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Dance Central 2's August tracks are down with O.P.P.
Yes, you know them – Jeremih, Kevin Rudolf, and hip-hop greats Naughty By Nature are all headlining this month's Dance Central 2 club bangers. Each artist is bringing a single track for each week of the month, with Jeremih featuring 50 Cent's "Down On Me" getting things started tomorrow. As per usual, each track costs 240 MS Points ($3).
Dance Central 2's July DLC Never Says Never
The first Dance Central 2 DLC track for the month of July dropped yesterday: Selena Gomez & The Scene's "Round and Round." This upbeat number is available for download right now for 240 MS Points ($3) either through Dance Central 2's in-game store, or directly through Xbox Live Marketplace.Dance Central 2 is getting a trio of new tracks this month. Next week on July 17, Demi Lovato's "La La Land" will be available for download for 240 MS Points. Patient beliebers will likely want to save up their pennies until July 24, when Justin Bieber is added to the catalog with his number, "Never Say Never."
Dance Central 2's June DLC makes it hot in herre
Whine up, whine up, whine up, oh yeah – Harmonix will add one new dance track every week for the remainder of June to the Dance Central Music Store. The danceathon kicks off tomorrow with Iyaz's "Replay," followed by Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and finally Kat DeLuna's "Whine Up." All tracks are certified with "legit" difficulty standards by the DCRB (Dance Central Ratings Board).The DC library of moves will receive an infusion later this year when Dance Central 3 hits. In case you missed it last week, we showed off why we need Dance Central in our lives more than ever.
May's Dance Central 2 DLC here to spice up your life
Every boy, every girl, spice up your life with this month's DLC tracks for Dance Central 2. The saucy selection begins today, May 8, with the Spice Girl's 1997 hit "Spice Up Your Life." Don't waste any thyme grabbing that track.Over the next three Tuesdays, you'll also have the option of moving to the beat of "Hello Good Morning" by Diddy-Dirty Money, A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario" and Flo Rida's "Low."All tracks are 240 MSP ($3). Remember, to be like shawty, you need the apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur and then get low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low.
Be Cool about this upcoming Dance Central DLC
Over the next three weeks, Harmonix hopes to sell you three difficult DLC tracks in Dance Central 2 – well, unless you're some big city kid who's moved to a small town, of course. John Lithgow need not apply.First up is "We Speak No Americano" from Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP, a "hardcore" routine set to drop on Xbox Live on April 10. Following on April 17 is another "hardcore" number: "Commander" from Kelly Rowland (featuring David Guetta). Finally, on April 24, Pitbull's (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) "Give Me Everything" will be available for download, which is graded "tough."Each track will be available for 240 MS Points ($3) through Xbox Live Marketplace. Beyond the sample gameplay video above, we've embedded each track past the break for your boogeying pleasure.
Dance Central 2 February DLC includes 'Milkshake,' 'Party Rock Anthem'
Harmonix announced today that Cee Lo's "Forget You" will close out Dance Central 2 DLC for January, with several more tracks to step it up in February."Forget You" will be available tomorrow, January 31, for 240 MSP ($2). Beginning February 14 with Michael Franti and Spearhead's "Say Hey (I Love You)," Kelis' "Milkshake" and LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock's "Party Rock Anthem" will be available each week consecutively thereafter for 240 MSP.Those who purchased Dance Central 2 from Best Buy should receive a code from the retailer to download "Party Rock Anthem" early. Every day they're shufflin', shufflin'.
C+C Music Factory's 'Everybody Dance Now' DLC tomorrow on Dance Central 2
The inescapable dance track of the '90s, C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", works its way to the Dance Central 2 store tomorrow, January 24. The track is priced at 240 MSP ($3) and, as one would expect, has a "hardcore" difficulty.We'd also like to remind you that Harmonix launched the Dance Central 2 Dance Cam app last week, in case you'd like to upload any 15 seconds of dance elation (or shame, in our case) to the interwebs.
Three new apps support console games from iOS
As if there aren't enough apps that supplement or promote console games, here are three more that have appeared recently. First up is Dragon Shout (free), the Skyrim-mapping app that was released a few weeks ago. It's quite handy, and players can use it to find almost anything in the vast and wonderful world of Skyrim. By the way, if you're a real Skyrim fan, check out our list of 5 apps for Skyrim. Harmonix has released Dance Central 2 Dance Cam (free), which works with Dance Central for Kinect to record players dancing in real life, and then turn that clip into a music video. It's not a port of Dance Central, but a fun bit of promotion. It comes with seven song clips you can dance to, if you don't have the full game around. Finally and as promised, Activision has released official apps for the Call of Duty Elite program, which let you check your CoD scores, standings, and messages from your iOS device. It's interesting to see how these developers have responded to iOS. Instead of porting terrible versions of high-definition games to Apple's devices, they've used iOS to promote their console titles and provide some extra functionality, which customers associate with the bigger brands. Yes, Dragon Shout is unofficial, but we assume the folks at Bethesda would shut if down if there was a problem.
