would make it stand out from the countless other American Idol merchandise and keep it from getting lost in a vague description of the show itself...
It's like calling Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic "Star Wars: Become a Jedi." Even Star Wars Kinect at least lets you know what what system it's for! But I digress...
The front picture simply contains whatever kids they could get for that day's shooting, with this girl wearing pink doing a very awkward pose as she pretends to stand on a mat and perform in front of an obviously drawn TV. ...Meanwhile, a boy in a white shirt is about to jump kick her into the screen... You could have moved the artwork a little to the left if you thought there was too much empty space there, you know. You didn't need to waste $50 on another kid(or find another stock image) who doesn't even look like he has anything to do with the game...
Also, I'm pretty sure a camera doesn't show you a flipped version of your back. It's almost like they were too lazy to take more than one picture or something...
Below the title, we can see that they decided the best tagline for this game was a list of the contents. So you can "Be a Star On TV" with a "Plug n Play Interactive TV Dance Game" that "Includes Camera, Microphone, Star Speaker, and Dance Mat!" Wow, now I'm REALLY pumped for this game! Why did they bother with the infamous "Genesis Does What NintenDon't" tagline, when they could have just said "Play Genesis With a Controller" for the same effect?
Heck, they're so proud of what they're putting in the box, that they reiterate it in the bullet points on the side! They REALLY want you to know that you're actually getting something in this box, don't they? ...Well, even then, I don't know about that, considering this game apparently doesn't exist...
Looking at the other bullet points, you can tell they were really reaching for things to say about this. "See yourself on the screen as you sing and dance." ...Yeah, that's what a camera does. "Record your performance." Absolutely false, as this camera doesn't even have a microphone function, let alone a recording option. "Electronic microphone and speaker works with all MP3 players." Because they're just generic audio equipment you molded into the shape of an American Idol star that has nothing to do with the actual game. "4 Different stages to choose from" and "3 Extra interactive games to choose from." You mean there are levels and games on this game?! Oh, you spoil us!
Two other blurbs on the front of the box are basically the exact same thing phrased differently. "Be an American Idol on your own TV screen" and "Plug the camera into your TV and see yourself on an American Idol stage." Ok, we get it! You paid through the nose for your American Idol license, and this is before anyone and their dog could whip out their phone and make their own recording of themselves performing on their favorite show! We don't need to be told a dozen ways that you have a cheap sub-PS2 camera in your console!
Oh, but they don't think we quite understand yet, since they repeat several of the blurbs and bullet points, as well as the stock picture, on the other sides of the box! I have never felt more patronized by a game's packaging than I feel now! How insecure were they in their product if they felt the need to repeatedly slap the exact same points over and over again all over the box just to try and hammer in a point?! I know it sounds like I'm harping on nothing, but if they feel the need to reiterate the same point 3 times in a dozen variations, they're also harping on nothing...
Alright, they DO give us a few other blurbs that aren't repeated. "Connects easily to your TV!" Provided your TV has AV ports! Also, it depends on what you're using for a TV, since if you're watching TV on your tablet, I'd imagine a few adapters would be required to get this to connect, and that wouldn't be an "easy connection."
"Select your favorite American Idol stage." Provided your favorite American Idol stage is included on this console.
"You are the star on your own TV screen." So you're a Calvin & Hobbes comic, then?
"Sing and dance at the same time." ...I highly doubt we needed a Plug n Play console to enable us to do that...
The back of the box gives us a few screenshots from presumably this game. And for how hard they tried to hammer in what game modes are contained in the console, they don't exactly link the screenshots to any recognizable gameplay. What do you do? How does it play? Does it have a soundtrack? Can more than one person play? How are you judged? Do these kids' parents know they ran away and got a job posing for cheap Plug n Play games? All these questions and more might have been nice to know, instead of spamming the same points over and over again...
Oh, but we're still not done, since this is one of those flip-flap boxes, so they have even more space to reuse photographs and blurbs!
