Scratch delayed until 2010, new dev on board

Bedlam Games takes over litigation-plagued rhythm title following Activision's acquisition of original developer; due out early next year.

When it was first announced in October 2008, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ looked set to be the first turntable-peripheral-based rhythm game on the market when it shipped out in September 2009. Today, though, the game's publishers, DVD distributor Genius Products and audio-equipment manufacturer Numark Industries, announced it would not launch on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 until "early 2010."

Scratch's Numark-made turntable controller.

The delay should come as no surprise to anyone following the game, which is at the center of a nasty legal dispute. On one side, Genius and Numark, who filed suit in April after Scratch developer 7 Studios was bought outright by the publisher of a competing product. That publisher is the multibillion-dollar giant Activision, and the product is DJ Hero, a rival turntable simulator, which will now beat Scratch to the 360 and PS3 when it goes on sale this fall. (Developed by FreeStyle Games, it will also be released on the Wii and PlayStation 2.)

In their suit, Numark and Genius accused Activision of deliberately buying 7 Studios with the intention that the move would delay Scratch and allow DJ Hero to overtake it. That certainly appears to be the end result of the two sides' litigious wrangling, which saw a judge decline to slap a restraining order on Activision to prevent DJ Hero's release. However, the same judge also expressed frustration with Activision and 7 Studios' attempts to retain the Scratch source code, and ordered them to hand it over immediately.

Luckily for Genius and Numark, the $6 million and 18 months of work they have invested in Scratch will not go to waste. They have now hired a new developer, Bedlam Games, to finish development of the project under its music and party game label, Commotion Interactive. It is the first publicly announced project for Bedlam, which was formed in 2006 by former employees of Rockstar, Ubisoft, Rockstar Games, and Electronic Arts.

31 Comments

  • nobie05

    Posted Aug 19, 2009 8:31 am PT

    Let's be real, the gameplay looks copycat, and besides Activision buying the label 7 studios, this game may have still been a flop even if they still stayed with Scratch idea. Last but not least, what the hell is going on with the turntable? Why does it have an aspect of piano when you're playing it in the game? the pad looks like more of an idea of producing rather than turntable.
    P.S.: graphics suck so far!!

  • vf21x

    Posted Aug 10, 2009 12:35 pm PT

    LAME

  • kamizuka

    Posted Aug 9, 2009 2:29 am PT

    Just wait and buy the cheapest

  • CipherZilla

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 4:24 pm PT

    I prefer DJ hero as it has more production value and the club scenes have a more epic feel to it. Plus the renegade edition of DJ Hero's turntable is a lot more swanky than Scratch's even though the drum pads on this one is an upside.

  • Excedra

    Posted Aug 8, 2009 8:41 am PT

    no way it would compete with dj hero, activisions got the moolah.....

  • rich19913

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:35 pm PT

    the controller along with the actual gameplay looks better than what DJ Hero has to offer, in my opinion.

  • Mac11_Fanboy

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 4:26 pm PT

    Those Bedlam Guys have been loafing for 3 years. This games never gonna get finished!

  • Trogeton

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 2:36 pm PT

    Don't get me wrong I like activision, but what were they thinking?? DJ hero is barely ahead of this.. why would they even think of making another dj game so early?

  • NuKkU

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 1:33 pm PT

    this wont compete with DJ Hero just because DJ Hero is developed by activision and they have LOTS of money

  • mtofu

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 1:06 pm PT

    the activition deck looks terrible compared to this.

    if the price is right, i'm definitely going to pick this up (i've already dismissed dj hero).

  • okassar

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 9:42 am PT

    Let's be realistic,Scratch probably can't compete with Activision's crazy development costs.

    Activision throw money at games and makes em work like magic and they end up making even more money.You have to admit it,no matter how much you "dislike" them you'll probably end up buying a bunch of their games anyway.

    CoD is a fine example.DJ Hero will probably be better but only time will tell.