Dance Central Dance Cam app electric slides onto mobiles
You know how Dance Central 2 is super fun because you can dance like a crazy person with utter disregard for the social consequences, thanks to the fact that you're alone in your own damn house? Well, take that same concept, add the watchful eyes of the entire Internet and remove any trace of humility or dignity, and you've got an exciting and new way to make a total fool out of yourself in 15 second bursts. The Dance Central 2 Dance Cam app from Harmonix, available for free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone lets you choose snippets from 7 songs, record yourself dancing to said snippets and then "dancify" the resulting video, which can then be uploaded to Facebook or deleted forever in shame. The app also features dance-move diagrams for the included songs, just in case you ever find yourself suddenly and desperately unprepared for a dance battle while on public transportation.
Busta Rhymes in this new Dance Central 2 DLC
Busta Rhymes is back in the public consciousness thanks in no small part to Chris Brown's hit Look At Me Now, which features Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and the most annoying slide-flute synth ever put into a commercial Top 40 hit. What better way to capitalize on the success of this song than by releasing a different, completely unrelated and far less successful song as DLC for your Kinect dancing game? Busta's 2008 single Don't Touch Me (Throw Da Water On 'Em) hits Dance Central 2 tomorrow for 240 Microsoft Points, featuring choreography by Devin Woolridge and a "Tough" difficulty rating. Let's just hope we don't have to dance as fast as Busta spits his lyrics.
Best of the Rest: Griffin's picks of 2011
LittleBigPlanet 2 How fitting that for my last contribution to Joystiq's Game of the Year list, I should learn the bitter sting of having my number one choice not breach the Top 10. LittleBigPlanet 2 improved upon the original -- already one of my favorite games of all time -- in every conceivable way, offering one of the most user-friendly, charming UGC systems in gaming history. There is nothing I've thought of that LBP2 wasn't able to create, and that includes a level about interstellar poultry abduction.
Dance Central 2 busts out some Rihanna DLC
Na, na, na, na, na, come on! Chains and whips excite us, but so do these Rihanna tracks for Dance Central 2. Actually, "What's My Name" is lukewarm, but "S&M" and "Only Girl (in the World)" more than make up for it. The Rihanna pack can be purchased tomorrow, December 20, for 640 MSP ($8), or for 240 ($3) a pop. The new tracks join other Rihanna ditties "Rude Boy" on Dance Central 2, "Pon de Replay" from DC1 and "Disturbia," available as DLC. The Rihanna tracks arrive a month after Dance Central 2 went go-go with Gaga.
Dance Central 2 adds more Lady Gaga
Dance Central 2 will add two new DLC tracks tomorrow, November 22, from pop phenomenon Lady Gaga. The new routines are attached to "Marry the Night" and "The Edge of Glory," off of Gaga's Born This Way album. The tracks will be 240 MSP ($3) apiece. Publisher Microsoft also teased that DLC from Rihanna will be added in December. Dance Central has been no stranger to Gaga, with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" available on the original game, along with "Bad Romance" and "Born This Way" on the Dance Central 2 disc.
Buy Dance Central or Kinect Sports sequel, get original for half off on Amazon
If you're looking into jumping into either the Dance Central or Kinect Sports franchises sequel-first, Amazon's offering you a chance to catch up on your back catalog for peanuts. For a limited time, if you buy Dance Central 2 or Kinect Sports: Season 2, you can get their prequels for half-off.
Dance Central 2, NFS: The Run demos available now
Chain that freestyle with the running man, because Dance Central 2 and Need for Speed: The Run demos hit Xbox Live Marketplace today. The Dance Central 2 demo includes simultaneous multiplayer and Dance Battle modes. It also features the reworked Break It Down mode (which is great), voice commands, with tracks "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo Rida ft. David Guetta and "Bulletproof" by La Roux. Fans of the first game shouldn't miss out on the sequel. Need for Speed: The Run is also available in a demo set in the desert, with players driving the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni. Referring a friend will unlock another vehicle, the Porsche 911 Carrera S.
