Even though I’ve been known to hoard music games like they’re going out of style, even I have noticed a severe discrepancy in quality over the past couple of years. While most games go out of their way to avoid bringing new styles of play into the field and head straight for the fastest way to make cash, luckily there are still minds out there who think creatively. While DJ Hero isn’t exactly the first game of its kind (Beatmania IIDX, anyone?), it manages to capture the feeling of being a real DJ settled right in the heart of the hottest night clubs and bumpin’ joints where the real greats mixed it up. It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly on the right track. We need more of this kind of innovation, and I’m proud to say that DJ Hero is the start of a revolution — and not one involving karaoke.

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During a panel at the PLAY Digital Media Conference, Kai Huang, co-founder of Guitar Hero, said he is expecting the sales of DJ Hero to be slow at first. Huang stated, “Activision has its sights set on a long-term sales goal, and not the typical first month results.”

This makes sense when a game like this really relies on people actually trying it out first at a friend’s house or in-store demos. Huang said at the panel that Activision’s “strategy again is to focus on in-store demos” like they did with Guitar Hero.

Activision is hoping the sales pattern of DJ Hero will follow a similar one to Guitar Hero. DJ Hero is being marketed as a fun music game that you’ll love to play with friends so they’re really working hard on getting the demo systems out to stores and into people’s homes so they can ensure their long term goals with the game.

[Source: IGN]

Have you always dreamed of being a DJ? Is traditional rock not your thing? Do you fall asleep each night counting down the days to DJ Hero’s upcoming release on October 27? To help get you even more pumped, check out the game’s intro cinematic after the break.

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Are you anxiously counting down the days until you can bring home that sleek new DJ Hero controller and mix hip beats till your fingers bleed? Here’s a little something to help make the wait a little easier (or maybe even harder) to bear. Get your groove on as Daft Punk mixes it up with Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
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Activision, Genius, and Numark had undergone a legal struggle over Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, but Genius and Numark finally wrestled the source code and materials of the game from 7 Studios. Now Scratch will be developed by Commotion Interactive in hopes that the studio will finish the game by early 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

There’s no word of controller compatibility with DJ Hero’s controller, but Scratch’s “Scratch Deck” will remain the same. The game is also receiving a makeover, with screenshots arriving in the upcoming months. On the licensing front, Scratch will feature songs by “Kanye West, Run DMC, Outkast and others, with more announcements to come.”

[Source: Joystiq]

The Los Angeles Superior Court has denied a request for a restraining order against Activision that was requested by Scratch: The Ultimate DJ LLC, a joint venture between Genius Products and Numark. Scratch: The Ultimate DJ is a music game being developed by 7 Studios on contract for Genius Products. Genius Products alleges that Activision has been interfering with the development process and has been trying to prevent its release so that Activision’s DJ Hero may be released first. The company sued 7 Studios and Activision on April 14.

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