"This is American Idol." No it's not. It's about as American Idol as the PS2 game.
Though they did change things up a bit by specifically mentioning that you'll "Be an American Idol on your own TV screen", instead of simply being a "star on your TV screen."
The pictures of the kids are reused from the back of the box, in the same sets and positions.
Save for this one kid. I guess he came in late that day, so they went ahead and put him under the flap so he wouldn't feel left out.
Oh, but they REALLY changed things up by showing a different girl performing in front of the TV! See? This game's for everyone! ...Provided you're a female stock image.
Heck, she's so excited to play, she's right underneath it as well! In a shot reused from the back of the box! ...This box reuses more footage than the Code Lyoko cartoon...
And under the flap, we see that we are indeed getting an "Electronic microphone, star speaker, motion sensor camera, and cable for easy set up with your TV!" I actually love boxes with these windows, as you can see everything you're getting before you need to make a choice, but if they're providing a box with one of these widows, they don't exactly need to reiterate what you're getting over and over again, do they? ...Well, I guess I'd better take these things out so we can actually look at them.
Here's the lot! ...Technically, we already saw them in the window, so there's no surprise here, but I did find the mat behind the tray! ...I'm a regular Sherlock Holmes, I know.
Originally, I thought this was a banner to hang up behind you as you play, to make it seem you're actually endorsed by American Idol. However, according to the box, it's meant to be stood on. ...For some reason, since the camera's obviously not going to pick it up. It's also fairly frictionless, so I don't recommend using it to perform on unless you're singing tracks from Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet.
Heck with it. If I'm going to be performing in front of a camera, I need an interesting backdrop. I'll just hang it over my Chuck Norris poster and hope I don't get roundhouse kicked into space to catapult into an undiscovered planet. ...Undiscovered by all but Chuck Norris, that is, because he created the galaxies by scraping the mud off his boots.
Next is the star-shaped speaker with the American Idol logo again slapped right in the middle of it. In case we didn't get the point the first few hundred times.
This one's actually relatively ambitious for what it is, since it boasts two microphone jacks and an AUX port, meaning three devices can be plugged in at once! The question is, do you WANT to plug three things in at once?
The thing takes three AA batteries, with a cover held in by a large flathead screw, so be prepared for some heavy-duty maintenance to get it open...
It's also meant to be worn on whatever its large clip can fit around, so you can take your karaokeing everywhere you go. And while I am wearing it in the video, I'm not singing into it because, as I'll be showing you shortly, it has nothing to do with the game. It's like one of those game "feelies" from the 80s and early 90s, it's just there to heighten the experience and/or annoy your parents faster.
Speaking of which, here's the cheapo microphone that came with it. It connects with a standard AUX/Headphone jack, and it feels like I could break it through mental thought alone. And if you guessed that the sound quality is equal to, if not worse, than the earphone/microphone combinations you can find in a dollar store, you win! Give me your name, address, and $40, and I'll send you the microphone after it's taken its last breath and is completely useless to me!
Now the microphone/speaker set that came with the last one of these I owned didn't work, but this one, surprisingly, does! ...If you can call the sounds it excretes "working." I was tempted to include a sample of the quality in the video, but it's basically pointless, as it just sounds like any other low-quality speaker. It gives the Fisher-Price cassette players of the early 90s a run for their money, is what I'm saying...
However, it does what it promises and plays external audio while allowing for some karaoke with the microphone. It sounds absolutely horrible with barely any bass and you have to turn the volume down low on your device to get any comprehensible speech/music, but it works. I guess it's fine for little kids who just want to hear the sound of their own voice as they sing to their Kidz Bop albums, but don't expect Coldplay to perform their next tour with this thing.
And finally, the pièce de résistance and the reason why we're all here today: The console itself. ...And unlike everything else that came in the box, I never would have known this was an American Idol product if I saw it by itself! ...Did they run out of stickers before they got to this point?
