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The setlist for this summer's hip-hop music game "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ" will include songs from Kanye West, Beastie Boys, The Black Eyed Peas, Eric B. and Rakim, Run DMC, Nelly, The Gorillaz and more. Read more...

Once "Guitar Freaks" and "Guitar Hero" established the basic interface for music sims, there was a natural extension to bass and drums, but one reason hip-hop games haven't caught on, a "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ" designer told me, is because hip-hop doesn't naturally lend itself to gameplay. Read more...

No one has challenged Konami's "Beatmania" turntable gaming series yet, but we could have two contenders in 2009 with "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ" and the rumored "DJ Hero" from Activision. We asked the creative lead on "Scratch" what he learned from Konami and his thoughts on a DJ "Guitar Hero." Read more...

My MTV News colleagues who cover the hip-hop beat recently showed me the raw footage of an amazing interview they conducted with Charles Hamilton, an up-and-coming rapper signed to Interscope who really, really liked the Sega Genesis. They've been nice enough to give us this exclusive clip.

Simply put, we need more rappers like Charles Hamilton. The man knows his video games. And he's.. creative.

Hamilton's so Sega-crazy that he's releasing a mixtape, called "Sonic The Hamilton," which chronicles his adventures of him living life as Sonic.

"I'm not crazy," he told us. Read more...

Over at MTVNews.com I've got an interview with Quincy Jones III, who is advising the development on the second DJ-based game that we've heard about in the last few weeks. This one, "Scratch: Ultimate DJ," is coming out with a turntable controller for "next-generation" platforms next spring.

Rap still hasn't had a hit rhythm game. It was about a year ago that I wrote about that lack of hip-hop in a music-game genre dominated by rock (and had Alex Rigopulos explain the inherent challenges to me).

While interviewing Jones about "Scratch," he told me that, in the course of getting music licensed for the game, he's found a lot of people who want rap's absence in rhythm games to be over. He said it's time for a rap rhythm game that succeeds.

From my piece:

"The urban community has rallied around this," Jones said in a telephone interview. "They see the void as well. It's been a great communal effort to make this the best it can be so we can see more games like it."

Hip-hop community, is now the time to get a piece of this rhythm game phenomenon? "Get On Da Mic" didn't do the trick. Can "Scratch"? Could "DJ Hero"?

Read the rest of our report: New Turntable-Based Video Game Is Another Attempt At Hip-Hop 'Guitar Hero'

Video gamers, your breakdancing options are limited. There was the little-discussed PSP/PS2 game "B-Boy." And... so how about this game, sponsored by Red Bull and coming to the DS? "Red Bull BC One" arrives this month from development studio Smack Down Productions and publisher Ignition Entertainment.

Ignition describes "BC One" as a music/puzzle game. The game requires players to connect dots into a maximum number of complex shapes, to keep breakdancers on the top screen moving. You drawing circles with the stylus for head spin. The soundtrack's the kind of hip-hop you'd breakdance to, if you had the necessary cardboard box. This debut trailer for the game shows how it all works. The game is set for release on September 16.

(Video will not be accessible for users logging in from Canada or parts of Europe due to MTV licensing restrictions)

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the seminal rap and hip-hop show "Yo! MTV Raps" I have put together a top ten list of the best hip-hop video games ever to hit the streets.

Hip-hop is one of the most raw and emotional musical genres, and the same can be said about the video games that it inspires, at least some of them. Also much like hip-hop as a genre, hip-hop games have had their fair share of Vanilla Ices.

We know calling this a "top 10" is stretching it a little bit, as that implies that these games stand out, above all other games. Hip-hop has had much more success as a musical genre than as a basis for video games.

To help frame the list, "Shaq Fu" almost made the cut.

1. Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style (PS1)
Saying that "everyone had their own fighting game back in the 1990's" really isn't too much of a stretch, as is proven by "Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style." You could complete the trials of the 36 chambers in order to save Master Xin. Your weapon: the ancient form of kung fu, known as Wu-Tang. With "Shaolin Style" Wu-Tang became the first rap group to break new ground in terms of mass marketing your brand. While the game may not have been that great, it is the only game on this list to have its own awesome controller.

2. Def Jam (series spanning PS2, PS3, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP)
No other franchise on this list oozes hip-hop more than the "Def Jam" series. Collectively, over 60 artists and celebrities have appeared over the course of three different fighting games. Spanning the past twenty years of hip-hop, the series let you kick some ass as everyone from old schoolers Funkmaster Flex and Public Enemy, to today's hottest emcees, like T.I. and The Game. The series has the most complete assembly Def Jam's classic artists. Read more...

Music games, music games: "Rock Band," "SingStar," "Guitar Hero," "Jam Sessions," "DDR," "Elite Beat Agents," "Hannah Montana."

They're everywhere.

Rap music games? They're ... nowhere.

How can the video game genre that first broke big with "PaRappa The Rapper" be almost completely devoid of rap games? Why isn't there a "Turntable Hero" or a "Rap Band"? (Don't get me started on "Beatmania," which was mostly techno.) What has there been of late, except for "Get On Da Mic" three years ago?

I need answers and have been asking top music game creators what the problem is, at least from the creative side of things. The makers of "SingStar" and "Guitar Hero III" couldn't weigh in in time for my GameFile column today, but people behind "Rock Band," "Get On Da Mic" and "PaRappa" did. Check it out at the link.

Here's an excerpted quote from producer Denis Lacasse at "Get On Da Mic" studio Artifical Mind and Movement :

"The main difficulty was the display of the lyrics onscreen. Rap music tends to have a lot of words per second, a lot more than rock or pop. We needed to display the lyrics quickly enough to follow the beat but also so that the players can read them."

And here's a comment from Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix developer "Rock Band":

"Most people are pretty self-conscious about even trying to rap in front of other people. That's a pretty significant barrier."

Everyone I talked to thinks it's just a matter of time before there's a hit rapping game. But it sure sounds like there are some big problems to solve first. There's plenty more about this in the column.