Activision Closes Studios, Guitar Hero, True Crime

Amid the announcements surrounding the company's focus toward its AAA properties, Activision has decided to lay off 500 employees and cancel a number of projects, including the Guitar Hero franchise and True Crime: Hong Kong. Developers 7 Studios, Freestyle Games and Vicarious Visions were affected particularly, with the first of them closing its doors.

According to reports, Activision had seen a great decline in its music properties, and in preparation to focus more on Call of Duty and Blizzard franchises, the company has laid off a large group of employees. President Bobby Kotick confirmed that no Hero games would be seeing a release this year, and it is understood that the Guitar Hero brand is on ice indefinitely.

In light of those factors, great layoffs have hit DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games and Guitar Hero developer Vicarious Visions. The worst hit was 7 Studios, which was purchased by Activision to bring mobile music games out into the market and help design additional content on DJ Hero 2; the developer is now closed.

True Crime: Hong Kong has also been canceled, even though the game was near completion. Its developer, United Front, is known for its recent development of Sony-published ModNation Racers. As the company seems to have been working solely on this project, the cancellation could lead to layoffs at the independent studio.

Along with the cancellations, Activision stated that it would not be releasing a Tony Hawk game this year, as well, which could be a bad thing for current-Tony-Hawk developer Robomodo, but time will tell whether worries are warranted.

This is not unexpected for Activision, sadly. Last year, the company had decided to close Bizarre Creations (who developed Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone), Luxoflux (known for making True Crime and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Underground Development (which was making a new Call of Duty), RedOctane (originator of the Guitar Hero franchise), and BudCat Creations (known for Wii and PS2 editions of Guitar Hero games before Vicarious Visions). Layoffs also hit other in-house developers including Robomodo (the newest Tony Hawk franchise holder), Radical Entertainment (which caused the cancellation of a new Crash Bandicoot title), and NeverSoft (canceling its work on Guitar Hero).

Best of luck to those involved.

SOURCE: Eurogamer

DJ Hero 2's Song Listing Unveiled

DJ Hero was certainly an interesting title, what with the unique DJ equipment and all, but the biggest thing about music games is the soundtrack. DJ Hero had some good songs mashed up in it, but the songs of DJ Hero have been unknown since its unveiling just before E3 this past June.

Well, Activision has now unveiled what songs will be featured in DJ Hero 2, ranging from more recent pop star Lady Gaga to famous DJ Deadmau5 and the great duo Daft Punk.

Released officially today, here is the song listing:

