May 7, 2009: Screenshots of the DJ Hero turntable peripheral surfaced on Twitter, and were later confirmed by Activision to be authentic. From the two screenshots, little can be ascertained about how the peripheral actually functions.

The DJ Hero turntable peripheral allows gamers to play along with pre-recorded music, spinning and mixing. It features a platter for scratching and functions similarly to the strummer on the Guitar Hero controller. There are also three buttons for sampling, a cross fader and a dial for sound effects.Kotaku: First DJ Hero Details: Turntable Controller, Mash-Ups, Guitar Co-Op (September 12, 2008)Kotaku: DJ Hero Peripheral Revealed (May 7, 2009)

Another DJ video game, called Scratch, is also currently in development. Activision was given a sneak peek at the game and then promptly acquired the game's developer, 7 Studios, to work on DJ Hero.

The publisher of Scratch, Genius Products, filed a lawsuit claiming that 7 Studios was purposely holding up the development of Scratch in order to benefit Activision. The lawsuit requested that 7 Studios turn over all Scratch source code and prototypes of the proprietary turntable controller that had been created for that game. In April 2009, a judge ruled in favor of Genuis Products.Kotaku: Activision Accused of Stealing From DJ Hero Rival (April 14, 2009) IGN: Judge Rules in Favor of Scratch DJ Game LLC (April 21, 2009)