The console's basically an oversized version of the PS2 EyeToy, serving as a motion-sensing game peripheral as well as containing the game.
This is FAR from the only Plug n Play game to be designed like this, as I'll one day unfortunately have to show you...
One nice thing this has that even most official console cameras don't? A focus wheel! You can adjust the focus depending on where you're standing in the room to (mostly)always have the console detect your movements!
It's a lot better than shilling out for one of those overpriced clip-on focus lenses for the Kinect and PlayStation Eye...
And here's what I think is a first for this blog: a Plug n Play console with stereo output! This is a console capable of outputting both audio channels on a normal TV, so the sound can come out of BOTH speakers! ...I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but for cheap consoles like this, it's a rarity.
Most consoles I own and feature have only two output jacks: Video and Mono Sound. This leaves one channel completely not utilized, and, since most TVs and capture devices function with stereo RCA input, means that all sound comes out of one speaker. So for most of these games(including other music games that I'll feature soon), I need an adapter to avoid having it sound like you're deaf in one ear while watching my videos.
Not the case with this console! It has all three jacks, so it connects to my capture device with no issues! If the rest of the console stands up to this level of quality, this'll be the best game I've ever played! ...I've set myself up, haven't I?
Anyway, the console comes in three parts: the console, the swivel, and the stand.
Just pop the swivel onto the sides of the console, twist it into the stand, and you're all set!
...After you've found a jeweler's screwdriver set and pried the battery cover on the bottom off to insert 4 AA batteries. For those keeping score, that's SEVEN batteries you'll need to track down to get the full experience! Hope you have a Walmart close by...
It's also worth noting that, once the swivel is connected to the pedestal, hooks on the bottom secure it in place, and it can't be pried back out again.
So if you're a hardcore collector like me and want to put it back in the box, you need to unscrew the screws holding the two halves of the swivel together and take it apart. I guess they did this since they figured the average family would just throw away the box as soon as they had it set up, and it would be much harder for kids to lose if the pieces didn't come apart, but I don't think it was necessary. Especially if the family decided it wasn't worth their time and wanted to pack it back up and return it...
One final problem in setting up is that this is a console meant to sit on top of the television, which is a lot harder to do nowadays with flat-screen TVs. Luckily, I'm an idiot who actually owns an Xbox Kinect, so I already own an adapter for attaching things like this to the top! My love for faulty game peripherals has finally paid off! ...My life is a joke...
Going back to how frustrating it was to find any information on this game, the only credit at the beginning(which is impressively animated, a rarity for these consoles) is for Freemantle Media, the producer and distributor for the American Idol series(and which had appeared in the opening credits for the previous Plug n Play game featured here: The Price is Right.)
But thanks to the back of the box, I know now that the developer was Moose Mountain Marketing.
Moose Mountain Marketing(aka Moose Mountain Toymakers) is a toy company with offices in both New Jersey and Hong Kong, that was founded in 1996.
They still exist to this day, and have produced toys for licenses from Star Wars to Fisher-Price to Disney. Mostly comprised of plastic riding vehicles, inflatable punching bags, and portable arcade machines.
Unfortunately, they seem to have a habit of taking down products they no longer offer, while keeping links intact, so some of the categories and licenses they made products for are currently empty. This includes all mention of any American Idol games they may have made.
I WAS able to travel to a very early(and broken) version of their website with the WayBack Machine, and there IS a link to products made for American Idol in this iteration!
Including a link to American Idol: Be a Star on TV!
...But nobody ever archived it, so clicking it leads to nothing... Still, it's more proof than I've ever found that this Plug n Play game is a thing and they're the manufacturer.
Another thing that Moose Mountain Toymakers has in common with Plug n Play games is that it's been a subsidiary since 2011 of Jakks Pacific, the guys responsible for most official Plug n Play games, and most of what I feature on this blog.
