Yesterday, Electronic arts and Def Jam confirmed the development of Def Jam: Icon for Xbox 360 and PlayStation3. Def Jam: Icon features several big names of the Hip-Hop scene like Ludacris and Big Boi.
Music will effect how players fight in each venue and environmental interactions and hazards will become a key strategy to staying alive.” What that means in terms of gameplay remains in the dark for now.
According to Kudo Tsunoda, executive producer and General Manager of EA Chicago, “Music is the cornerstone of hip-hop culture, so we wanted to incorporate music and rhythm into the actual gameplay mechanics. In Def Jam: Icon, we are changing the way fighting games are played! We are completely innovating the role of the environments in the game, moving from the typical lifeless arenas the hip-hop celebrities are fighting in to environments that play an instrumental part in the fight where they will react to the music and interact with both characters like a third fighter.”
Def Jam: Icon will be the third Def jam title to be released, following Vendetta in 2003, and Fight for New York in 2004. A PSP version of Fight for New York is currently being developed.