Scruffy McGhee says: This week’s VIRGINIA SLIMS is a notorious gamer and all-around Rock Band legend. Find out more about Ciji Thornton after the jump.

Every guy has dreams of having his favorite girl gaming character on his arm at some point. Whether its walking into the room with Lara Croft; busting your guns in the street with Samus; or even play fighting with Tifa — it’s no secret that every badass gamer needs an even radder gaming girl. With that in mind, Don’t Lose Your Day Job proudly present VIRGINIA SLIMS—showcasing the best digital video game vixens on this side of the InternetS!

From week to week, we’ll profile the sexiest women that you need to know about. Allow us to introduce you to professional video gamer Ciji “StarSlay3r” Thornton. Widely considered as one of the world’s top female gamers, StarSlay3r has been gaming since a young youth, and began beating fools for their pocket change (we keed, we keed) since 1998. In 2006, the Texas transplant gained the attention of MTV for being a top 10 Guitar Hero 2 player at the CPL tournament held in Dallas. From there Ciji utilized her respect within the gaming industry to rack up appearances on reality TV shows such as WCG Ultimate Gamer and Sony‘s The Tester.

In this week’s installment of VIRGINIA SLIMS, Ciji Thornton shares her competitive gaming crushes, reminiscences on how she lost her video game virginity, and fantasizes what she would do if she ruled the video game industry. Enjoy!

:: GAME ON! ::

Don’t Lose Your Day Job: Name two people you are attracted to in the industry and why? What would you like people to be attracted to when it comes to you?

Ciji Thornton: Alessandro ‘Stermy’ Avallone is definitely one person. He’s good looking, but also he’s very smart, kind and a total badass when it comes to Quake! He’s definitely someone I look up to in the gaming world. Another person I’d say is Lim ‘Slayers Boxer’ Yo-Hwan! He’s definitely good looking and amazing at StarCraft. His persona is one that definitely grabbed my attention. But when it comes to me… I don’t really care too much if people are or are not attracted to me. I don’t think that what I do should revolve around looks as much as overall skill and influence in the gaming industry. While it is nice to get compliments on my looks, I don’t think that looks should play a big part in the pro-gaming scene and I would rather have people respect me for what I have done in the community over how I look at a tournament or something.

DLYDJ: PS3 or Xbox 360?

CT: I used to be hardcore into PlayStation until I started competing professionally in 2006. Once I learned that most of the tournaments were ran on [Xbox] 360 I decided to get a 360 with my winnings from a Guitar Hero 3 pre-release tournament and it has been my console of choice ever since. My main reasons for preferring the 360 are 1) It’s the main console for most tournaments I enter. 2) The majority of my friends have the system! 3) I love the console exclusives. I don’t hate the PS3, I just don’t have any intentions of dishing out $250 for the console and replacing all my games and peripherals for that system any time soon. It’s too expensive!

DLYDJ: Finish this scenario: You’re locked in a tie-breaker with a competitive Guitar Hero player. What song would you pick to walk home with the championship?

CJ: Hmmm… I think I’d pick the “Mercyful Fate Medley” on Guitar Hero: Metallica. On top of it being challenging, it’s one of my favorite songs to play in the series.

DLYDJ: When did you lose your video game virginity?

CJ:  I started playing games when I was just a child. My grandmother was big into Super Mario Bros. on the NES and my dad also bought us a NES. After seeing that and then getting one of my own—I was hooked! My parents mostly got the system as a learning tool from what I remember. I had various edutaining games like Sesame Street ABC and 123-type games along with the usual Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I enjoyed gaming so much that I just never stopped playing as the years went on.

DLYDJ: If you could have cyber sex with one video game character who would it be?

CT: [Laughs] Ahh, sheesh! That’s such a crazy question! I’d have to say Squall from Final Fantasy VIII could get it—hands down!

