DJ Hero: first images of controller revealed

You'll soon be able to give DJ Hero a spin.
You'll soon be able to give DJ Hero a spin.

Activision has confirmed that its DJ Hero game will be released later this year.

Full details of the title are still to be revealed, but a press release from the company states:

"[Activision'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."

That's as much detail as we have at this stage, but if you're searching for further clues as to the way the game will be played, you can also check out the renders of the companion DJ Hero controller.

This, predictably enough, is styled like a turntable, and has three coloured buttons on the top.

DJ battle

The official launch of DJ Hero follows a period of legal wrangling, during which Activision was accused of attempting to scupper the launch of rival game Scratch: The Ultimate DJ.

In March, Activision was ordered to return the Scratch source code to original publisher Genius, having acquired it when it bought 7 Digital, the company that was developing the game, earlier this year.

Activision has also announced that Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero (a family orientated version of Guitar Hero) will be released in 2009.

(Via Engadget)

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.