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Scratch: Ultimate DJ Wikkiwikki-Wahs On To PS3 & 360
Posted by Stuart Houghton at 12:40 PM on October 9, 2008
Looks like Activision will have some competition in the turntablism music niche - Scratch: Ultimate DJ is a new contender from 7 Studios, produced with the help of Quincy Jones III (not that one, his son - still good, though).
"Scratch will feature original recordings from the catalogs of many top urban artists and will allow players to re-imagine songs on the fly and add their own creativity," says Jones, "This feature sets it apart from other music rhythm games and makes it a dream come true for both casual music fans and serious DJs/producers."
If you were wondering how the 'scrolling fret' interface from all those other games might be translated into a more turntabulous mode, the answer seems to be.. exactly the same but with a picture of a deck next to it. Nice cel-shading, though.
Full press release after the bump...
GENIUS PRODUCTS AND GENCO INTERACTIVE PARTNER WITH
7 STUDIOS AND QUINCY JONES III (QD3) TO LAUNCH
NEW HIP HOP VIDEO GAME
Scratch: The Ultimate DJ
Fast Paced Rhythm Game Features Realistic
DJ Turntable-Style Controller From Numark
SANTA MONICA, Calif.- October 7, 2008 - Genius Products, Inc. (OTCBB: GNPI) announced that Genius Products, LLC and Genco Interactive, the gaming subsidiary of Genco Media, entered into a new partnership with 7 Studios and QD3 to develop and release a new hip-hop video game: Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. Developed by 7 Studios with creative input from music legend Quincy Jones III, CEO and chief creative officer of QD3 Entertainment and music producer for top artists Tupac Shakur, LL Cool J and Ice Cube, among others, Scratch combines free-form DJ tricks with great rhythm game-play. Scheduled to arrive in stores next spring, Scratch is set in distinctive urban environments and features songs from the biggest names in Hip Hop.
Featuring game-play similar to top-selling rhythm games, Scratch players use a realistic turn-table controller, the Scratch Deck, created by Numark, the world's largest manufacturer of DJ equipment, to manipulate music tracks in real-time. Players can choose from a diverse array of DJ personalities to make their way from garage DJ to scratch-master of the hottest nightclubs.
Scratch will be available on multiple next generation game systems.
"We are thrilled to be teaming with 7 Studios and Quincy Jones III to release a cutting-edge game that captures the vital energy of hip-hop culture", said Trevor Drinkwater, President and CEO of Genius Products. "We're confident that Scratch will take interactive music gaming to the next level and excite a large and relatively untapped fan base."
"With the recent success of music-driven videogames and the dominance of urban culture in the youth market, the potential for Scratch is endless," said Quincy Jones III, CEO and chief creative officer of QD3 Entertainment. "Having spent 20 years as a music producer for artists such as Tupac, LL, and Ice Cube, it is rewarding to work with 7 Studios, Genius and Genco to ensure that there is authenticity in every detail of this game.
"Scratch will feature original recordings from the catalogs of many top urban artists and will allow players to re-imagine songs on the fly and add their own creativity," he added. "This feature sets it apart from other music rhythm games and makes it a dream come true for both casual music fans and serious DJs/producers."
"Genco is focused on providing content creators the means to fund the development of a range of entertainment related products, including video games," said Alan Quasha, President of Quadrant Management and Chairman of Genco Media. "Scratch presents a great opportunity to work with some of the most talented people in the Hip Hop music industry and bring an exciting new game to market."
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Setzer IIDX
Posted 8:55 AM 9/10/08
I'll buy it. Sometimes IIDX's songs get old. It'll be fun doing some American Pop songs for a change.
Been really digging Pink's So What. Rhianna'd be a good remix too. And some Flo'Rida?
The game's gameplay is unoriginal. Look at my frickin' name, I'm of course gonna say that. But the true beauty in music games is the range of music.
Give me a IIDX USB keyboard and some PS3 IIDX games, I'll import them. Give me this game, I'll buy that too. They're all fun and almost always have a mode to make your own charts.
Now if the game has all covers...effe that.
Setzer IIDX
zenius
Posted 8:52 AM 9/10/08
@Ueziel: one of my thoughts exactly. you got the popn music colored notes, 5 key/tt of beatmania, i believe hold notes from djmax, and the crappy angled notes of guitar hero and possibly the hit/miss scoring as well. this game is gonna be a cake walk.
zenius
djricekcn
Posted 8:52 AM 9/10/08
KONAMI WILL SUE
djricekcn
Rurik
Posted 8:51 AM 9/10/08
@Ueziel: I would buy a PS3 beatmania in a heartbeat.