DLYDJ: With gaming reality shows like Ultimate Gamer and The Tester being popular to both hardcore and casual gamers — what is the next grand webseries in your opinion? 

CT: I think Ultimate Gamer was definitely a show that was entertaining and got people who weren’t into gaming to realize how big competitive gaming is—which was a great step in the right direction. The Tester couldn’t quite compare to Ultimate Gamer at all. In the future, I’d love to see more shows like Ultimate Gamer crossed with CGS. I would love to see a more serious reality show that highlights professional gaming and big money, but I’m not sure shows like that will survive the test of time. Unfortunately people don’t care to watch other people play games for hours, and their thirst for drama and entertainment is something that will make it really hard for video game reality shows to stick around for a while.

DLYDJ: If you ruled the video gaming world, you would…?

CT: If I ruled every aspect of it? Hmm… that’s a tough one. I can’t think of some epic thing I’d do, I’d just create a game I’ve always wanted… Rock Hero. [Laughs] My favorite parts of Rock Band and Guitar Hero would be combined! Damn, that would be one epic game. But other then that, I’d love to create and run more tournaments and sponsor gamers. It’s hard to find sponsors and raise money to do such things these days, but I suppose if I ruled the video game world I could make anything happen.

DLYDJ: Last question, Ciji… The best way to convince your girl to get into playing video games would to be to…?

CT: There’s multiple ways you could try to tackle that one. You could ask her to play with you and see if she gets hooked on the games you already love and play. You could take your knowledge of her likes and try to find a game related to that and introduce it to her to see if it peaks her interest. For example… if she loves music you could introduce her to Guitar Hero or Rock Band. If she loves to dance in real life, maybe introduce her to a dancing game, etc.

I think the biggest problem guys have is that they either just complain about how their girl isn’t a gamer but they never take the time to ask her if she’d like to learn, and/or the females do try to play but they get beat down or smack talked to the point that they get discouraged and decide not to play anymore. Not every girl is going to be super amazing at games, and not every girl will be able to take the smack talk or criticism involved in leveling up so the best thing to do would be to introduce games to her slowly, and in a relaxed environment.

Teach her a few things, have her play against you and your friends, maybe even take her to a local arcade for some matches against random people, just try to avoid throwing her in a deathmatch for a FPS game online for her first time so that she has a positive first experience and isn’t turned off by the idea.

Harmonix and MTV Games has revealed during their Faux Fun to Real Rock Comic-Con 2010 panel more tracks that will be available on the Rock Band 3 and Dance Central discs.

Clark Kent says: Get a whiff of the tracks for yourself after the jump!

VIA NGN:

Rock Band 3 tracks:

* Marilyn Manson – “The Beautiful People”
* Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
* Foreigner – “Cold As Ice”
* Def Leppard – “Foolin’”
* The B-52s – “Rock Lobster”
* Tears For Fears – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”

Dance Central tracks:

* Snoop Dogg – “Drop It Like Its Hot”
* Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It”
* Young MC – “Bust A Move”

Clark Kent asks: What’s better in your opinion — Rock Band or Guitar Hero? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Clark Kent says: For years Hazel-E (Arica Adams) has helped me bring those beautiful bodies that you enjoyed seeing over at HipHopDX’s ‘Beauty & Brains’ section. After the jump Hazel-E steps to the front of the stage! Enjoy.

California is known for a lot of things but behind the scenes it takes a careful few to navigate the treacherous waters of Hollywood. Arica Adams has been at the forefront of the entertainment scene representing talented individuals and putting them in a position to sink or swim. After getting her start at Echoing Soundz, she left the house of awesomeness to chart her own waters — Hazel-E has put her own plan into actions. Pursuing her love of music the publicist-turned-artist is hipping folks to her two singles “Valley Girl” and “Hot Topic” and is pushing her movement to the masses. As this week’s VIRGINIA SLIMS, Hazel talks about her transition from behind the scenes to in front of the camera, explains why NOH8 is great, and dishes about when she lost her video game virginity!

