It’s another great day for Bemani fans as Konami Japan keeps rolling out new games. First the latest DDR title, DDRX2 was released in Japan today. In addition to new modes of play, new songs it also uses new online features, including the PASELI online payment system. We haven’t heard any indications as to whether this will get an international release but assuming that they avoid the same hardware issues that plagued DDRX, then I would say that it’s only a matter of time.More details on DDRX2 can be found at the following links: [DDRX2 official site] [Brief game overview @ Dengeki Online] [Player reaction on BemaniStyle]
Also in Konami’s Bemani news they have announced another Pop N’ Music game for arcades, this one called Pop N’ Music Tune Street, which goes on location test in Japan tomorrow. Other than that details are scant although as you can see from the image here, it looks like they are really takig the cute route with it. [Official page for Pop N’ Music Tune Street]
Also since we’re on the bemani subject, Konami’s newest addition to the Bemani family, Reflec Beat will be released in Japan this October.
It’s another great day for Bemani fans as Konami Japan keeps rolling out new games. First the latest DDR title, DDRX2 was released in Japan today. In addition to new modes of play, new songs it also uses new online features, including the PASELI online payment system. We haven’t heard any indications as to whether this will get an international release but assuming that they avoid the same hardware issues that plagued DDRX, then I would say that it’s only a matter of time.More details on DDRX2 can be found at the following links: [DDRX2 official site] [Brief game overview @ Dengeki Online] [Player reaction on BemaniStyle]
Also in Konami’s Bemani news they have announced another Pop N’ Music game for arcades, this one called Pop N’ Music Tune Street, which goes on location test in Japan tomorrow. Other than that details are scant although as you can see from the image here, it looks like they are really takig the cute route with it. [Official page for Pop N’ Music Tune Street]
Also since we’re on the bemani subject, Konami’s newest addition to the Bemani family, Reflec Beat will be released in Japan this October.
We first heard about Konami’s latest addition to their line-up of bemani games some time ago but despite a number of location tests in Japan, they did a pretty good job of preventing any pictures or video of the game from getting out onto the internet. Fortunately that information embargo on the new Reflec Beat has come to an end as Dasbacon of Bemanistyle.com has posted a video of the game in action. There is no question that the game has DJ Max Technika in it’s sights, with greater focus on reflexive action than other finger music games I have seen. See for yourself in the video below – Reflec Beat seems destined to be one of those games you’ll only see as a special import out of Japan on a rare occasion but you never know.
We first heard about Konami’s latest addition to their line-up of bemani games some time ago but despite a number of location tests in Japan, they did a pretty good job of preventing any pictures or video of the game from getting out onto the internet. Fortunately that information embargo on the new Reflec Beat has come to an end as Dasbacon of Bemanistyle.com has posted a video of the game in action. There is no question that the game has DJ Max Technika in it’s sights, with greater focus on reflexive action than other finger music games I have seen. See for yourself in the video below – Reflec Beat seems destined to be one of those games you’ll only see as a special import out of Japan on a rare occasion but you never know.
If you love Beatmania then here is yet another title in the series to look forward to: Beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem (Konami sure does love making the titles on these games a mouthful, don’t they?). There is very little information on the new game other than what we see in the graphic above where Konami is branding the game as: “The ultimate system beatmania deluxe version”. Perhaps they will go big on the cabinet, like they did with their recent XG releases for Guitar Freaks and DrumMania. (Thanks for the comment on that Naphitism, didn’t know it’s the catchphrase for the game series). The game will be on test later this week from the 22nd to the 26th of April.
While I was away at the Amusement Expo a couple of weeks ago, we missed out on some news regarding a couple of Konami titles that were released in Japan at that time. We have covered them before and they are known as Guitar Freaks XG and DrumMania XG, these both have been selling quite well in Japan and of course can be imported elsewhere, if you can foot the shipping costs. For those out of the loop on GF/DM, these are the music games which pioneered the idea of playing a virtual rock band, well before the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band were forces to be reckoned with on the consoles. They are a bit more hardcore than GH or RB however and might not be everyone’s cup of tea but they are still important games to Konami as well as many loyal players. The XG series features updated game mechanics and controls, songlists and very impressive cabinets. In addition to the release of XG, Konami has also announced Guitar Freaks and DrumMania V7. Not many details beyond what the cabinets look like have been released yet but I imagine that it won’t be too long before we discover more. [GF/DM XG released – Bemanistyle.com] [Konami teasing GF/DM V7 already – Bemanistyle.com]
Also on a bemanistyle.com related note, they are running a raffle to upgrade their servers and as a prize they are offering a complete DJ Max Technika machine as the grand prize. Yep, you read that right. The cabinet in question is lightly used and thus in great condition but because of the costs involved on bemanistyle.com’s end, this can only ship within the US. You can find out more about that here.
