Zhu Zhu Pets are, apparently, one of the hottest toys of the holiday season, and I should probably count myself fortunate that I was unaware of their existence. These tiny electronic replica hamsters have been flying off the shelves, regularly marked up 200-400% above their $10 retail price as parents struggle to get them under the tree for today's children, who'd off a real hamster in seconds flat if left unattended.

Activision Publishing and GameMill Publishing have entered into an agreement with toy company Cepia, LLC to produce games based on the adorable little androids, with the first Zhu Zhu Pets title coming to the Nintendo DS in spring 2010. I'm sure Ubisoft's Hamsterz team will be monitoring things closely.

"Zhu Zhu Pets(TM) success in 2009 speaks for itself and we're confident it will be even bigger in 2010," said David Oxford at Activision Publishing. Gary Miller, President, GameMill Publishing, stated, "It is our goal to expand this proven franchise in a way that fans of the wildly popular hamster toy line and video gamers alike will embrace and love to play."

I guess I'm just going to have to have children soon, if only to stay on the cutting edge of hamster robotics.

Call of Duty World at War: Zombies replicates the best part of Treyarch's otherwise inferior Call of Duty game—Nazi Zombies—to the iPhone. It looks great. It sounds great. And parts of it, like the multiplayer over Wi-Fi, work great.

It doesn't feel great though. The controls suck. We're all used to the inherently mediocre virtual joystick, a pale translation of a three-dimensional control implement into a flat two-dimensional space, which here moves you backward and forward, and strafes left and right. Turning and looking up and down is both finicky and imprecise, accomplished by sliding your thumb in the direction you want to turn or look—a longer slide makes you turn faster and further. What's tricky, and tensely uncomfortable, is trying to turn while moving with the virtual joystick. It winds up being jerky and spinny, like your soldier had one two many peppermint schnappes before fighting the undead.

Even with the computer helping your sorry ass aim—a little too much, actually—it just doesn't work. Often, you'll try to turn by swiping your thumb and accidentally tap the button to aim down your sites, or fire, sending your bullets past the zombie, who proceeds to om-nom-nom on your brains. Knifing is still awesome though.

Update: There are two alternate control schemes—a dual joystick mode that confines the turning area to a second joystick, making it slightly more precise than the general corner area controls of the default layout (though it's still tricky), and an accelerometer mode, that's unwieldy, but more fun since you have to swing your whole phone around to aim. Still, it's hard to feel totally in control here.

But in the end, the lack of tight controls crushes the whole experience, which is otherwise a pitch-perfect translation, down to Activision planning to charge for add-on maps on top of the $10 you already paid for the game.

[iTunes]

This special edition bundle not only comes with a JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD bonus, but a higher quality turntable with metal controls. And telescoping legs. And a big ass case to carry and store it all.

With the standard edition of DJ Hero retailing $120 on its own, it's not hard to imagine all this extra junk assisting the Renegade Edition in breaking the $200 barrier. And while I guess that hardcore fans may look at the supersized peripherals as monuments to their passion, most of us at Giz are sick of tripping over a series of controllers that work for one game—especially when all the controllers really do is help justify a single video game costing as much as the console it's playing on.

See more shots at: [Kotaku]

Asked about Activision President and CEO Bobby Kotick's threat to stop supporting the PS3 on account of prohibitively expensive licensing and development fees, Howard Stringer was a little bit indignant, frankly describing Kotick's move for what it was:

He likes to make a lot of noise. He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business.

So instead of engaging with Kotick—who to be fair, threatened Sony—Sir Howard just decided to let us all know that he's kinda annoyed, OK?

When pushed about the "logic" of cutting the various costs of owning and developing for the PS3, Stringer wasn't much more patient:

I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make - how's that for logic.

I mean, he's right, but he also sounds stumped. Could this little tussle blossom into a beautiful corporate executive mudwrestling match? Only time will tell. [Reuters via Kotaku]

From Activision Blizzard President and CEO Bobby Kotick:

I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation...When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support [PS3 and PSP].

Kotick wants to see Sony's licensing fees reduced (Activision paid Sony $500 million in royalties and "other goods" last year) and a PS3 price cut. He probably wouldn't mind seeing some incentives like advertising dollars, either (something Microsoft can be pretty generous about).

Oh, and if there's one publisher that can say these things, it's the conglomerate makers of Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, multiple Dreamworks and Marvel movie titles, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo—even if those Blizzard games aren't on consoles at this time.

As of now, Kotick's words are just corporate smacktalk (bottom line: Activision still makes money on the platform). But what if a company like EA came forward and said the same thing? No good can come of this for Sony. [TimesOnline]

The controller is a plank that curves up at both ends, like a DA haircut, to make it easier to tip one direction or the other. It's like a skateboard with no wheels, made out of the sturdy plastic they use to make to non-styrofoam coolers. There are four light sensors you can see—two on the tips, and two in the center on opposing sides of the board, forming a cross—not to mention the accelerometers you can't. It's how the board detects when you do a hand grab. Along the edge are Xbox control buttons. It's a of couple pounds, not very heavy. I never felt like I going to break it, but I'm also not very heavy, about 150 pounds.