DLYDJ: You hear of folks wanting to be entertainers — like rappers and actors. But never publicists. How did you make such a transition?

HE: I always wanted to be an entertainer I actually tried acting before I got into doing publicity. I was a body double for Raven Simone on the Disney Channel and I did some a little bit of work while I was in college. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree and continued to work in entertainment… just behind the scenes. I learned every aspect of the music industry while doing PR for artists. Now I’m mixed in with that crowd. It’s kind of like school. I studied hard so that I could pass the test quickly when it was my turn. Networking is one of the most important lessons I learned in the music industry. It is key and it helps me even today. You don’t network just to talk to people; you want to do actual business with them. Things in my life are moving at lightening speed and I believe it’s because I know how to make the best out of the resources that I have. In addition to a credible name and positive work history, being an artist lets you maintain creative control of your artistry, which helps in letting your audience know how you want to be received. I try new things but at the end of the day I’m very clear about what works for me. I have a team that helps, but I have to do my fair share of work in branding myself as well. Some artists rely on other people way too much. I’d want to stress that one should always have the mind-frame of an independent artist even if you have a huge record deal.

DLYDJ: Folks are all able to infuse creativity into their art with the Internet being under the spotlight. How is your movement different than others?

HE: My movement is kind of weird… I’m working from the inside/out [laughs] I have the support of “Hollywood” and the media, so now I’m working to gain the support of the “streets”. The Internet is the biggest tool of them all. The first time you meet anyone these days most people go and Google that person. It’s like everyone is an FBI agent or something [laughs]. Everyone wants to see what they can find out about the other person and honestly if online is cracking that much then you will have people checking up on you. My online game is most definitely above average.

DLYDJ: Fashion is another one of your love’s, correct? With folks like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga incorpoarting different looks — how do you see the trends in hip-hop expanding?

HE: Heck yeah! I’m a fashion addict — a true Material Girl! In high school I was voted as best dressed! [Laughs] Seriously I believe that fashion is a part of your artistry. Half of what makes Lady Gaga so dope is her image. She takes it there, owns it, and people get into it. The same goes for me. People like my Valley Girl flow and I have a cocky, stuck-up swag to it, so my image should definitely match that. I’m a little extra in parts and my image portrays that as well. Who knows when, where, or how you’ll see Hazel-E, but people always want to find out! Everyone in the game is trying stuff out. That’s great to see! Kanye is a fashion god, damn near, Diddy be doing his Diddy Bop, Lil’ Kim has always done her out of the box stuff, and even someone like Pharrell is flyer than me [laughs]. You have new artists like Nicki [Minaj] creating a bunch of little “Barbz” running around so I do believe that doing your own thing is a necessity. If you look at Michael Jackson, everyone knew what the silvery, sparkly glove meant… or the red and black Thriller jacket. It was Michael Jackson expressing himself. Fashion gives an artist life which then helps to bring the music to life. It helps you to create the character and the more out of the box fashion grows, the more artists are willing to go there with them.

DLYDJ: Speaking of characters — I was wondering when did you lost your video game virginity?

HE: When I was young — about five years old — I loved to play Nintendo and Atari. ‘Super Mario Bros.‘, ‘Space Invaders‘, and ‘Duck Hunt‘ were some of my favorites. Now as an adult, I’d say about three years ago, I became a ‘Rock Band‘/’Guitar Hero‘ junkie! I’m a drummer [laughs]. If I had my own band I would be the lead — I’d want Slash on the guitar, Travis Barker on the drums, David Guetta on the turntables, Jay-Z as my hype man, Alicia Keys on the piano-slash-backup vocals, and Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Janet [Jackson], and Ciara would be my backup dancers. The group’s name would be Planet Pluto — we so out of here that we don’t exist anymore [laughs].

DLYDJ: You said that you’re a “gimmick”, industry made, clearly and positively. As a tabloid chick what trends or gimmicks do you see becoming popular this year?

