game works visit

[danc1005]

(no American Bemani release ever has until DDRSN in my opinion)

I happen to think that Konamix CS trumps 4th mix CS, but that could be blamed on nostalgia and a lack of proper respect for Furuhata's Theme.

Furuhata's Theme is one of the best songs/charts on 5th Mix AC, IMNSHO. Of course, I have had very little (none) exposure to Pre-Extreme mixes other than 5th.

[Arka]

When I wrote that, Konamix did come to mind as a possible exception (DDR 1.5 AC also, being basically identical to JP 1st mix and possibly even better, though 2nd mix was pretty much out at that point). However, I decided that you'd have to compare Konamix with both 3rd and 4th mix CS releases (with the original DDR release for the USA region covering 1st and 2nd). ...It wasn't until the MAX and newer era that US CS releases started coming as often as JP CS releases (and MAX US was solid, but then things went back downhill with MAX2, and again MAX US would have to cover 5th and 6th). MAX2 US was alright, but nothing to write home about and Extreme US was OK, but the JP release was much better. The stuff after that was meh comparable, but without arcade releases to back it up it lost some of its luster.

I'm sorry, but comparing one game with one game's worth of songs to the best songs from two games doesn't make sense to me. Just because the US console market got fewer releases does not mean that one US release is supposed to take the place of as many as three Japanese releases.

If we were comparing FPSes and I said that Doom is clearly superior to HalfLife because the entire Doom franchise put together has had way more levels than the entire HalfLife franchise, what would you say? That's right, you wouldn't say anything - you'd throw something at my head.

And yeah, in my mind MAX US almost matched MAX JP for quality... but it had neither 'Bye Bye Baby Balloon' nor 'Twilight Zone', which means that MAX JP wins on doubles. (Just so you all know how weird my song preferences are...)

The lack of carryover over JP licenses to US releases also hurts it in the eyes of people like us who have played all the JP AC releases. Sometimes they managed it, but without the "use anything you want" DanceMania deal, it was bound to happen. They usually pulled at least a few US region licenses, but some of us like cutesy girly J-Pop...

Who's "us"? I don't think it has anything to do with playing all the JP AC releases (which I haven't) but rather with liking a certain style of music ("cutesy girly J-Pop," as you so eloquently put it). And yes, the DanceMania deal made things possible that otherwise just weren't.

Konamix was probably the best US CS release until the CS release of Supernova, but it didn't have the 4th mix challenge mode, and it lacked the songlist of 3rd and 4th (and Extra, I guess) put together that the Japanese market was receiving. 3rd mix also had some really silly adjustment features letting you tweak both bar difficulty and timing to the point of being practically impossible to play. At least the 6 panel feature was still there on Konamix! That's the only exposure this market has ever had to Solo (imported solo machines aside).

Yes, 6-panel was a factor in my claim. As to lacking the songlist of 3rd and 4th and Extra and hell, why not Best Hits and Oha Sta! and the kitchen sink... yeah, I've already told you what I think about that comparison.

Is Supernova CS good? I haven't picked it up because I haven't been playing DDR, but I've decided I really need to get back into it...

...I guess our release of Disney Mix (Disney's Rave, whatever) was better in some ways (it had maniac).

Don't go there.

...DDR was just so insanely popular in Japan at the time that people would buy practically anything with the words "Dance Dance Revolution" on it (witness DDR pocket...wtf?).

Hey! The Pocket Bemani series was a great idea, and way cooler than those stupid tamagotchi. Pocket DDR was at least playable, unlike Pocket Beatmania...

Now that Konami seems to be acknowledging that the American market is heavily into DDR, I'll be curious if something similar happens with the countries reversed. Without a proper arcade division here in the US (Konami of America closed their arcade division some time ago), I'm not sure that will be possible.

Yeah, I had the same thought a while back, but I don't think it'll happen in the near future. It's exceedingly rare for a company to neglect their home country in favor of another country unless that company is truly a multinational megacorp... and even then, it's a bit unusual.

HUM: This is fairly offtopic...

Didn't stop you from posting a page and a half. 'Course, it didn't stop me either.

This seems like a worthy topic of discussion to me, so I advocate a thread split... then again, you and I may be the only people who care.

[Jeff Jeff Revolution]

I'm going to an all-night "event" on Friday, for my church group. We're first going to the Pacers vs Cavaliers game, then bowling, and finished off at Gameworks, all through the am hours. It's called the "Word of Life Superbowl" or something. Is anyone else going on this or whatnot?

[Cbav]

I'll be at GW on Saturday the 27th and the 28th.

27th: probably later in the day
28th: earlier, possibly at open.

[Cbav]

I'll be at GW on Saturday the 27th and the 28th.

27th: probably later in the day
28th: earlier, possibly at open.

QFE