Which ironically has also recently purged any mention of their Plug n Play games from their site. However, as long as I'm around, I'll keep the memory of their Plug It In & Play line alive! The market may have closed, but the infamy will live forever on!
The only other thing at the beginning is a still of Ryan Seacrest announcing "This... Is American Idol!" Followed by some highly compressed cheering and spotlights flashing. ...Well, it's shorter than most other Plug n Play games, I'll give it that.
But, despite the buildup, this is yet another console that DOESN'T have the unforgettable theme of what it's licensed from! Instead, you get this annoying stock pop beat loop that makes the game sound like an introduction video for a 90s tech company. "American Idol.Com: Influencing and ingenuitizing for the future!" Geez, first Elmo's World, now this. You'd think the music would come as a package deal...
And if you thought the 8-second Ryan Seacrest cameo was just THAT good, they give you the option to replay it! ...Personally, I'd be more concerned than honored if someone played a still shot of me over and over again...
As I suggested, how this camera works is very similar to an early game console camera, like the Playstation 2's EyeToy. It layers the game on top of a live shot of the room, and responds to movement from the live layer in certain spots on the game layer. If there's movement behind something like these star icons, it will select it, and there are meters that require repeated motion behind it to avoid accidental selection. And, for a Plug n Play game, this is pretty innovative! ...Sort of.
The major problem is that there's no specific recognition method built into the program, so the game interprets any motion over a delectable area as selection. As long as it picks up pixels moving, it will respond. ...Unfortunately, due to the low-resolution of the camera, it's a crapshoot whether it detects motion or not. It depends on where it's focused, and how much light is in the area, and how far the object is, and how much the object stands out from the background, among other factors. So while some spots will be read no problem, more aggravated movement is needed to get a response in others... *Insert political joke here*
Thankfully, there's a contrast option to brighten/darken up the screen to make it a little easier for the camera to detect you. Still, I'd recommend a well-lit, closed-off yet spacious room for best results. Especially since it minimizes the chances of anyone catching you playing with this thing...
And yes, I AM dressed as an oversized brick figure for this video! I'm very uneasy with showing myself on camera(especially after my last few incarnations), and I figured having a brick fig behind the controls would be more fun to watch. Plus the yellow gloves made it easier for the camera to detect movement.
So on top of the gameplay video, you get the bonus of watching all the flubs that come from wearing a cheap costume while vigorously working out in front of a camera! That's right. You get a video with stuff happening for once!
With the Intro and the Contrast options already explored, we've already cleared half the menu! So what happens in the other two selections? ...Well, I'd say "actual stuff happening", but that's debatable.
Location is where you can choose from one of the major American Idol backdrops: "Audition Round", "Top 24", "Top 12", and "Finale".
The purpose of each is the same: Dance around and make a fool of yourself in front of the camera while barely-animated shadows move in the front. ...You know, like the real show!
The only thing that changes is where you are. Nevertheless, there's always a clear space in the middle to perform, and there are no other options. No way to mess with the lighting, no special effects, no playing around with the screen, no two-performer option, just you, a window in the middle, and some fanart a guy drew during his lunch break. There's literally less to change during these segments than a karaoke machine or CD visualizer from a decade prior...
These segments are also completely silent, with no option to turn on music or sound effects. Plus side: It's a break from the repetitive stock music. Minus side: It feels annoyingly empty... This is American Idol, one of the most glamorous and in-your-face shows of all time, yet this game captures almost none of the typical soundtrack you'd expect! I know this is so things are quiet so you can sing through the included speaker, but it would have been nice to have the option of some stock backing tracks or something, to set the mood of whatever you're singing. If Casio keyboards have been doing it for decades, why not give a game based on a music show some actual MUSIC?!
Plus, trying to screen capture the game without the console having a microphone results in an idiot silently dancing in front of stock backgrounds. ...So enjoy the ill-fitting public domain music I provided for the video! I put in more effort in 5 minutes than they did throughout this game's development!