HE: I said I was a gimmick because that’s what people were going to try to say about me anyways. All this ish is gimmicky! When you can classify an artist it’s a “gimmick” — you can say that he is the “new white rapper” like an Eminem or he is the “new R. Kelly” like a Trey Songz. People put folks in categories. It seems like all female artists outside of Taylor Swift are bad: Miley Cyrus and Rihanna are bad; we love it when Sasha Fierce comes out, and [Lady] Gaga is most definitely out of pocket — so the bad girl thing has been pretty popular since Madonna and it doesn’t look like it’ll be changing anytime soon. We are in a society where the number one show on TV is about a bunch of chicks who are just completely reckless-dot-com and it has the highest ratings out. The Bad Girls Club is similar to the music industry — no one really wants to see a goodie two shoes — they’re boring. The world likes seeing girls act naughty — think Girl’s Gone Wild — the biggest DVD ever! An artist who finds their alter ego and rocks out with that is one who is trying to branch out. I damn near talk about myself in third person because I have to say, “What would Hazel do?” [laughs].

DLYDJ: Well, you’re not all the way a bad girl… You partnered up with Teiarra Mari for the NoH8 Campaign. Can you talk about the experience?

HE: [Laughs] I’m still sweet on the inside, Kev… The NOH8 Campaign was really, really important to me! The gay community gets my whole life together — so when the opportunity came up I hit the homie, Teairra [Mari] up and said, “Hey bitch, let’s hit it and go support our Judy’s!” Every voice counts and showing our support got a little burn for a cause that I agree with. I think that everyone should be treated equally and fairly. There is way too much hate going on and everyone needs to knock it off! People love to comment on everyone else’s business but their own! We all love a little behind the doors action and all, but when people’s main purpose in life is to tear down others, it’s just pathetic. The energy wasted in hating could be the same time you spend working on your own stuff. I don’t have the time to fight back or talk about other folks and what they’re doing because how is that going to help me in the long run? I just like telling jokes and me tearing down others isn’t going to put any extra money in my pocket — unless you’re a blogger, of course! [Laughs] No offense to my blog sites — Hazel loves you!

DLYDJ: The tattoo culture out in the West is well-documented. You got a few tats yourself, right? What’s your best memory you had in getting your ink? Would you get anymore?

HE: Tats are big out here! It’s a freedom of expression. Depending on where you get them it almost screams that I’m an artist and I don’t want a 9-to-5 desk job. I have twelve tattoos and I plan on getting more. They are all very small and sexy. My most noticeable tattoo is the one on my hand — a rosary with a music note hanging down my middle finger. I got it because I was going through a break-up and I was like f*ck love — hence the heart on my knuckle and the chain goes down into a music note. That meant that I’m turning my new love into my music and my artistry. After I got it I knew that there was no turning back! It symbolizes music as my religion. I really want people to tune in because being a Valley Girl is totally hot! It’s fun and positive. I’m not on any sexual kick and I’m definitely not talking about “gang-banging” — I’m all about chicks with brains and beauty and lifestyle rock! Think of it as being on some socialite ish — it’s all about the party girls who have control of their lives and living it to the fullest! Valley Girl’s rock!!! My music is real Hip-Pop, it’s upbeat, I have a song called “Pop My Butt” is for the Jerkers and the rest is real lyrically sound. Peep what I say that’s how you really get to know Hazel-E! “Hot Topic” features West Coast rapper Ya Boy and was produced by J. Hawk — the man behind the Jerk movement. The music is all around fun — it’s a little House influenced with a hint of my Southern roots. “Hot Topic” is the new single and Valley Girl is the movement.

Clark Kent says: Wanna know more about Hazel-E? Check her out on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/hazelebaby!

According to the stepsister of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix, we could be seeing Hendrix: Rock Band by year’s end. Janie Hendrix revealed the mystery project during a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.

