I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS (aka Drummania)

[Kroogah]

OK, yesterday I went to Chicago Ridge Mall for the 2nd time in a month for one reason only: Drummania 3rd Mix. Everybody else that went on this roadtrip (2 hours for me) had a blast too, thanks to DDR, Taiko no Tatsujin, Initial D, Guilty Gear XX, Raiden Fighters Jet, etc. but the only game I played while I was there was Drummania. 11 or 12 times. Got blisters. On my fingers. Almost as if I were actually playing drums.

Who plays/has played this wonderful, wonderful game? It's my current favorite when it comes to Bemani. I can pass 6's (meaning I can probably do like 25's or 30's on the new grading system -_-)

Note to davebrit2: We decided our next roadtrip will be AFC Westland. About 6 hours away but shit, it's worth it. ^_^

Edit: I got some camcorder footage of myself and Kev (an insane local player) playing DM...what's the easiest/cheapest way to turn this VHS-C tape into .mpeg files on my computer? ^^

[Gnarkill]

I saw that game at an arcade on vacation and it looked rlly good!
But it was out of order the whole 5 days I was there! :bad-words:

[Oobgarm]

I've got Drummania 2nd mix for import PS2, and I also got a Topwa drum set.

I'm not very good at it yet, since I'm a guitar player and not a drummer. I'm working at it, though.

THere is a Drummania machine at the nearby Gameworks, and it's 2nd mix IIRC. If I could get the foot pedal down, I'd be set. :o

[Kroogah]

THere is a Drummania machine at the nearby Gameworks, and it's 2nd mix IIRC. If I could get the foot pedal down, I'd be set. :o

1st thing: <3 your avatar. OOOOOOOOOOOO

2nd thing: The bass pedal and crossing over (hitting the hi-hat with your right arm) are the hardest parts of this game. And 2nd mix is damn good. Only songs I play on the 3rd mix machine are from 1st and 2nd mix (Ska Ska No. 1! Mondo Street! Midnight Special! P.P.R.! Happy Man! Crunchy Nuts! Haru~Spring!)

[WiseSalesman]

P.P.R is sweet. I haven't played Drummania in over a year, and there's nowhere remotely near here to do it. :(

[Mr. Smashy]

Here I am...hoping that they had "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles on Drummania. :( I'd like to try it but my local arcade has the volume set way down on it (right near a very loud DDR machine and some non-video basketball game which is also very loud).

[pango]

I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGAS
imagine The Who playing Drummania

[davidbrit2]

You know, CY, I'm going to AFC around the beginning of March. Hooray for Spring break. If you want to join me for some GF/DM/IIDX, go right ahead. That goes for the rest of you, too. Heh.

By the way, DM 5th is the best of the series. They really ruined it with 6th Mix, and it hasn't recovered since.

[Mr. Smashy]

I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGAS
imagine The Who playing Drummania

I have no idea as to why you'd think of the Who but in any case, their drummer (Keith Moon) died 25 or so years ago.

Damn, he was good. :(

[cheesystick]

Why not play the real drums? I admitt, this sounds intersting. Considering that I live in Alaska, I think I'll wait for Donkey Kong Konga. GO TAMA!!!!!
-crispy

[Kroogah]

Why not play the real drums? I'd like to, Hell, I've tried...but Drummania is a lot easier. There's only 5 drums and a bass pedal...no hi-hat pedal or extra toms or anything like that...and it's easier to think of stuff to do when a big-ass screen is telling you. ^_^

[devilman]

I've been playing the Guitar Freaks games for a while (I'm still rubbish at all four home versions mind you), but since I bought a Topway controller I figured I'd try my hand at Drummania 2nd and 3rd Mix too - GOD it's hard! I simply don't have the co-ordination for both arms and my foot - maybe it will come with practise.

