Standalone DJ Hero controllers now available for $70
by David Hinkle 
{ Dec 1st 2009 at 7:30PM } 
With a weak showing on October's NPD charts and UK retailers slashing prices, we can't say we fully understand Activision's decision to charge so much for the turntables. From our vantage point, it looks like this: if Activision came down on the price a bit, more people would buy a second controller and have their friends try the game. Then, maybe those people would go out and buy their own set-up. Isn't that a novel idea?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RKN (Steam ID: nerdydesi) @ Dec 1st 2009 7:31PM
Jeez, I can't believe now with DJ Hero and Tony Hawk Ride, you can't even buy the game standalone, you have to get it with the accessory for $100+, Kotick is laughing all the way to the bank and out.
rkrocks123 @ Dec 1st 2009 7:41PM
How would you play this game without the turntable?
RKN (Steam ID: nerdydesi) @ Dec 1st 2009 7:42PM
People play Guitar Hero/Rock Band with just the controller, is DJ Hero that more complicated that it needs the turntable?
Nap @ Dec 1st 2009 7:44PM
You can't play with the controller anymore since Guitar Hero: World Tour.. as soon as you plug the controller in it gets set to the mic
SergioAM @ Dec 1st 2009 8:46PM
This is why I dropped these music styled games. Expensive peripherals, more DLC to buy, can take up room, etc. After Rock Band it started getting a bit expensive and repetitive =\ Just my opinion of course.
Filthy Assistant @ Dec 1st 2009 9:49PM
I can literally think of nothing less fun than playing guitar hero with a controller.
M.Garvey @ Dec 2nd 2009 9:15AM
Hell, you can't even get past the start menu without the turntable. The game requires that you use the turntable.
Brysonial the Bison @ Dec 1st 2009 7:36PM
This is redonculus! Thanks a lot Bobby Kotick!
Nate Addison @ Dec 1st 2009 8:06PM
@ Marius
Find out all this and more...next time on........Joystiq Chronicles!!!!!!
kenny goo @ Dec 1st 2009 7:36PM
DJ Hero retails for $120 and is $100 at the Guitar Hero Store (or $170 for the game and a second turntable). If the stand alone unit is $70, how the hell is that $40 cheaper than any of these price points? Where the hell are you getting this math from Joystiq?
Omega2k3 @ Dec 2nd 2009 11:55AM
I'm sitting here wondering why this comment wasn't instantly 3 hearts...
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith [ATDF Co-Founder] @ Dec 1st 2009 7:39PM
Hey...it's lower than a lot of 'Genuine' accessories for a certain console...
Akio Morita ... Deader than you @ Dec 1st 2009 7:39PM
This game (and RIDE) smelled like fail when it was announced. Question: do game companies not spend money on focus groups that could have told them this?
Alec Featherstone @ Dec 1st 2009 7:41PM
I suggest everyone go to their local GameStop and find the nearest store to them and just buy the game used, it's the Game and the Controller for just $59.99 plus tax.
best deal on this game out there by far :)
D_Average @ Dec 1st 2009 7:45PM
You can understand Activision "coming down" on the price? Huh? The only thing going down is the consumer. Its not a real turntable. Its a piece of plastic, similar to a Fisher Price turntable. I can assure you, they're dirt cheap to produce.
Real instruments are expensive for a reason. Fake instruments are expensive because people are stupid.
HighFiveJesus @ Dec 1st 2009 8:03PM
Anyone who seriously bought tony hawk ride is fucking stupid. Not a coincidence that it sold the best on the Wii.
Matisyahu Serious @ Dec 1st 2009 9:22PM
"Not a coincidence that it sold the best on the Wii. "
it sold more on wii because more people own wii's, slim.
HighFiveJesus @ Dec 1st 2009 10:19PM
no kidding. so it should be expected to hold the highest number of idiots.
Luke @ Dec 1st 2009 10:43PM
It baffles me that anyone with a Wii would buy TH Ride, anyway. If you really want to do the virtual skateboard thing, you can get Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board *and* Skate It on Amazon for $10 less. Or just Skate It for $100 less. It doesn't get it perfect either, but it's a much better game and you don't have another plastic piece of shit.
Anyway, back to DJ Hero.
Seishino @ Dec 2nd 2009 2:46AM
>>Real instruments are expensive for a reason. Fake instruments are expensive because people are stupid.
Seishino @ Dec 2nd 2009 3:10AM
Let's try this again.
Its a piece of plastic, similar to a Fisher Price turntable. I can assure you, they're dirt cheap to produce.... Real instruments are expensive for a reason. Fake instruments are expensive because people are stupid.
Fisher Price turntables (and most turntables, actually) are entirely analog... the vibrations from a needle go through a simple straight amplification circuit and go straight out the back. A fake instrument, unlike a real one, is a digital beast. They have D/A converters, custom button arrays, position sensors, embedded microcontrollers, USB clients, and lots of console-specific additional engineering. Of course, a lot of those also mean a lot more licensing fees. And don't forget the ridiculous tooling costs that can't be amortized over as many years as real turntables.