"You ever skateboarded or snowboarded?" Cody, who was running the demo, asked me. I've snowboarded. I was afraid to step on it immediately, since I figured it'd control the menu like a Guitar Hero controller. It doesn't (hence the buttons on the bottom). So I planted my feet perpendicular to the board, and almost immediately nearly fell off as it pivoted because I leaned too far forward. Leaning is how you turn. Since my balance sucks, it made playing hard.

I got back on and managed not to fall off this time. We did a trainer course, so I kicked once along the side of the board to simulate thrusting myself forward, and my onscreen counterpart zipped forward along a rail. To jump, you have to pop the board up quickly on one end by leaning back. It really does have to be a snapping motion. "Like a Wiimote," Cody offered. Turning is a matter of leaning left or right, and that was natural and easy. To do a hand grab, you have to trigger one of the sensors on the end. You don't have to go all the way down and literally touch board—in fact my knee triggered it more than once on the half-pipe section.

The carpet onstage, which wasn't luxuriously thick by any means, made keeping the board totally flat difficult, so if you have some seriously plush carpet, using Tony Hawk Ride's board is going to be frustrating, I suspect. And you're not gonna wanna play it on hardwood either, since slamming the board back on end to jump is going scuff it up like a warm of dogs on steroids ran through your living room.

I have to wonder, however, if the game's difficulty was a result of my personal athletic deficiencies or the game's—it's supposed to be designed for people who've never skateboarded. I wasn't the only one having problems playing, by far. But maybe it just has a steep learning curve—you're doing a lot more than waving a wand or clicking a button while holding another one, after all. I definitely want to play in a group for at least a couple of hours to really lay a solid judgment on this thing, more than my own skills.

The touch strip on the neck used to be analog but now it's completely digital, so Activision says it's now "100 percent accurate." The strum bar has also been redesigned internally, so it's way more durable. I didn't actually get to hit it to see if you can feel how much more solid it is. But hopefully the DJ Hero turntable is a pretty nice indication of the quality of hardware we should expect this generation. The whammy bar has been subtly redesigned as well, and now you've got some fake chrome tuners instead of fake plastic tuners.

I've always preferred the Guitar Hero guitars to Rock Band's since I think the latter's strum bar is too squishy. What were you hoping would change with the new guitars?

It's grown up a bit since the initial reveal sprouting a glossy black panel that docks on either side of the main turntable. It holds the mixer, effects dial, euphoria button and hides the usual Xbox buttons behind a small panel up top.









Here's how you play the game, with someone much better at spinning tracks than I will ever be showing us how a DJ Hero kills it: We didn't get to use the controller to play the game, but we handled it after the demo, and it felt remarkably solid—weighty without being heavy, the plastic adequately resilient, and not too cheap feeling. The spin action itself is super smooth and effortless, with a light wrist flick sending into a fairly zoomy spin. The Xbox buttons are hidden up top in the dockable half, to reduce the complexity of the controls as much as possible. Yes, it is wireless. Interesting trivia bit: All of the DJs in the game wear Monster's Dr. Dre Beats headphones.

Guitar Hero already destroys my hand-eye coordination past medium—with buttons, spinning things, effects dials, mixers, I already know there's no effin' way I can handle this game. But I'm going to try because it looks like it makes you even more like a DJ king than Guitar Hero makes you feel like a rock god.

It's notable that all controls seem to be placed on the record, meaning that, just as Guitar Hero can't teach you guitar, DJ Hero won't teach you mixing (unless we missed that red, blue and green button standard on vinyl for all these years). Good to know that the musically inclined are keeping those pesky gamers in their place. Look for DJ Hero this fall.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 7, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) is set to once again revolutionize how consumers interact with music by releasing three new titles this fall - DJ Hero(TM), Guitar Hero(R) 5 and Band Hero(TM) - that will redefine the company's popular music gaming platform. The slate will transform the way consumers enjoy and engage with music by offering the largest variety of music genres, innovative technologies and new social entertainment experiences for existing fans and millions of new consumers who previously have not joined Guitar Hero's global community of fans.

— The company's groundbreaking DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero's
signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition of
diverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and
dance. Introducing an all-new innovative turntable controller, DJ Hero
transforms players into DJs who rule the club scene by creating original
mixes of popular songs and music from the world's most exciting
artists and DJs.

— Letting fans continue to fulfill their rock fantasies, Guitar Hero 5
features the hottest rock and roll artists today as well as classic rock
bands and gives players an unprecedented level of control over the way
they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and
change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.

