The games that will define PlayStation 3

SINGSTAR

What is it?
Only the next-gen iteration of Sony's most successful mainstream title! And probably the only PlayStation series that you can invite gangs of girls to come play without being treated like the worst kind of social outcast.

It's group gaming karaoke, perfect for post-pub warbles or house-party sideshows.

Why should you care?
PlayStation 3's reinvention of SingStar will - we're told - see you able to create your own track list from the 3000 tunes available online in the too-easily-named SingStore. Though there will be at least 30 songs bundled in with the game as well as a new set of microphones.

Then there's customisable skins for the game's interface, and when hooked up with PS3's new EyeToy peripheral you can record your humiliating rendition of "Take On Me" and then embarrass yourself in front of the whole internet by posting it online. We'll never have to leave the house again.

When can you play it?
With any luck, living rooms will be reverberating to the top 40 before the end of the summer (though it'll almost certainly launch in the UK first) - and playing host to a steady stream of downloadable new tracks for a long time after that.

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.