DJsyndrome.

The latest beatmania IIDX, release, titled beatmania IIDX 11 IIDX RED, has begun shipping for the PS2. Featuring over 80 songs and customizable user interface options, RED looks to be the best home version of IIDX yet.

Thursday, May 18, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman

Full songlist revealed for PS2 beatmania IIDX11 IIDX RED

With the game set for release in just one week, Konami revealed the full song list for the PlayStation 2 version of beatmania IIDX11 IIDX RED. The game will feature 89 songs, including the 52 songs that debuted in the arcade version and two from the US beatmania. The full song list can be viewed on Konami's IIDX11 page.

Konami also revealed the poster that will ship with pre-orders of the game from Konamistyle.jp. Though the pre-order poster is many times simply a smaller version of the arcade poster, the IIDX11 poster is different (yet still similar):

beatmania IIDX11 IIDX RED is due for release in Japan for the PS2 on May 18, 2006.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman

Beatmania IIDX 11 IIDXRED Konamistyle Special Editions announced

Konami recently announced that the upcoming Beatmania IIDX 11 IIDXRED would be released in two different special editions. The standard special edition, priced at 8000 yen, will contain the game, V-Rare Soundtrack 14, a poster, and a limited edition strap. Konami will also release the Limited Edition Complete Set, which will run 11800 yen and include the above along with Visual Emotions 4 and a limited edition box/slipcover.

IIDXRED, along with both versions of the special edition, is set for release on the PlayStation 2 on May 18.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman

Beatmania US now available

The long-awaited American debut of the Beatmania series is upon us - Konami confirmed today that Beatmania for the US PlayStation 2 has shipped. Including both the US version of the game (which has songs from a variety of Japanese Beatmania IIDX Styles and a re-skinned version of the 9th Style interface) and a slightly-modified Beatmania IIDX controller, the game retails for $59.99.

As is the case with nearly all game releases, the game has shipped from warehouses today and should be in most stores starting tomorrow, though there are isolated reports of Gamestop and EB Games locations having received the game already. Additionally, the online stores for both EB Games and Gamestop show the title as shipping within 24 hours. However, online pre-orders from EB Games and Amazon (via Toys R Us) have not yet shipped; no word on the status of online Gamestop pre-orders.

Finally, the bundle packaging was recently unveiled as well:

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 by J.T. Kauffman

More Beatmania US reviews

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

Beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD released in Japanese arcades

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

Beatmania cabinet restoration project started

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

Beatmania US song list revealed

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

Beatmania US reviews rolling in

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

Beatmania US wallpaper added

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

<< Previous 1 2 Next >>

Best Viewed at 1024x768 or higher | Suggested Browser: Opera.