The competition between Activision’s DJ Hero and Scratch: The Ultimate DJ from 7 Studios is certainly heating up, as both game developers vie to do for the dance scene what Guitar Hero did for rock. As we patiently wait for a finalised release date for each game, further details on their progress continue to appear online.

Kotaku.com.au got a peek at Scratch and were impressed. “The game allows the player to experiment, to improvise, to trick, to chain together combos, all of which is available to the player from the get go,” they wrote. “_Scratch’s_ controller is still being finalised, but 7 Studios is doing it in partnership with Numark, maker of fine audio equipment and DJ accessories. It comes with five coloured buttons, touch sensitive analogue turntable wheel, and a crossfader switch. It’s also been designed ambidextrously, so lefties needn’t feel excluded.” In addition, it’s been said Mixmaster Mike is involved with the game’s development.

Onto DJ Hero, Activision have something of a head start on things having spawned the supremely popular Guitar Hero franchise already, and they’re certainly calling in the big guns for their foray into dance music. Although initially it was hinted Tiesto would take part, it’s been revealed the Dutch trancer is no longer involved with DJ Shadow and Z-Trip confirmed as in-game characters. “Both have had a role in developing and testing the game’s controller as well as programming and licensing the music,” writes thedailyswarm.com. Further rumours of artists involved even include Daft Punk (despite their reputation being known more for live performance than DJing).

“Activision plans to ship 1.5 million units of the game when it hits the shelves this June,” thedailyswarm.com continued. “This shows a considerable amount of confidence that the music gaming market is compiled of more than standard-fare rock fans, and that there is a large audience of wanna-be DJs. Can MTV’s version be far behind?” Woah, hold up… now a third DJing game is on the way?!