To answer my earlier question of whether Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2 is an expansion disc or a stand-alone game, Peter Nguyen of Konami offers this response:

"…the sequel does not require the first Karaoke Revolution game. The differences between the versions is that Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 has 35 different songs, new modes, characters and venues.

"We opted to not release expansion discs because we wanted to provide the consumer with more value and a better gameplay experience. An expansion disc typically contains only 5-10 new songs and costs around $20.00. Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 is a new game with new features, 35 new songs and costs $39.99. Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 is providing better overall value to the consumer, equally about $1.00 per song plus great content."

I find that acceptable, though I wish some interaction with the original volume was included (even if it was preserving costumes and scores from the original memory file). Also, why didn't they think of this before they included the "expansion disc" option in Vol. 1?

Ah well. This may not be a video game, but it is an impressive demonstration of "artificial intelligence" (or a really well-stocked database of questions and answers – remember Eliza?). Play 20 Questions at this web site. It guessed I was thinking of a checkbook in 19 questions.