VIA G4:

While Hendrix is certainly a viable candidate for a standalone Rock Band game, it’s hard to believe that Harmonix and EA would release two full blown, single-artist RB games in the same year – Green Day: Rock Band being the first. Plus, whenever this kind of information is revealed, the person who did it never really has an intimate connection with the gaming world, so it’s always better to assume they aren’t entirely sure what they’re talking about.

In this case, I’d say that the Hendrix game will most likely either be a big track pack collection, or, if it is in fact a Hendrix-themed Rock Band title, it won’t be released until next year sometime. Then again, this year is the 40th anniversary of Hendrix’s death, so putting something out now would be a logical move, especially from a promotional standpoint.

Interestingly enough though, Guns-n-Rose’s guitarist Slash suggested to Rolling Stone back in 2008 that a Hendrix-themed Guitar Hero was in the works, following the releases of Guitar Hero: Metallica . Could Janie Hendrix be confusing one music game franchise for another? It’s possible. Hendrix did already appear in Guitar Hero: World Tour, so the character modeling is already done. Until we get some clarification though, wonder will have to suffice.

Clark Kent says: With this and The Doors movies coming out, I’m so excited that I have to post one of my favorite Jimi songs:

Clark Kent says: The picture above is pretty friggin’ awesome, right? Well, that bodacious body belongs to Morgan Daniele and if you’re impressed by that, wait till you see what’s waiting for you after the jump.

For those who have been following both my career and Morgan Daniele’s, you’ll know this isn’t the first time we chopped it up. This HipHopDX ‘Beauty & Brains’ alum has been on the road to greatness for awhile now. The 22-year-old Georgia peach may be thicker than a Snicker, but she has the brains to match. In this week’s installment of VIRGINIA SLIMS, Morgan Daniele educates you on her freaky side, why school won’t save you from a recession, and school’s fools on who she really is!

DLYDJ: The modeling game seems to have slacked off since KING Magazine’s demise — what are the new hustles now?

MD: There are always opportunities as long as there is a demand for beautiful women. I’m a bartender, a student, I do hair – I make sure that I hustle. My level of success is based on me and what I do. It is important to handle everything, so I don’t want to say that I’m going to have a big load on my plate, because I’m in school and that is my focus. Right now, it’s my senior year and I graduate in May 2010. When I’m done I’ll spend time with my family, go out to the grad parties and hold up my degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. After that I’ll get ready to go for my Master’s as soon as possible. My mother tells me if you quit school then you’ll make it hard for yourself to return.

DLYDJ: Has school been keeping you safe from the recession?

MD: [Laughs] I think the life of a college student is a struggle in itself. You’re trying to stay on top of everything. When you’re living at home your parents are taking care of you, when they say that you’re eating ramen noodles and drinking water, they ain’t lying. I really didn’t have money like that. I didn’t get a job until my sophomore year. It’s harder to get a job now than it was back then. So, while you’re in school, there are so many folks who don’t have jobs. The tuition is going up. Folks can’t afford that. The loans they give out are TOO expensive.

DLYDJ: I’m sure folks wanna know what about your freaky side, so I figured I’d ask on their behalf. When did you lose your video game virginity and to whom?

MD: The first game I played was ‘Zelda‘. My god-sister had put me on to the game. It was on Nintendo and I was at her house almost every day playing it until I got my own. I then got the Super Nintendo, then the Nintendo 64. I had a ‘Lion King‘ game, I really enjoyed playing those games. Now though, I’m more of a Rock Band/Guitar Hero person now. One of my favorite songs to play is “Maps” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I kill the guitar. Nobody is better than me on the guitar [laughs].

DLYDJ: After we did the interview for HipHopDX and it ran live, I remember that you were frustrated by the comments. What is it that people misunderstand when it comes to your life and your aspirations?

