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Dance Central and You Don't Know Jack demos on Xbox Marketplace
Body and mind. Mind and body. For all the Dance Central haters who've never actually played the game, the Xbox Marketplace has a demo available now to test out the hit title. Your body will thank you ... or cause you to retch from the exercise of a three minute dance routine. As for your mind, beware the barbs of You Don't Know Jack emcee Cookie Masterson. The crazy quiz show also has a demo available today. And remember: Never give up, never surrender until the Jack Attack is over.
Free Dance Central with 4GB Kinect Xbox purchase on Amazon
Dance Central is clearly stamped with a "Requires Kinect Sensor" label, but the opposite is also true: Kinect requires Dance Central. Amazon is proving this point -- for a limited time, while supplies last -- by offering Dance Central for free (along with a bonus 240 Microsoft Points -- hello Paula Abdul!) with purchase of the 4GB Xbox 360 system bundle with Kinect, which already includes Kinect Adventures. Check out Amazon's promotion page for more details. But here's the $130 question: What's missing from the picture? Ding-ding -- that's right! A hard drive. But Amazon has that on sale too, for just a dime under $91. So, buying the 4GB system bundle with Kinect and the 250GB hard drive separately is actually a shade cheaper than buying the 250GB bundle with Kinect -- plus Dance Central's tossed in there. That's a good deal.
Dance Central DLC hollas back tomorrow with Gwen Stefani, Fatboy Slim tracks
With L.A.M.B. bags in tow, Gwen Stefani will be making moves to the Dance Central DLC store tomorrow alongside Fatboy Slim, Keri Hilson and Paula Abdul. Tracks run $3 apiece and will be available via the "all new in-game store." As you likely inferred from the headline, Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" is being given the dance treatment, while Paula Abdul will be whoa-oh-oh-oh-ohhhh-ing into our hearts once more with "Straight Up." Head past the break for full details of the four-track offering.
Harmonix brainstorming 'reimaginings' of Rock Band, new motion games
"There's no denying that Rock Band 3 hasn't yet sold to the level we hoped it would out of the gate," Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos admitted to Edge. "But on the flipside of that we also believe that it's a product that has a lot of life." It may be difficult to share Rigopulos' optimism. Since the beginning of the year, Viacom sold Harmonix (back to Harmonix), MTV Games was shut down and Activision hit the pause button on its long-running Guitar Hero franchise. Still, Rigopulos offers a "glass half-full" interpretation of Activision's retraction from the genre, seeing a newfound opportunity to expand the developer's audience. "We think there are also a lot of devoted Guitar Hero fans who have probably never given Rock Band a try," Rigopulos told Destructoid. Harmonix wants to convert them and "let them know that Rock Band 3 is worth giving a try." Rock Band 3 will continue receiving updates through the year, as Harmonix tries to "cultivate" the platform -- though Rigopulos added that "fundamental reimaginings of the Rock Band franchise" are being planned. "The marketplace is clearly demanding something very new," Rigopulos noted. "It's clearly demanding a dramatic evolution of the Rock Band franchise, I think, and I think that's actually exciting for us." While rebooting the band genre will be an uphill battle for the company, there's still one bright star in the studio's portfolio: Dance Central. Finishing the sequel is an obvious next step, but it seems Harmonix has more motion-gaming ideas. "It's safe to say you'll see a lot more in that domain from Harmonix beyond Dance Central," Rigopulos teased. "We'd be absolutely open-minded about that." With their future projects still shrouded in secrecy, it seems Rigopulos is confident that his team will easily bypass this dark era for music gaming. Contrary to industry perception, the company might have too much on its plate. "We have a lot of very cool new ideas in the works right now, looking out beyond both Rock Band and Dance Central." [Image credit: RockBandAide]
Dance Central gets double 'Freak' DLC on Feb. 15
She's a very kinky girl, the kind you don't take home to mother -- unless mama wanna dance! Dance Central adds old- and new-school tracks tomorrow, February 15, with songs from Rick James and Missy Elliott for 240 MSP ($3) apiece. Funk and disco are respectively represented by a pair of undoubted classics: Rick James' "Super Freak" and Chic's hit "Le Freak." More modern flavor gets mixed in with MIssy Elliott's "We Run This," from her 2005 album The Cookbook. It's not the most desirable dance track we'd like to see from the hip-hop beat master's repertoire, but it's a start. There's also a track from Amerie -- don't feel bad if the name doesn't ring any bells -- and she, too, has a couple of other tracks that'd be nice to see available in Dance Central at some point.