And that brings us to the final option on this console: Games. ...If you could even call these games...
The choices for Games are "Talent Challenge", "Vocal Warm Up", and "Star Challenge". All three play almost the same, they have no lasting effect on the rest of the console, and none of them have anything to do with singing. ...What is even the point of paying for an American Idol license if you're not going to do anything even remotely American Idol with it?!
Oh, but it gets worse, since none of the games are fun or well programmed... "Talent Challenge" involves you beating on the drums as a faux-rock track(which would have been nice to select for the Locations) plays in the background. Note that I didn't say "...to the rhythm of the backing track", as they make absolutely no effort to sync the drums with the music! Heck, it's so overpowering, you can barely hear the music over the percussion cacophony! Do you get random guitar noises over the tracks in Guitar Hero every time you hit a note? No? Then we shouldn't get it here, either!
There's absolutely no strategy to this game, either. The game doesn't penalize you for motion when there's no note, so you can wave your hands over the drums all you'd like and the game will record everything as a hit! As long as something's moving when the note is in the right place, it'll count, even if you're waving over both drums with only one stream of notes! When Rock Revolution is a better music game than your poor attempt at rhythm, please stop making games immediately!
All the games last for three rounds, then flash "Game Over" at you and freeze until you wave your hand over the "Return" button in the lower left-hand corner. No High Score table, no message based on how well you did, it was completely pointless, moving on.
"Vocal Warm Up" is slightly better than "Talent Challenge", in the sense that the onscreen actions actually sync up with something. Here, you attempt to play a song by moving your hand over "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do" as the stars pass by, each successful action dinging the notes in the song in sequence. So at least you're getting a song, and not just a hodgepodge of random notes. ...And that's where the good points end.
Once again, there's no strategy to this game. Just wave your hand over each part and the game will acknowledge the action if there's movement behind a star and note at the same time. You'll complete each round by randomly batting at the screen!
The game has three rounds, each with a different song that plays twice: "Happy Birthday to You", "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". And if the small selection of stock songs that makes the YouTube Music library look like Spotify wasn't bad enough, the songs are HORRENDOUSLY off-tempo! Notes will float by at different speeds and in varying patterns in an attempt to give some challenge to this game, but all it does is make the song near unrecognizable and distorted! You can even slightly miss a note, then quickly grab it before it leaves the hit zone as you pass over another note, causing the game to play both notes at the same time! A three-year-old doing a rendition of this song with pots and spoons would not only keep the rhythm better, but would be more on-key than this crap!
Also, seeing as how this was made in 2008, I highly doubt they paid the copyright fees to use "Happy Birthday" for this game. So not only is it horribly off-key, it's illegal...
Finally, there's "Star Challenge", where all you do, ALL YOU DO, is wave your hands in front of falling stars to score points while a repetitive dance track plays in the background. ...This is the best game on here. There's no pseudo-attempt to sync rhythms, no terrible renditions of public domain songs, no reaching across the screen to hit notes, just randomly waving in front of the screen to turn those stars into "Wow", "Great", and "You're a Star!" It's all simply a way to go bezerk in front of the TV screen, work out your pent-up rage, and get rewarded for it! ...And with this game, you're going to be seeing this section a LOT!
And that was American Idol: Be a Star on TV. The most obscure officially licensed Plug n Play console I've ever come across. And if the reaction from the guy above isn't enough to describe how bad this game is, let's hear an opinion from Simon Cowell himself:
 |
| "I don't know what cats being squashed sound like in Lithuania, but I now have a pretty good idea." |
...Yeah, that about covers it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Design: For having an interesting premise behind it, the console doesn't quite look the part. It's just a blue tube with a camera lens on the front and a few switches and knobs to turn on the console and focus the lens. I wouldn't have known that this was an American Idol game if it hadn't come in a box or with a bunch of accessories that claimed it WAS an American Idol game. Since they're not actually part of the game itself, I don't know if I should count the speaker or microphone, but I can say that the star-shaped speaker with the American Idol logo has the most imaginative design behind it. ...As in they tried... I guess I'll give the console credit for including stereo sound, which is a rarity for most consoles, but for the sound you get, it really wasn't worth it. Overall, if it was by itself, I wouldn't notice it in stores. ...Unless I was looking for a cheap kids' digital microscope toy and I picked this up by mistake...
