DJ Box

By Spencer . September 26, 2005 . 8:37pm

Unlike the Xbox’s built in hard drive relatively few games support the PS2 HDD (known as the BB Pack in Japan). Since its release in America and its upcoming release in Europe only Final Fantasy XI and Resident Evil Outbreak support the peripheral. In Japan a few more games support it like Bomberman Online and Everybody’s Golf 4 (Hot Shots Golf 4). Honestly though Final Fantasy XI is the main reason why people own even considered buying the hard disc drive, until now. Sony’s innovated DJ Box gives the Xbox Music Maker and MP3 support a run for its money.

First of all DJ Box isn’t a game. It doesn’t try to be the next Beatmania or the next Amplitude. DJ Box is as the game states "a futuristic DJ tool". It’s really designed as an introductory DJ package and with turntables outselling guitars as the number one instrument it isn’t a bad idea. The piece of software gives you two turntables and a mixer under your control. To start the game out you need to rip your CDs to the hard drive. Each CD you rip adds to your "record bag". You can play songs directly from the record bag and use the PS2 as a digital music player or you can mix songs together.

DJ Box has advanced tools in such a tiny package. Your not just getting two virtual turntables and a shoddy mixer. You’re getting a display that shows the beats per minute of a song, pitch control and even a display that shows the measures within a song. If you aren’t into DJing this may be a bit overwhelming, but all of these tools actually make learning how to be a DJ even simpler. Let’s take this back a few steps and explain the concepts of being a DJ. DJs take two different songs and try to blend them in as smoothly as possible. Different songs play at different speeds, which is why having a beat per minute counter is handy tool. When you are ready to mix in a new song you "cue" the song in the next turntable and adjust the new song’s speed by changing the pitch control. Once you get the beats to match you can blend the song in different points. In theory it’s a simple concept, doing it can be complex at first.

That’s why all of the features in DJ Box are aimed to help new DJs out. The measure meter shows you if two songs are lining up well. If both songs are around the same measures you know you can blend them with out the songs being off beat. This is a tool that physical mixers can’t display. Another nifty tool in the package is an "autosync" feature that will automatically set the BPM for you, taking one of the steps out of the scenario. This way novice DJs don’t have to worry or focus on beatmatching. Instead they focus on where to drop a new song in. Of course, this simplifies the experience of being a DJ, but it is nice to have when you start out.

Advanced DJs will find that they won’t need to use all of the tools designed to teach people how to DJ. Instead they will be more interested in neat things like the visualizers and the fact you can save sets on your hard drive. One of the things about being a DJ is that recording sets is a pain. You have to either carry around a laptop or a mini disc player to plug in your mixer. With DJ Box you can record sets directly on to the PS2 hard drive. You can cut and edit sets after they’re saved so you can tweak them to aural perfection. Another nice feature is having a wide variety of music at your fingertips. CDs always have been cheaper to purchase than vinyl and the DJ box holds up to 40GB or so of music. Which means on your tiny PS2 you can hold the equivalent of hundred crates of records. The visualizers are another fun tool that DJ Box offers. In the spirit of other multimedia players you get weird nebulas, fighting robots and other effects you would see at a night club. Are these useful to entertain a party? Of course they are!

Are DJs ready to turnover their tables in exchange for a PS2 anytime soon? Probably not, but DJ Box does offer people who are aspire to be a mixmaster a chance to do so. At the price of around $50, DJ Box comes in cheap compared to a $300 package with two turntables and a mixer. The price is a bit misleading because you need to have the hard drive to run the game. If you don’t already have a hard drive there is a DJ Box premium package that comes with the broadband adapter and a 40 GB hard drive. The premium package clocks in at about $200, which is a bit pricey. Even at the $200 price point DJ Box is sure to pique some interest in the growing number of DJs out there.

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 2

The menus have English text too them, but the important tutorials are all in Japanese. If you can’t read Japanese and are expecting this to teach you how to DJ you may want to wait for an English version.

US Bound?

There’s been no official US announcement and this piece of software was quietly released in Japan. However, this is something unique and something that has a wider audience in both American and Europe on top of Japan. So it seems natural that Sony would capitalize on the market outside of Japan.

+ Pros: A great tool for people interested in mixing music.

- Cons: Requires the hard drive (BB Pack) and network adaptor just to run the software.

Overall: If you’re curious or interested in DJing, DJ Box is the perfect starting point.

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