Now, of course I've heard people say that this is wrong; that video games cheapen or damage the experience of learning real music with their plastic peripherals and oversimplification of beats, rhythm and notes. But it seems like even more music games seem to be popping up in response to this criticism – all of which claiming that they are different, that they really are about the music and not about mimicking and button mashing.

Think about it: we've got Timbaland's Beaterator which includes lessons on real music theory in the tutorial, DJ Hero which introduces the concept of an artist who uses other people's music to make an original song and elaborate music studio components in Rock Band and Guitar Hero that put the power of composition directly in your button-mashing fingers. And let us not forget Wii Music and all its lofty educational ambitions.

To tone deaf choir reject like myself, the music game scene isn't just over saturated – it's downright intimidating. Am I supposed to be entertained, educated or indoctrinated? I can hardly decide.

All of this came up today while talking with Carlo Delallana (designer) and Matt Leunig (associate producer) about their game, Jam Sessions 2 – a guitar simulator. I was playing Good Reporter and trying to find out how the game would treat me as a gamer and also as a would-be musician (despite my evident failure in middle school).

I asked about the scoring system and Delallana said the game wouldn't punish me or make the song sound bad for messing up a note. I started to ask about competitive multiplayer and both Leunig and Delallana emphasized that their game was more about making music than trying to be better than the next guy. Finally, I told them about Beaterator's music theory lessons and asked for their take, and Delallana dropped this bomb: "There's a danger in teaching [music] because there's no one way to learn music."

That may be why Jam Sessions 2 is so careful not to punish gamers for messing things up – and why it doesn't really tell you what to do when you get to the music studio to start recording and editing your own tracks. It also may be why I gravitate to it over Beaterator or Rock Band because I don't really know that I want a music game to teach me or judge me on something I feel like I suck at. But is that reaction even worse than me assuming I know how to play the guitar having beaten Killer Queen on Hard?

It comes down to what music games are supposed to be for. If Delallana is right and there's no one way to learn music, then maybe it doesn't matter whether or not DJ Hero has a better track list than Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. But on the other hand, if the game isn't supposed to teach me music – if it's really just an interactive fantasy where I can pretend to be a rock star – maybe all music games are only as good as their set lists.

Either way you look at it, though, there is eventually going to be a music game for everybody if the market for these games keeps expanding like it is. Whether you're a choir reject like me or a Ukulele Hero hold-out, there just might be some comfort in that.

The Los Angeles based 7 Studios was at the heart of an ensuing lawsuit filed by Scratch publisher Genius Products and turntable controller maker Numark Industries. That suit alleged that Activision and 7 Studios conspired to withhold Scratch the Ultimate DJ "in an effort to delay the development and release of Scratch and to gain access to proprietary technology."

Activision denied any wrongdoing in its purchase of 7 Studios, saying the buy out was made to "bolster its development capabilities," that it "provided the fledgling developer with much needed financing during these difficult economic times."

Scratch the Ultimate DJ ultimately found a new developer in Commotion Interactive.

Activision reps provided the following statement to Kotaku.

"Since the completion of its acquisition by Activision, 7 Studios has realigned its business to focus its development resources on the music genre. As a part of this realignment, the studio is reducing its workforce to better reflect Activision's upcoming slate of music-based games."

The 30 or so employees let go today represented approximately half of the entirety of 7 Studios, according to our source. We're attempting to get confirmation from Activision on the accuracy of that figure.

Yes, I realized I used that reference already in today's Talk Amongst Yourselves, but this story actually has Kanye in it, or at least a song featuring him. The Scratch DJ folks have been pretty tight-lipped about the music lineup for their game, revealing only four tracks so far, but things are loosening up it seems, and they've seen fit to gift us with eight more. Kanye butts into the middle of N.A.S.A.'s "Gifted", along with Santo Gold and Lykke Li, but leaves music from Murs, Kid Koala, Whodini, and Salt n Pepa alone.

Check out the full list of the 12 announced tunes below. It's filled with catchy beats, but again, only 12 of them. Either they are very good at teasing, or they need to work on music procurement.

