In a small hotel room in midtown Manhattan this month, I spent just over an hour with Activision's noticeably slimmed down holiday rhythm/music game line-up. Though we'll have to hold our impressions of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock until later this month, I can tell you all about my time spent with DJ Hero 2.

First and foremost -- and this might sound nuts to open with -- the design and layout of the user interface is beautifully vacant. The DJ selection screen isn't much more than a bright white background with selectable characters. That same design aesthetic carries over into the gameplay interface -- unlike the muddied rock and roll world of Guitar Hero, everything in DJ Hero 2 is sharp, crisp, and clean. The lighting may be low, but blues and reds and yellows can be seen popping all over the place.