The latest title in the ever-increasing music genre is Activision's DJ Hero. Whereas the majority of popular music games on the market at the moment are rock and band-oriented, DJ Hero will bring hip hop, electronica and dance music to the fore.
As you might expect from the name, the game will not rely on existing peripherals - instead, you'll be using a turntable to mix your way through over 80 mashups created especially for the game by the likes of DJ Shadow, DJ AM and DJ Z-Trip. Jay-Z and Eminem are also on board as executive producers, and they will be providing more exclusive tracks, too.
Gameplay is similar to the Guitar Hero games, in that you hit buttons as the matching coloured gems cross the line at the bottom of the screen, only this time there are only ever three coloured lines at all times, rather than a maximum of five as in the Guitar Hero series. The challenge is instead altered on higher difficulty settings by increasing the usage of the crossfader and mixing functions on the mixing half of the peripheral, and scratching on the turntable side. Though they are not the primary accessories, you can also plug a microphone or guitar in to play alongside the turntable.
The peripheral:
Some in-game shots:
More in the media album.
Here's a developer walkthrough with G4TV:
Do you think DJ Hero is shaping up well, and do you think it's different enough to warrant a purchase with all the other music games on the market?