A chat with a DJ about DJ Hero

[skull75]

In case nobody knew, yes, I've been excited about the release of DJ Hero. It's revolutionary in my book, and FreeStyleGames deserves a lot of credit for the work done on this. Yes, it's expensive. But I'm still going to get it. $120. Should be worth it.

But some of that excitement went away when I talked to a real DJ. And a very good DJ at that. I can't remember his name; he was just my friend's friend. Anyways, he started talking about DJ Hero. I told him I was excited about it, and he said it looks sweet. But he's not going to get it. He later showed me some of his equipment and explained why.

His main reason was the songs. They weren't all that creative, from what he saw of it. Like on the commercial, with Eminem and Jay-Z. He said he didn't find the song all that good. He even showed me that any Hip Hop, Rap, or both genres mixed together was fairly easy to mix. Then he went on to show me a more complicated mix, dance and hip hop. It was pretty catchy, better than what we heard on the commercial.

His next reason wasn't so relevant, but was nevertheless good. His full time hobby is DJing. He has over 80,000 songs and broadcasts 24/7, with mixes over 29 hours long. Pretty impressive, his career.

To be fair though, he did add that it would be fun for anybody who would want to DJ. But he also said he'd rather wait for the next one. So would I.

Then again, maybe I should still have hope that I will enjoy it when I purchase it. But then again, maybe it'd be funner to DJ for real. There's some food for thought.

Your thoughts?

[Pete]

Are you trying to write articles or something?

If you're going to have a legit interview with someone, you need specifics, especially if you're trying to write articles. How do I know this person exists? Who is he, where does he DJ? Sources are the name of the game.

It's either a career or a hobby. If he's doing it full time, it's a career. If he's not getting paid, then he's an idiot. Also, if you talked to him for that long and can't cite his name, real or DJ, I'd say there's a problem.

Also, don't criticize the songs until you've heard them all. A DJ has a lot more freedom and ability to find certain songs than a development team who is governed much more by legal issues. Plus, with a video game, you have to essentially make it more universal and accessible so that anyone with even a remote interest can get into it. If you start going for the more obscure, you lose out on fans and more importantly customers.

You contradicted yourself when you said you'd get it, then said you'd rather wait for the next one to come out, and then said you'd pick it up. You also start the article being really excited about the game and leave it coming out confused as to if you really want it. Now I'm not sold on the game.

Also, know your audience. You were probably looking to post the on the DJ Hero boards, not Final Fantasy.