Activision has just announced it will axe development on True Crime: Hong Kong as well as “disband” Guitar Hero. In their latest financial release for full-year fiscal 2011 they stated,

“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011.”

In mentioning True Crime: Hong Kong it was stated they would,

“stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.”

Tony Hawk and DJ Hero fans also have something to lament.  Activision COO Thomas Tippl  has also stated that no Tony Hawk games or music titles will be released in 2011.

Game Informer concludes that this was done so Activision can focus on it’s three top brands: Call of Duty, StarCraft and World of Warcraft.

Well keep you informed as more develops.

Source: GI via VG247

• Activision Announces… Well, Pretty Much Everything
• Call of Duty 4 Crowned King at Interactive Achievement Awards
• Unexpected Alliance: Activision and Vivendi Merge in $18 Billion Deal
• Activision Celebrate’s the 4th of July with New Jams for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero
• No More Heroes!: Activision Announces Three More Guitar Hero Games for 2009
• DJ Hero Confirmed to be in Production

Ever wanted to be your own iPhone DJ?  Well, now you can!  Gear4 is getting set to release Pocket Loops – an app and keyboard combo that will have anyone making block rockin’ beats in no time.

When Gear4 invited me up to their posh suite at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas during the CES – I was pretty much there to check out some Angry Birds iPhone cases and have some free cocktails.  I was certainly not expecting to find and fall in love with their latest creation – Pocket Loops.

Pocket Loops is an app based music creation kit that comes with a detachable keyboard which holds any size iDevice sans an iPad.  Once it’s plugged in – you use the app to que up an endless array of musical instruments and drum kits and with them record loops and tracks to your heart’s content.  What you can create is only limited by your creativity.

Check out what I managed to crank out with Pocket Loops in just five minutes:

Now, I know what you’re thinking – because I was thinking it too.  “I could play with this thing for hours!”  Hell, I could play with this thing for days.  Better yet – because it’s app based – you can bet people will be creating new kits and sounds to use with Pocket Loops for a long time to come.

Sure, there are more professional and more expensive portable DJ and music creation toolkits out there – but this isn’t about being a pro – this is about making music and having fun.

And you know what?  For just $69.99 – Gear4‘s Pocket Loops is a fun time almost anyone can afford.

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Following yesterday’s Rock Band 3 setlist announcement by Harmonix, Activision have released the full 105-song track list for DJ Hero 2.

There’s also a Facebook competition for UK DJ fans. “Every week from now until 21st September, fans will be presented with a “mashup of mashups” video from which participants will need to decipher what songs were used to create each mix,” say Activision. Prizes include “trips to see DJ Hero 2 artists perform live and professional DJ equipment.”

The track list is below, and as you can see it’s exactly as good as you think it is based on the music that you like. I’m a bit disappointed at the solitary Daft Punk track, as well as the lack of some good old Freestylers, but the track list really covers a good number of genres and overall it’s pretty good. Let us know what you think in the comments.

