DJ Hero is a rhythm video game and a spin-off of the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision worldwide in October 2009 for the PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game is based on turntablism, requiring the use of a special game controller that includes a turntable surface with three buttons, a crossfader bar, and an effects dial, in addition to other controller buttons used to manipulate in-game menus. [1] In a manner similar to Guitar Hero, players use the turntable controller to mimic the actions of a disc jockey (DJ), such as scratching and crossfading between two different songs, as graphical representations of these actions scroll down on screen towards the player in time with the music. [1] Unlike previous Guitar Hero games, there is no performance meter, and instead players are simply challenged to obtain the best score possible in order to earn stars (from zero to five for each mix) to unlock new songs, venues, and characters. The player can attempt these songs at one of four difficulties (Easy to Expert), with higher difficulties providing more actions for the player to perform within the song. [1]
The game's on-disc soundtrack contains 94 mixes, most made from two songs; over 100 individual songs are incorporated into these mixes. [1] Some mixes feature only a single song mixed with itself. Ten songs on disc include a guitar track that can be played using a Guitar Hero or other compatible controller alongside the DJ mixing player in the game's DJ vs Guitar mode. The game supports additional content through downloadable tracks from the game consoles' respective online stores. [2] While most on-disc mixes were created by FreeStyleGames, several DJs have contributed mixes to the game, including Grandmaster Flash, DJ Shadow, DJ AM, DJ Z-Trip, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and the Scratch Perverts; [3] other DJ artists provided future downloadable content. [2]
The on-disc soundtrack contains 93 mixes, each featuring one or two songs. These are arranged across 24 setlists, ordered roughly by difficulty of the mix, with more difficult mixes appearing later in the game. [1] To access later tiers, the player must earn a pre-set number of stars on previous mixes at any difficulty. All mixes are immediately available to play in the Quickplay and competitive modes. The table below lists the mixes in the game, including the two songs that contribute to their mix as well as their individual artists; the mix artist that created the mix; whether the song is playable in the game's DJ vs Guitar mode; and the career tier in which the song is located. [4] [5]
Reviewers found the on-disc soundtrack to be strong; Daemon Hatfield of IGN believed that "the entire soundtrack is superb and could easily stand on its own outside the game". [1] Matt Helgeson of Game Informer considered it to be one of the "most adventurous" soundtracks of any music game, and said though it often relied too much on pop hits, it remained true to the spirit of the DJ mix scene. [6] Johnny Minkley thought the game to have "vital, varied, surprising and vast musical content" and to be a fresh experience compared to previous music games. [3] The game did not sell well in the first month after its release; Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica attributed the low sales of the game partially to its soundtrack. While Kuchera felt the soundtrack was good, he asserted that individual songs were unrecognizable because of modifications made to them for the mixes, and that they were more difficult to adjust to within the gameplay itself. [7]
New mixes were added regularly to DJ Hero through downloadable content that could be purchased on the console's respective online stores; [2] content was made available on the day of the game's release. [8] Unlike Guitar Hero games' downloadable content, which costs approximately US$2 per track, each mix costs approximately $3 to download because of the additional effort needed to create the mixes. [2] Furthermore, mixes are provided only as bundles for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users; the Wii's storefront prevents the selling of bundled packages; instead, each track is offered individually. [2] [9] Critics viewed the lack of individual song selection on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms as a way of limiting consumers' choice, as previous downloadable songs for games such as Guitar Hero allow players on these systems to select individual tracks to purchase from a bundle. [9] [10] The long time between the second downloadable pack (in November 2009) and the third pack (in March 2010) was also believed to be the result of a last-ditch effort by Activision to support the game, and that the few packs released did not meet expectations for the game. [11] All of the DJ Hero DLC packs (along with the DLC of Guitar Hero, Band Hero) were taken offline on March 31, 2014, and are no longer available for download. However, they can be reinstalled if the player has downloaded any DLC pack before the removal.
