The Guitar Hero franchise fell "because it didn't have any nourishment and care," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick admitted to Forbes in an interview about the monolithic publisher's approach to innovating. Kotick also said that the DJ Hero series, also currently on hiatus, flopped because there simply wasn't an audience to support it.

READ MORE: Plans to resurrect Guitar Hero »

DJ Hero 2 doesn't know the meaning of the word canceled. Now that fan support has led to the promise of continued content, Activision announced and released a new set of DLC for the game today, titled the "Indie Hip Hop Mix Pack." It's already available for download, and includes an eclectic mix of underground hip hop artists.

You can grab the pack for $8 (640 MS Points) on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The Wii doesn't get a bundled pack, but the songs can be bought as singles for $3 (300 Wii Points) each. Check out the listing below and see if you're hip enough to recognize any names. Read more »

Following the recent Activision decision to scale back music-based releases, a message on the official DJ Hero 2 site announced that--following the release of previously announced content--no future DLC would be made available for the DJ Hero franchise or its sister series, Guitar Hero. Late last night, that position appears to have changed. Read more »

DJ Hero 2 downloadable content may be living on borrowed time, but FreeStyleGames is forging ahead with its last few pieces. Today the company announced the "Pendulum Mix Pack," available now. The pack costs about $8 (640 MSP on XBLM), and tracks are available on the Nintendo Wii as downloadable singles for $3 each (300 Wii Points).

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Activision's Q4 2010 earnings call yesterday revealed big changes to its music game stable -- namely the cancellation of any music games this year. Today, we're slowly seeing pieces of the fallout from that decision become clear.

7 Studios, the Los Angeles developer and pinch-hitter for the Guitar Hero division, has been shut down according to Joystiq. Various staff members tweeted that the studio closed last night. One unnamed source claimed that half of the staff had been let go with 60 days severance pay, while the other half will remain employees for the next 120 days to resolve a legal dispute with the creators of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. Read more »

Soon after Activision Blizzard announced it would scale back its entire music-based video game business due to declining profits, Shacknews contacted the publisher to find out whether its current crop of music titles would continue to see DLC support. At the time, Activision Blizzard declined to comment. Read more »

New downloadable content has spun its way into DJ Hero 2, featuring some big names in the trance business.With the new "Trance Anthems Mix Pack," gamers can lose themselves to new mixes from the likes of heavy-hitters Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk--friends call them "The Pauls"--and more.

The three-track mix pack is available in a bundle for $7.99 (640MS Points) for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Wii players can download each track individually for 300 Wii Points. Read more »

If you're looking to satiate your undying thirst for more music-rhythm titles, Activision has developed a deal just for you. The publishing giant has slashed prices on Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and DJ Hero 2 [via Joystiq].

The latest Guitar Hero has dropped to $49.99 (down $10) for the standard disc edition, to $79.99 (down $20) for the game and a single toy axe, and to $159.99 (down $20) for the entire plastic "super" bundle. Read more »

Unsung Hero: Alan Wake

So many games launch within a single calendar year that, sadly, many fantastic titles are left collecting dust on store shelves. The Xbox 360-exclusive Alan Wake is our choice for Unsung Hero--or "Best Game that No One Played."

Developed over the course of nearly five years by the team at Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake follows a writer who must battle forces of darkness (both internally and externally) as he searches for his missing wife. Although Remedy has expressed interest in continuing the dark adventures of Alan Wake, the developer announced the game's second DLC would be the final downloadable content for Alan Wake. Inquires as to whether it would be the last time gamers ever see Wake, sadly, went unanswered. Read more »

A new round of downloadable content for Activision's rhythm games Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and DJ Hero 2 is out today on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

The mix 'em up scores three remixes of tunes from Linkin Park, while the strum 'em up gets three tunes from grizzled shock-rockers KISS--including what is boldly described as "possibly one of the greatest rock songs of all time," 'Rock And Roll All Nite.' Read more »

Aspiring DJs take note, Activision has revealed the next two weeks worth of downloadable content for the scratching sim, DJ Hero 2.

On December 14, three new mixes will launch in an "Old Skool" pack. Featured are Fat Boys' "Human Beat Box" vs. Mantronix' "Kings of Beats," Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" vs. 45 King's "The 900 Number," and the Beastie Boys favorite "Triple Trouble" mixed with Tone-Loc's classic "Funky Cold Medina." Read more »

Free downloadable content packs for music 'em ups DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock are now briefly up for grabs, courtesy of a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola, though act fast because next week you'll need to pay for them.

The DJ Hero 2 pack of three new DJ Tiesto Mixes can be had for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii simply by signing up for the beverage company's 'MyCoke Rewards' program, no purchase necessary. The Warriors of Rock pack of four My Chemical Romance tunes, meanwhile, is similarly free--sharing the same login--but is only available for Xbox 360 through this offer. Read more »

Last month, Tony Hawk: Shread developer Robomodo was hit with a wave of layoffs, reportedly letting go up to 60 employees. In the same fell swoop, it was revealed that Activision's eleven-year-old franchise would no longer be helmed by the slimmer team at Robomodo.

Today, Tony Hawk news isn't getting any less grim as investment firm Cowen and Company--speaking with GamesIndustry.biz--revealed that Tony Hawk: Shred sold 3,000 copies in the United States within its first week of availability. Read more »

DJ Hero 2 has been patched on the PS3 and Xbox 360 to enable backwards compatibility with DLC from the original game, according to the game's official Twitter account.

Sadly, it doesn't appear that we'll be seeing an import for the original DJ Hero's soundtrack, most likely due to licensing nightmares for the mixes. It's a shame, because DJ Hero had an amazing soundtrack and I'd love to play those songs again in the sequel's framework. Read more »

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.

Yesterday's Filter was almost non-existent. Today? That's not a problem at all. Read more »