• 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman – “California Love Remix”
• 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
• Adamski – “Killer”
• Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force – “Planet Rock”
• Armand Van Helden – “I Want Your Soul”
• A-Trak – “Say Whoa”
• B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ On You”
• Basement Jaxx – “Where’s Your Head At”
• BlakRoc feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA – “Dollaz & Sense”
• Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”
• Calvin Harris – “I’m Not Alone”
• Chamillionaire – “Ridin’“
• Chic – “Good Times”
• Chic – “Le Freak”
• Clinton Sparks, DJ Class, & Jermaine Dupri – “Favorite DJ”
• Daft Punk – “Human After All”
• Damian Marley – “Welcome To Jamrock”
• David Guetta & Chris Willis – “Love Is Gone”
• David Guetta feat. Kid Cudi – “Memories”
• David Guetta vs. The Egg – “Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away)”
• Deadmau5 – “Ghosts N Stuff”
• Deadmau5 & Kaskade – “I Remember”
• Deee-Lite – “Groove Is In The Heart”
• Dillinja and Skibadee – “Twist ‘Em Out”
• Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – “Bonkers”
• DJ Qbert – “Super Battle Breaks”
• DJ Shadow – “Midnight In A Perfect World”
• DJ Shadow feat. Q-Tip and Lateef The Truth Speaker – “Enuff (DJ Fresh Remix)”
• Donna Summer – “Bad Girls”
• Edwin Starr – “War”
• Eminem – “Not Afraid”
• Estelle feat. Kanye West – “American Boy”
• Flo Rida – “Low”
• Flo Rida feat. Will.I.Am – “In The Ayer”
• Gorillaz feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack – “Stylo”
• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee – “The Message”
• Harold Faltermeyer – “Axel F”
• House Of Pain – “Jump Around”
• Iyaz – “Replay”
• Janet Jackson – “Nasty”
• Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.”
• Justice – “Waters Of Nazareth”
• Kanye West – “Heartless”
• Kanye West – “Love Lockdown”
• Kaskade & Deadmau5 – “Move For Me”
• Kelis – “Acapella (David Guetta Extended Mix)”
• Kool & The Gang – “Jungle Boogie”
• Lady Gaga – “Lovegame”
• Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
• Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis – “Just Dance”
• Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low”
• Lil’ Wayne – “Go DJ”
• Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major – “Lollipop”
• LL Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”
• M.I.A. – “Galang”
• M|A|R|R|S – “Pump Up The Volume”
• Major Lazer feat. VYBZ Kartel – “Pon De Floor”
• Malcolm McLaren – “Buffalo Gals”
• Metallica – “The Day That Never Comes”
• Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”
• MSTRKRFT feat. N.O.R.E. – “Bounce”
• Nas feat. Keri Hilson – “Hero”
• Naughty By Nature – “O.P.P.”
• Nelly – “Hot In Herre”
• New Boyz – “You’re A Jerk”
• New Order – “Blue Monday”
• Newcleus – “Jam On It”
• Nightcrawlers – “Push The Feeling On (MK Mix 95)”
• Orbital – “The Box”
• Pirate Soundsystem – “Bashy Bashy”
• Pitbull – “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
• Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes – “Don’t Cha”
• Rihanna – “Pon De Replay”
• Rihanna – “Rude Boy”
• Robin S – “Show Me Love (Stonebridge Radio Edit)”
• Salt N Pepa – “Push It”
• Sam Cooke – “Chain Gang”
• Sam Sparro – “B&G” a/k/a “Black & Gold”
• Sean Paul – “Infiltrate”
• Sean Paul – “Get Busy”
• Snoop Dogg – “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”
• Snow – “Informer”
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”
• Sparfunk & D-Code – “Apocalypse”
• Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
• Talib Kweli – “Get By”
• The Chemical Brothers – “Leave Home”
• The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip – “Galvanize”
• The Crystal Method – “Busy Child (Still Busy After All These Years Remix)”
• The Jackson 5 – “ABC”
• The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Mase & Diddy – “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems”
• The Prodigy – “Omen”
• The Prodigy – “Firestarter”
• Tiësto – “Speed Rail”
• Tiësto & Sneaky Sound System – “I Will Be Here”
• Tiësto vs Diplo – “Come On”
• Tiga – “You Gonna Want Me”
• Timbaland feat. Drake – “Say Something”
• Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. – “The Way I Are”
• Tweet feat. Missy Elliott – “Oops (Oh My)”
• Walter Murphy – “A Fifth Of Beethoven”
• Warren G feat. Nate Dogg – “Regulate”
• Wayne Smith – “Under Mi Sleng Teng”
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix )”
• Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West – “Put On”

• DJ Hero 2 Announced
• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• Ripten Review: DJ Hero 2 (Xbox 360)
• DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Demos Available Now on XBLA
• 90 Track Strong Song List Announced for Latest Guitar Hero Game
• DJ Hero 2′s Full Artist Line-up Revealed

Today’s deal is for DJ Hero Renegade Edition. Amazon is offering it for $99.99, which is 50% off! The deal is for all three platforms (Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3). You can even get free shipping from Amazon.

Renegade Edition is the special edition of DJ Hero that includes the following:

• DJ Hero Game
• Renegade Turntable Controller featuring premium metal controls and finish
• Hardshell Turntable Carrying Case that converts to performance-ready DJ stand
• Exclusive Jay-Z and Eminem 2-CD pack featuring collectible case designed by artist Shepard Fairey

Check it out and let us know what kinds of deals you score in the comments!

