Take a chance on SingStar ABBA, helping Fernando hear the drums and Chiquitita tell you what's wrong, when it releases on Dec. 2 in North America. IGN reveals the PS3 version will include 25 songs for $40, while the PS2 will have 20 tracks for $30. The track lists can be found after the break.

Sony previously announced that it has a "window of exclusivity" on ABBA, so don't expect the super trouper group to hit Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour anytime soon.

When SingStar Bollywood was released last year, we were quite serious about expressing our desire for ABBA SingStar. Now, our dreams have come true. MCV reports the iconic Swedish pop super group's Singstar will be available in Europe and the US, for the PS2 and PS3, this holiday.

Sony's David Reeves says the company has a "window of exclusivity for ABBA disc-based titles on PlayStation until 2009." Hey now, if Jimmy Buffet is in Rock Band, why can't ABBA be? Come to think of it, we asked for ABBA there too. Mamma Mia!

When we see country singers Gretchen Wilson, Alan Jackson or (West Virginia's own) Brad Paisley on the packaging of something, we typically assume that it's a batter-dipped snack of some sort, like chicken fries or "Gretchen Wilson's Fried Crunch-sicles." But this fall, it might just be the new karaoke offering Singstar Country, coming to PS2s on October 28.

The game also lets you live out your fantasy of being Keith Urban, one of Montgomery Gentry or even America's Most Beloved Dullard, Kellie Pickler, who said, "I grew up wanting to be a country music singer and would sing other artists' songs, and now people are going to be singing my song in SingStar Country? That's cool!" Great job, Kelly! You nailed it.

SingStar executive producer Paulina Bozek is the latest suit taking a job with the new Atari. Bozek was the producer on the SingStar series for the last six years, helping it sell 15 million units and reaching $500 million in revenue.

Although we certainly don't see megabucks coming from its current product lineup, Atari has turned itself around and, shockingly, made some profit last quarter. Infogrames' CEO David Gardner and Phil Harrison, as Directeur Général Délégué, have been collecting executives like Pokémon for months. Now we're just waiting to have the Atari "master plan" revealed.

Recently released in Europe and Australia, SingStar Vol. 2 will take the stage in North America sometime in October, no doubt letting armchair harmonizers looking for the next in Sony's karaoke series breathe a sigh of relief -- preferably not directly into the mic.

This latest expansion will add 30 new sing-along tracks, as well as support for Trophies, presumably used to club off-tune rockers over the head for butchering radio favorites. However, given the advent of the SingStore, the need for regular discs seems trivial, especially once our arms tire from all that disc swapping. Plus, we'd rather cherry pick songs we know we'll like rather than buy in bulk and hope for the best. That's just how we roll.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sony announced today at the Leipzig Games Convention 2008 that over 2.2 million SingStar songs have been downloaded via the aptly titled SingStore, which launched less than a year ago. Additionally, the company also unveiled SingStar Singalong with Disney for PlayStation 2, which as you might have guessed is a collection of Disney songs you can sing along to. Singalong with Disney is coming this Fall "exclusively for PAL territories." And hey, don't forget it'll be compatible with SingStar PS3.

Source – SingStar Singalong With Disney on PlayStation 2
Source – Over 2.2m songs downloaded via SingStore

Update: We just got word from MTV Multiplayer that makes this news decidedly less cool. Turns out there will be no song exporting; rather, you can pop in your PS2 disc into your PS3 while playing the new-gen version of SingStar and play the songs on that disc. It only works while the disc remains in the console, although disc-swapping works on any PS3, regardless of its current state of backwards-compatibility.

Tearing a page straight out of the Rock Band 2 playbook, Sony announced a new service – to be made available through a firmware update – that will allow folks to essentially rip the tracks from PS2 versions of SingStar onto the PS3. IGN gives us a play-by-play of the service: "Just throw in the PS2 disc and you can grab the tracks!" Epic! We're curious about the details: What's to prevent you from borrowing or renting games? Will this work on all PS2 versions of SingStar? Will this work on all PS3s (even those without PS2 backwards compatibility)? Is this enough to compete with Lips' play-your-own-music functionality? More as we know it.

Money makes the world go 'round, so Hexus.gaming has a rumor that Sony is looking to pay the rent with a musical edition of its popular SingStar karaoke series. SingStar Hits from the Musicals is expected in 2009 and will allegedly be announced later this year. Some numbers rumored to be included are:

• "Bad Guys" - Bugsy Malone
• "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" - The Lion King
• "If I Were a Rich Man" - Fiddler on the Roof
• "Over the Rainbow "- Wizard of Oz.

