Beatmania US PS2 - Anyone have it?

[Vectorman0]

I haven't gotten this yet because the stores with it for $60 didn't have it yesterday, and I'm too cheap to pay $5 more at EB.

Anyway, does anyone have this yet? I've been putting off importing some Japanese beatmania stuff since this was scheduled to come out. I'd like to hear some first impressions if anyone else actually has this.

[VACRMH]

I would have it if EB got it in yesterday. I'll check back today.

[Damaniel]

I checked with a local EB and a Gamestop yesterday and was told in both cases that they were expecting to get their copy (each store was only expecting to get one) in today.

[norkusa]

I've got a $55 gift card at Best Buy that I have been saving for months so I can buy this game with it. They're getting it in next week though for some reason, so I'll know what it's like then.

All the reviews I've read said that the difficulty is dumbed-down for US players, but it should still be insanely hard for anyone that's never played the game before (i.e. me).

[JWKobayashi]

All the reviews I've read said that the difficulty is dumbed-down for US players, but it should still be insanely hard for anyone that's never played the game before (i.e. me).

Really? I just read a review that said the opposite. I read that they left the difficulty intact (at least for 7 key), although I guess you do need to unlock Another mode. Oh well, most people will probably never beat a song on Another anyway.

When someone gets this I'd like to hear a comparison between the US and JP controller. I heard that you can't change the turntable side on the US one like you can on the JP. At least it's ALOT cheaper. I sold all my JP IIDX stuff a couple of years ago and have been looking to get back into it. For the price of one of the JP games alone w/o the controller, you can get beatmania US and a controller. Good deal.

[le geek]

I'm looking forward to it. I'm assuming the controller will work with my import copy of Beatmania...

Cheers,
Ben

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I just got back from the store with it, and have yet to play it. I've got a nasty little virus so I didn't pick it up yesterday, but I remembered that if you wait 2 days they put your reserve on the floor, so I had to go there. Man, driving on the highway while heavily medicated isn't fun.

I've never played the JP version, so I cant compair it with that. I'll play a little bit and come back with a short review.

[Johnny_Rock]

I have a copy at EB waiting for me. Now if i can just find the money...

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Short review:

Pretty fun. I'm not apeshit crazy for it, but its fun. I'm able to do some 3 stars (like Feet for us DDR kids) and am slowly getting better at it. The controller seems to be well constructed, and you can switch what side the turntable is on. Also, I'm trying to figure out where to put my fingers, what works best for me. From my DDR-ing, there are only a couple songs I recognize, but they are way too hard for me to even bother with at this point, except for a parinoia song.

Would I reccomend it? Yeah, for music game lovers. Anyone else? Probably not. Someone asked somewhere if this will be as big as Guitar Hero... No way. We would be very lucky to get another BM game here in the states (or a Taiko game), the way I see it.

[s1lence]

I have it pre-ordered but I haven't heard from gamecrazy yet. I'm hoping they have it and they just forgot to call.

[norkusa]

I just walked in the door with my copy. Even though they said they weren't going to get them 'till April 4th, I called Best Buy for the hell of it and they said they got 'em already. And after reading this on Bemanistyle.com's front page, I hurried my ass down there to pick it up:

BEATMANIA US ANNOUNCEMENT:
For those of you who haven't purchased BEATMANIA US here's what I've learned:

1) Best Buy retail Chain does NOT list beatmania on their website.
2) Best Buy's inventory tracker system lists the game as DELETED (meaning they can't order any more and it's no longer being produced) and the details say:
Street Date: 4/04/06 Deleted: 4/06/06
3) My friend who runs/owns a gamestore CANNOT order the game
4) My gamestop and EB both say online "0 in stock, no more on the way"
-This is now untrue. My local stores say there ARE more on the way now.
5) I was told around lunchtime today that: "Beatmania US release will be another DDR Mario Mix release.

Good luck finding copies if all of this is accurate and true...

So I dunno if this will be difficult to find in the future, but I've been waiting ages to play it and wasn't going to take any chances, so I got my copy ASAP. Guy at Best Buy said they only got 2 copies in too, and I grabbed the last one.

[Vectorman0]

Dammit, looks like konami is pulling another MGS3Subsistence Limited Edition. Thanks for the heads up, I need to make some calls now.

[Johnny_Rock]

Getting my copy tonight glad i was smart enough to slap down that 5bucks a month ago.

[Vectorman0]

An hour and a half and 5 stores later, I managed to get my copy at the TRU. I can't wait to try this out.

Getting my copy tonight glad i was smart enough to slap down that 5bucks a month ago.

I slapped $5 down at two stores for two copies of MGS3S LE three months ahead of time and got neither. So it's no gurantee...

[MarkMan]

Just got my bundle... Seems like all the GameStops in my area got 2 only. I've been buying the series since II DX 3rd style came out on PS2. Love this game.

[weirdguy]

Got mine at the local Futureshop.

They had like 3 hidden under the games displays. Wasn't even expecting to buy it... since I didn't know it was out...

Since I never played it before, I find it kinda hard but fun.

[Damaniel]

Picked mine up at one of the local Gamestops -- it was their last one, but they only got 2 to begin with.

This is my first time playing Beatmania (though hardly my first Bemani game -- I've spent far too much time with Dance Dance Revolution), and my first impression is 'Wow, this game is HARD!'. Seriously, playing in 5-key mode, even 3-star songs are fiendishly hard, and require absolute perfect timing to play, or else they end up sounding like crap. I'm afraid to see what a 10-star song looks like...

My biggest complaint is that the song list is pretty weak. With such a large collection of songs to draw from, Konami could have done a lot better. At least a couple of the songs are just plain terrible (Jam Jam Reggae, anyone?). The controller is very nice though. It feels solid and is really responsive. Plus, I like the fact that you can flip the keys if you're left handed.

Overall, I'm having fun so far, but I can see the learning curve is going to be really steep. I'll have to try out IIDX mode, since the song list seems a lot better.

[Johnny_Rock]

I'm playing it now lots of fun although it will take some getting used to because of the black/white key layout.

[Zadoc]

Dude, who shot you?

[norkusa]

Yeah, it's pretty tough. The hardest part is pressing the keys without looking at them. Once I get that down, I'm sure I'll do a lot better. Had the same problem when I first played Guitar Hero but now I can breeze thru most of the songs in Expert. Just gotta practice.

Even though I still totally suck at it, I'm having a blast playing Beatmania. I really dig the controller and the keys on it remind me of my friends 303 Groovebox. Almost makes me feel like I'm playing a real instrument.