How to play Beatmania on my PS2! I'm frickin dying here!

[Anonymous]

As near as I can tell, the only way to play imports on a PS2 machine is to actually mod the PS2. Can somebody give me a reccomendation on a cheap and/or easy way to do this? I have the model 3901 PS2 which I'm told is a difficult system to modify. I just want to play Bemani! I've got the official Konami Beatmania controllers and I'm dying here!

Also, is there a home version of KeyboardMania?

[JWKobayashi]

Yes, there is a home version of Keyboardmania for the PS2. It looks pretty cool, but that is the one bemani I actually haven't played.

As for the modification, it depends on what you want the outcome to be. I have modded my PS2 using the flip-top mod, which is really really easy, and rather inexpensive. However, I am only able to play import/backup PS2 games, and if you have the original beatmania, you'll probably want to play PS1 games. If you have Beatmania IIDX PS2 only would be the way to go though. :D

Unfortunately I can't find a link to the flip top site that I used, but if you do a search on 'Flip Top Mod' I'm sure you'd find a reliable site. You also have to purchase the Swap Magic boot disc, so if you get the lid and disc as a combo, it runs about $50 bucks.

Any questions let me know. :)

[Anonymous]

Excellent, that's great news! I've already got a Japanese PS1 so it looks like I'm all set! Thanks for the quick answer, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Kroogah]

Ha ha, soon you will lose all free time you have to beatmania....

Quick reference: 5-key beatmania is PS1-only. 7-key Beatmania IIDX is PS2-only.

Most of the BM songs that made it to DDR (Abyss, DXY!, Holic, The Cube, Absolute, Colors, etc.) are from IIDX. But quite a few of the old Club Mix songs (R3, Genom Screams, The Earth Light, Jam Jam Reggae, etc.) are from 5-key.

Songlists can be found at, of all places, www.ddrfreak.com check Other Bemani on the main page.

[davidbrit2]

Complete kit (http://www.the-console-corner.com/ps2_flip-top_cover_wit_swap_magic_cd.htm)

This should be all you need for PS2 games. I ordered from these guys and they were nice and fast. If you want to play PS1 imports and CDRs, get the latest Action Replay and you should be able to perform roughly the same procedure, but with a pretty menu. I load my PS1 imports with a $1 Gameshark Sampler CD. He he.

[DarkTetsuya]

Songlists can be found at, of all places, www.ddrfreak.com check Other Bemani on the main page.

So you're familliar with my work I see.... LOL On a related note, I did read something about a new PS2 chip that makes all the other mods obsolete and I'm leaning towards modifiying my US PS2 because I have some DDR games that I used to play on my modplugged PSOne but it hasn't been able to load them recently so I haven't been able to use them :P

Oh and if you can find it Keyboardmania is also available for PC (but only works on certain Yamaha models)

DT

[maxlords]

Wow. I import all kinds of stuff and when I talk about it, it's like my non-gamer friends are hearing another language. Now I know what they feel like! :D

[Anotherfluke]

I just wanted to follow up that I finally got a Modded PS2 from Costa Rica, and I'm loving BeatMania! I highly reccommend it. I wrote a mini review over at Animeghost if you want to check it out:

http://www.animeghost.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=43

[davidbrit2]

Beatmania IIDX 7th Style is due out around May 15 (give or take a few days). Go to your favorite import retail web site and preorder it if you want a copy, because there's no guarantee that Konami will even produce additional copies outside of preorders. I've got my order placed with Himeya, because they were nice and efficient with the Pop'n Music 9 preorders.

Beatmania IIDX 7th Style official site (http://www.konamistudio.com/bm2dx7th/)
They've listed 65 of the 88 total songs so far, and it looks sexy to the max.