New licensed tracks include:

* Gifted - N.A.S.A. Feat Kanye West, Santo Gold, Lykke Li
* Looking Fly - Murs
* Skanky Panky - Kid Koala
* Iced Lightning - RJD2
* They Reminisce Over You - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
* Friends - Whodini
* Push It - Salt n Pepa
* Life in a Cage - The Knux

Previously announced artists and licensed tracks:

Peter Piper – Run DMC
Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
Hot in Herre – Nelly
Mastermind – Deltron 3030

Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, which was originally planned to beat Activision's DJ Hero to market, will now release months later, planned for an "early 2010" release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. That change in studio and an extended development time on Scratch will result in some changes to the game. The final version of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ will add new music and feature a new visual style, one different from the graphical treatment created by previous developer 7 Studios.

We spoke with Fred Galpern from Numark and Trevor Fencott, CEO of Commotion Interactive, to discuss the changes to Scratch, prior to the official announcement.

Galpern says that the publishers of Scratch decided to sign Commotion based on its experience, its ability to get the game out the door.

"We knew that they could get it out," Galpern said during a phone interview with Kotaku. "We're trying to build a franchise with Scratch. The real core of it is their experience, guys that worked at Rockstar, Ubisoft and EA."

The DJ game was originally due to ship to retail a few months from now, not next year. But Galpern said the game is in good shape now—and has been for some time.

"The game was on track, it was right where we needed it to be," he said, noting that the E3 demo "looked good, songs were playable, many of our DJ players were available." But the version of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ that E3 attendees played may not be aesthetically indicative of the final product.

Galpern says the graphical updates are "not a wholesale visual style" change, but something "a little bit more modern, more in line with hip hop culture today."

"It was a joint decision," Commotion's Fencott says of the change. "As we were updating some of the music, we thought maybe make [the aesthetics] a little more congruent with DJ culture." Expect to see some of those changes roll out over the next few months, as part of Scratch's ongoing promotional campaign.

What won't change is the game's controller. That's something Genius and Numark appear to be happy with, as is. With its touch sensitive turntable and authentic hardware, Galpern says its DJ offering will offer an "authentic experience of being a DJ."

Also staying put are the game's announced collaborators. Mix Master Mike and Quincy "QD3" Jones III are still on board.

While the change in developers on Scratch: The Ultimate DJ may not concern Numark and Genius, who are confident in the game's existing mechanics, the shift to early 2010 could present some problems. Not only is the first half of the year becoming increasingly competitive, Scratch now has to release after DJ Hero, one of a half-dozen rhythm music games releasing in the holiday season. Galpern says he's not concerned about the new schedule.

"It actually works out well for us," he said. "I would rather not be part of the glut. It's not the ideal, but we're gonna make the best of the situation."

Potentially more concerning is the success of its biggest competitor and a competition for shelf space.

"Are we concerned about the competition of another DJ game? No," Galpern said, boasting of Scratch's creative capabilities and authenticity. "If DJ Hero doesn't do well, if it's not a success, that will be more of a concern for us." But as for competing for shelf space against the other big box music games, Galpern says "I think by spring, whatever hasn't sold will be discounted."

Right now, Galpern and Fencott seem mostly concerned about their own game, not someone else's.

We hope to have more from Scratch: The Ultimate DJ in the coming months to chart the game's progress. Keep an eye open.

I suppose it is the first video game controller created by a company that mainly manufactures DJ equipment, but to call it a only "legitimate" DJ controller seems like a direct dig at the competition. It certainly looks like solid piece of equipment, and with Numark doing it the quality should be excellent as well, but can't we all just get along?

Crafted by real turntable manufacturers Numark, the Scratch controller for the PlayStation 3 is very much like its Xbox 360 counterpart, though slightly more attractive thanks to the darker coloration. The official name for the controller is Scratch Deck, as it is a deck on which one scratches.

"For decades, Numark has been developing turntables, DJ mixers and digital DJ controllers. We know what professional DJs demand, and we used that knowledge to produce SCRATCH DECK," said Adam Cohen, Director of Business Development, Numark. "It was critical that we deliver an authentic DJ experience to gamers, whether they be experienced DJs or players who have never put a needle to vinyl."

I particularly enjoy the picture that shows us how to turn it over in order to make it left-handed. Left-handed people never would have figured that out on their own.