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For all of the grief I give Activision for beating and murdering the once-special Guitar Hero franchise, DJ Hero was tons of fun. I’ve got a weird love for mashups, even if the two songs on their own are terrible, so DJ Hero’s mashups were right up my alley- but that doesn’t mean I’m running out anytime soon to buy real DJ equipment. Others don’t think the same way, according to  Freestyle Games’s creative director, Jamie Jackson.

I can’t confirm it, but someone’s told me the same thing about DJ equipment — that they’ve seen sales in The States at Best Buy and Wal-Mart increase. They had a strategy where the music games were situated near their music area. I thought it was quite a cool way of doing things, but I think it works differently for each market. One thing that I’ve learnt is that the American market is vastly different to the UK and European market.

I’m going to say that there isn’t much of a correlation between the two occurrences, and that it’s pure coincidence, as I don’t know many people who would play a game and then be so willing to drop down the cash for professional DJ equipment. But I’d love to be proven wrong, because this is the kind of thing that is simultaneously funny and awesome. Good on you, Freestyle Games.

[Destructoid]

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DJ Hero and Guitar Hero fans planning to rock out this weekend for the 4th of July are in for a treat as Activision has announced the release of two new track packs for the games with songs from Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Maroon 5 and more.

The DJ Hero Dance Party Mix Pack contains three new mixes to add to your music library including Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” mixed with “Girls On Film” by Duran Duran, Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” beat juggle and Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” beat juggle. The DJ Hero Dance Party Mix Pack will be available on Xbox 360 for 640 Microsoft Points and the PS3 for $7.99.  All mixes will be released as downloadable singles for Wii for 300 Wii Points each.

The Guitar Hero Pop 1 Track Pack also features three new songs from hit pop artists including Lady Gaga’s club anthem, “Just Dance,” Maroon 5′s hit single, “This Love” and the Synthpop hit, “Fireflies,” by Owl City. The Guitar Hero Pop 1 Track Pack will be available for the Xbox 360 for 440 Microsoft Points, the PS3 for $5.49 and the Wii for 550 Wii Points.vAll songs in the track pack will additionally be released as downloadable singles for the Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, the PS3 for $1.99 and the Wii for 200 Wii Points each.

Activision’s got a great idea by releasing new track packs for both DJ Hero and Guitar Hero right before Independence Day, but if you really think about it, it’s just another way to make more money for themselves, something they’re extremely great at. But still, you can’t deny that they are giving back to their loyal fan base with great new songs to download and for a reasonable price.

Both track packs are available today, so pull out those credit cards and get ready to jam out this weekend for the 4th of July.

• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• No More Heroes!: Activision Announces Three More Guitar Hero Games for 2009
• DJ Hero Confirmed to be in Production
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• Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection Behind-the-Scenes Preview Video

Activision Blizzard has joined TIGA, the UK games industry lobbying body, as part of the fight for tax relief in the UK for game development studios.

While being a US-based company, Activision Blizzard is the owner of two UK development studios, Bizarre Creations (Blur) and FreeStyleGames (DJ Hero).

“The UK has one of the most talented and creative workforces anywhere in the industry,” said George Rose, Activision Blizzard’s executive VP. “The introduction of Games Tax Relief in the UK will be a game changer. It will make the UK a significantly more attractive place to invest in games development. Games Tax Relief will lead to increased investment, more job creation and power economic growth.

“However, if Games Tax Relief is not introduced then the UK will remain at a real disadvantage in comparison to other territories as a location for inward investment. Without Games Tax Relief the UK games industry will not fulfil its potential.”

After the ‘Emergency Budget’ reneged the coalition’s promise to grant this tax relief, there is gathering momentum for the cause. TIGA are fighting hard for the promise to be kept, as it would be of a great benefit to the UK economy. Without it, we could be driving straight into a dead end.

Richard Wilson, TIGA’s Chief Executive, is fighting hard for the cause: “Before the general election the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats both explicitly stated that they supported tax breaks for the video game industry. In fact, the Conservatives said that Labour had stolen their idea… [without tax relief] we’ll lose jobs, we’ll lose influence, the UK games industry will not be world-leading.”

