Activision has fired back at Genius Products after the publisher accused it of attempting to sabotage the development of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, a rival to DJ Hero.
Earlier this week, Genius and Numark jointly filed legal action against Activision and 7 Studios, the contract developer hired to create Scratch: The Ultimate DJ.
Genius and Numark alleged that the pair had conspired to prevent the game from getting to market prior to the release of Activision's DJ Hero by withholding code and a proprietary game controller after Activision acquired 7 Studios in early April.
"Yesterday, the L.A. Superior Court found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Activision and refused to grant any restraining order against Activision," said the DJ Hero publisher in a statement.
"These allegations are nothing more than an attempt by Genius to place blame for the game's delay, as well as to divert attention from the cash flow, liquidity and revenue challenges Genius detailed in its March 30, 2009, SEC filing. By their own admission in October 2008, the game had fallen behind in production, which was well before Activision had any involvement with Genius, Numark or California 7 Studios regarding the game.
"Activision purchased 7 Studios on April 6, 2009 to bolster its development capabilities. 7 Studios had continued to develop Scratch: The Ultimate DJ and Activision did not interfere with or delay their efforts to complete the game. In fact, Activision provided the fledgling developer with much needed financing during these difficult economic times."
The battle of the DJ's continue! Scratch The Ultimate DJ is calling all DJ's to film themselves scratching to one of the featured tracks in the game. Winners will be featured on the Scratch Ultimate DJ Youtube and will win a truckload of DJ equipment.
WorthPlaying takes a look at a pre-release version of the DJ Hero turntable controller hardware to see what it does right and where it might fall short.
"Getting gamers to shell out for a $60 controller on top of a $60 game is no easy task, especially in this economy. The proof is visible in the sheer number of Guitar Hero and Rock Band band kits that are available at discounted prices from retailers as well as secondhand. Music fans have already spent tons of money on plastic band hardware, so getting them to repeat the task is going to require a great game as well as quality hardware. The developers behind DJ Hero appear to have the former point covered (for more details, be sure to read our hands-on preview), so when Activision sent over a pre-release version of the DJ Hero turntable controller, we decided to see if the latter point held up."
More tracks have been announced for Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, the latest game to be released along the music theme.
