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More Beatmania US reviews
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Additional Beatmania US reviews have been trickling in over the last week. Game Informer Magazine gave it a positive review, with the main reviewer scoring it an 8.5 and the secondary reviewer giving it a 7.5. Additionally, Official PlayStation Magazine gave the game a 3 out of 5. The scores currently stand as follows (adjusted to a 10 point scale):
EGM: 7.5, 5.5, 4.5
Hardcore Gamer: 9, 7
Game Informer: 8.5, 7.5
PSM: 7.5
OPM: 6
All told, the reviews average out to a 7. |
Friday, March 17, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD released in Japanese arcades
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The newest in the Beatmania IIDX series, dubbed Beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD, has his Japanese arcades. This release is notable because for the first time in the Beatmania series' 9-year history the classic Beatmania logo font has changed. Luckily the logo has been retailed for the U.S. release of Beatmania, due at the end of the month, and will be re-appearing in Japan with the home release of IIDX RED for PS2 in May.
DistorteD features a number of new notable songs, including Bloody Tears, as song made famous in Konami's long-running Castlevania/Akumajou Dracula series, and a Konami original called The Dirty of Loudness, which is notable thanks to it requiring the player to hit all seven keys and the turntable simultaneously multiple times within the song. |
Friday, March 17, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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GuitarFreaks V & DrumMania V released for PS2
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GuitarFreaks & Drummania return to the home console after a near five-year absence with GuitarFreaks V & DrumMania V for the PS2. Available in both regular and Konamistyle Deluxe Editions, the game features over 60 songs and is available now. |
Friday, March 17, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania cabinet restoration project started
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Thanks to a recent Beatmania arcade machine purchase, I've started to put together a series of articles on restoring and cleaning the machine at my personal blog. I will be transferring much of this to DJsyndrome, but for a look at my work-in-progress (including photos), head to the blog. |
Thursday, March 16, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania US song list revealed
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Thanks to the demo from the April issue of Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM), the songlist for beatmania US has been revealed and confirmed. The demo, which has just four playable songs - Celebration, Funkytown, Metal Gear Solid Main Theme (5-key only), and Bad Boy Bass (7-key only) - and no controller configuration options (which causes both the 5-key and 7-key controllers to be useless) has the full song list greyed out but readable.
Present in the game are 58 unique songs, with a handful that overlap between both modes; Beatmania IIDX mode (the 7-key mode) has 42 songs available and Beatmania mode (5-key) has 28 songs present. Note that this likely does not include any locked songs, if any are included in the game. Read on for a full song list. |
Thursday, March 09, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania US reviews rolling in
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A few print publications have run reviews for beatmania for the US PS2. Electronic Gaming Monthly is reported to have scored the game at 7.5, 5.5, and 4.5 (three different reviewers, each out of 10), while Hardcore Gamer rated the game 4.5 and 3.5 (two different reviewers, each out of 5). Finally, PSM gave the game a 7.5 out of 10. The overall average score between these six reviews is a 68%.
For comparison, DDR games average scores between 72% and 86% (according to GameRankings.com), while Karaoke Revolution averages between 80% and 85%. Other music titles of note include Guitar Hero at 93.1% and Samba de Amigo at 86%. Beatmania US is definitely behind the curve right now, but there are many more outlets that have not posted reviews yet, making the low scores bring the high scores down more.
With numbers alone, it's hard to tell why the reviews range from 90% to 45%, though it can be assumed that it is either due to the lack of licensed music or due to the difficulty (or both). Beatmania US is due on March 29, 2006. |
Tuesday, March 07, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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DDR unlocks updated
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A number of Dance Dance Revolution unlock requirements (or the lack thereof) have been added. DDR Japan (PSX), 2nd ReMIX, Append Club Version Vol. 1 & 2, Extra Mix, Dreams Come True, True Kiss Destination, Tokimeki Mix, and GB3 have had unlock info added. Best Hits, Disney's Rave, Oha-Suta, Oha-Suta GB, DDR GB, and GB2 do not have any unlockables, and have been marked as such. |
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Pop'n Music 9 unlock info added
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The unlock information has been added for pop'n music 9. Featuring the infamous Gambler Z mini-game, this is one of the lengthiest unlock processes in the entirity of BEMANI. |
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Unlock information updated
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Unlock information has been added for: Beatmania GB, Beatmania GB2: Gacchamix, Beatmania IIDX 7th Style, Beatmania IIDX 8th Style, Beatmania IIDX 9th Style, Beatmania IIDX 10th Style, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (US), Guitar Freaks Append 2ndMIX, and Guitar Freaks 4thMIX & Drummania 3rdMIX. |
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania US wallpaper added
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With the high-resolution version of the Beatmania US cover comes a few exclusive wallpapers for your desktop pleasure. The wallpapers come in three sizes (1600x1200, 1024x768, and 800x600) and both a single monitor and dual monitor version are available. |
Monday, February 27, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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Beatmania US cover in high-res
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Gamespot recently updated its listing for Beatmania for the US PlayStation 2 to include high-resolution cover art. To see the full-size version of the art, click on the thumbnail below.
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Monday, February 27, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman
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