If the disc gets Trophy support we're certainly going to derive some sick pleasure from achievement junkies trying to sing songs like "Tomorrow" from Annie perfectly. If the above picture makes absolutely no sense to you (and yes, that's Kristin Chenoweth from Pushing Daisies) check out the video after the break.

SingStar for PS3 may have just arrived in North America, but the Europeans and Australians are already done with that and moving on to SingStar Vol. 2 in June. PS3 Fanboy reports that Europe will try harmonizing to artists like Mama Cass starting June 20, while the game will hop into Australia a day earlier on June 19. IGN AU got its mitts on Singstar Vol. 2's track list, which we've placed after the break.

There is currently no announcement for when North America can expect Vol.2, and Sony tells PS3 Fanboy that licensing for discs and DLC are very different. Unless alternate arrangements can be made, we take that to mean we won't be seeing Vol. 2 available as DLC on the SingStore in North America.

European gamers that feel naked without a mic in their hand can use the other to pat themselves on the back, as Sony just dropped word that its SingStar franchise has sold through 12 million copies in the PAL region, with some 5 million of these going out the door between last April and March 2008.

In addition, with the SingStore finally gaining traction, Sony also announced that PAL gamers have downloaded a million tracks in the four months since the store opened. Also impressive is that the store's 140,000 registered users, together with members of the game's official website, have recorded and shared 20,000 videos of players belting out tunes from the comfort of their living rooms -- public embarrassment that has been watched some 2.5 million times.

The SingStar series first got players in Europe singing off-tune renditions of "Careless Whisper" and "Like a Virgin" in 2004, and has since spawned numerous sequels, including last December's SingStar for the PlayStation 3 and the soon-to-be released Volume 2. Now, with SingStar for the PS3 finally getting a release in North America on May 20, it will be interesting to see how enthusiasm on this side of the Atlantic for the game measures up.

Sony announced today that SingStar for PS3 will finally cross the Atlantic on May 20. That little bit of information was buried deep inside a press release about Sony America's presence at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Coachella revellers will have the opportunity to try out SingStar and upload their embarrassing renditions of songs to the intertubes, that is, if they're not too busy viewing demos of Little Big Planet and playing some Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Sony America will also host the "TMO Tone Def Party and SingStar Lounge" on Saturday night.

The Euro-exclusive PS3 version of SingStar is ready to belt out another edition with SingStar Volume 2, just as the SingStore is finally getting up to speed. Volume 2 will include 30 new songs, a "Harmony Duet" mode, remote PSP play (you can't sing in public, only browse the SingStore) and features songs like "California Dreamin" by the Mamas and the Papas, along with a lot of artists from this decade. There is currently no release date or announcement whether the new tracks and features will be available as DLC from the SingStore.

The SingStore is also adding 45 new songs this Friday featuring a wide variety of international flavor. We've placed the full list after the break. Still no word when (or if) SingStar for PS3 will make it across the pond.

Read -- SingStar Vol. 2 announcement
Read -- SingStore update this Friday

[Via Gamespot UK]

A new season of Major League Baseball started up in America last night with the first game ever at Washington's brand new Nationals Park, complete with a presidential first pitch and a thrilling walk-off home run. Why should you care about any of this? Because the opening of the new park also means the opening of its new promotional PlayStation Pavilion, packed with demo kiosks for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, MLB08: The Show, Guitar Hero 3 and SingStar.

You'd think people at a ballpark would have better things to do than play video games, but the demo area drew quite a crowd among the opening night fans. Need proof? Check out our exclusive gallery of photos from the new pavilion below.

May those who drink from the waters of karaoke (in Europe) rejoice, the SingStar SingStore is getting its first major update since launch on March 7. There was an update with 18 tracks last month, but this update will have a whopping 67 songs, almost doubling the offerings. The list of the songs in the update can be found after the break.

The karaoke faithful over at sister-site PS3 Fanboy point out that a lot of the songs are from previous PS2 versions of SingStar, but if these mega-updates continue it might help alleviate the complaints that the SingStore wasn't living up to its potential -- especially if a lot of the songs are recycled from PS2 versions.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Unidentified man posing just after singing the second verse of Divinyls' "I touch myself" on Singstar the Sony press lounge. He was the first of many to embarrass show off his vocal skills. Actually, he was one of three to do so, just before it was halted for the Buzz! Charity post. Shine on you crazy diamond.