The cheapest turntable you can get at Amazon.com right now is also 70 bucks. So despite being a far more complicated beast internally, the Fake Instruments are actually priced about equal to the cheapest real instruments you could find... You know, the super-cheap real instruments made for small children, that nobody would be caught dead playing.
Also, 70 dollars is not an expensive instrument. 5 grand for a guitar is an expensive instrument. 70$ might be an expensive harmonica, but that's about it.
uncle jesse @ Dec 1st 2009 7:48PM
People, please do not lump Ride in with DJ Hero. Yes, they are both way too expensive, but DJ Hero is actually really fun. Some of the mixes are amazing, too.
Young_Nastyman @ Dec 1st 2009 7:57PM
That's how much the game should cost, not $120
That's what's keeping me from buying it
Luke @ Dec 1st 2009 8:10PM
Activision would love for me to buy another 3 drumsets, too.
Anyway, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you could have bought DJ Hero for $5-10 more, which makes it totally worth it. I'll think wait and get the DJ Hero 2 bundle in less than a year if I really feel the need for a second turntable...which I doubt I will.
Laz @ Dec 1st 2009 9:01PM
Meanwhile elsewhere in the world Technics announces that they will stop production of the 1200's and 1210 turntables. And these pricks want to charge how much for plastic?
TrumpetDan @ Dec 1st 2009 9:16PM
For those with a Costco membership, or know someone who has one, Costco stores (at least in the US) currently have DJ Hero (game & turntable controller) priced at $89, until December 6th.
I was just at my local Costco (Lakewood, CA) on Saturday and saw it there for 360 and Wii systems, though I'm sure other stores probably have the PS3 version priced that way as well.
TrumpetDan @ Dec 1st 2009 9:27PM
Costco has DJ Hero (game & turntable controller) for $89 this week through December 6th.
yuyuujenkins @ Dec 1st 2009 9:44PM
"This game (and RIDE) smelled like fail when it was announced. Question: do game companies not spend money on focus groups that could have told them this?"
Coming from a guy that doesn't have a business degree.
I have started a flame war.
Dan Davis @ Dec 2nd 2009 3:45AM
Coming from a guy **WHO** doesn't have a business degree.
Apparently, you do not have an English degree.
Mike @ Dec 1st 2009 10:38PM
I thought I saw the game at EB Games for $220...
Danny @ Dec 1st 2009 10:57PM
Geez shut up, all of you. Not the ones debating price but the ones hating on DJ Hero and comparing it to RIDE. DJ Hero is a fantastic game, and anyone who disagrees doesn't own it or have any knowledge of the game.
nullset @ Dec 1st 2009 11:22PM
I love rhythm games in general and find DJ Hero quite intriguing as a concept (the mixes are really nice!), but even I can't help but dismiss the game as an Activision Money-grab. $120 for the game? For real? One Rock Band Set and RB2 is more than enough for me regarding peripheral-oriented music games this generation, thanks.
nullset @ Dec 1st 2009 11:19PM
Paying $70 for a plastic shell of a controller, which only useful in one game (and its eventual rehashes)? Ha, ha, ha, NO.
mykie @ Dec 2nd 2009 3:32AM
I own DJ Hero and have devoted quite a bit of time trying to figure out why people like this thing so much. I love rhythm games, but I am way tired of Activision trying to recreate Konami's Japanese market in the US.
DJ Hero is an above average rhythm with about HALF if its mixes being vaguely interesting. DJ Hero is a half-assed attempt at trying to americanize Beatmania IIDX, and a pathetic attempt at that. Littering the hooks of otherwise perfectly fine songs with a series of obnoxious and repetitive scratches and sample loops does not a remix make. What it does is drives people who enjoy the originals out of the room.
I'll concede that there are some inventive, and daring mashups, but most are just annoying to listen to. Nevermind that DJ Hero is anything like actual DJing, any more than Guitar Hero is representative of actually playing guitar, though I don't think anyone is saying it is...There isn't even any beatmatching for fucking out loud!
DJ Hero is just barely worth playing alone (And you WILL play alone, because watching people play it is boring, and the songs are just barely familiar), let alone 2-player for the obscene price of admission.
Dv8thwonder @ Dec 2nd 2009 11:01AM
Thanks to the Homebrew Channel this has become a $70 dollar game. Sweet!
Kdiggy @ Dec 2nd 2009 8:59AM
Drop it down to $25 and you just might have a deal.
jjrocks @ Dec 2nd 2009 3:34PM
I found the game to be very interesting to say the least it has potential but it has to find some cheaper hardware parts to become useful
C.A. @ Dec 2nd 2009 12:27PM
I got it with all trade in credit and the special gamestop has going with the bonus 40%. That made the purchase pretty okay since it was stuff I was never going to play again.
So far I like the game. I think it's a bit more challenging than Guitar Hero and Rock Band because it's more about coordination than rhythm in my opinion.
Some of the tracks are pretty cool. I never thought anything could make Gwen Stafani's Holla back Girl any good but you mix in some Rick James and it comes out a winner.
I've only just started but it does seem like they use a lot of the same tracks together for different mixes e.g. using Feel Good Inc. by The Gorillaz in several mashups.
Overall I would definitely suggest waiting for a price drop unless DJing or Rhythm Games are your favorite thing ever.