I'm working on a PC prog at the moment for those with a Playstation/PC adaptor to enable them to use the drum controller as a mini drum kit. I just need to find a lot of suitable (and free!) samples and I'm away. The program essentially works, but there's no kind of graphics as yet and only one sample per drum, but it's coming along nicely. :)

[cheesystick]

Where can one purchase said controller? It has sparked an interest. Thanks,
-crispy

[davidbrit2]

Red Octane sells the DM controller.

http://www.redoctane.com

It's $50, and well worth it if you like Drummania. I have gotten countless hours of use from mine.

[devilman]

I picked mine up from Lik-sang for £41 including delivery from their Euro depot. bargain. :)

[devilman]

By the way, DM 5th is the best of the series. They really ruined it with 6th Mix, and it hasn't recovered since.

Having only played the home versions, I'm rather in the dark when it comes to arcade DM. What's so good about 5th and what ruined it in 6th?

It took the UK long enough to get DDR games - god knows if we have Guitar Freaks/Drummania yet!

[mezrabad]

Red Octane sells the DM controller.

http://www.redoctane.com

It's $50, and well worth it if you like Drummania. I have gotten countless hours of use from mine.

Ack!!!

I say ack because about two months ago I paid way too much for mine. :(

In Korea, I've only seen two beatmania things for sale. The Drumania set, new with the first game for 195,000 won (about $150) and the Guitar Freaks guitar used but good condition for 55,000 won (about $45) I bought both immediately. After being here a year, the only times I've seen this stuff, (the keyboard, the beatmixer and the software for both) the merchants didn't want to sell them. One literally clutched them to his chest trying to explain that he'd changed his mind and he couldn't sell them. I'm getting the impressions that this whole home beatmania thing for PS2 is even rarer in Korea than it is in the States. Must be all these teeny tiny apartments in which half the population lives.

To be honest, Drumania annoyed me in the Arcades. In the arcades I've managed to find Keyboard Heaven, the Drumania is ALWAYS right next to it and always much, MUCH louder. I tried going at 8:30 am on a sunday morning and there was STILL some drumaniac playing his heart out -preventing all keyboardmania-ing. I have enjoyed Dumania at home, though, makes me feel like a musician again.

[davidbrit2]

Having only played the home versions, I'm rather in the dark when it comes to arcade DM. What's so good about 5th and what ruined it in 6th?

It took the UK long enough to get DDR games - god knows if we have Guitar Freaks/Drummania yet!

Basically, they took out TONS of great songs.

Fire
Cutie Pie
I Think About You
I'm Gonna Get You
Monkey Magic
Herring Roe (I think...)
Magical Jet Tour (and the long version)
Used Cars
Heaven is a '57 Metallic Grey
Breakout
Giant Slug
Haru Spring
Sunny Day Sunday
Venus
Furi Furi 60
Vitalize
Dynamite
PPR
Labyrinth
Tiger Too

And tons of others. The new songs sucked, for the most part. And they got rid of separate guitar notes for each player. BOO.

[devilman]

Damn... there's some damn good songs in there. :o

Incidentally, I scanned the instructions for the Topway controller as they're the finest example of Engrish I've ever seen. :D

http://guitar-freaks.webmad.co.uk/images/drum1.jpg
http://guitar-freaks.webmad.co.uk/images/drum2.jpg
http://guitar-freaks.webmad.co.uk/images/drum3.jpg

[devilman]

As promised earlier in this thread, I've written a little PC program (in Dark Basic as it's about all I know anything about these days) to enable you to use the Topway controller on a PC using a PS/PC controller adaptor. It's a simple prog to allow you to use the controller as a mini drum-kit to mess around with and play along to your MP3s.

guitar-freaks.webmad.co.uk/drumfreaks.zip

There are no graphics as such yet but I was just hoping that one or two people could test it but I started adding a little polish to it. There are selectable drum types for each part of the drum to add a little variety. If you don't have the Topway controller, I've added support for the 1-6 keys on the keyboards instead. I'll add a full redefine keys option soon too.

Tech details - the file is 3.2MB and as far as system requirements, all I know for definite is that it requires DirectX 9.0 installed. Other than that it shouldn't need much as it's only a little program - the file size is built up of the drum samples!