[Via EDGE]

• Activision and Sony Could be Forced to Cease Investment in UK Games Economy
• TIGA Outlines “Three Key Priorities” For UK Government to Implement
• Gamer’s Voice Teaming With TIGA on UK Tax Relief Issue
• Crytek, Rebellion, Ubisoft Pledge Support for TIGA Campaign
• UK Emergency Budget: No Tax Breaks for UK Games Industry
• Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Explains Companys ESA Exit

We all saw this coming eventually and, well, today is the day that Activision has officially announced DJ Hero 2. The sequel will feature even more artists than the original, with the likes of Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Metallica, The Chemical Brothers, Deadmau5 and 85 others.

Like the original, DJ Hero 2 will feature remixed songs between different artists, combing different genres and creating tracks in ways you’ve never heard. Activision is getting DJ Hero fans ready for part deuce by releasing a free mix from the sequel early, featuring Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” vs. Deadmau5′s “Ghosts ‘n Stuff.” The mix is available for download from June 8-14 on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Other new features coming to DJ Hero 2 include a brand new head-to-head battle mode, in which the multiplayer mixes have been tuned for a DJ battle call-and-response, instead of both players scratching to the same notes like in the original.

Players can now also plug in a mic and go along with the onscreen lyrics, and there’s even a freestyle scratching option, so you can mix and scratch as you please.

“DJ Hero was the best music game of 2009 and with DJ Hero 2 we’re delivering a new easy to pick-up, challenging-to-master experience that all players can enjoy together,” said Guitar Hero chief operating office David Haddad. “With new social game modes, the inclusion of full microphone support, all-new levels of creative freedom and an amazing soundtrack, DJ Hero 2 is the ultimate mixer of music and friends.”

DJ Hero 2 will be available this fall as a standalone game, bundled with one turntable controller, or as a two turntable and a microphone Party Bundle.

Source: EDGE

• Full DJ Hero 2 Setlist Revealed
• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• Ripten Review: DJ Hero 2 (Xbox 360)
• DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Demos Available Now on XBLA
• DJ Hero 2′s Full Artist Line-up Revealed
• Activision Celebrate’s the 4th of July with New Jams for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero

One of the biggest names in Hip Hop music and clothing; Jay-Z, is offering up a “Rockawear Mix Pack” for a fragrant price.

Purchase any Rocawear fragrance at a Wal-Mart location then log into the Rocawear.DJHero.com site and enter your access code to get the exclusive pack that features mixes of Jay-z and Eminem.

Here are some tag lines I thought up that they may want to consider for this promotion:

- Turning the tables never smelt so good!

- Smell good while looking goofy!

- Your DJ skills may stink, but you’ll smell great!

- Jay-Z got 99 problems, but his stank ain’t one!

- H to the Izzo, stop smellin’ like King Hippo!

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Well, in somewhat surprising news, it looks like Activation’s DJ Hero will be getting a sequel despite the poor sales of the original game. DJ Guetta, one of the DJ’s who worked on some DLC for the original game has confirmed he will be working on the sequel.

In the past, Dan Rosensweig, the CEO of Guitar Hero, hinted on the creation of more DJ Hero titles — and it now looks like his subtle hints are coming to fruition. There is also rumor that the untitled DJ Hero sequel will hit store shelves as early as October 2010, however no official release date has been scheduled as of yet.

So it looks like those of us who can afford it can expect to light up the virtual dance floors with our artificial turntables once again in the near future.

[Source: 1 Up, 1 Up (2)]

• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• Full DJ Hero 2 Setlist Revealed
• Activision Celebrate’s the 4th of July with New Jams for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero
• Activision Blizzard joins TIGA in Fight for UK Tax Relief
• DJ Hero 2 Announced
• Guitar Hero for the iPhone Hits The App Store

If you like to play virtual dress up, and don’t mind pissing away five bucks on a character you pretty much only see when starting up your console, the Assassin’s Creed II avatar costume is now available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace as a part of a new update which includes some nifty DJ Hero virtual garments as well.

