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Ho wrote:Color me surprised...though not as surprised as I'll be if they actually release it after the test.

As for the name change, I am completely indifferent. It's not like it's not without precedent:

Dance Dance Revolution / Dancing Stage
beatmania / hip hop mania
Dance Maniax / Dance Freaks
Drummania / Percussion Freaks
KeyboardMania / Keyboard Heaven
etc....

And, in fact, it's really just changing the spelling to produce the same pronunciation with our phonetics, so it's less of a name change than any of the examples I gave above.

Yea, the announcement kinda caught me off guard as well, but I honestly don't know how well it will be received in the US. As for the name change, when I first saw it my exact thought was "Who DIDN'T see that coming?" given Konami's track record.

What the fuck are these songs doing in (j)uBeat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSXHcSvt-mo (OMFGWTF song number 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_9iJjF_xuY (OMFGWTF song number 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMWXyEHoN88 (OMFGWTF song number 3 and it is NOT a cover this time around)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYxT9GM0fQ (OMFGWTF song number 4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw (OMFGWTF song number 5 and PURE EVIL!!!!)

Oh, Scatman John is also confirmed to be in the US version.

I happened to go down to the arcade today for the first time in about four or five months and noticed two Jubeat machines added to the already packed Bemani section.

No, it's not keysounded. Any noise from hitting the buttons is just that--hitting the buttons. They feel much different from IIDX buttons (less travel, more stiffness), but they work well enough for the application at hand.

Of the songs I recognized off the bat, the Japanese version had Scatman, I'm in the Mood for Dancing, YMCA, Rose (from Nana), Tentaikansoku, some other ones I'm forgetting, and a lot of popular songs that I know from watching lots of J-drama.

Within the four sets I played (16 songs) I got to the point where passing Level 5 songs (out of 10?) wasn't too terribly difficult. For the record, after playing those 16 songs I'm now ranked at #40,036 in Japan. What I'm trying to say is that the learning curve isn't as steep as I expected, though as with most Bemani games, they harder difficulties look like they'll take some time.

If you use your e-amuse card you can play in up to a 4-player online battle. I enabled online play for eight songs, and the game was able to match me up with a total of two people (one person on one song, one person on another). I guess the odds of three other people choosing the same song and same difficulty as you within the 30 second or so window are pretty slim, at least on the lower difficulties.

The e-amuse card also allows unlocks, which in the three levels I progressed allowed new song and new button pattern unlocks.

On a very slightly related note, within the four or five months I didn't go to the arcade they moved all of the Bemani stuff off of the carpeted area and into a separate area that has a wooden floor. While playing my first game of DDR in five months, playing on double, much slipping was had.

Adam do you drive your L337 Van around Japan?

My 1337 van is rotting in some junkyard in Fort Wayne, as it has been since my sophormore year of college.

Isn't jubeat just kinda like whack-a-mole?

Whack-A-Ju?

It's times like this that I hate being stuck in the middle of nowhere!

chocobojoe wrote:Isn't jubeat just kinda like whack-a-mole?

You could say that it's a high-tech version of whack-a-mole that plays music and has you hit moles in specific patterns to the beat of said music.

chocobojoe wrote:Isn't jubeat just kinda like whack-a-mole?

Think more like Elite Beat Agents. I think Jubeat is more timing specific.

Brian where the fuck did you get a jubeat cabinet?

It fell off a truck.

Youse a crafty muthafucka

Ho wrote:It fell off a truck.

... Which fell off Korea...

Youse a crafty muthafucka