MD: The biggest misunderstanding about me is that I’m stuck up and that I think I’m better than a lot of people. Folks think that I don’t have the time to socialize or that I choose not to have friends. But what they don’t know is that I’ve put myself out there plenty of times. It’s hard for me to open up to people and be friends with folks. I’m not going to try to befriend a bunch of people who I feel like I can’t trust. Knowing that doesn’t not make me rude. I love to smile. I love to make people laugh. I’m not going to go out of my way to make. It’s not that I don’t want to be in the student center, it’s just that so many things are going on in there. I like to chill and be around my circle of friends. I don’t want to be a part of something that’s not like that. If I tell you I’m going to do something then I’m going to do it.

DLYDJ: We also talked about how skinny girls can get thick. I see they didn’t want to take your advice as it seems more ladies are getting ass implants. Why do you think that is?

MD: I saw a video the other day on Tyra and they were talking about getting a voluptuous figure. This lady got 42 shots and almost died. Personally, I want bigger breasts, but I’m not going to change what God gave me. I take my bras to Victoria Secrets and get my push up and keep it moving. For those chicks who are looking to get thick… eat some bread or something [laughs]. If you think about it, what type of affects will that have on your body? Implants look hard, like a rock, covered in play-dough. When they’re photoshopped, they look glazed over. They hang super low. I have not met a man yet who really likes a woman with implants. Most of the women who get them have skinny-skinny waists and legs, but then have that. They have that weird separation. It just shows that something ain’t right and these women don’t have confidence in themselves… which is sad because honestly everyone has something beautiful about themselves in one way or another.

Clark Kent says: Wanna get to know more about Morgan Daniele? Check her out on Twitter at http://twitter.com/morgandaniele.

Guitar Freaks: A guitar game with a Guitar Hero like controller (really, the Guitar Hero controller is Guitar Freaks like, but we’ll get to that), except that it only had 3 buttons.

Drummania: A drum game styled like an authentic electronic drum set, complete with hi-hat (but no hi-hat pedal), bass drum, snare drum, two toms, and a cymbol.

Clark Kent says: Sound and look familiar? You be the judge. Read more after the jump.

Guitar Freaks and Drummania (GFDM) were first released in Japanese arcades (and later ported to consoles) in 1998 and 1999, respectively.  So, long before Guitar Hero (2005) or Rock Band (2007) existed, Guitar Freaks and Drummania were allowing Japanese arcade goers to play virtual guitar and drums.  What’s more, they linked together so that two people could be playing guitar while one plays drums… and one more plays keyboard through Keyboardmania, which also linked to both Guitar Freaks and Drummania.  So, not only did Guitar Freaks and Drummania do what Rock Band does now much earlier, but it did more than Guitar Hero or Rock Band.  The only advantage that Rock Band has is the singing aspect, which was done by Konami and Harmonix (who also started Guitar Hero and does Rock Band now) with Karaoke Revolution starting in 2003 in the US.  So, in short, it’s complicated, but Konami did it first, so that’s a lot of points in favor of GFDM.

But, did GFDM do it better?  Well, hands down, Drummania did drums better.  It actually emulated a full (well, very nearly full… add a hi-hat pedal and you would have it) electronic drum set.  Based on the controller, Guitar Freaks did not do Guitar better than Rock Band.  But, as for the gameplay, was it more fun?

Here are the main two differences between Rock Band and GFDM in terms of raw gameplay, as well as a couple other differences related to each of the games:

First, combos versus accuracy.  For Rock Band, how close you were to hitting the note perfectly doesn’t matter.  It only matters that you hit the note within a certain range.  You either hit a note, or you don’t.  You improve your score through hitting multiple notes back to back, creating a combo, and creating a multiplier.  For GFDM, you get rated on how close you were to the exact moment of the note, and you increase your score by hitting the notes more accurately.  There is also a combo part in Guitar Freaks, though.  Every once in a while, a symbol will scroll alongside the notes indicating that you can lift the guitar for a bonus (yes, just like star power, except you don’t enter a temporary state, you just get bonus points right there), and that bonus is based on your current combo.  This is pretty much just up to personal taste.