• 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman - “California Love Remix”
• 50 Cent - "In Da Club”
• Adamski - “Killer”
• Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force - "Planet Rock”
• Armand Van Helden - "I Want Your Soul”
• A-Trak - "Say Whoa”
• B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars - "Nothin' On You”
• Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At”
• BlakRoc feat. Pharoahe Monch & RZA - “Dollaz & Sense”
• Busta Rhymes - “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”
• Calvin Harris - "I'm Not Alone”
• Chamillionaire - "Ridin'“
• Chic - "Good Times”
• Chic - "Le Freak”
• Clinton Sparks, DJ Class, & Jermaine Dupri - "Favorite DJ”
• Daft Punk - “Human After All”
• Damian Marley - “Welcome To Jamrock”
• David Guetta & Chris Willis - “Love Is Gone”
• David Guetta feat. Kid Cudi - “Memories”
• David Guetta vs. The Egg - “Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)”
• Deadmau5 - "Ghosts N Stuff”
• Deadmau5 & Kaskade - “I Remember”
• Deee-Lite - “Groove Is In The Heart”
• Dillinja and Skibadee - "Twist 'Em Out”
• Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - “Bonkers”
• DJ Qbert - "Super Battle Breaks"
• DJ Shadow - "Midnight In A Perfect World”
• DJ Shadow feat. Q-Tip and Lateef The Truth Speaker - “Enuff (DJ Fresh Remix)”
• Donna Summer - "Bad Girls”
• Edwin Starr - "War”
• Eminem - “Not Afraid”
• Estelle feat. Kanye West - “American Boy”
• Flo Rida - "Low”
• Flo Rida feat. Will.I.Am - “In The Ayer”
• Gorillaz feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack - “Stylo”
• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee - "The Message”
• Harold Faltermeyer - "Axel F”
• House Of Pain - "Jump Around”
• Iyaz - “Replay”
• Janet Jackson - “Nasty”
• Justice - "D.A.N.C.E.”
• Justice - "Waters Of Nazareth”
• Kanye West - “Heartless”
• Kanye West - “Love Lockdown”
• Kaskade & Deadmau5 - “Move For Me”
• Kelis - “Acapella (David Guetta Extended Mix)”
• Kool & The Gang - "Jungle Boogie”
• Lady Gaga - "Lovegame”
• Lady Gaga - “Bad Romance”
• Lady Gaga feat. Colby O'Donis - “Just Dance”
• Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Ying Yang Twins - “Get Low”
• Lil' Wayne - “Go DJ”
• Lil' Wayne feat. Static Major - "Lollipop”
• LL Cool J - “I Can't Live Without My Radio”
• M.I.A. - “Galang”
• M|A|R|R|S - "Pump Up The Volume”
• Major Lazer feat. VYBZ Kartel - “Pon De Floor”
• Malcolm McLaren - “Buffalo Gals”
• Metallica - "The Day That Never Comes”
• Missy Elliott - “Get Ur Freak On”
• MSTRKRFT feat. N.O.R.E. - “Bounce”
• Nas feat. Keri Hilson - “Hero”
• Naughty By Nature - “O.P.P.”
• Nelly - “Hot In Herre”
• New Boyz - “You're A Jerk”
• New Order - "Blue Monday”
• Newcleus - “Jam On It”
• Nightcrawlers - “Push The Feeling On (MK Mix 95)”
• Orbital - “The Box”
• Pirate Soundsystem - "Bashy Bashy”
• Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
• Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes - “Don't Cha”
• Rihanna - "Pon De Replay”
• Rihanna - "Rude Boy”
• Robin S - “Show Me Love (Stonebridge Radio Edit)”
• Salt N Pepa - “Push It”
• Sam Cooke - “Chain Gang”
• Sam Sparro – “B&G” a/k/a "Black & Gold”
• Sean Paul - "Infiltrate”
• Sean Paul - “Get Busy”
• Snoop Dogg - "Who Am I (What's My Name)?”
• Snow - “Informer”
• Soulja Boy Tell 'Em - “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”
• Sparfunk & D-Code - “Apocalypse”
• Stevie Wonder - “Superstition”
• Talib Kweli - "Get By”
• The Chemical Brothers - "Leave Home”
• The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip - “Galvanize”
• The Crystal Method - “Busy Child (Still Busy After All These Years Remix)”
• The Jackson 5 - "ABC”
• The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Mase & Diddy - “Mo' Money, Mo' Problems”
• The Prodigy - "Omen”
• The Prodigy - “Firestarter”
• Tiësto - "Speed Rail”
• Tiësto & Sneaky Sound System - “I Will Be Here”
• Tiësto vs Diplo - “Come On”
• Tiga - "You Gonna Want Me”
• Timbaland feat. Drake - “Say Something”
• Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. - “The Way I Are”
• Tweet feat. Missy Elliott - “Oops (Oh My)”
• Walter Murphy - "A Fifth Of Beethoven”
• Warren G feat. Nate Dogg - "Regulate”
• Wayne Smith - "Under Mi Sleng Teng”
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix )”
• Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West - "Put On”

Note that the songs in DJ Hero 2 are not the songs themselves but, rather, are mashups that incorporate two songs together using the DJ Hero controller.

DJ Hero 2, developed by FreeStyle Games, focuses on using a DJ turntable in order to correctly play through mixes of famous song mashups and remixes exclusive to the title. The biggest new addition is the inclusion of singing sections, where a second person can sing along to the mixed song as it plays onward. This new mode also demonstrates a cooperative mode with two DJ controllers.

DJ Hero 2 will be releasing October 19th of this year.

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