Rurik
jared11889
Posted 8:50 AM 9/10/08
I'll stick to my Beatmania, thank-you-very-much.
jared11889
Twoflower
Posted 8:50 AM 9/10/08
Meh. At least Activision's attempt at this concept includes a pro-looking controller and doesn't seem to just be a fretbutton-based activity. Real DJing is not pushing skittle-colored buttons, it's having the timing and reflexes needed to make the concept of a rotating vynil disc sound like something other than what it is... and sound GOOD.
Twoflower
Jazhuis
Posted 8:49 AM 9/10/08
But will GH:WT automatically detect it if you try to use it as a drum controller?
Jazhuis
DarkDraken
Posted 8:48 AM 9/10/08
Who needs originality when you can get a reskin?
DarkDraken
zenius
Posted 8:46 AM 9/10/08
the advent of so and so called "urban" tracks makes me =(. how about some commercial techno/dance music
im a huge fan of iidx but iidx has long since strayed away from licenses. maybe this can do that. honestly this game can only get so hard with "urban" beats
zenius
Ueziel
Posted 8:45 AM 9/10/08
Wow, what a horrible ripoff of 5key Beatmania. Great going there guys. Let's just take an excellent series and urbanize it and dumb it down until it's too stupid to play.
Ueziel
Chew13acca
Posted 8:44 AM 9/10/08
Wow. Everyone's stealing their cues from Konami.
Konami why did you introduce everything (besides DDR, but still you could have done a better job introducing that) to the US wrong? You could be ROLLING in dosh.
Chew13acca
Americo
Posted 8:42 AM 9/10/08
I didn't see word of any specific consoles this would be setting on fire, er, gracing its presence on.
Americo
DarkHavoc99
Posted 8:41 AM 9/10/08
I see this having a potential of either "Meh" or "Cool... Meh"
DarkHavoc99
chaos_isnt_here
Posted 8:37 AM 9/10/08
no. no more music games. I'll just listen to my ipod.
chaos_isnt_here
Numanoid
Posted 8:36 AM 9/10/08
This could be awesome or shocking.
Numanoid
J0hnny-Kickass
Posted 8:36 AM 9/10/08
Not AJ Jones, quincy's cousin?
J0hnny-Kickass
Real Serious Assassin
Posted 9:20 AM 9/10/08
Give me Paul Van Dyk or give me death.
Real Serious Assassin
cZEAL
Posted 9:20 AM 9/10/08
I think it's pretty cool, but I'll probably wait until the second or third iteration before I lay down the cash for it.
cZEAL
KotakuFreund
Posted 9:16 AM 9/10/08
Thanks but no Thanks.
It is not i say this games sucks, it is just not my style.
(urban, strange comic look and more stuff that dont suit for me)
I rather stick with DJMax,IIDX or ez2on.
btw
Would the music have great that i like, i would overlook the style. But still i wouldnt buy it, i have to punish the developer for using the wrong style. And that only works with simply dont buying this game.
KotakuFreund
chemical_eng_mx
Posted 9:10 AM 9/10/08
Well, let's just hope it's actual songs and not mash-ups like DJ Hero huh?
And yes, Beatmania is awesome, I was tempted to buy a cabinet from an arcade that was going out of business a couple of years ago, but if I got it that would've meant no trip to Barcelona.
chemical_eng_mx
TheHeartless
Posted 9:08 AM 9/10/08
Since I'm too lazy to do it myself, would someone mind to find out how many fucking music games are coming out this year? And how many of them are original concepts, like...Wii Music, and that's barely stating anything considering it's not even a game...it's a tool to compose music and act it out by waggling your Wiimote around.
TheHeartless
djricekcn
Posted 9:08 AM 9/10/08
@icepick314: Dragging ass in what way? If you mean release periods, it's pretty consistent. If you mean exclusive songs, recently they have been pretty good.
djricekcn
zenius
Posted 9:05 AM 9/10/08
@Crosswayboy: at least it had variety
zenius
icepick314
Posted 9:02 AM 9/10/08
well...Konami's dragging their ass on new Beatmania home version...
where are $300 controllers and HD interfaces?
icepick314
Crosswayboy
Posted 9:00 AM 9/10/08
@Ueziel: You're judging this game completely off of a handful of screenshots? Jeez, give it a freakin' chance at least before chastising it as a Beatmania ripoff.
And BTW, as much as I loved the Beatmania games back in the day- the music in them was god awful.
J-Rap FTL.
Crosswayboy
zenius
Posted 8:59 AM 9/10/08
@Rurik: heck, i'd buy a ps3 just for it. with the size of a bluray disk, you could have so many songs and an hd interface oh man
zenius
Crosswayboy
Posted 8:58 AM 9/10/08
@chaos_isnt_here: Good for you. Enjoy your iPod and allow the rest of us to enjoy our music games.
Crosswayboy
BlackdogGT
Posted 9:56 AM 9/10/08
Give me DJ Shadow or die in a fire.