Song 1 title | Artist 1 | Song 2 title | Artist 2 | Mix artist | Guitar part? | Mix pack | Release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"All of Me" | 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige | "Radio Ga Ga" | Queen | FreeStyleGames | No | Extended Mix Pack 01 [8] | Oct. 27, 2009 |
"DARE" | Gorillaz | "Can't Truss It" | Public Enemy | FreeStyleGames | No | Extended Mix Pack 01 [8] | Oct. 27, 2009 |
"When Love Takes Over" (Beat Juggle) | David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland | n/a | n/a | David Guetta | No | David Guetta Mix Pack 01 [8] | Nov. 24, 2009 |
"Sexy Chick" (Beat Juggle) | David Guetta featuring Akon | n/a | n/a | David Guetta | No | David Guetta Mix Pack 01 [8] | Nov. 24, 2009 |
"On The Dance Floor" (Beat Juggle) | David Guetta featuring will.i.am and apl.de.ap | n/a | n/a | David Guetta | No | David Guetta Mix Pack 01 [8] | Nov. 24, 2009 |
"Shake That" | Eminem featuring Nate Dogg | "Show Me What You Got" | Jay-Z | FreeStyleGames | No | Jay-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack [12] | Mar. 18, 2010 a |
"Without Me" | Eminem | "Encore" | Jay-Z | FreeStyleGames | No | Jay-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack [12] | Mar. 18, 2010 a |
"Can I Get A..." | Jay-Z | "Lose Yourself" | Eminem | FreeStyleGames | No | Jay-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack [12] | Mar. 18, 2010 a |
"Sandstorm" | Darude | "Higher State of Consciousness (Tweekin' Acid Funk Mix)" | Josh Wink | FreeStyleGames | No | Domination Pack [13] | Apr. 29, 2010 |
"Wolfgang's Fifth Symphony" (Beat Juggle) | Wolfgang Gartner | "n/a" | n/a | FreeStyleGames | No | Domination Pack [13] | Apr. 29, 2010 |
"Red Mist VIP" (Beat Juggle) | Danny Byrd | "n/a" | n/a | FreeStyleGames | No | Domination Pack [13] | Apr. 29, 2010 |
"Just Dance" | Lady Gaga | "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" | Deadmau5 | FreeStyleGames | No | Single [14] | June 8, 2010 b |
"Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | "Girls on Film" | Duran Duran | FreeStyleGames | No | Dance Party Mix Pack | June 29, 2010 |
"Buttons" (Beat Juggle) | Pussycat Dolls feat. Snoop Dogg | "n/a" | n/a | FreeStyleGames | No | Dance Party Mix Pack | June 29, 2010 |
"SOS" (Beat Juggle) | Rihanna | "n/a" | n/a | FreeStyleGames | No | Dance Party Mix Pack | June 29, 2010 |
While the base game contained 93 mixes in total, there were 4 mixes that never made it into the game. These mixes either were at one point planned to be in the game or were confirmed to be part of the song list, but ended up being scrapped during development. These mixes included various songs from Nirvana, Ludacris, Red Hot Chili Peppers and so on.
Song title 1 | Artist 1 | Song title 2 | Artist 2 | Mix artist |
---|---|---|---|---|
[15] "All Apologies" | Nirvana | "Give It to Me Baby" | Rick James | DJ Shadow |
"Stand Up" | Ludacris | "Suck My Kiss" | Red Hot Chili Peppers | n/a |
"Party Hard" | The Perceptionists | "Take it Back" | Skillz feat. The Roots | n/a |
"Lost Your Mind" | Aceyalone | "Secrets" | Bobby Womack | n/a |
Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. The games attempt to mimic many features of playing a real guitar, including the use of fast-fingering hammer-ons and pull-offs and the use of the whammy bar to alter the pitch of notes. Most games support single player modes, typically a Career mode to play through all the songs in the game, as well as competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. With the introduction of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, the game includes support for a four-player band including vocals and drums. The series initially used mostly cover versions of songs created by WaveGroup Sound, but most recent titles feature soundtracks that are fully master recordings, and in some cases, special re-recordings, of the songs. Later titles in the series feature support for downloadable content in the form of new songs.