Controls: This console presents an interesting conundrum: How do you grade the controls on a system that has no physical input? ...Well, I guess responsiveness is still a factor in this case, so we'll go with that. ...It's not very responsive. The colors, lighting, and position of the camera all have to be PERFECT for the console to pick up any movement. If the motion isn't erratic enough or if it blends into the colors in the background, the console simply won't register it. Plus, it's inconsistent across the screen what it'll pick up, as waving on the left side will instantly work, while the right side might need more force. In other words, the same complaints as other motion-sensing peripherals, only 10x worse.
Music & Sound: Almost nonexistent and not worth talking about. The music is comprised of a stock dance beat for the menu, a rock beat for "Talent Challenge", and a different beat for the "Star Challenge." I don't even know if I should count the songs in "Vocal Warm-up", as the game doesn't actually play the songs; it throws notes at you and makes YOU play them. ...At the game's pace. There's no American Idol theme, or any music that the show is so well known for, just three boring tracks that they pulled from some public domain library somewhere. Most of the sound is a warbly sliding scale to indicate you're close to triggering a option. The only other thing is some digitized speech at the intro and some white noise that sounds like clapping. Unless you count the drums in "Talent Challenge", but I don't even want to acknowledge they exist... For a show so well known for its music and sound, this game will make you want to stuff your ears with the banner it comes with...
Graphics: You get a slightly blue or orange-tinted screen for most of the menus, some sillouettes of a coloring book drawing of the American Idol locations, ans some sprites of stars and drums for the games. ...That's it. I know it was probably kept to a minimum to give the player plenty of room to interact with the camera, but nothing happens onscreen! It's almost not worth even having anything on screen but the player, there's almost nothing to interact with. The only graphics of note are some lights and a digitized version of Ryan Seacrest in the intro. I guess it's interesting how well the camera can render live gameplay given its technology and its low-resolution, but I don't know if I should even count that as part of the game. In short, the graphics are as boring, pointless, and unrecognizable as *insert American Idol early disqualification here*.
Gameplay: ...What gameplay? On the menu, there's Intro, Contrast, Locations, and Games, and only one of those options requires any interaction. The Intro and Contrast options are redundant, and the Locations are just there to give kids a backdrop to dance in front of. When we finally get to the Games, they're completely pointless! Each one involves you waving your hands over something moving or something that something moving's about to pass over. That's it! There's no strategy, no penalties, no variation, no way to lose, not even a way to record your score! At least with the Locations, you can act like a maniac. With the actual games, you're going to BECOME a maniac trying to find any entertainment value in ANYTHING!
Replay Value: Unless you've always wanted to dance repeatedly in front of heavily pixellated backdrops, no.
Overall:
The score is elevated slightly for its concept and technology, but it manages to fail on almost every front. The graphics are muted and boring, the sound and music is stock and nearly nonexistent, the design is unremarkable, and the gameplay is barely there. However, I can give it credit for its motion-sensing capabilities. ...And that's it. If you have kids who just want to dance in front of outdated American Idol backgrounds and sing their favorite songs into a cheap microphone and speaker, and you find this at a yard sale, they might get a little bit of enjoyment out of it. ...But if you have one of those apps on your phone that does the exact same thing, and you have a space for them to perform in, then maybe it's best that this American Idol game that everyone forgot remains forgotten...
No comments:
Post a Comment