“DJ Hero,” Would It Even Work?

Guitar Hero has the guitar. Donkey Konga has the bongos. DDR has the dance pad, and Steel Battalion had that ungodly-huge monstrosity for controlling your mech. Specialized controllers are all the rage these days. Simply examine the off-the-charts successes of the Wii, Rock Band, and the 150,000 different versions of Guitar Hero. Could a DJ rhythm have the same success?

To put it bluntly…no, it wouldn’t. A possible “DJ Hero” game would be so many worlds apart from the “Guitar Hero” fan base that it would mostly alienate GH fans and leave only a core audience of people that, for the most part, either wouldn’t care or would prefer the real thing.

Examine the facts…before Harmonix struck gaming gold with the Guitar Hero franchise, there was “Frequency” and “Amplitude,” GH’s noble and techno-heavy prequels-in-spirit. While praised critically, both flopped commercially, yet it is almost stunning to see just how closely Guitar Hero mimics Harmonix’s first forays into the “music game” genre.

Frequency and Amplitude are both personal favorites of mine, and I felt pretty proud when Harmonix finally emerged from gaming’s basement and launched a series that has no intention of slowing down. Even after handing over the rights to Guitar Hero, Harmonix’s lightning managed to strike twice, giving us another rapid-selling franchise simply titled “Rock Band.” Never one to slouch on their competition, it’s no surprise that Activision might be giving techno another try and with a “DJ Hero” game.

But ask yourself this…would techno fans pay the guaranteed $100+ to buy a full turntable controller accessory? Like rock fans, do techno fans have fantasies of jamming like crazy in front of sold-out crowds? The differences between the rock genre and the techno genre are pretty staggering, and, being honest, so are the differences between rock fans and techno fans.

Personally, as an avid fan of Frequency and Amplitude, I’d prefer a Harmonix-released techno game: of course, only if the turntable accessory is completely optional. Songs with a subtle techno influence may be creeping their way back into prevalent mainstream music genres, but I don’t think the world is quite ready for “DJ Hero.”