With the LA Superior Court ruling this week that all intellectual property and source code be returned immediately to Scratch publisher Genius Products and an injunction against 7 Studios preventing them from discussing game code or trade secrets with Activision or any other third party, it appears that the publisher may be looking for a replacement altogether. Kotaku was told to expect a new release date shortly by a source.

Bottlerocket was most recently pulled off of Namco Bandai's update to Splatterhouse, a project that was allegedly handed to the team responsible for Afro Samurai. That action resulted in alleged layoffs at Bottlerocket, as well as some public back and forth between Namco Bandai executives and the developer.

The ex-Splatterhouse developer was also apparently working on a game based on DC Comics' The Flash with the defunct Brash Entertainment.

Representatives for Genius Products would not confirm the change in developers, only mentioning that we'll hear more about Scratch: The Ultimate DJ in the coming weeks. E-mails and phone calls to Bottlerocket Entertainment went unanswered.

Despite assurances on Thursday by Activision that the L.A. Superior Court saw no evidence of wrongdoing on their part, a judge today granted Genius Products and Numark Industries a temporary restraining order against Activision subsidiary 7 Studios, ordering the immediate return of all assets pertaining to the Scratch - The Ultimate DJ Game. The Court has also issued an injunction against 7 Studios preventing them from discussing game code or Scratch secrets with Activision or any other third party.

This all stems from a complaint from Genius Products and Numark Industries last Wednesday, alleging that Activision and 7 Studios had conspired to sabotage Scratch development in order to reduce competition for DJ Hero, Activision's own DJ title.

Reading through the transcript provided to us, it seems that the court did indeed state at one point that they saw no evidence of wrongdoing on Activision's part. The hearing mainly involved the return of intellectual property and source code; not the accusations of sabotage.

Yesterday, Genius Products and Numark Industries announced they had filed suit against Activision and Scratch developers 7 Studios for "intentional interference with contract, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets." Genius and Numark claim that Activision "conspired to withhold the current version of Scratch in an effort to delay the development and release of Scratch and to gain access to proprietary technology."

According to Activision's statement, the L.A. Superior Court seems to agree, finding no evidence of any wrongdoing by the publisher and refusing to grant any restraining order against it. Activision also calls the allegations levied against it "an attempt by Genius to place blame for the game's delay, as well as to divert attention from the cash flow, liquidity and revenue challenges" facing Genius.

"By their own admission in October 2008, the game had fallen behind in production, which was well before Activision had any involvement with Genius, Numark or California 7 Studios regarding the game," the statement reads.

Activision also confirms that it has purchased 7 Studios, completing the deal on April 6th to "bolster its development capabilities." Under the ownership of Activision, 7 Studios continued to develop Scratch without interference from its new owner, according to the company. It points out that Activision "Activision provided the fledgling developer with much needed financing during these difficult economic times."

Activision says that the lawsuit will have no impact on the release of DJ Hero, its turntable-based rhythm game planned for release later this year.

Yes, the publisher is suing its own developer, claiming that the two parties have interfered with efforts to complete the game and sabotage Scratch: The Ultimate DJ's release prior to the release of Activsion's own DJ Hero.

Scratch publisher Genius Products and turntable controller maker Numark Industries allege that Activision and 7 Studios have "conspired to withhold the current version of Scratch in an effort to delay the development and release of Scratch and to gain access to proprietary technology." The game, originally planned for a Summer release, is now delayed until Fall.

Genius and Numark are seeking "substantial damages" and are asking the court to order the game's immediate return.

The suit claims that Activision attempted to acquire 7 Studios, the developer contracted to create Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, after a failed attempt to buy the rights to the game planned to compete with Activision's own DJ Hero.

Following that alleged acquisition of 7 Studios, the suit contends that Activision and the developer "began conspiring to prevent Scratch from getting to market on a timely basis by withholding work product, code and the proprietary game controller."

"We believe that Activision realizes the tremendous opportunity that our game, Scratch, represents to the video game industry, the retail marketplace and the consumer. After demonstrating our game, pursuant to the confidentiality agreement with Activision, we believe Activision concluded that Scratch: the Ultimate DJ is a superior offering to their prospective game, DJ Hero," said Trevor Drinkwater, President and CEO of Genius Products.

