Booyah's Upcoming Nightclub City DJ Rivals Strives to Blend What's Worked on iOS, Facebook

After layoffs earlier this year, Booyah is looking to blend the best elements of its two biggest hits so far in a forthcoming social-mobile game called Nightclub City DJ Rivals. With just a handful of apps under its belt -- namely MyTown, Nightclub City, and InCrowd -- Booyah is seeking another hit like Nightclub City. Though a full demo will not be available until the coming Game Developers Conference, what we did get to take a peek at looks promising. The game is described as the first rhythm-based, location-based RPG for mobile devices. Built for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Android, the cross-platform game seems to take creative content from Nightclub City and merge it with the location-based and "check-in" mechanics from MyTown. The idea is that players take on the role of an upstart DJ and must use GPS functionality to go around their town and spin at various venues. In order to succeed, players must work their way up the charts in an “Adventure Mode” of four chapters, defeating virtual bosses of the evil Big Hits Records and BlandCorp who are trying to take over the player’s town and make all the music boring. Unfortunately, details of the adventure mode are vague -- players seem to spin music in a rhythm game, which consists of timing taps, fades, and scratches. As the user plays more often, they will level up their character, boosting stats for battling (to be mentioned later), learn new DJ skills, discover collectable items, and earn in-game cash. These earnings then play a role in the location-based aspects of the game. It looks like DJ Rivals has done away with the boring and drab look of Google Maps, replacing it with a stylized layout of venues (which are probably buildings where players have checked in before). At each venue, players can become the “Resident DJ,” which is a musically-themed spin on the Foursquare mayor. What is different is that this title isn’t earned by checking-in alone. Players compete against each other to become the top DJ. If the player defeats all Resident DJs, they will earn a “Steady Gig” which gives them a stream of income from the location when other DJ Rival players check in. That said, this battling doesn’t seem to use the rhythm-based mechanics of the game (though we cannot say for sure). It instead appears to be a more social-RPG style of battle that pits a player's statistics and earned skills against a rival's. Nevertheless, with some of the images of the rhythm game labeled "battle," we are hopeful. Were that not enough, there is also the “Arena” mode where you can directly challenge friends, whenever or wherever, in order to take some of their money and boost your own stats. We're not sure whether or not this feature is synchronous, asynchronous, or both. However, within the virtual space venue for each location you can see other players in the area (like in InCrowd), so a multiplayer mode could potentially be synchronous. To further add to the game, players will be able to customize their own DJ Rig and avatar. Like InCrowd and MyTown, DJ Rivals will be connected to Nightclub City on Facebook for exclusive items and rewards, with extras earned by posting accomplishments to a Facebook feed. It will probably include all of the high quality indie music (as well as big names) that players of Nightclub City have come to know and love. Overall, there are still questions about how Nightclub City DJ Rivals will revive Booyah's fortunes, but it certainly does look fun. The prospective launch date is slated for sometime in late March, early April.

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Booyah's Upcoming Nightclub City DJ Rivals Strives to Blend What's Worked on iOS, Facebook

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack