By George Jones , August 25, 2009 --Finally, hip-hop and karaoke for console gaming systems. What took the gaming industry so long?

Finally, finally, we can rip and rhyme, rhyme and rip from the comfort of our own domicile.

We saw Def Jam Rapstar at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany. This is such a simple concept -- hip-hop karaoke -- that frankly, we're shocked the game has yet to find a publisher. There must be some weird legal or copyright hang-ups interfering with a potential publishing deal because based on the 30 minutes of fun we had here at GamesCom in Cologne, this music game feels like a sure shot winner.

The premise is super simple. Pick a song from a list of over 40 modern and classic hip-hop hits and then rhyme away. Songs we saw and/or butchered in our hands-on gameplay demonstration included Kanye West's Gold Digger, Young Jeezy's Put On, Ludacris' Stand Up, and one of our all-time favorites, They Reminisce by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth.

The game will also feature some regional hip-hop talent from Europe, including Molotov 4 from France. We'll confess to knowing nothing about the European hip-hop scene, but these French rappers sounded pretty cool. Unfortunately for us, you have to know French to rap their songs. And we (meaning I, which means George Jones) can't speak French.

Ultimately, the game's developer -- Terminal Reality -- promised us that the game would incorporate the last 35 years of hip-hop, ranging from the very beginning of the form to modern times. They also assured us that, because Def Jam recently sold its music catalog, the game will consist of more than just Def Jam recordings. (For the record, 4 mm is the game's publisher.)

Playing Def Jam Rapstar is virtually identical to playing Singstar or the track-singing aspect of Rock Band. The words come on screen. You try to sing along with the tune, matching the pitch and cadence of the song's lyrics. When the song finishes, you get a score that indicates how well you performed in terms of pitch, lyrical accuracy, and flow.

Three different modes exist in the game. Solo mode is exactly what it sounds like. Battle mode allows you to lay the smack down on your friends by alternating the lyrics. Just like a good old-fashioned hip-hop rhyme spree. But the game also features some interesting community features that will allow connected gamers to collaborate, compete, or attempt to become a real star.

As an example, if you have a console camera, you can use it to videotape yourself rapping. The game also features a freestyle mode that will allow you to flow your own home-made freestyle rhymes over musical loops created by top-notch DJs around the world. Gamers and the general viewing public can then rate your performance. In both cases, you can upload your performances to a central server for public viewing from the game itself as well as from the game's web site. A Def Jam representative on site in Cologne even suggested that the record label would be monitoring these freestyle submissions as a sort of scouting hunt for new talent.

One other interesting community feature is that the game allows players to create affiliations or crews based on regional or affinity preferences. Theoretically, this means that a crew of LA-based Rapstar rappers could challenge a crew of East Coasters. Or alternatively, a crew of rappers who love Halo could issue a similar challenge.

Assuming the game finds a publisher, Def Jam Rapstar is currently scheduled to be completed sometime in 2010.