I am calling it...

It would make no sense at all for the VCI-400 to ship with DJ Intro, and then not have Serato offer a Pro version as an upgrade. Perhaps it will gain ITCH certification and overlays (notice that awesome slicer-esque matrix of buttons??? I do)... but I kind of doubt it.

I think the announcement of the VCI-400 and Serato DJ Intro has given an insight into the direction of Serato's future software releases.

There was a weird controller that came out a little while back. It was the Novation Twitch, it shipped as an ITCH controller AND had overlays for Traktor. A strange hybrid beast, never before had we seen such a box.

Effectively if you want to buy a Twitch to use with Traktor, you are also paying for an Itch license - even if you didn't use it. These things are cheap... less moving parts, no platters, selling in AU for $579 - that still seems really cheap for a pro piece of kit. I am gonna take a stab at it, and perhaps Serato's license fee is $30-40 for these, but it's probably even less.

With SSL Rane ship pretty expensive sound cards, and there is plenty of room to bundle a software license in there (thanks to the exclusive deal), but the same can't be said for the ever more competitive controllers from multiple vendors (and they ARE the future of DJing).

Serato aren't stupid, they've been listening and watching the market. Whilst ITCH suited the initial launch into midi control... true, simple, plug and play 1-1 mapping, I think they've realised the inherit limitations in this model. The market is screaming for some more customisation. It also makes it tricky for them to implement new software features when the hardware is 1-1 mapped. People are more likely to drop $29, on a software upgrade every 6-12 months, rather than toss their hardware (more likely every 2-3 years).

Times have changed a little to when ITCH first dropped... The barrier to midi controllers has been broken down, they are now widely accepted and the tech has matured. Serato (and hardware guys) have refined platter control, etc. ITCH sure helped pave the way, but as people have had a taste, they realise they'd probably like to tweak their setups. What to do? Do serato just sit idly by and let people move to Traktor Pro? I doubt it...

And so... what I think we'll see is a paid version of Serato DJ Pro (or whatever it's called) that supports a wider array of controllers (but still limited to solid partners - it won't run with junk). These will have been tested thoroughly by Serato and will come with plug and play mappings.... BUT this pro version will let you midi map and customise your rig, in a direct answer to Traktor. Maybe not to the same extent as NI's software, but it will easier.

Controllers like the VCI-400 will get access to Slicer... and Serato DJ Pro might even support older ITCH controllers too, bringing custom midi mapping for peeps that want it.

It will be priced competitively to Traktor Pro (it might even show up on the Mac Appstore) and the onus of the software licensing will be moved to the user, rather than bundling it into the hardware manufacturer.

If it's $50-100 it will totally shake up Traktor Pro in this market, Serato will make more $ out of it, which will in turn drive innovation further.

I called it now... let's see.