Rockstar Games released Beaterator for the PSP and as a download for the PS3 on the PlayStation Network on September 29th.  I would have had my hands-on review finished by then if the title wasn’t so ridiculously robust.  Hours literally fly by as you delve deeper into the system of beats, loops and effects.  Later this fall iPhone and iPod Touch owners will also have their own version of the portable music studio.

If you’re familiar with loop based music software you should be able to jump right in and start building songs with little difficulty.  In-game tutorial videos will help those with little to no experience making digital music.

In addition to being a music studio, Beaterator can also be used as a live music device or drum machine.  You can even import your own sounds, assemble drum loops and trigger them with the press of a button.  Connect a microphone to the PSP and sample sounds or vocals to toss into your loops for even more flexibility.

Before you start importing and recording new sounds there are thousands sounds and loops already included in Beaterator’s library.  Timbaland has his own section chock full of beats, loops and instruments you can use as is or modify as you see fit.

                      Building drum loops is one of the easiest and most rewarding parts of Beaterator.  You can construct and record them in real time or map them out slowly before giving them a spin.  Select from drum kits designed for various styles of music or build a kit from scratch.  The name of the game is adaptability as the choices are nearly endless.

Songs aren’t made from beats alone, so Rockstar included the Melody Crafter, Chord Pad Mode and Audio Loop Crafter to help you fill in the gaps.  Those who haven’t taken a single piano lesson are taken care of by special tools that don’t allow bum notes and help with chords.  All of these options can be turned off in case you’re building an atonal masterpiece.

Take a listen to a couple of tracks Rockstar’s team put together to demonstrate the capabilities of Beaterator.

Once you’ve got a song completed, you can perform and remix it in Live Play mode or upload it to the Rockstar Social Club for everyone to hear.  The Social Club will host up to 100 of your Beaterator tracks and offers tips and tricks to up your beat crafting game.  You can also comment on other users tracks and download them for your remixing pleasure.  Keep an eye out for my tunes on the Social Club under the user name oldashiphop.