    Btw,if DJ Hero OR Scratch are above $100,forget it.Maybe if they go on sale to under 100 after then I'll buy.I just hope they're moderately priced in the first place.

    ...and last note,why the hell are people comparing Activision to EA?The only similarity is that they're both money hungry (hmm,lemme guess the purpose of a company..ugh,ugh I think I got it....DOH!To make money,and if someone takes your rights sue). The biggest DIFFERENCE is that Activision-Blizzard continues to make good games and EA is falling into Failzone,only Brutal Legend looks good for them right now.

  • Harerazer

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 7:35 am PT

    Hardware-wise this kills DJ Hero but unless you're a real DJ I can see this totally confusing people and causing embarrassment when they fail to come to grips. If they can just get some tight gameplay down I could care less what the graphics look like, it's a music game. Growing up on B1's, I can really appreciate the work that went into the controller. I just hope the game programming holds it's end up.

  • so_hai

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 4:01 am PT

    They can delay it longer if they want. I won't mind.

  • mrklorox

    Posted Aug 7, 2009 12:00 am PT

    Really? Made up of people from BOTH Rockstar AND Rockstar Games?

    Wait a second, what's the difference between the two?

  • soulless4now

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 11:20 pm PT

    I would which game will sell more: this one or DJ Hero? Hmm...

  • shinmew

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 11:13 pm PT

    *sigh* Activision is turning into another EA

  • black_ice23

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 10:59 pm PT

    meh. DJ looks wayy cooler

  • monson21502

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 10:36 pm PT

    im not really into this kind of stuff. but i think it will be fun to try it out

  • Pete5506

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 10:34 pm PT

    Everyone is delaying everything

  • amsscorpio

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 9:40 pm PT

    we still havent seen all there is to this game so everyone chill. so far i think it seems more interesting gameplay than dj hero becuase dj hero makes you PLAY the song already remixed for you etc etc. this game lets YOU do the remixing ha, and plus yeah seems more indepth and real. i still wanna try both though.

  • thetravman

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 8:51 pm PT

    Why must Activision compete with everyone? Tony Hawk-Skate, GH-RB, DJHero- Scratch. And wasn't there news before that Activision was making a dancing game competing the DDR?

  • RaddaRaddaRadda

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 8:11 pm PT

    I have to hope Scratch outdoes DJ Hero. I really have no interest in either, but Activision has just been a bunch of a$$holes lately.

  • otanikun

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 5:57 pm PT

    I agree Iriscal, completely

  • Iriscal

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 5:51 pm PT

    Sorry, Activision, I can't hear you over how awesome Beatmania and DJ Max are.

  • Cetanu07

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:38 pm PT

    ummmm
    why bother?

  • Cetanu07

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:36 pm PT

    SWEET
    YET ANOTHER DELAY!!!

  • XanderZane

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:28 pm PT

    The game doesn't look good. Graphics look like a PS2 game. The controller might be ok as well as the music. Still this is not my cup of tea. I've never wanted to be a D.J. I would rather be the rapper in the front of the stage, then the D.J. mixing and scratching in the back of the room.

  • dukerav

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:19 pm PT

    I bet this ends up with the same results Rock Revolution had; Mediocre game and abysmal sales. Thats just a guess though.

  • Just-Adam

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:05 pm PT

    Activision strikes again with another d!ck move .. when will someone stop them ..

  • Trogeton

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 4:04 pm PT

    OMG that looks stupid.. It's like a Dj hero trying to be like guitar hero Dj hero will own this crap Yeah notice that the color are JUST like on guitar hero guitars they could have changed them

  • smiggles116

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 3:51 pm PT

    Holy crap, that controller looks even more confusing to use that the DJ Hero controller. To be honest, the game doesn't look to great. Not having the track thing that shows the incoming notes in the middle of the screen is a bad idea. Plus, having the track thing on the left hand side only shows off the game's incredibly crappy graphics. One of the many things that makes games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero asethically pleasing is the graphics and flashy effects. This game has none. The developers need to step it up a bit.

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