Christian Karaoke Game Upgrade Sets Stage for 6-Man Rock Bands

By Josh Kimball, Christian Post Reporter Monday, December 22, 2008

A PC-compatible karaoke game featuring Christian music now has a free downloadable expansion pack that can allow up to six players to start their own Christian rock band.

The recently released JAMPpak for "Heavenly Harmony Gold" allows players to use their Xbox and Playstation 3 USB guitar and drum set controllers with their new PC-based Christian band game. By connecting the guitar and drum set to their Windows-based computer and launching JAMpak, players can jam and sing along with some of today's top Christian songs.

"As leaders in the development of Christian gaming, we have been working diligently to give consumers the products they have asked for," Curtis Ratica, president of Cloud 9, reported in an announcement last week.

"JAMpak is the first step in that direction," he added, "and we are excited to give everyone a glimpse of what the future holds."

The expansion pack follows the summer 2008 release of the "Gold" edition of Heavenly Harmony, which came out less than a year after the original.

In the game, players sing to their favorite tunes and are rated according to their accuracy with the games' pitch-recognition technology. As their singing skills improve, players unlock clothing options for their characters and move on to bigger and better performance venues. Mini-games further allow the player to improve their singing skills.

"Heavenly Harmony provides features never before found in any computer game, and the fact that it's a Christian-themed game makes it even more exciting," Rica stated prior to the unveiling of the original game last year. "Never before has there been a singing game that offers the type of feedback this game provides."

Since the release of the original Heavenly Harmony, Cloud 9 has come out with several expansion packs including "Christmas Classic," with 20 Christmas songs and carols; "Christian Rock," with popular Christian artists such as Kutless, Jeremy Camp, Audio Adrenaline, Sanctus Real, This Beautiful Republic and Falling Up; and most recently "Contemporary Christian," which features songs from artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, David Crowder Band, Jeremy Camp, Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, Avalon, ZoeGirl, Nicole Nordeman, tobyMac, Newsboys, and Stacie Orrico.

According to an announcement late last year, several more expansion packs may be in the works, including Modern Praise/Worship and Hymns/Gospel.