Let's not pussyfoot around that at $120 DJ Hero and its turntable peripheral is the most expensive plastic instrument set yet. For the same amount, a gamer could purchase two full-priced games, or Guitar Hero 5.
That Activision's gambling ( less than a month after DJ Hero's release ) on another $120 piece of hardware, a skateboard peripheral for Tony Hawk's Ride, seems to put the company at risk of cannibalizing itself. Who, in a recovering economy, can afford two triple digit peripherals that at launch only work with one game each?
These were my concerns before actually playing DJ Hero, which has increasingly popped up at New York press events this past month, culminating this week with its arrival in the UGO office.
Here's the skinny: while I cannot pass judgment on Tony Hawk's Ride just yet, it will take a lot for the plastic skateboard to bowl me (and the rest of my office) over quite like DJ Hero has. And that says nothing about Guitar Hero 5, which now buried in the closet, is the immediate victim of DJ Hero's novelty.
Novelty is a funny word. DJ Hero's controls, while new, don't wildly innovate on Guitar Hero's "see the color, tap the color controls." And the kneejerk argument that DJ Hero's set list is fresher than the dusty classics of guitar games is also tenuous. DJ Hero does, after all, have its share of oldies: notably Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapvewine," released in the great year of 1967. (Back then, MDMA was just MDA.)
DJ Hero's tracks are fresh not because they're typically mash-ups featuring a recent hit, but because they feel malleable, alterable against Guitar Hero's staid tracks. They feel, and this is a first for the Hero franchise, expressive.
Both hitting and missing beats has an abrupt audible effect on the song: whole bars will drop or fade out, notes will miss cue. Then there are the layers of modification: switching up effects, shifting pitch and even reversing the track. This isn't just DJ Shadow spinning; it's you.
In two days time, I've given the game a hip-hop alias -- "The D.o.P.," short for "The Death of Productivity." Seriously. People sacrifice lunch breaks and smokes for a spin through the demo discs measly three tracks. If they're giving up private time, god knows what it's done to their Outlook.
Here's the tough question, though: will they drop the $120 on October 27? My concerns regarding the price are still there, if well tempered. Money's money, and $120 is a lot of it, especially for those of us on a budget this holiday season. I strongly believe Activision has with DJ Hero another hit on their hands. But can people afford to get their hands on it?
