Activision has confirmed over the weekend that there will be “a future instalment” in the DJ Hero franchise. Speaking out to aspiring producers who are attending the MIDEM festival in Cannes, France, Activision asks, “Do you want your song mashed up in the next DJ Hero?”

Interested attending producers have been invited to submit one track, which will be judged at a live listening session, and “one lucky undiscovered musician [will have] the priceless opportunity to have their winning song mixed, mastered and featured in a future instalment of DJ Hero.”

 

Alright, cards on the table, sending me to check out anything with the abbreviation "DJ" in the title is like asking a pregnant woman if she intends to keep it; highly inappropriate.

I can't sing. I dance like a duck that has been plugged into the mains. The last time I touched a turntable, it was about to leave my hand on a rather short trip to the bottom of a refuse pit. My car radio is permanently tuned to talkback and, accordingly, I'm about to petition the government to have the "h" removed from "phat". In short, I'm the enemy of... whatever you call this sort of music.

DJ Hero. What a silly concept, it'll never catch on. Red Octane just got lucky with those plastic guitars, after all, everyone loves rock. There are a million ways to dismiss this latest music game, and only one way to find out if it's any good - roll your sleeves up, find a nice deserted place and try it without anyone standing by to mock you. Activision were nice enough to let us do precisely that, so after scanning the demo room for hidden cameras, we got stuck into the tutorial mode.

 

Jay-Z and Eminem have unveiled the hand-selected track list on their 2-CD pack included only in the DJ Hero Renegade Edition, Activision announced today.

Jay-Z's CD - his first “best of” compilation ever - features one song from each of his eleven studio albums, plus his contribution to the Notorious feature film soundtrack.

Featuring 93 exclusive on-disc mixes from some of the biggest acts in hip-hop, pop, rock and dance, players will be able to test their DJing chops as virtual recreations of the renowned twosome and experience their sounds in eleven original mixes, including two signature “Megamixes,” using their music. Among the mixes in the game featuring Daft Punk are:

Some new pictures from Activision of the DJ Hero turntable controller, the Renegade edition (which includes a handy stand) and some in-game screenshots.

 

Activision have announced that DJ Jazzy Jeff, Grammy Award winning hip-hop and R&B record producer, actor and turntablist will ascend to the virtual stage this spring in DJ Hero.

In addition to joining the ranks of playable characters such as DJ Shadow, DJ Z-Trip, Grandmaster Flash, DJ AM and others, DJ Jazzy Jeff's contributions will feature two exclusive mixes – Tears for Fears “Shout” vs. Eric B. & Rakim “Eric B. Is President” and LL Cool J “Rock the Bells” vs. The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra “Bittersweet Symphony.”

“I am very, very excited DJ culture is finally getting its due. To have a song in DJ Hero is a dream come true; to be a character someone can pick up the controller and select you and play is probably the biggest thing to happen to me in my career,” said DJ Jazzy Jeff. “Music is so much a part of everyone’s life, DJ Hero is going to appeal to almost everybody.”

DJ Hero is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS3 and Wii. For more information about DJ Hero, visit the official site.

Musical legend Grandmaster Flash, the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument, is coming to DJ Hero, joining the list of DJs who will appear as in-game characters and who have created mixes for the game.

Grandmaster Flash lends his recognizable voice and DJ know-how to the game’s tutorial level, schooling players on the game mechanics and the turntable controller.