Activision calling up Dance Hero?

Source: Consumer gaming blog Kotaku.

What we heard: Not a month after pulling the plug on future installments in the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero franchises, it appears as if Activision may not be entirely done with the rhythm game genre.

Kotaku reports today that Activision has begun work on a new property called Dance Hero. According to the website's source, the game will capitalize on the burgeoning motion-controlled dance genre, which has seen recent hits such as Harmonix's Dance Central, Ubisoft's Just Dance, and Majesco's Zumba Fitness.

The publisher has apparently already begun licensing music for use in the game. Songs named by Kotaku's source include Jay Sean's "2012," The Prodigy's "Out of Space," Timbaland's "The Way I Are," and Afrojack's "Take Over Control."

The dance genre has been on Activision's radar since 2008, when it filed a trademark application for "Dance Hero" with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The filing came as part of Activision's massive, and ultimately self-destructive, expansion of the Guitar Hero brand, which saw the flagship franchise augmented by band-themed installments from the likes of Aerosmith and Metallica, as well as age-targeted versions, such as Band Hero.

The official story: Activision had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

Bogus or Not Bogus?: Looking not bogus. If there's one thing Activision knows, it's how to cash in on a trend while it's hot--and the dance genre is certainly that. In November, Dance Central and Just Dance 2 were tagged as the sole bright spots in the all-but-comatose rhythm game genre, thanks to their use of new motion-detected control schemes. More recently, in January, Majesco scored a surprise NPD hit with Zumba Fitness, which was the fifth best-selling game during the month.