I’ll race you there. On three …

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• Full DJ Hero 2 Setlist Revealed
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DJ Hero is the latest Activision addition to the Hero line of musical based games, and the first to highlight the rap/hip-hop/dj club scene. So throw on your favorite hoodie and sag your pants down around your ass. It’s time to get the virtual party jumping.

The peripheral itself (shown on the right) is a fairly solid yet simple plastic turntable with green, red, and blue finger placement points on a record that sits to the right and a three position mixer switch on the left. It’s not the greatest piece of crafted videogame hardware I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly not the worst either. A little more resistance on the back and forth movement of the plastic record would have felt more comfortable, but that’s just my opinion as someone who has never touched a real turntable. I also felt that it didn’t make much sense to have a record capable of spinning a full 360 with tiny markers for your fingers that only appear in small section. One errant spin and you’ve now effectively lost your ability to interact with the game and hit the next note in time.  In the end, it does the job it needs to do so you can’t fault it too much.

There aren’t a great deal of buttons to mash in the game, but that certainly doesn’t mean that becoming the next great DJ Hero will be an easy task. Five difficulty levels (Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert) paired with the built in gradual ramping of difficulty between song groupings should be more than enough to keep veterans on their toes and newcomers improving as they go. If super green DJ hopefuls find they need a little more help adjusting, they can watch a very well made in-game tutorial for a few pointers.

The graphics are colorful, stylized, and in line with what we’ve come to expect from the Hero franchise. And considering you spend most of your time staring down colored markers as they fly across the screen, there’s really no sense in dwelling on the graphical prowess of the game outside of saying that it doesn’t detract from the end goal of delivering a videogame replicated DJ experience.

In terms of the gameplay, each track mixes two songs that you’ll need to scratch and fade into euphoria-inducing head-bobbing beats, and the act of blending the two requires a slick combination of timed color coordinated scratches on the right with side-to-side movement of the nob on the left. Do it properly an the crowd is yours to command, though for the first time in a Hero franchise, a “No Fail” feature means royally messing up won’t get you booed off the stage. No fail or not, sloppy play kills the crowd vibe, leaving you feeling like Kanye West on stage during a Taylor Swift acceptance speech.

DJ Hero features a robust roster of real life DJs like Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jeff, and Daft Punk to name a few. Each of which is available to play along side you in the games collaboration mode. And if collaboration is your thing, the title also has a few songs that let Guitar Hero fans get in on the action as well. In addition to jamming out with the turntable and guitar, you can also lend your own lyrical talent with a microphone. The game doesn’t have any means for you to see how well you’re doing vocally but if your friends ask you to shut up, you may want to keep your day job.

The music in DJ Hero is by far one of the most attractive and compelling aspects of the game. So much so that I’d have no problem throwing down a few bucks to own the soundtrack itself. Jazzy Jeff lends mixing talent on a track that pits “Bittersweet Symphony” against “Rock the Bells” and “Hollaback Girl” goes head to head with “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” courtesy of the late DJ AM. In total the game has 93 tracks (not counting the DLC sure to follow), and like the Hero titles before it, they are broken up into tiers that you unlock as you progress — meaning you can’t just power it up and pick any song you want. With the exception of a few less-than-stellar mixes, I really can’t stress enough how awesome the tracks are in this game. The individual DJs and team FreeStyleGames really delivered the musical goods.

In closing, Activision’s DJ Hero is a fun time for anyone that enjoys killer tracks and wants to feel the rush of being a DJ without having to sort through all the groupie phone numbers at the end of the night. It does have a slight disadvantage in terms of mainstream popularity when compared to something like Guitar Hero but that’s more of a cultural thing than a gaming flaw. More tracks that allow for other instruments and vocal scoring would have been nice, but hey that might hamper the sales of a future “DJ Band Hero” and we sure as heck wouldn’t want to do that. If you’re tired of the band scene, and on the market for an edgy musical title that attempts to break the mold, DJ Hero is your man.

• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• Full DJ Hero 2 Setlist Revealed
• Activision Celebrate’s the 4th of July with New Jams for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero
• Activision Blizzard joins TIGA in Fight for UK Tax Relief
• DJ Hero 2 Announced
• DJ Hero 2: DJ Guetta Confirms His Work On Activision Sequel

It’s obviously not the full song, and to be honest it’s not likely to be the best one, but damn it, it’s Daft Punk, and it’s new. Even beside the fact that the game is looking surprisingly entertaining, DJ Hero is taunting Daft Punk fans everywhere into wanting the game- new tracks, heavy focus, even silly things like the Alive 2007 stage.