Dance Central 2 review: Takes two to tango
Despite what various montages from Flashdance, Footloose and other rhythmic movement-based 80s films may have told us, dancing by yourself just isn't very much fun. The same can't be said for Harmonix's experimental Kinect launch title Dance Central, however, since the game never allowed more than one player to shake tail feathers simultaneously. Well, actually, your friends could join in, but they wouldn't be evaluated and awarded points -- really, what's the point of that? Rhythm games -- particularly those developed by Harmonix -- have an extremely logical approach to iteration. Gameplay getting stale? Add new modes. Instruments growing tiresome? Make new instruments. In the case of Dance Central 2, the biggest addition is so glaringly obvious, it almost makes you frustrated that it wasn't incorporated the first time around: Dancing alongside a partner is infinitely more fun than taking turns. %Gallery-125472%
All Dance Central tracks export to DC2 with $5 cover
Microsoft and Harmonix confirmed today that all of Dance Central's routines will export to Dance Central 2 for 400 Microsoft Points ($5). It should be noted that if you were not a fan of the "freestyle" sections in the original Dance Central, they are still part of the exported songs, even if you turn off the freestyle section in Dance Central 2. There was no choreography to cover those sections in the first game. Participating retailers are offering 400 MSP with pre-orders of Dance Central 2, subsidizing the transfer charge. Dance Central 2 hits the streets on October 21 in Europe and Asia, and on October 25 in North America.
Harmonix interested in branching out beyond music with Kinect
Many years ago, before Harmonix was the dev house that birthed Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Central, the company created EyeToy: AntiGrav -- a motion-controlled game for Sony's PlayStation 2 "EyeToy" camera peripheral. Despite strong sales, that was the last time that the Massachusetts-based developer created a project not steeped in music. But it seems that the studio may not have abandoned its one-time interest in non-music motion-based games. "I think we're always open-minded about new opportunities," Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos told me in an interview this week at the Tokyo Game Show. "Certainly our focus always has been and probably always will be on music-themed games," he added, but his company's involvement with Dance Central has rekindled the studio's interest in other types of motion-based gaming. "A perfect example is the Kinect, which I think that through our work on Dance Central we've developed an affinity for -- towards motion gaming." Though Rigopulos wouldn't speak to specifics, he would say that, "It wouldn't be surprising if in the future we took some steps outside of our wheelhouse in music to try some new things in non-music focused motion gaming." Harmonix' latest release, VidRhythm for iOS devices, may also be on the cards for some type of Kinect-based adaptation. "Of course our hope is to keep improving it and expanding it, including bringing it to other platforms, such as possibly Kinect," Rigopulos explained. That said, with VidRhythm having just launched in the past few weeks, he's not even sure of initial sales reports just yet, so it may be a few before we hear more about the application headed to other devices.
Dance Central 2 is your chance to do the hump
So Harmonix announced a bunch of new Dance Central 2 tracks at PAX last week. Make no mistake, these are all one hundred percent club bangers, from "What is Love" to "Baby Got Back." The cream of the crop, though, has to be "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. Why you'd ever need another song is beyond us. Frankly, we can't wait to try out the required dance moves, including "limp to the side like your legs was broken" and "get busy in a Burger King bathroom." See all the new tracks after the break.
Dance Central 2 keeps the beat going with playlists, improves 'Break It Down' mode
Dance Central players are well versed in the rote song selection of the original game, but Dance Central 2 will allow those who can't stop movin' to keep on keepin' on with playlists. Players can now chain multiple songs together to avoid being dumped into the song selection menu after every routine. "20 is the current cap," Harmonix's John Drake told us at Gamescom. He showed us the menu, which featured six customizable options and several pre-made playlists, like "high tempo" or an "easy start." Another nice detail is that the total time required to complete the set updates itself as you add tracks. The transitions between songs are less than 20 seconds, and specific tracks can be skipped if you aren't in the mood. We also checked out the game's new voice commands and "Break It Down" training mode. Voice selection is fully compatible in song selection (for both DC1 and DC2 tracks) and main menu. Drake demonstrated this by calling out several of the game's tracks. "Break It Down," the mode that teaches the routines, has experienced a significant upgrade. Players can now select specific portions of a song to practice, skip certain sections they know better, slow down to learn specific moves and then speed it up again when they think they've got it. And for those who feel they are definitely hitting a move right, despite what the game says, the Kinect can now record and play back a section to show exactly what's going wrong. Update: 20 is the playlist cap, removed ambiguity. %Gallery-130731%