— The franchises' first E10+ rated console game, Band Hero delivers
an exciting music collection featuring top-40 hits designed to expand
the appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the
guitar, drums, bass and microphone and experience a new genre of music.
The game builds upon Guitar Hero's easy-to-play,
difficult-to-master signature gameplay and allows novice players and
expert fans to join together on their favorite songs.

"Guitar Hero has made music social again and has become one of the most popular ways to experience music," said Dan Rosensweig, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Guitar Hero franchise. "Today's fans enjoy a variety of music and are looking for more ways to engage with their favorite songs, artists and fellow fans. These games will let them listen, participate and socialize with music in ways they have never been able to before."

The game will be a port of Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile with touchscreen gameplay and 15 tracks (mostly classic rock). An exact date of the release has not been announced, but it is expected to hit the Android Market soon. [The Guardian via Kotaku]

Turns out that Danny Johnson's record 973k score could actually have been higher if the blue button on his guitar hadn't broken when he was 3,558 notes into the 3,722 note song. Not only that, the Dan-ninator says he's wrecked 80 Guitar Hero guitars in his quest to be number one in the world.

What can we conclude from this? One, Danny's parents spent his college tuition on replacement guitars (sorry kid). Two, Activision's Guitar Hero guitars aren't designed for their hardest song, which is pretty BS, but only for those people who can actually play that song. And third, Danny's not getting laid until he's thirty, maybe working at that same Best Buy he set the record in (sorry again kid). [NY Times]

Currently, we expect unit sales to decline by more than 50 percent series-over-series for November," said EEDAR's Jesse Divnich, "This is coming off the October month where series-over-series units declined by more than 60 percent.

So going into Christmas, sales are down. It's also notable that eBay pricing on the recent Guitar Hero: World Tour has dropped below retail pricing.

Even without citing sales numbers, EEDAR is grouping Rock Band right alongside Guitar Hero as a waning fad.

Divnich does go on to explain that both Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles should retain a loyal fanbase for the next decade or so, even if they aren't the wild cultural phenomenons they once were—just as Dance Dance Revolution keeps a following despite most of us sticking our metal pads in the basement by now. [Edge via Kotaku and most righteous image]

Activision has yet to respond to the issues, but apparently their box lists using GH controllers outside of Activision properties as "expressly prohibited." Harmonix, who has traditionally supported cross-compatible instrumentation between the two franchises, has promised that "we are definitely looking into this. We'll keep you posted on updates as soon as more info is available."

It's hard to believe that this lack of compatibility was anything but intentional on Activision's part since they've had access to Rock Band 2 for months...which is a particularly large problem since many gamers are plopping down almost $200 for the Guitar Hero World Tour software and instruments.

Let's hope for some fancy software patches soon, though we're not holding our breath. [Kotaku and Joystiq]

12 Stones Broken

Bride Same Ol' Sinner

Caedmons Call There You Go

Casting Crowns Lifesong

Chris Tomlin Made to Worship

Darrell Evans So Good To Me

David Crowder Band Foreverandever Etc.

Day Of Fire Reap and Sow

dc Talk Jesus Freak

Family Force 5 Love Addict

Flyleaf Perfect

Hawk Nelson The Show

Hawk Nelson Friend Like That

Inhabited Rescue Me

Israel & New Breed All Around

James Clay Franklin Park

Jared Anderson Blind Man

Jennifer Knapp Undo Me

Jeremy Camp Tonight

Jessie Daniels What I Hear

Jonah33 Father's Song

Josh Bates Perfect Day

Kutless Beyond the Surface

Kutless Hearts of the Innocent

Lincoln Brewster Spin

Nate Sallie All About You

Nevertheless The Real

Newsboys Something Beautiful

Paul Baloche Rock of Ages

Paul Baloche All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises

Petra Backsliding Blues

Pillar When Tommorrow Comes

Red Breathe Into Me

Relient K I Need You

Seventh Day Slumber Awake

Skillet The Older I Get

Skillet Rebirthing

Skillet Savior

Spoken Wind In My Sails

Spoken Falling Further

Spur 58 Sleepwalkers

Stellar Kart Procrastinating

Superchick We Live

The Crucified The Pit

This Beautiful Republic Going Under

Thousand Foot Krutch The Flame in All of Us

Thousand Foot Krutch The Art of Breaking

tobyMac I'm For You

Todd Agnew This Fragile Breath

Warren Barfield My Heart Goes Out

Whitecross Who Will You Follow

Whitecross When The Walls Tumble Down

Regrettably, there are no tracks from Faith+1. [Guitar Praise via bbGadgets]

This means that Guitar Hero: World Tour's insane kit—guitars and drums—will work with Rock Band 2's and vice versa (and Konami's Rock Revolution series). Some of the advanced game-specific features might not work (like maybe the touch features on GH:WT's guitar), but basic compatibility will be there. They're working on making stuff already out there (GH3 and RB) play nice too. All I have to say is you rock, Sony. [PlayStation Blog via Kotaku]