Difficulty, easy versus hard.  This will probably upset a few fans of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but if you compare the hardest songs from GFDM to the hardest songs in either of the US released games, GFDM is much harder and takes much more practice and skill to beat.  For those that like a good challenge that will last them a very long time, this is a good thing.  For those who simply want to enjoy playing a little music in a video game, this might be a bad thing.  There are, of course, much easier songs on both games, though.  And, yes, Guitar Freaks with 3 buttons IS harder than Guitar Hero with 5 buttons.

Sounds, hit or miss versus play a note when you hit it.  Yeah, that sounds awkward, but it’s what it is.  In Guitar Hero and Rock Band, if you miss a note, it makes a “miss” noise.  If you hit a note, it plays that particular note in perfect time whether you actually hit it in perfect time or not.  In GFDM, that is not the case.  If you hit the wrong note, it simply plays the wrong note, and the song will sound wrong.  And, when you hit a note, it plays that note exactly when you hit it.  So, if your timing is a little off, you will hear it, and you will be able to adjust it.  For some, this is clearly points in favor of GFDM, but not for all.

Other differences, song selection.  GFDM uses a lot of “Konami Original Songs”, meaning that they write music for the game themselves.  There is a wide variety of music there, and not just lots of rock.  Of course, when I phrase it that way, it sounds like a good thing, but maybe it isn’t.  Most of the USA absolutely loves rock, and Guitar Hero and Rock Band are tailored to the average American’s taste.  That being said, how many original never-been-heard songs are in Guitar Hero or Rock Band?  Not licensed songs, not covers, not remixes, but completely original and new songs?  Well, the answer is none.  So, while your tastes might need to defer a little from the average American’s tastes to enjoy the soundtrack of GFDM, you will be hearing and playing songs you can’t get anywhere else, as well as a few licensed songs from all over the world.  The downside is that chances are that GFDM will probably never have your favorite American rock song in its song list, and that may be a deal breaker for some.

Last difference, domestic versus import. Since Guitar Hero and Rock Band are domestic games, you don’t have to pay a premium to have access to them. They work on your home console without any special modifications. GFDM games, on the other hand, are import video games that need to be played either on a modified American console or on an imported Japanese console, at least in most cases. Furthermore, you’ll have to pay a little more for the game itself because games cost more in Japan, and you’ll have to pay the extra shipping costs, making it rather unattractive financially.

Which is better?  It is mostly up to personal tastes.  From a technical perspective, GFDM is better because it emulates playing an instrument (not necessarily guitar or drums specifically, just an instrument) more closely and allows for more skill development, but that doesn’t necessarily make the game more fun.  However, for some, it does make the game more fun, albeit less accessible.  Whichever you prefer, though, be sure to give some credit to the ones that did it first, Konami with GFDM.

Also, a note, the latest version of Guitar Freaks will be using 5 buttons instead of 3, so while Guitar Hero and Rock Band copied GFDM, now GFDM is copying them back.  Also, Konami does a lot more games than just Guitar Freaks and Drummania.  Here is a nice selection of the games that Konami produces under it’s music department, called Bemani:

Clark Kent says: Today’s guest blogpost is courtesy of Kuro Matsuri Games. He really knows his imports!!! I wonder who throws the better party – Guitar Hero or Guitar Freaks? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Clark Kent says: Last night the good folks at Guitar Hero invited me out to see Jay-Z’s MySpace performance at Blender Theater. It being my first time there, you can only imagine the hijinks I got into when I walked through the door.

After getting beat in Madden by Mighty Casey in a miraculous comeback, I hopped on the train and made my way to the show. It felt like it took forever so I started jotting down thoughts for my next “Single In The City” blog and by the time I got halfway through, I was there.