Anyone remember this post I made back in May? In it, I made threats to attack Activision if Daft Punk wasn’t in the game(I was joking, Mr. Activision lawyer). Obviously, they took this the way I meant them to take it and promptly added them into the game, making me and many others very cheerful about it. No need to thank me, honestly. Anyone would have done the same thing.

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When DJ Hero was first hinted at a year ago, I was kind of looking forward to it. I assumed it be a series of scratching to a bunch of hip-hop remixes, but I was completely wrong. Of course, you’ve already heard me complaing about the songs mixed for the game, but seeing as how we now have the first official footage of a song on the highest difficulty in the game, I feel like I can give a somewhat solid impression on the game.

It looks kind of boring.

Now, I say looks because I haven’t gotten any hands on time with the game yet, but as soon as I do, I plan to post more impressions here. But the fact of the matter is that the game looks like it moves very slowly. I’m sure this isn’t the case, since working the controller must be much more difficult than it looks here, but all I have is the 30 seconds of footage to go off of as of now.

The song above is “KRS-1′s Jack of Spades (DJ Shadow Mix) vs David Bowie’s Lets Dance” and the mix isn’t too bad.

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Look, this isn’t a music blog. I have no intentions of telling you what music is good and what music is bad, but there are just some artists that have established themselves well enough to be proclaimed universally as good. Of course, it’s easy to ruin their songs- just mash them up with songs people have never heard, or have no intention of ever hearing again. I assume this is the premise for DJ Hero, because with all my cynicism, I don’t think that the partial setlist Game Informer recently revealed could turn out well.

At all.

But aside from a set list of crazy mash-ups, Game Informer also stated that the controller we saw earlier isn’t the entire thing. There’s also a separate component, with a cross fader, effects dial, and a “Euphoria” (star power) button. While it might seem simple, Kotaku reports that the simplicity comes from the fact that the cross fader also has to be in the right position when tapping the buttons, and arrows that tell you which way to scratch. If you’re sick of my opinion on the game, you can hit the jump for hte partial setlist, and form your own opinion.
“Feel Good Inc.” (Gorillaz) vs “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)
“Jayou” (Jurassic 5) vs “Rockit” (Herbie Hancock)
“Bustin’ Loose” (Chuck Brown) vs “Time of the Season” (The Zombies, DJ Shadow Mix)
“All Apologies” (Nirvana) vs “Give It to Me Baby” (Rick James, DJ Shadow Mix)
“Let’s Dance” (David Bowie) vs “Jack of Spades” (KRS One, DJ Shadow Mix)
“Shout” (Tears for Fears) vs “Pjanoo” (Eric Prydz)

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It seems nowadays that everytime I write up a post, I end up complaining about Activision and their cash cow known colloquially as Guitar Hero- and this post will unfortunately be no different. Because today, Activision announced three, yes three, more games for the Guitar Hero franchise, all of which are coming out this year.

Though there were already 4 confirmed Guitar Hero games in the works for 2009 alone, Activision today confirmed that three more ____ Hero games would be released this fall, namely Band Hero, Guitar Hero V, and DJ Hero. The idea of DJ Hero was leaked a while ago, but Guitar Hero V and Band Hero are news as far as news goes.

According to the press release, Guitar Hero: Van Halen will feature Van Halen’s greatest hits, along with some songs from other artists, selected by Van Halen themselves. Band Hero will be the franchise’s first E10+ game, and will be focused more on a “family-friendly experience”, and DJ Hero will be a scratching game with a turntable controller (as you see above) with which you can remix songs in the game. DJ Hero seems the most interesting to me, but I’d have to see it myself before making any judgement.

Hit the jump for the press release, straight from the horse’s Activision’s mouth.

