Gamescom 2011: DanceStar Party

DanceStar Party (known as Everybody Dance in North America) is the definition of a game where you can't blame the controller. Developed by Sony London, the studio behind the SingStar series, this game has players holding a PlayStation Move controller while grooving in sync with silhouetted figures onscreen who also happen to be holding Move controllers in their hands. What's funny about all this is that the dance choreography that you're scored against was actually captured directly from that Move controller you see in the game. So while those dancers guiding you might be professional body shakers, their expert routines were put in the game with that same technology you've got in your hand.

This is something that really hits you once you take a look at the Dance Creator mode. Here, you're shown the music video of a song and asked to come up with your very own dance number that the game will turn into a routine by capturing the movement of the Move controller as you shake your proverbial groove thing in front of the television. You're also being recorded by the PlayStation Eye camera, and what you wind up with is a user-created dance routine showing the music video next to your own dancing prowess that any of your friends can come up and try to play. Just as you're scored against those professional dance routines included in the game, your friends are scored against the dances that you created at home.

Other features include a workout mode that counts the calories you've burned, as well as a dance class mode that breaks down all the moves for you so you can learn them at your own pace. Aside from that, the basic dance gameplay is pretty similar to what's been done in the likes of Dance Central and Just Dance: You see the figure dancing onscreen, stick-figure dance cards scroll in with each new move, and you're scored according to how well you mimic those routines. The song selection appears to be somewhat Eurocentric, and each of those songs are played in tandem with the official music video on the screen.

When DanceStar Party arrives in stores, it'll follow rhythm game standards by offering an in-game store to buy new songs and dance routines. You can expect that to happen on October 21 in Europe and October 18 in North America. No word yet on a North American release.