BlackdogGT
animat0
Posted 9:36 AM 9/10/08
can we use the beatmania peripheral?
animat0
SLiFE
Posted 9:34 AM 9/10/08
Can't anyone even come up with an original colour scheme for the interface?
Still the same old green-red-yellow-blue-orange.
SLiFE
Kewk
Posted 10:28 AM 9/10/08
Is this a flash game?
Kewk
Daisuash
Posted 10:12 AM 9/10/08
If it´s good, then i´m in; But i would really happy if Konami would decide to make a Beatmania for the next gen or at least a compilation, just give us the goddamn game...
Daisuash
R_Shackelford
Posted 10:10 AM 9/10/08
Being that Numark is known in the DJ/pro audio community for making cheap toys, instead of quality equipment, I'd say their work on this game's controller is fitting.
R_Shackelford
cZEAL
Posted 10:41 AM 9/10/08
@animat0: Doubtful.
cZEAL
everygoodusernameistaken
Posted 11:11 AM 9/10/08
Sadly, I envisioned this is being like Guitar Hero, but substituting the amazing scratching of turntablists like DJ Qbert, DJ Craze, Z-Trip, the Beat Junkies and the X-Men, I mean Xecutioners for the guitar riffs, but it appears I was mistaken.
everygoodusernameistaken
Iceman B.
Posted 11:32 AM 9/10/08
YES!! YES YES YES !!
URBAN MUSIC!
Say it with me now everyone:
U-R-B-A-N!
Cause everyone knows music involving a DJ deck always comes down to URBAN.
Honestly, somebody shoot me and the game as well.
Why oh why not put some TRANCE beats in it. You know, the stuff that actually MAKES DJ's sprout like fungus.
Okay maybe not the best of all analogies but you get the idea.
The only redeeming factor so far is that Numark seems to be in on the gig, and they make good stuff.
Yes I like IIDX as well but I'm always willing to expand my horizon.
Of course.....URBAN.....really makes me stop in my tracks.
And honestly, does the screenshot really HAVE to HAVE a black guy with an afro?
*sigh*
This had better be good.
I wonder how long it'll take before Konami sues.
Iceman B.
Genocyde
Posted 11:21 AM 9/10/08
@SLiFE: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. What's the problem here?
Weakest complaint I've heard so far.
Genocyde
pandafresh
Posted 11:21 AM 9/10/08
haha oh man, years ago (maybe...8 or less) there was a movie called Scratch about DJs n the like, it was a documentary, and there was one guy who said something like "watch, one day they're gunna come out with a dj game for the playstation!" and he was right!
pandafresh
Genocyde
Posted 11:18 AM 9/10/08
@djricekcn: They *are* dragging their ass by milking the shit out of PS2 releases.
Give me one BD with as many songs that can fit on there as possible, and an HD gui/HUD. 1080p Beatmania? YES PLEASE.
Genocyde
fuchikoma
Posted 12:47 PM 9/10/08
@fuchikoma:
err... Genco.
Sorry, it looked so Activision that I read the copy and still thought it was one of theirs.
fuchikoma
fuchikoma
Posted 12:45 PM 9/10/08
@Ueziel:
Yup... I was giving them a little benefit of the doubt, but looking at it now - "Welcome to 1998, Activision!"
BTW... "Uziel" in beatmania 6th is pretty sweet...
@Crosswayboy:
Back when I started, I agreed - Pop'n Music sounded good, but beatmania was pretty bad... until "Best Hits." 6th Mix/Core Remix was actually pretty tight. The IIDX series? Totally nails it - all... 15? of them. But IMO DJ Max schools the whole lot of them even if it is a copy itself.
@zenius:
I think Guitar Hero took the angled notes from Frequency if you really want to pick nits.
Yay for nostalgia... beatmaniacs tell me how many hundreds of times you've heard this one?
+ Watch video
fuchikoma
bkld18
Posted 2:20 PM 9/10/08
I'll never take American pop and club music with generic dancing polygon-people over a 600+ songlist of originals, 11 years of content, and beautiful, individually crafted videos.
+ Watch video
Shudder...
bkld18
DarkGeneral
Posted 9:37 PM 9/10/08
My interest peaked when i heard it then it said "top urban artists" and it spiraled down. I was hoping for some electronic.
DarkGeneral
Sai-kun
Posted 2:58 AM 10/10/08
Give me IIDX or give me death.
Dammit Konami, you frakked up in the US. Now I have to wait every year until the next Otakon to get my share of IIDX.
Sai-kun
R_Shackelford
Posted 6:30 AM 10/10/08
@Iceman B.: Numark makes good stuff? On what planet? Give me some Vestax, some Technics, some Rane, some Pioneer, some Allen & Heath. Numark is what you buy for your 15-year-old nephew.
R_Shackelford