"We believe that Activision and 7 Studios have improperly used confidential information obtained from Genius and 7 Studios to interfere with our efforts to complete the game. In short, we believe that Activision is attempting to sabotage the release of our much anticipated game and prevent it from getting to market prior to the release of DJ Hero."

We've contacted Activision for comment and will update when we hear more.

Scratch: The Ultimate DJ looks to borrow heavily (and intelligently) from the Guitar Hero and Rock Band style of play, with a note highway that melts off an on-screen LP, aping the interface from the already successful guitar god games. What Scratch hopes to improve upon is the Guitar Hero-style rock fantasy, adding improvisation and music personalization.

We got a chance to take a look at the game in action, along with its prototype controller, during a demo at 7 Studios.

Creative lead Dan Lerich guided us through our first Scratch: The Ultimate DJ experience, explaining that the game was born of his classical music training, his expertise in midi programming and Berklee School of Music education — plus a taste for live DJing.

While we initially thought the game's inspiration was grounded in games like Beatmania, PaRappa the Rapper and even a little bit of Wii Music (don't panic!), Lerich says he found a rhythm game model in Electronic Arts' Skate. The skateboarding game, Lerich says, was a diversion from the extreme sports model established by the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. In Scratch, as in Skate, the game allows the player to experiment, to improvise, to trick, to chain together combos, all of which is available to the player from the get go.

Lerich showed us some of this improvisation in one of the game's tracks, Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc." While the majority of beat-matching follows a pattern similar to Guitar Hero or Beatmania, keying sounds from drum beats to bass tracks to vocals, there's an opportunity to pattern add. It was surprising to hear how natural those adds sounded—when they were on beat, mind you.

Those pattern adds can also mean big points, as you'll earn not just for successful beat matches, but for fills as well. Lerich says that the scoring on these fills is still being honed. Since the game has a competitive multiplayer mode, fill spamming is something the 7 Studios team is aware of.

Improvisation occurs in another of the Scratch's segments, as portions of the note highway will encourage turntable tricks, not just button presses. This is where the "chika chika fantasy" comes in, with some 15 to 20 tricks available on the controller's spinning wheel. The DJ will be able to throw in sounds from a pre-picked "battle record," which can be packed with custom beats, quirky sound effects or even custom-recorded sounds via a USB microphone.

That will not only add replayability, but personalization. As performances can be recorded (but not uploaded online) then reviewed, those outstanding spins at the DJ table can be customized, then fondly remembered for years to come.

Scratch's controller is still being finalized, but 7 Studios is doing it in partnership with Numark, maker of fine audio equipment and DJ accessories. It comes with five colored buttons, touch sensitive analog turntable wheel, and a crossfader switch. It's also been designed ambidextrously, so lefties needn't feel excluded.

Our brief time seeing Scratch: The Ultimate DJ was impressive. While the game may not be strikingly original—it has to compete with Activision's own attempt, DJ Hero, due later this year—it has credibility by association courtesy of Beastie Boys DJ Mix Master Mike's input and a controller co-designed with turntable manufacturer Numark.

While pricing and final song selection is still being nailed down, 7 Studios is looking at following the pricing and SKU structure of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, hopefully resulting in an affordable, high quality package. We're anxious to go hands on with it when it ships sometime this Summer.

Announced back in October of last year, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ is a rhythm game like no other, despite looking like a rhythm game like just about every other. Unlike other rhythm titles, Scratch will allow players to re-imagine songs on the fly, but up until now we've had no inkling of what songs we would be re-imagining. Well now we know, and some of the biggest names in hip hop are coming on board.

The first five songs in Scratch's set list are Kanye West's "Flashing Lights", "Intergalactic" from the Beastie Boys, Tech N9ne's "Slacker", Eric B. and Rakim's "Don't Sweat the Technique", and The Black Eyed Peas with that one song they released that got everyone started and then quickly grew old.

Along with the newly announced tracks, Genius has promised music from The Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, Nelly, and Run DMC, as well as music from the upcoming solo album from Beastie Boy Mixmaster Mike, who is also providing creative and technical support for the game.

Could Scratch have what it takes to take on Activision's upcoming DJ Hero? It's too early to tell, but it's off to a damn fine start.