I know there's a fair amount of bemani players on the forums, and now that it seems the off-topic stigma is at least a little less...stigmatic, I figured I might as well start a topic on it, and have a slightly more friendly chat on the topic than it seems you'd get at some...other forums I've seen out there... So, who here plays any of Konami's Bemani series rhythm games? Anything from IIDX, Pop'n, DDR, beatmania, Guitar Freaks, Drummania, Keyboardmania, whatever. (I think I caught them all--correct me if I left any out, heh) I'm personally quite into IIDX--started about...seven, eight months ago-ish? That sounds at least close to right... I've come a long way in that time, as at this point I'm passing 10s and 11s, with AAAs for most songs under about a...6, I'd say (as opposed to scraping a D on a 2 or 3 back when I started!). So, fellow TC Bemani players, speak up. Share your interests, your skill levels, ask for tips. After all, I figure it can't hurt to have at least a little non-tetris speak around here, right? (Besides, somebody has to justify muf making the "Off Topic" prefix) ~EI
What about Dance Maniax? Para Para Paradise? jubeat? Karaoke Revolution? :> A smattering of info: I haven't been playing a lot lately, but I play most Bemani. I started with DDR when I was 10 or something. Although I don't play it as often anymore, my best achievement is clearing Paranoia Survivor on Extra Stage. I think that machine is set on hard lifebar, so I only had 5 miss and 1 poor and was still almost dying, haha.The best I got at IIDX was clearing a handful of 10s, but I couldn't grade especially well on anything. I'm pretty bad at Guitar Freaks, but I'm up to doing some 50~60s on DrumMania. I've cleared a 37 on a fluke in Pop'n, but I'm usually restricted to 31~33 rated songs. Also, I am bummed that there are not more Dance Maniax games, because it is extremely fun. Korobeiniki is in DMX under the name Happy Hopper, by the way, haha.
Haha, okay, you got me there. I saw a Para machine *once*, and only had the rest on the very edge of my consciousness, cut me some slack. I played DDR for awhile from age 13 or 14-ish as I recall, but I stopped right about when I got into uni. I got up to most 9s before I quit. I wish I could get access to other machines though--there's no arcades in my immediate area worth a damn (and I have no car, so roadtripping is a little out of the question until I either stumble upon a rather large fortune or a rather inexpensive (but still good!) car), so no access to Pop'n, Guitar Freaks, DrumMania, arcade IIDX, etc. for me. In fact, I think the local golf place that had a smallish arcade sold their DDR machine, so literally the only Bemani I get is the home variety. It's a damn shame, too, I bet I'd really like Pop'n. Also: You just haaaaaad to bring this back to Tetris, didn't you? =P ~EI
Yeah, I didn't expect you to get all of them in one go. I figured I'd bring up some of the others I could remember. Dance Maniax in particular deserves to be mentioned for its sheer awesomness. And yes, I had to bring Tetris into this.
Despite my alias, I don't play DDR anymore. I was never "pro" at it, just decent enough to clear 8's, 9's (or I used to). Failing LoM is really fun though, I love the rhythm in it. The only way I'd start playing DDR on a regular basis again is if an arcade sprung up on Stanford campus, or if I somehow magically acquired a Cobalt Flux free of charge. I'm mainly a IIDX person nowadays. I have US KOC and actually play mainly on a sim (so my timing is totally off when I go to the arcade). Before that I played on a sim using my computer keyboard . So I got really good at deciphering note streams and I suck ass at scratches and chords now. I can pass "V" on Hyper. That's roughly my skill level. roughly. I can't really say for sure because for one I forget how all the difficulty ratings go (I know they used to go up to 7 and then flashing 7 but don't anymore) and everything, plus the sim that I play on I'm sure doesn't have the same lifebar as the official games. I have BMUS and played it enough to unlock a few songs, then stopped because I knew it was shit. I also had a phase where I was very into Guitar Hero. GH3, specifically. I joined the online leagues over at Scorehero.com (which sadly are discontinued now) and did quite well, I think I made it to finals once.
I used to play DDR back in the day when 10s were hard, lol. Passed all the MAXes on Heavy (anyone remember those?) and also Paranoia Survivor. Then I played some ITG and passed some 11s. Then I stopped because it got boring. Other than that, I sometimes (read: not really) load up my Stepmania for a bit of finger mashing fun. I'd like to try IIDX sometime but it's not like there's an arcade with one anywhere within about 100 miles of my house and I'm going to spend money on the required peripherals to play it at home. XD
I used to play Pop 'n Music with a small controller. I really liked it, but never got really good. The PS2 is now in a box in my storage space since we got a PS3. I do want to pick it up when i live bigger. And i bought Guitar Hero 2 days ago. Only plays a few songs so far on medium. My pinky needs to get used to it a lot. But i don't get much playtime since my girlfriend got addicted since day one.
Okay, I've played music games including Bemani stuff since I was 6. I'm 16 now. I used to play a lot of DDR until June 2007 when I suddenly developed a pretty much permanent breathing and swallowing problem that rendered me unable to play anything difficult. I'm pretty okay at DDR, but I'm much better at Drummania, Pop'n, and IIDX. I also play a little Guitar Freaks, and some Taiko no Tatsujin when I'm bored. Here's some accomplishments: IIDX: AAA Troopers Another AAA In The Sky Another AA V Another I've also cleared pretty much every 12, and have about 900 AAAs in total. I could probably have about 1200 or so, but I really don't want to play through L7 and 7k charts on every style; they just bore me (in the case of 7k) or trigger my OCD too badly (in the case of L7). If you want to see some more of my scores, I used to have a VJArmy account until the site closed down; however, I do have an account with all my scores on the replacement site, Solid State Squad. Here's a link. Drummania: S Over There EXT (it's a 95 or somethin'!) SS Infinite EXT S Mirage Residence EXT Pretty much all I have left to pass is The Least 100sec. Pop'n: 100k Acapella EX I've also cleared about half of the 42s in the arcade version of Pop'n Fever. DDR: 6greats Max 300 Heavy AAA Witch Doctor I've passed everything in all versions of the game, too. ITG: I've passed everything, and I have about 70 or 80 99%s on Expert. If anyone is interested in videos, they're available at my youtube channel.
I was first introduced to it by a friend of mine when I lived in Australia back in 2000. I played some home version with a PS1 gamepad, with songs like Manmachine Plays Jazz and others with less memorable names. I'd love to know what game this was so please let me know if you know. When I moved to Toronto I played the Hiphopmania Complete Mix machine they had from 2002-2007 somewhat regularly. It had a half broken monitor that made everything look green. I was too lazy to commute for an hour and play the IIDX machine at Pacific Mall very often. I picked up BM US, which wasn't a bad game when you're only really exposed to old beatmanias. I unlocked every song, twice even because of memory card failure, and am still mediocre by most standards. I'm not sure how to describe my skill level because I think BM US uses a different format or something? Anyhow, I've never really been involved with online bemani communities. I've just played the games in real life on real hardware.
I forgot how hard DualShock IIDX is. I used to be able to pass a handful of 9s on DualShock. The biggest problem is that your right hand gets loaded up with 4 keys it has to operate with the thumb. In my config, square is 5, X is 7, and triangle and O are scratches. You're supposed to hit square+triangle, X+O, or square+X+O, so you throw your thumb in weird ways at the controller and hope you hit everything properly. I wish the buttons were closer together on that side... People can pass things like Kaiden courses or Scripted Connection Long on DualShock. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8n806kfUw
