As you know by now we have a passing interest in karaoke and when Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. was kind enough to invite Austinist to the launch events for the latest edition of PlayStation 3's SingStar, we had to take them up on the offer to get a sneak peak at the karaoke video game series before its U.S. (and Canadian) release on May 20th. As you can imagine, SingStar is not your average sit-at-home-on-the-couch-all-day type video game: players, preferably in a vivacious state, possibly in social settings, compete with each other to score the highest rating (out of 10,000) based on their talent and ability to sing on pitch. Pretty simple, eh? Well, SingStar for PS3 incorporates a community element, My SingStar Online, while also allowing users to download songs off an ever increasing database known as SingStore (with the matching music video to boot). more ›

Whenever we hear the word “pinball” all we can think of is drinking suicides in the game room at Mazzio’s Pizza and the lyrical wonderment of “that deaf, dumb and blink kid sure plays a mean pinball” from the Who’s Tommy. You may think of that one time, at Le Fun, when you pinged and flipped and bumpered your way to a tour of the Addams Family mansion, not knowing that you were conquering one... more ›

If you survived the Deliverance-esque Ikea parking lot this weekend, and didn't get shot trying to get yourself a PS3, you deserve to spend even more of your hard-earned cash on records. Here's what you can find on the shelves at fine local establishments like End of an Ear or Waterloo today. Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas (Asthmatic Kitty) Featuring five discs worth of holiday music spanning the course of five years, tinsel used... more ›