Beatmania IIDX

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since October 2009. It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since December 2007.

Beatmania IIDX
A cabinet running Beatmania IIDX 15: DJ Troopers
Genre(s)	Music
Developer(s)	Konami
First release	Beatmania IIDX
Latest release	Beatmania IIDX 17: Sirius (arcade) JP October 21, 2009
Official website	http://www.konami.jp/bemani/bm2dx/

Beatmania IIDX​ (ビートマニア ツーディーエックス, Bītomania Tsūdiekkusu^?) (alternately Beatmania IIDX or just IIDX, pronounced "two dee-ecks" or "two deluxe") is a series of rhythm video games that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999^[1]. IIDX has since spawned over 17 arcade releases and over 15 console releases on the Sony Playstation 2^[2]. It is the sequel to the Beatmania game series^[3], and part of the Bemani line of music games^[4].

Gameplay

In IIDX games, players recreate the musical score of songs available to them through the use of a DJ simulating controller^[5]. The player must coordinate their hands in order to hit the correct keyboard buttons, spin the turntable, or a combination of both in correspondence to color coded notes that approach the judgement bar displayed on screen^[6]. Notes are divided on screen by columns which separate them accordingly to match the seven buttons and the turntable on the DJ simulating controller. As a result of hitting notes, different sounds are then produced throughout a songs duration. Correctly hitting notes will produce an accurate musical score, while incorrectly hitting notes will produce inaccuracies and mistakes in the music.

Hardware

Effector controls

The Beatmania IIDX cabinet has many standard features that are found in traditional arcade cabinets such as a widescreen display, powerful speakers, and start buttons. Also, unique to IIDX cabinets are the effector buttons and sliders, a bass platform transducer, marquee, and DJ simulating controller. The effector buttons and sliders allow the player to control the volume levels within the game and manipulate the music by adding additional sound effects. The bass platform vibrates beneath the player's feet to the beat of the music being played. The marquee is a series of sixteen-segment display LEDs, used to display game information and song titles during gameplay.

Controller Information

Turntable control

Key controls

Beatmania IIDX controls consist two sets of seven keys on each player's side, along with two turntables. The turntable for the left player's side is to the left of the keys, while the one on the right player's side is to the right.

Each set of keys is arranged in a pattern of four white keys beneath three black keys. The black keys are offset from the white keys so that each pair of adjacent white keys has a black key above and in between them. This arrangement mimics the F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B keys on a musical keyboard, though Beatmania keys, being about twice as long as they are wide, do not resemble piano keys. The keys are commonly numbered 1 through 7, from left to right. The four white keys are numbered 1, 3, 5, and 7; the three black keys are numbered 2, 4, 6.

e-Amusement

Since 9th Style, the game has featured integration with Konami's e-Amusement platform, which uses a card inserted at the beginning of the game to save stats, scores, allow customization, and track scores in comparison to previous plays and against others over the internet. From 9th Style to Happy Sky (12th), this was by way of a magnetic card and reader. From Distorted onwards the newer type Contactless smartcard Konami e-Amusement Pass system has been used. 9th Style did not require an internet connection to use a subset of the e-Amusement functionality, but 10th and on required an internet connection to function, which must be provided by a subscription from Konami. e-Amusement is not available outside of the primary markets for IIDX (Japan and Asia), which has left imported machines outside of Asia without full access to hidden songs and extra stages due to the increasing functionality and integration of e-Amusement in more recent styles. However, new songs from e-Amusement enabled styles can still be accessed on console versions (which can be imported from Japan).

Home versions

Konami turntable controllers.

Aftermarket arcade style controllers are readily available.

Konami also releases home versions of IIDX for the PlayStation 2 console in Japan. The home versions are known as CS (consumer software or console) styles, while the arcade versions are known as AC (arcade) styles. The CS games can be played with a Dualshock controller or with a special controller from Konami that recreates the arcade experience. Konami manufactures two forms of home controllers, which are known as Konami Official Controllers (KOC) and Arcade Style Controllers (ASC). The KOC, pictured above, is much cheaper than the ASC, but is smaller than the ASC. In addition, KOCs look very different from ASCs and have a smaller space between the turntable and the keys. Konami purports the ASCs to be "arcade-accurate," in that they both resemble and feel like a controller on an arcade machine. For example, the controller itself is much larger and has the turntable further away from the keys. Both styles have a detachable key panel that can be placed to the left or the right of the turntable as the player desires. Aftermarket controllers are also readily available, often containing lit turntables and keys.

Each CS style corresponds to an AC style of the game and contains every song that debuted on its respective AC style, with the exception of certain licensed songs on 1st-3rd AC (released collectively as 3rd CS) that Konami was unable to secure the rights to again. In addition, CS styles may feature a selection of "revivals" - songs that appeared on previous AC or CS styles, "preview songs" - songs that appear on AC styles that do not yet have corresponding CS styles, and "CS exclusive" songs that appear only on CS styles. As of October 2009, CS versions of 3rd Style through Empress have been released (note that 3rd CS contains songs from 1st through 3rd AC; thus, there are no 1st style, 2nd style, or Substream CS titles).

Music

Music is an integral part of the Beatmania IIDX series. Featuring a wide selection of genres and artists, both licensed and in-house, the Beatmania IIDX series is well-known for its original music. Konami produces an original soundtrack of each game, usually a few months after release, due to the appeal of the music. Konami also releases original albums by Beatmania IIDX artists through its online store, Konamistyle.

Each new AC release typically features around 60 new songs, with a selection of songs returning from previous versions. The current release, Beatmania IIDX 17: Sirius, features a library of over 500 songs. CS releases feature all of the songs of their corresponding AC versions (with limited exceptions), 5-10 CS exclusive songs, around 25 "revival" (returning) songs, and 1-3 preview songs, for a total of around 90-100 songs. Arcade versions run from a hard drive, rather than a DVD, and thus have more space in which to store data.

Songs often include music videos when played, although only some songs contain dedicated videos. Some songs contain generic videos shared by multiple songs, and some of these have additional animated graphics overlaid atop them.

Releases

The Beatmania IIDX series has been released in the home video game market in addition to its arcade releases. To date, the only video game system to have seen a IIDX game is the Sony PlayStation 2. All versions of Beatmania IIDX have been released on the Japanese PlayStation 2 with one exception: the American Beatmania.

See also

• Beatmania
• Beatmania III

References

External links

• Beatmania IIDX Gateway (Japanese)
• Beatmania IIDX at the Killer List of Videogames
• Bemanistyle, fan site that focuses on the Beatmania IIDX series.
• Outphase, fan news site
• Solid State Squad, American-based Beatmania IIDX scorekeeping site.
• Beatmania IIDX Notecharts (Japanese)