I get to the door and show the RSVP slip and when I get in – the scene is familiar to a video game nerd like me. 42” Samsung TV’s, drinks and DJ Hero blaring out of the speakers. But Hov is on the bill, so you know the fans are coming out to see him, too. Shout-out to everyone there, by the way… Tito, Gerry, The Scully Bros., EMitts, Panama, DJ Boy Wonda, Kwasi, Tara and Double-O (anybody else I missed, I was under the influence… lol) – and thanks to Jordan, Ryh-Ming and Aaron over at Guitar Hero for letting me see the show.

After a lengthy wait, we get up and there’s Hov standing with his swagger on a hundred thousand million. Folks had told me that this was his practice before his show at the Garden – and they were right. He pulled out the hits, but had no special guest appearances. The vibe just wasn’t there. He even knew it:

Jay-Z: You, homeboy, sitting on the steps. This ain’t a poetry reading. You f—ed my vibe up. All these great people came here to party.

That was true. Whoever the lazy guy was definitely blew my high as the crowd was like an on and off switch with almost every song played. Again – that’s not saying Jay didn’t come with it – he just worked with what was offered. Hov was trying to work with the crowd, told a few jokes, repped Brooklyn and performed songs off of ‘The Blueprint 3′. I don’t know, y’all… Something was just in the hair. I thought Bleek tripped over a plug or something that fucked up the show something major, but according to Bossip it was the FDNY:

Close to half an hour later, the music abruptly stopped while Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek were performing “You, Me, Him and Her.” Then fire alarms sounded and FDNY officials entered the venue. The Brooklyn rapper didn’t appear happy by the delay as he wiped his face amid chants of “Hova.”

Fortunately, the officials exited after just minutes.

And so did the rest of the energy. The rest of it was kind of ebb and flow for the rest of the night, Jay ended with “Encore,” but was probably already in the back of his Maybach on his way to the 40/40 where he was hosting later on that evening. All in all, DJ Hero fans, you have a game where you’ll be able to play it around drunk friends and don’t have to worry about anyone thinking your party is a “poetry reading.”

For those who didn’t get a chance to be there, check out Jay doing his thing below:

The growing crew of turntable legends bringing mixes exclusively to DJ Hero continues to build with the addition of The Scratch Perverts, winners of the inaugural DMC World Team Championship in 1999, and hip hop turntablist DJ Yoda, one of today’s hottest DJs tearing it up on the ones and twos.

VIA PR:

The Scratch Perverts, a UK-based crew comprised of scratch masters Tony Vegas, DJ Primecuts and Plus One, have spun five mixes including:

Common – “Universal Mind Control (UMC)” vs. Masta Ace – “Jeep A** Gutter”
Eric B. & Rakim – “Eric B. Is President” vs. M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”
Noisia – “Groundhog” (Beat Juggle)

DJ Yoda has created two mixes that will appear on-disc when DJ Hero drops this October:

The Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back” vs. Gang Starr – “Just to Get a Rep”
Little Richard – “Tutti Frutti” vs. Shlomo – “Beats”

Expanding upon the revolutionary easy to pick up/challenging to master gameplay mechanics developed and refined in Guitar Hero, DJ Hero delivers an all-new interactive music experience that allows players to start the party and not only experience, but to hear music in an all-new way. With over 100 individual songs, highlighted in 93 unique never-before-released mixes that blend genres of music, including hip-hop, pop, rock and dance, DJ Hero delivers the most diverse and international collection of music ever assembled in a music game by incorporating anthems from legendary artists. Created exclusively for DJ Hero, the turntable controller immerses fans into the authenticity of DJ culture and a sea of music as they utilize and master various DJ techniques including scratching, blending, cross fading and sampling, while leaving room for creative expression with a variety of effects and player chosen samples and scratches, transforming a face in the crowd into the life of the party.

Clark Kent says: The party will DEFINITELY be at my crib once I get my hands on this. Yes… most definitely!