Alleged Dance Central 2 survey hints at potential feature list
Pretty dark days over at Harmonix recently, but apparently the developer isn't letting the gloom get to its creativity. Kotaku says it has in its possession an email survey from Microsoft Games Studios containing a nice long list of possible features for Dance Central 2, the sequel that's been in "pre-production" since last year. The suggestions run the gamut, from the ability to create custom dances and play as backup dancers -- or even singers! -- to more convenient features like the ability to replay certain sequences or get more specific feedback on your dancing. The survey is also said to mention a number of new game types, including a possible "fitness mode" and a number of online / offline multiplayer contests. Players may be able to connect socially, either through the game itself as Xbox Live Avatars or video silhouettes, or through social networks by sharing video and photos of their dancing. If you've received the survey in question, drop us a line at tips@joystiq.com and attach a screenshot of it. Doing so will have us dancing with gratitude! Thanks to Spencer for the screengrabs below!%Gallery-116001%
Harmonix hit with layoffs, intended to align with 'current product development plans'
A Harmonix spokesperson confirmed this afternoon to Joystiq that the company has laid off an undisclosed number of full-time employees, in an effort to bring the studio "into alignment with our current product development plans." Outside of an unnamed 3DS music title currently in development, it's unknown what Harmonix is currently working on. Sources close to the situation noted that future projects and downloadable content for both Rock Band 3 and Dance Central are unaffected by the cuts. The official statement specifically notes that the restructuring affects the studio's full-time employees, adding "we sincerely appreciate the work of each and every of one of these employees." We understand that approximately 12 - 15 percent of the studio's approximately 240-person staff have been affected by the restructuring. The full statement from Harmonix can be found after the break.
Dance Central DLC on sale this week
A friendly reminder that Kinect club replacement Dance Central has several tracks on sale this week for 160 Microsoft Points ($2) apiece. Janet Jackson's "Control" is pure evil fun.
Hydrophobia, Dance Central deals in upcoming Xbox Live marketplace updates
The next couple weeks of Xbox Live marketplace updates include deals for Harmonix's Dance Central and a "Get Wet" theme, which does not actually include the game Wet. For the week of January 24, Dance Central DLC will be 160 MSP apiece ($2, a buck off). The "Get Wet" promotion for the week of January 31 includes Hydro Thunder Hurricane for 800 MSP ($10, 33 percent off), Aqua at 400 MSP ($5, half off) and the upgraded Hydrophobia for 400 MSP ($5, also half off) The list also reconfirms the launch dates of the Call of Duty: Black Ops "First Strike" map pack, Breach and Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. Check out the full schedule for the next couple weeks after the break.
Dance Central and Kinect Sports sell 1 million each in US
Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has called Kinect launch titles Dance Central and Kinect Sports "breakout hits" for the publisher, announcing that each has accounted for one million units in US sales. Globally, the Kinect device has already achieved 8 million units shipped. During Kinect's November launch month, Dance Central just missed making the top ten in US game sales for the month and was trailed by the Rare-developed Kinect Sports and Ubisoft's Your Shape: Fitness Evolved among the bestselling Kinect titles. Harmonix's dance game also just missed landing among our top ten games of 2010.
Xbox's David Dennis on December NPDs, 'best month ever for Xbox 360 hardware sales'
Xbox 360 had a good year. It could've been exclusive hits like Halo Reach, which landed in the No. 3 spot on the top selling games of 2010, according to NPD. Or it could've been the Xbox 360 S console refresh which, since its unveiling at E3 last June, has remained on top of the monthly home console sales numbers for an impressive six months straight. Or maybe it was the Kinect, which shipped a whopping eight million units by the end of the year, and sold well over its five million unit goal. In actuality, it was all three, and Xbox's David Dennis was making the media rounds tonight to talk about it. "We're super pleased with the response we saw," Dennis said, "and we're just working hard to get supply back on the shelves and keep January and February on track as well." During the second half of the December, Dennis said Microsoft resorted to air shipping consoles in to meet customer demand. "For us, the focus was trying to get as much on the shelves before that last push before Christmas. It's not cheap to do things like that but we've got a bunch of really smart MBAs to figure out the right balance when to shift back to our traditional process." That traditional process is the far more affordable, but far slower, ocean-based freight. It's not like there aren't any more Xboxes to go around, retailers will simply have "fewer than [they] normally would have."
Dance Central sponsors Sky dance contest
Sure, you like dancing in your living room with robots tracking your every move, but what about dancing in the sky?! Okay, not quite, but folks in the UK attending tapings of SKY1's "Got To Dance" could end up strutting their stuff to Harmonix' Dance Central, perhaps winning one of 15 4GB Xbox 360s, each bundled with a Kinect and a copy of Dance Central. Sky and Microsoft inked a deal that will see the entire second season of "Got To Dance" sponsored by Kinect's most popular dancing game, with viewers at home able to participate in the show's competitions through a corresponding website. UK residents can catch the show weekly on SKY1 and SKY1 HD (check local listings), and Sky subscribers can watch it through their Xbox 360s.
