Despite endorsements by some of today’s biggest names in hip-hop, DJ Hero has seen some pretty weak sales and even worse reviews. If price was the the thing holding you back, the Guitar Hero Store has a treat for you – its knocked $20 off the price of the rhythm game, bringing it down to $79 for this generation of consoles and $64 for the PS2.

To get the promo price, which is temporary, enter code “DJHPP1” on checkout. That’ll free up your Andrew Jackson for other holiday gifts this year. Might I recommend something from the Bullz-Eye gift guide? I think I might. I think I just might.

Source: Slick Deals

It looks like Activision likes the idea of monetizing online gameplay for more than just World of Warcraft. Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Conference this week, Activision CFO Thomas Tippl said he liked the idea of spreading the WoW business model to other games in the Activision lineup. From the context, it sounds like that means subscription fees, which would make all sorts of people unhappy.

“We have great experience also on Call of Duty with the success we had on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. A lot of that knowledge is getting actually built into the Battle.Net platform and the design of that,” Tippl said. “I think it’s been mutually beneficial, and you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty.” So there’s also some potential for microtransactions, possibly for map packs or special equipment.

Tippl also mentioned the demand from the gaming community to pay for extended support for games. Now I’m not sure why that would be the case, especially for games like Call of Duty. I usually find it worse for FPS games to get tons and tons of maps. That says nothing of the backlash from PC players over paying for something that has traditionally been available for free if Activision goes the subscription route.

Whatever Activision chooses, it probably won’t be good for anyone. I understand the need to make money for the fast-approaching day people stop buying Rock Band, but maybe this isn’t the best way to do that.

No matter how many new features they add to the latest installment of “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band,” you’re still just strumming the same plastic guitar, only to a different set of songs. It’s a pretty harsh statement to be sure, but for those looking for a completely different music rhythm experience, Activision’s got you covered. “DJ Hero” may sound an awful lot like its axe-shredding cousin in spirit, but the gameplay mechanics couldn’t be any more different. Ahead of its October 27th release date, Activision hooked us up with a demo unit to test out the game, and though I was skeptical at first, just like my first day with “Guitar Hero,” addiction quickly set in.

The first thing you’ll notice about “DJ Hero” is the turntable controller. Though the last thing anyone really needs in this day and age is another piece of hardware that can only be used for one type of game, Red Octane has done an incredible job in constructing a solid peripheral that doesn’t take up too much space. A majority of the turntable is dedicated to the platter (AKA the place where the records go), which spins 360 degrees and includes three colored buttons: green, red and blue. The other section snaps on to either side of the platter (making it lefty friendly) and includes a crossfader, an effects switch, a Euphoria button, and all of the basic buttons from a standard controller.

After a lengthy (but completely necessary) tutorial by DJ Grandmaster Flash, I was finally given the chance to scratch, mix and sample my way through three different sets: Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” vs. the Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc.,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” vs. Rick James’ “Give It To Me,” and Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction” vs. the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow.” As you can tell from those six songs alone, the final set list (which will include 100 tracks and over 80 different mixes) is pretty eclectic, though there’s still a strong focus on hip hop. That’s about what I expected considering the audience that “DJ Hero” is targeted for, but what I didn’t expect was just how challenging the actual game would be.

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