GUITAR HERO® ANNOUNCES FALL LINEUP FEATURING GROUNDBREAKING
DJ HERO™ TITLE AND NEW GUITAR HERO® 5 AND BAND HERO™ GAMES

Innovative DJ Hero Game Expected To Transform

How Consumers Engage with Music

New Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero and Band Hero Expand the Category with Fun-to-Play Experiences and Innovative New Technologies and Features

Fall Slate Delivers Largest Variety of Music and Hottest Artists

Santa Monica, CA – May 7, 2009 – Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) is set to once again revolutionize how consumers interact with music by releasing three new titles this fall – DJ Hero™, Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero™ – that will redefine the company’s popular music gaming platform. The slate will transform the way consumers enjoy and engage with music by offering the largest variety of music genres, innovative technologies and new social entertainment experiences for existing fans and millions of new consumers who previously have not joined Guitar Hero’s global community of fans.

· The company’s groundbreaking DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero’s signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition of diverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance. Introducing an all-new innovative turntable controller, DJ Hero transforms players into DJs who rule the club scene by creating original mixes of popular songs and music from the world’s most exciting artists and DJs.

· Letting fans continue to fulfill their rock fantasies, Guitar Hero 5 features the hottest rock and roll artists today as well as classic rock bands and gives players an unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.

· The franchises’ first E10+ rated console game, Band Hero delivers an exciting music collection featuring top-40 hits designed to expand the experience to a new genre and appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the guitar, drums, bass and microphone. The game builds upon Guitar Hero’s easy-to-play, difficult-to-master signature gameplay and allows novice players and expert fans to join together on their favorite songs.

“Guitar Hero has made music social again and has become one of the most popular ways to experience music,” said Dan Rosensweig, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Guitar Hero franchise. “Today’s fans enjoy a variety of music and are looking for more ways to engage with their favorite songs, artists and fellow fans. These games will let them listen, participate and socialize with music in ways they have never been able to before.”

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What you see before you is one of two renderings posted by DJHero on Twitter. Don’t worry, they’ve also been confirmed by Activision by way of a press release, in case you had any suspicions that the Twitter account might be false. They’re not really a surprising design; the only think that strikes me is the lack of yellow and orange buttons (unless they’re on another unit, or on the side). Now what remains for the game is the song list- if there’s no Daft Punk, I’ll go right to Activision HQ and punch every single person there.

Actually, I’ll do something that’ll hurt them even more. I’ll complain on the internet. They’ll never survive that!

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In an interview with Joystiq, Brian Bright, project director of Guitar Hero: World Tour, confirmed that Activision are working on DJ Hero. From Joystiq:

JS: Didn’t you say you’re already working on another music game?

BB: Activision’s doing a DJ Hero game, and I can’t comment on what we’re doing. But… we’re working on the future and next gen.

After some convincing rumours, it’s good to hear that the market will eventually have music games that don’t involve instruments from rock bands. It’s certainly a good descision for Activision; surely the only market that hasn’t been taken over by Guitar Hero is those people who don’t enjoy rock music? With DJ Hero, Activision will most likely become richer than Richie Rich on payday who has also just found a $700 billion cheque on the street. Anyway, what do you think? Good or bad idea? Do people want to keep buying more plastic instruments? Let us know in the comments.

• Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong
• Activision Celebrate’s the 4th of July with New Jams for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero
• No More Heroes!: Activision Announces Three More Guitar Hero Games for 2009
• Activision May Release “Dance Hero” Title
• Axl Rose Sues Activision For $20 Million Over Guns ‘N’ Roses Licensing Violation
• DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Demos Available Now on XBLA

Activision look to be expanding their current collection of video games which use plastic instrument peripherals with their recent filing for a patent on the name DJ Hero.

The patent, filed on Feb 8th, describes an “Interactive video game comprised of a CD or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller”, which although not a new idea, might be one seeing a mini-revival in the coming years.

Activision aren’t the only ones interested in the idea, with PlayPen Studios currently working on their latest game, Skillz. A game described as a “music and rhythm game that puts you behind the turntables as an up-and-coming DJ” which will come with a turn-table controller. Remind you of anything?

Whether Activision are simply protecting their franchise, or actively starting development on the game remains to be seen. My prediction? Keep your eyes peeled for Trombone Hero, and just remember who called it first.

Source: Trademork

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