Report: Harmonix buyers pay $49.99, accept company liabilities
Got $50? Sorry, buddy, you totally missed out on buying Harmonix. All Things Digital's Peter Kafka reports that the Rock Band and Dance Central studio's re-independence cost investment group Columbus Nova $49.99. Of course, the math gets a little tricky from there: Harmonix's buyers assumed responsibility over liabilities, including "music rights fees ... responsibility for lots of unsold games and equipment sitting on warehouse shelves." The sale will reportedly net Viacom $150 million in tax benefits -- it spent $175 million to buy the music company in the first place. Kafka also notes the "fire sale price" can't be comforting to Harmonix employees, as he believes the studio is "likely going to be facing a very serious restructuring."
Best of the Rest: Alexander's picks of 2010
Dance Central This is how the dancing genre should be done. Harmonix brought it on and stepped it up with Dance Central, a full-body follow-the-choreography game that showed off Microsoft's Kinect tech and ended up being the device's killer app at launch. Authoritative, yet fun, Dance Central felt like the first step in a franchise that could potentially have an amazing future. Dance Central 2 is a given and I can't wait to see what it delivers. Harmonix has shown us with Rock Band that it can rapidly build upon a core foundation. Chained dance routines? Online dance battles? Customizable routines? It's probably all on the table... and I would dance on that table using a stripper pole for all of it. But, my gawd, I would give anything for the option to remove or exchange freestyle sections for more moves.
Best of the Rest: Andrew's picks of 2010
DJ Max Portable 3 I blame myself for not pimping out PM Studio's excellent DJ Max Portable 3 more this year. The Korean music game is quite possibly the only music game you'll ever need on a handheld, thanks to its seemingly endless soundtrack, varied modes, rewarding progression, beautiful graphics, and note charts that will make your fingers cry. Oh, and for the first time in the franchise's history, you actually feel like a DJ. Ludwig makes fun of me for the epileptic fit I get into when playing it, but he just doesn't understand.
Best of the Rest: Richard's picks of 2010
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow There are more than a few complaints floating around that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow isn't a real Castlevania title. I would argue that Lords of Shadow is more Castlevania than many recent entries in the series. I think fans tend to forget (or overlook) that Castlevania began as a linear action title. For me, the series has never been about completing the map. It's about exploring wonderful and sinister places, which Lords of Shadow packs in spades. When I played the 8-bit Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest as a child, I saw lots of blocky pixels, but what I imagined is perfectly represented by Lords of Shadow. From stinking bogs to dark forests and forgotten castles, all is so meticulously and lovingly crafted that my seven-year-old self was enthralled with every moment. I'll take that over the same 13-year-old sprites any day.
Harmonix retains IP rights to Rock Band, Dance Central
Yesterday's Harmonix announcement of re-independence from global media conglomerate Viacom left questions hanging about the intellectual property rights to the studio's two main franchises. Joystiq has been informed by sources that Harmonix will "own the IP rights" to both the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises after the split, meaning it can continue to create new installments if it chooses. We've also been informed that the developer's DLC support of both titles will continue "unaffected by the sale" and that its distribution relationships with EA and Mad Catz for the Rock Band series, and with Microsoft for Dance Central, also remain "unaffected." What we currently understand of the situation, from sources involved, is that Viacom and MTV Games providing licensing muscle isn't as necessary as it once was -- before the music genre became established over the past few years. It appears relationships have been set that now allow Harmonix to license music for its games without the aid of Viacom.
Game Informer asks: Will Kinect work if you're Gwar?
Sure, Kinect has been tested in plenty of super scientific ways over the past few months, and given plenty of secondary uses through impressive hacks, but will it work if you're ... Gwar? Game Informer had bassist Beefcake the Mighty and lead singer Oderus Urungus stop by its offices to capture on video a monumental 10-minute Dance Central session. If you haven't already clicked through excitedly, we should warn you the clip is a bit on the NSFW side of things, so viewer beware. Also, enjoy.
Dance Central adding Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Blur DLC
Harmonix, look -- we gotta talk. Last DLC pack? It was some good stuff. Great songs, great routines -- we loved it. But these three new tracks coming to Dance Central tomorrow, December 21, for 240 Microsoft Points ($3) each? We're at a loss. What moves, exactly, will we be prompted to pull off? The "Creepy Guy Spinning the Wheel," as seen in Rihanna's "Disturbia" video? Or what about the "Wear a T-Shirt Describing Your State of Mind or Geographical Location," as made famous by Blur's "Girls and Boys" ... in 1994? Dare we dream of doing the "Well-Off Teenager Making Millions and Living at Home with her Parents Shows the Courage to Persevere," just like Janet showed us in "Control?"
Dance Central tops Kinect's November software sales in US
Dance Central, Harmonix's full-body dance title for Kinect, cha-cha-chinged with sales in November. According to NPD, the game was #11 in overall sales for the month and the top-selling Kinect game as a SKU. Of course, by units, Kinect Adventures moved the most copies, as it was bundled with the peripheral, which sold over 2.5 million units globally in the month of November. Although NPD generally no longer shares specific software sales, we were told by the company that Kinect Sports and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved were the second and third best-selling Kinect titles, respectively. For an audience stereotyped as lazy, gamers seem to have responded the most to three of the sweatiest Kinect games.