Just a little music game news today, first off with Konami’s latest release in Japan, Pop N’ Music 18. If you are curious about this one, Bemanistyle.com has a song list and some screenshots for the game. Any arcades outside of Japan planning on importing this one?
In other music game news, PM Studios made an interesting move on their website by setting up a “Technical Failure Report Form” for DJ Max Technika. The idea is that players can use it to inform PM Studios of a DJMT machine that is broken in some way at a particular location. PM Studios will then contact that arcade and see what they can do to help them get it fixed. It’s certainly a nice way of making sure that the machine stays in top condition. I know that there are times where I overlook a problem with one of my games as I don’t always have time to play through every machine to see what works and what doesn’t. But where the players find out first hand, who better to report issues? Of course it would help if players would tell the arcade operator directly about problems – I have seen many times where someone is obviously having some sort of problem but they won’t come to me about it so I go to them to find out what is going on. But there are times where I am not there and an issue goes unreported for a while. So thumbs up to PM Studios for this idea, hopefully it will make sure to keep issues with their game down to a minimum.
Just a little music game news today, first off with Konami’s latest release in Japan, Pop N’ Music 18. If you are curious about this one, Bemanistyle.com has a song list and some screenshots for the game. Any arcades outside of Japan planning on importing this one?
In other music game news, PM Studios made an interesting move on their website by setting up a “Technical Failure Report Form” for DJ Max Technika. The idea is that players can use it to inform PM Studios of a DJMT machine that is broken in some way at a particular location. PM Studios will then contact that arcade and see what they can do to help them get it fixed. It’s certainly a nice way of making sure that the machine stays in top condition. I know that there are times where I overlook a problem with one of my games as I don’t always have time to play through every machine to see what works and what doesn’t. But where the players find out first hand, who better to report issues? Of course it would help if players would tell the arcade operator directly about problems – I have seen many times where someone is obviously having some sort of problem but they won’t come to me about it so I go to them to find out what is going on. But there are times where I am not there and an issue goes unreported for a while. So thumbs up to PM Studios for this idea, hopefully it will make sure to keep issues with their game down to a minimum.
Aaron Auzins has sent me a few links from Bemanistyle.com regarding some different developments in the coin-op bemani gaming sector and here is a rundown of all of them in one post – I could say to conserve space but really because I’m feeling slightly lazy at the moment, so here it goes.
First off, Konami has released Beatmania IIDX 17 Sirius to arcades in Japan. If you have a location near you that is known for importing Beatmania machines then it will probably be worth checking out to see if they will upgrade to the newest version of not. In this version it includes a new beginner mode called Party Mode where the goal is to win over as many fans as possible using the songlist provided by the game. The game does make use of Konami’s online e-Amusement pass system and in case you’re wondering what this game is all about here is a video of it in action
Next, Capcom is teaming up with Namco on the next arcade release of Taiko No Tatsujin in Japan. This is a bemani game that features a set of taiko’s (or Japanese drums) for players to thump on(as pictured). One thing that Capcom is bringing to this release will be the inclusion of Monster Hunter characters into the game which will of course mean that there will be players who seek that game out solely for the Monster Hunter stuff in the game (since MH is huge in Japan).
Finally we have a few updates regarding the US national DDR tournaments (details here, here and here). From the information on Bemanistyle, it sounds like everything was going along just fine until the Minneapolis tournament came along and due to conflicting rules and poor pad performance, the tournament turned out to be less than stellar. Thus the outcomes in this tournament might have been different but as it stands the players have already been picked and will move on to the next round. Hopefully the remaining tournaments won’t see similar problems.
Konami isn’t letting up on their bemani upgrades and now Guitar Freaks (the guitar video game before Guitar Hero) and DrumMania (kind of the same in regards to Rock Band) are getting some nice updates with Guitar Freaks XG and DrumMania XG. Both games will sport new controls (GF will have five frets now; DM will be a 7 piece drum kit) and sleek HD monitors that will probably need to be calibrated by the operator to make up for LCD lag. We’ll have to wait for more info but in the meantime here is a low-quality video of DMXG on location test.
Other than that details are scant although as you can see from the image here, it looks like they are really takig the cute route with it. [Official page for Pop N’ Music Tune Street]
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