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Miyamoto: Guitar Hero, Beatmania are 'cover band' titles
Shigeru Miyamoto recently hosted a Wii Music roundtable with a select number of websites and magazines (clearly, our invitation was lost in the mail), in which the great man appeared to insult other music games! Shock! Horror! Headlines!Of course, we understand Miyamoto probably wasn't trying to be mean when he compared playing franchises such as Beatmania and Guitar Hero to being part of a cover band. If anything, we suspect Shiggy was merely explaining how Wii Music is more freeform -- which it is, of course. "My goal wouldn't be to try and lull people to join the best cover band," explained Wii Music's dad, "but rather, to let them move beyond that rather basic level of music training."He also found time to defend Wii Music's track list, which has come under attack from some critics, including IGN's Matt Cassamassina, who we like to think shifted awkwardly in his seat when Miyamoto brought the subject up. Apparently, a lot of modern songs don't have a suitable chord progression for Wii Music, while the harmonies and melodies of many contemporary tracks came across as too samey. So there you go: Nintendo didn't just choose a ton of public domain songs to save cash.%Gallery-27713%
Activision files trademark for 'DJ Hero'
Activision, publishers of Guitar Hero 2 and 3 (and the abomination known as Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s), recently filed for a trademark for the name "DJ Hero". No, it's not an adventure game featuring everyone's favorite character from Full House -- the trademark references software to be released with a special controller, leading us to assume we'll be living out our fondest Mix Master Mike fantasies with a rhythm game, complete with tiny plastic turntables when, and if, the game comes out.Wait a minute -- doesn't that sound a lot like Beatmania, a popular Konami rhythm game using a turntable peripheral that's been around since 1997? Now that we think about it, Konami also came up with Guitar Freaks in 1998, long before the release of the similarly designed Guitar Hero. And that Rock Band drum peripheral looks a heck of a lot like the one used in Konami's 1999 arcade hit DrumMania. We wonder what Harmonix and Activision's next project will be -- Vampire Killer Hero or FOXHOUND Hero?
Beatmania IIDX Gold to go on test in an American arcade
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Beatmania_IIDX_to_go_on_test_in_an_American_arcade'; Do you love Beatmania? Have you always wanted to check it out but your arcade wouldn't carry it? If you answered yes to either one of those questions and live near Naperville, Illinois, you will have an opportunity to try your hand at the latest in Konami's original rhythm series. You may have played Beatmania before and your local arcade may even have it, but this test is special. The results may determine if we ever see an official, arcade release of Beatmania IIDX here in the States. Mirroring the grass roots promotion of last years Dance Dance Revolution Supernova, Konami is teaming up with coin-op manufacturer Betson Enterprises to bring Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold to the US for a limited time only. Whether Konami is considering a US version of the game or to begin releasing the titles internationally (see: Supernova) is unknown as the test is simply to determine the general interest level of the game.The location test begins on March 5th at the Brunswick Zone in Naperville, Illinois. The machine will remain on test for an undetermined amount of time, though we can't imagine it staying beyond two weeks. So bring a friend, a lot of quarters and show your support. This may be the only chance in your lifetime to play Ghostbusters.
AOU 2007: Bemani sequels unleashed
It's the 10 year anniversary for Konami's legendary Bemani series of rhythm titles and you know what that means! More sequels! Okay, so they're not doing much out of the ordinary aside from some choice merchandising opportunities, but if you're a Bemani fan, sequels to your favorite series are about all could ask for at this point.Bemanistyle attended AOU this weekend to check out the latest batch of assembly line titles in Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold (featuring Ghostbusters), GitaDora V4 and the all-star of the bunch, Pop'n Music 15: Adventure. Yes, it took fifteen sequels but we finally get character previews in Pop'n Music. Whose to say they don't work hard for the money now?A few of the artists were on-hand, conducting interviews and generally fawning to their audience. Also making an appearance was Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2, albeit in poster-form only.
Konami ain't afraid of no ghosts in Beatmania
Are we on the verge of a Ghostbusters revival or is there just something strange in our gamerhood? First it was Zootfly with their incredible test footage for a proposed Ghostbusters game and now this -- a remix of the classic Ray Parker theme in the next Beatmania. Currently running the trade show and test location scene, Beatmania IIDX Gold is the 14th iteration of Konami's 7-button wonder. What are the chances of us being able to get our groove on to this awesome remix? Slim to none until the game sees its eventual Playstation 2 port in Japan. Until then, enjoy the video![Thanks, Matt!]
Happy crazy rhythm game music day
Here at video game music day, we try to bring you examples of great video game music performed on real life instruments. This week we're turning things upside-down and bringing you some great real life music performed on video games. Why? Because we're just that crazy. Also we couldn't think of anything else to do. Please enjoy these seemingly superhuman performances on Taiko Drum Master, BeatMania and Pop N Music.
DJ Max Portable, for non-Korean speakers
The PSP is no stranger to some excellent music games. Unfortunately for us English-speaking blokes, these games rarely get translated into a language that we can read. Ruliweb has discovered a new version of the Beatmania-clone DJ Max Portable. The International Edition of the game features English language text and one new song that can't be found in the original ("River Flow" by Planetboom).No hardcore PSP fan will be caught without DJ Max Portable. Now that it's in English, there really is no excuse not to have it.[Via PSP-Vault]
The top handheld imports
DS Fanboy discovered a great list of the top 10 handheld imports from Modojo. While the list features many DS and GBA games, the PSP also shows up a surprising number of times.10. Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With YouPart of the huge dating game sim genre in Japan, this game has you trying to improve your sex appeal. If you're good enough, you might get lucky. Don't expect any naughty bits in this game though. That's for some other games.7. Taiko no Tatsujin PortableTaiko Drum Master was released on the PS2 to some fanfare, and the PSP version is essentially a remake... without the drums. While it seems like a lot of the appeal disappears without Drumcon, the soundtrack's happy J-Pop and Katamari Damacy tunes make this a hit for importers.2. DJ Max PortableCalled "the single best game on the PSP" by the folks at Modojo, and for good reason too. Essentially Beatmania squeezed into handheld form, the game has you furiously mashing the PSP's buttons to the beat of the music. Harder difficulties apparently make you seem "less of a man." Wow.Of course, these kind of lists require some kind of fanfare. See a video of DJ Max Portable after the cut.
