DJ Decks & FX: Hands-On Impressions

We go hands on with Sony Europe's latest unique PS2 offering, DJ Decks & FX.

Something interesting happened on the PlayStation: people started making music. Now, I don't mean that they plugged in a dance mat and played Dance Dance Revolution or whatever the latest rhythm action game was at the time. No. Using software like Codemasters' Music 2000, embryonic DJs absorbed the limited technology available to them to produce well-structured music that would reach out into the inner city scene. And why wouldn't they? Everyone likes music, right?

This is exactly the sentiment of Kevin McSherry, Software Development Manager at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (or "Skee", as they like to say it). During our recent visit to Sony's London office, personal taste was very much at the forefront of our conversation. Video entertainment genres - even such mainstream ones as the perennial football game that permeate every store upon release - are designed with niche markets in mind. Music on the other hand is all-inclusive, something that everyone can honestly say they enjoy. And this is precisely why McSherry and Relentless Software Creative Director David Amor are creating a tool for the PlayStation 2 to empower people to make their own music.

For all this talk of inclusion, though, the first product out of the idea initially seems limited in scope itself. DJ: Decks & FX is music creation software firmly entrenched in the house music scene. While this is good for fans of the genre, fans of other musical styles might be harder to come by.

It wasn't supposed to be this way though. McSherry is clearly pained to admit that the product was designed with the currently-MIA hard drive in mind. Sony's reluctance to introduce the hard drive into the European market - North America and Japan have both had the hard drive for well over a year - means that serious design concessions have been made for the game to see release. Most importantly, there's no way to import music from your personal collection. For now at least. As McSherry and Amor explained, perhaps more than any other developer, Relentless Software is primed for the appearance of the hard drive, and, given the word, the team would have support for it within a very short time.

Understanding DJ: Decks & FX is a matter of wrapping your brain around exactly what the software is and is not. It's not a game, by any traditional definition. There are no scores to beat or pre-defined pathways to follow to put together tunes. It is, however, one giant audio sandbox that permits you to sculpt anything you want, from the most god-awful racket to something sublime to a finely-tuned piece of music that wouldn't draw attention for the wrong reasons were it to appear on the radio. In fact, McSherry shared with us how, at a recent Microsoft event, they switched between the DJ and music playing off DJ: Decks & FX and no one missed a beat.

As the title suggests, DJ: Decks & FX is a virtual double-platter DJ rig with an equaliser, a fader, a sampling unit, an effects system and a loop setup. Pretty much everything you need to get started making mixes right away. To give it a number, McSherry estimates that the software emulates hardware running in the range of £2,000. Add in the 74 licensed songs - this includes eight vocal-less acappellas - and the myriad loops from pro audio design shops like Future Music and Red Lemon and you've got a piece of software that suddenly seems like quite a bargain.

There are three main modes available: Party, Pro and Studio.

Party Mode is the one you'll probably be spending most of your time in. This is the mode you'll pull out when a couple of friends pop over after a night out. Left to its own devices, the computer-controlled DJ will boot up a record to keep the party going, yielding at your fancy when the urge to create something new starts.

You can do simple things like fade between two songs or create complex, layered music. For example, it's possible to mix together the high frequencies from one track, mids from the other, a loop for the lows and then gussy it up with a sample. Using a SOCOM or USB headset you can even pretend to be a pro and cue tracks.

The loops unit allows you to choose from 75 pieces, which can be played back once or repeatedly. The effects unit is just as easy to use: simply choose a channel and then add one of the included effects, like flange, delay or pan. The final tech of the table, the sampler, lets you record a few seconds of any channel in use, and this piece can then be mixed back into your creation.

A useful addition that will make the whole creation process easier for non-professionals is the beat-matching provided by the two decks. It's clear from spending time with the software that at all levels simplicity was a key design concern.

Pro Mode is basically identical to Party Mode, with the main difference being that there is no computer controlled DJ around to back you up when moments of silence are imminent. All the same tracks, loops and effects are available. If you consider that the computer-controlled DJ is still available via a button press, there's no real-world reason to spend too much time in this mode.

The last game type is Studio Mode, which is where you'll get a chance to save your creations. Your mix is automatically recorded and copied to the memory card at the end of the session. Mixes of any length can be made and all the capabilities of the other modes are available to you. As an estimate of memory card space requirements, a 40 minute mix I made came up to 285 KB. All control is removed when you play back mixes, though, so you can't go back into a piece you've created to tweak it. Once it's done, it's done.

The song library has been the subject of intense attention during development, with track listings being updated right until release. The developers have bravely soldiered into hotspots like Ibiza to bring you the songs that you would expect to hear at a good house club. There are no licensed songs from previous Sony games, unfortunately, so forget about mixing Freezepop's Science Girl with Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap.

That said, the music menu is diverse enough that you won't soon lose interest. Those outside of the UK will receive localized versions more in tune with their respective domestic scenes. Germany, Italy and France are already in line for custom tracks. The bulk of the music will be present in all iterations, and with only a handful of songs being region-exclusive, importing will be strictly reserved for those that absolutely need the extra songs.

If you're unfamiliar with the included music, the Record Box is sure to come in handy. This allows you to preview every song. By creating folders you can organize them in a way that makes more sense to you. This is handy when you decide on a number of songs that you don't like and would rather not hear again. Just create a virtual purgatory and they'll languish in confinement, keeping your ears unburdened by their presence. You can also create playlists containing only your favourite tracks.

As it stands right now, DJ: Decks & FX is a good product with a couple of flaws, the severity of which greatly depends on what you want to do with the software. The first problem is the diminishment of the target audience right out the box by the choice of a single musical genre. Admittedly, this is a popular genre, and more than likely the one most people will want to use the software for, but the exclusion of all other types of music means that your imagination is constrained.

This is related to the second and most significant shortfall: the lack of hard drive support. It's clear that this game needs the hard drive to really be a success, and with no due date even being thought of, this leaves Relentless in a tough situation.

With the release date of DJ: Decks & FX set for autumn 2004, there is still time for the situation to change. And with the developer able to include support almost immediately, that would only be a good thing.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games