In the video game world nowadays, music games are tops. Chances are, you've gotten drunk with friends and played Rock Band or Guitar Hero -- you know, those enormously popular band games featuring the plastic instruments you pretend to play. But if you were ever jonesing for some hip-hop in these kind of games, you were pretty much stuck with a Beastie Boys track.

That's where "Def Jam Rapstar" comes in.

Def Jam Interactive is teaming up with game developers 4mm Games and Terminal Reality to release the first, full-fledged hip-hop music game. And we don't mean a game where famous rappers fight each other (see previous Def Jam games "Def Jam: Vendetta," "Def Jam: Fight For NY," "Def Jam: Icon").

Read more after the jump.

"Def Jam has had success with video games before, but the games were only peripherally involved with hip-hop," said Matt Emery, an associate producer at Terminal Reality, during a demonstration at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). "They were good games, but Def Jam came to us and said they wanted to make something that was more about hip-hop."

And while "Def Jam Rapstar" obviously boasts Def Jam in its title, it's not limited to Def Jam music. "We've already cleared hundreds of tracks," said Paul Eckstein, another producer at Terminal Reality. "The question is not if we can get music -- of course, we can. It's about what is the right music to get and what songs are fun to play."

He added, "And you're not going to see Vanilla Ice in here. It's about 'real hip-hop' and the 30-year tradition of hip-hop." The tracklisting shown at the presentation included "Put On" by Young Jeezy, "Gold Digger" by Kanye West, "Hypnotize" by Notorious B.I.G. as well as T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life."

Emery and Eckstein performed "Live Your Life," which had both of them rapping together, and even singing Rihanna's vocal part, while the official music video played in background. And unlike the other music games out on the market, which measure just your vocal pitch, "Def Jam Rapstar" will note whether or not you've got your lyrics in check. "The intention isn't to make you use the exact same accent as the original performer but to make sure you know the words," Emery said. "We don't want you to just hum into the microphone like you can in other games. We also grade you on timing. And obviously when you're singing, we grade you on hitting the right pitch."

But the game isn't just about whose tracks you can cover accurately; "Def Jam Rapstar"- aims to be the real thing for aspiring emcees. Not only will players be able to rhyme along to their favorite hip-hop songs, but they'll be able to record and share videos of themselves doing it using the cameras available for the current crop of consoles. While it certainly could be just a fun, karaoke-style party game to enjoy with intoxicated pals, the game-makers believe that "Def Jam Rapstar" could actually make, well, rapstars.

"The game at its core is about hip-hop, but the other thing is that it's about you," Emery said. "It's not about playing other rappers and trying to be them; you're the star. There are no avatars in this game. It's about your persona and the way you rap, the way you look, how you move."

"Def Jam Rapstar" promises to support would-be hip-hop artists with all the tools they need for potential stardom. If you don't want to cover a song, the game comes with pre-made instrumental tracks so that rappers can create their own rhymes. It will also include a video editor, letting players star in their own music videos. We weren't able to see all the video features just yet, but you'll be able to edit sound and video effects (for example, you can change the background so that you won't have to be seen rapping on the sofa). Then, via the console's interface, the videos can be uploaded to the game's community website, where other people can view and rate them.

"This can be an opportunity for new artists, a new A&R type of thing," Eckstein said. "People like Kevin Liles and Russell Simmons can go on here and search for talent. So if people don't have the money to buy 1,000 CDs and ship them out to different labels, labels can use this as an access point for talent."



And if you want to take friends along your rise to fame, you can form a crew, which can also be ranked on the website. "You can affiliate yourself with a geographical location or a group or friends," Emery explained. "It's about representing your group or wherever you're from. And there will be a lot of community features built around that concept, which is obviously very hip-hop."

Another aspect of hip-hop that the game developers plan to feature is competition. They expect that the game and its publicly displayed leaderboards will encourage players to challenge each other to rap battles. Due to the limited online technology of consoles at the moment, competitors won't be able to duke it out simultaneously, but they'll be able to send videos back and forth and let the people decide who wins. "The online space isn't just about your score anymore," Emery said. "It's about you being evaluated by your peers. So it's really like a hip-hop American Idol."

Ultimately, the game is as serious as you want it to be, and the developers just want to give hip-hop enthusiasts the means to show off their skills.

"Def Jam Rapstar is about you being the star and whatever tools we can provide to enhance your experience," Emery said. "You can sit there in your basement and have just a single-player game experience. Or you can connect with the community and share the music and your performances with each other." "It's almost criminal that [a hip-hop music game] hasn't been done before," Eckstein added. "Hip-hop is such a popular genre that this game has the potential to reach out to all types of different people -- anywhere from the gamers to hip-hop fans to Mom and Dad."

Though we're not sure quite we'd like to see our parents rap-battling online, you can test your own rhyming skills when "Def Jam Rapstar" is released this winter for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.