Rock Band is a 2007 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first installment in the Rock Band series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in North America on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007 and the Wii version on June 22, 2008. Harmonix previously developed the first two games in the Guitar Hero series, which popularized gameplay of rock music with guitar-shaped controllers. After development of the series was shifted to Neversoft, Harmonix conceived Rock Band as a new title that would offer multi-instrument gameplay.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a 2007 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the third main installment and the fourth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. It is the first game in the series to be developed by Neversoft after Activision's acquisition of RedOctane and MTV Games' purchase of Harmonix, the previous development studio for the series. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii in October 2007. Aspyr published the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions of the game, releasing them later in 2007.
Band Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second spin-off of the Guitar Hero series, following DJ Hero (2009). The game was released on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is structurally similar to Guitar Hero 5 (2009), and supports full band play including the drop-in/drop-out and in-song instrument and difficulty change menus, and additional multiplayer modes as Guitar Hero 5. The console versions use instrument-shaped game controllers, while the DS version uses either the "Guitar Grip" introduced with the Guitar Hero: On Tour series or a new Drum Skin that comes with the game. Like previous games, who feature virtual avatars of musical artists, Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, and the band No Doubt are presented in the game.
Rock Band 2 is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to Rock Band (2007) and the second installment in the Rock Band series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments. Players can play the lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums parts to songs with "instrument controllers", as well as sing through a USB microphone. Players are scored on their ability to match scrolling musical "notes" while playing instruments, or by their ability to match the singer's pitch on vocals.
Guitar Hero: Metallica is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the seventh installment in the Guitar Hero series and the second to focus on the career and songs of one rock band, Metallica, following Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008). The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009, and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, 2009, with an Australian and European release in May 2009.
Rock Band is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero series, the main Rock Band games has players use game controllers modeled after musical instruments and microphones to perform the lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drums and vocal parts of numerous licensed songs across a wide range of genres though mostly focusing on rock music by matching scrolling musical notes patterns shown on screen. Certain games support the use of "Pro" instruments that require special controllers that more closely mimic the playing of real instruments, providing a higher challenge to players. Players score points for hitting notes successfully, but may fail a song if they miss too many notes. The series has featured numerous game modes, and supports both local and online multiplayer modes where up to four players in most modes can perform together.
DJ Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the first spin-off of the Guitar Hero series. It was released on October 27, 2009, in North America and on October 29, 2009, in Europe. The game is based on turntablism, the act of creating a new musical work from one or more previously recorded songs using record players and sound effect generators, and features 94 remixes of two different songs across numerous genres.
Guitar Hero 5 is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released internationally in September 2009 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 consoles. Similar to the preceding title, Guitar Hero World Tour (2008), Guitar Hero 5 is geared towards playing in a four-person band experience, including lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game is available as a standalone title, allowing players to use existing compatible instrument controllers, and as a bundle that provides these controllers. Guitar Hero 5 adds several new features, such as drop-in/drop-out play, bands composed of any combination of available instruments, a Rockfest competitive mode consisting of several various scoring mechanisms, and both song-specific and general Challenges to unlock new avatars, clothing, and other extras in the game. Many of these changes were added to make the game a more social experience, allowing players across a range of skill levels to be able to play cooperatively and competitively against each other both locally and online. The PlayStation 2 version is based on Guitar Hero World Tour, using the same gameplay UI as Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009), Guitar Hero Smash Hits (2009), and Guitar Hero: Van Halen (2009), albeit with a different Rock Meter design.
Green Day: Rock Band is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the sixth console installment in the Rock Band series and the second band-centric game, following The Beatles: Rock Band (2009). It allows players to simulate rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. The game's setlist consists of songs by American rock band Green Day. Rock Band features virtual depictions of the three band members performing the songs in new venues designed for the game.
DJ Hero 2 is a 2010 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the sequel to DJ Hero (2009), a spin-off of the Guitar Hero series. The game was released worldwide in October 2010 for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360. DJ Hero 2 uses a special turntable-controller, the same as introduced in DJ Hero, to simulate turntablism, the act of creating a new musical work from one or more previously recorded songs using record players and sound effect generators.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released in September 2010 for PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Similar to previous entries in the series it is geared towards playing in a four-person band experience, including lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game is available as a standalone title, allowing players to use existing compatible instrument controllers, and as a bundle that provides these controllers.