Bemani
Bemani (γ"γΌγγ,
biimani) is
Konami's
music video game division. Originally named the
Games & Music Division, or simply
g.m.d, it soon changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game,
Beatmania, and expanded into other music-based games.
Since
1997, Konami has continuously released new versions of several different games. Different mixes from the same series of games include different songs, settings, playmodes, and graphics. The naming system for a new game tends to follow the pattern of
Nth , such as "
Beatmania IIDX 3rd Style" or "
Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix"; exceptions such as "
Pop'n Music 1" exist. Bemani video games feature unique hardware in comparison to traditional
arcade games. Each game has its own form of control.
Controlled by a large rubber spinner "turntable" and 5 keys, the
beatmania series of started with the release of
beatmania /
beatstage /
Hip Hop Mania in
1997 and ended with the release of
beatmania: The Final in
2002.Beatmania is known as
Hip Hop Mania in the US and
beatstage in the UK
*1997 - Beatmania/Beatstage/Hip Hop Mania
*1998 - Beatmania 2nd Mix
*1998 - Beatmania 3rd Mix
*1999 - Beatmania 4th Mix
*1999 - Beatmania 5th Mix
*1999 - Beatmania/Beatstage/Hip Hop Mania Complete Mix
*2000 - Beatmania/Beatstage/Hip Hop Mania Complete Mix 2
*2000 - Beatmania feat. Dreams Come True
*2000 - Beatmania Club Mix
*2000 - Beatmania Core Remix
*2001 - Beatmania 6th Mix: The UK Underground Music
*2002 - Beatmania 7th Mix: Keepin' Evolution
*2002 - Beatmania: The Final
Controlled by a large rubber spinner "turntable" and 7 keys, the
beatmania IIDX series of started with the release of
beatmania IIDX in
1999 and continues to the present; the latest release being
beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD in
2006.In Beatmania IIDX, the goal is to hit the keys and spin the turntable to corresponds with the screen. To pass, you must have at least 80% of the gauge filled up. The hardest song in the series is Mei from Beatmania IIDX 12th style: HAPPY SKY, with exactly 2000 notes. It is arguably harder than Cowboy from pop'n music 11.Beatmania IIDX is often shortened to just IIDX. The "DX" in the title stands for "Deluxe", as early IIDX machines originally came in 2 cabinet sizes. One was a standard structure and one, the deluxe design, was outfitted with a larger cabinet, and bigger screen, a better sound system, and a platform for the players to stand on. As popularity of the "II" series soared, Konami ceased production of the smaller, standard cabinets, and all subsequent machines were build to the "Deluxe" specs.The most common pronunciation of "IIDX" is to pronounce it, "too dee ecks".
*1999 -
Beatmania IIDX*1999 -
Beatmania IIDX Substream*1999 -
Beatmania IIDX Club Version*1999 -
Beatmania IIDX 2nd Style*2000 -
Beatmania IIDX 3rd Style*2000 -
Beatmania IIDX 4th Style*2001 -
Beatmania IIDX 5th Style*2001 -
Beatmania IIDX 6th Style*2002 -
Beatmania IIDX 7th Style*2002 -
Beatmania IIDX 8th Style*2003 -
Beatmania IIDX 9th Style*2004 -
Beatmania IIDX 10th Style*2004 -
Beatmania IIDX 11: IIDX RED*2005 -
Beatmania IIDX 12: HAPPY SKY*2006 -
Beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteDbeatmania IIDX has been released on the
Sony Playstation 2.
Controlled by a large rubber spinner "turntable", 5 keys, and a bass "effector" pedal, the
beatmania III series of started with the release of
beatmania III in
2000 and ended with the release of
beatmania III: The Final in
2002.Beatmania III is pronounced Beatmania 3.
*2000 - Beatmania III
*2000 - Beatmania III Append 6th Mix
*2000 - Beatmania III Append 7th Mix
*2000 - Beatmania III Append Core Remix
*2002 - Beatmania III: The Final
Dance Dance Revolution (known as
Dancing Stage in Europe, frequently called "DDR" for short) was first produced in
1998 and continues to the present, with over 90 different versions accounted for. . The game is controlled by stepping on a pressure-sensitive
dance pad, usually with four directional arrows, in time with the music. As the song goes on, colored arrows rise up from the bottom of the screen. It is the player's job to step on these arrows at the right time. The newest of these versions was released in the United States, Europe, and Japan on
May 15 2006 and has been named
Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA (Dancing Stage SuperNOVA in Europe) and features over 300 songs.
Arcade mixes released:
*1998 -
Dance Dance Revolution*1999 -
Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX*1999 -
Dance Dance Revolution Club Version (connectable with Beatmania IIDX Substream)
*1999 -
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution USA*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Korean Version 1*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Korean Version 2*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX Plus*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX*2000 -
Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX Plus*2001 -
Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX*2001 -
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution 6thMIX*2002 -
DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7thMIX*2002 -
Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME*2006 -
Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVAA more complete list can be found at
List of Dance Dance Revolution games including home versions.
Dance Dance Revolution has been released in home versions for the
Sony PlayStation,
Sony PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Nintendo GameCube,
Nintendo N64, and
Nintendo Game Boy.
Dance Dance Revolution also released as two separate arcade games based on songs and characters from
Disney, presumably used only in
Disney Theme parks. A version is also available for cellular phones.
Controlled by two pairs of motion sensors (one for each player) that detect movement above and below, Dance Maniax was first released in 2000. Also called
Dance Freaks in Korea, it features a number of songs from the
Dancemania series.
*2000 - Dance Maniax
*2000 - Dance Freaks
*2001 - Dance Maniax 2nd Mix
*2001 - Dance Maniax 2nd Mix Append J-paradise
Controlled by 9 large buttons arranged much like Beatmania or IIDX keys, the
Pop'n Music series of started with the release of
Pop'n Music in
1998 and continues to the present; the latest release being
Pop'n Music 14 Fever in
2006.Pop'n Music is usually shortened to just Pop'n. Pop'n Music's progression foregoes the "Nth Mix" arrangement scheme in favor of a more conventional Arabic number. Despite its colorful and cartoon like appearance, the higher end of the difficulty spectrum is quite challenging; one song in particular,
Pop'n Music 11's "cowboy", is currently considered by some players to be the hardest song in all of the Bemani series.
*1998 - Pop'n Music
*1999 - Pop'n Music 2
*1999 - Pop'n Music 3
*2000 - Pop'n Music 4
*2000 - Pop'n Music 5
*2001 - Pop'n Music 6
*2001 - Pop'n Music 7
*2002 - Pop'n Music 8
*2002 - Pop'n Music 9
*2003 - Pop'n Music 10
*2004 - Pop'n Music 11
*2004 - Pop'n Music 12 Iroha
*2005 - Pop'n Music 13 Carnival
*2006 - Pop'n Music 14 Fever
*Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Animelo
*Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Animelo 2
*Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Mickey Tunes
Pop'n Stage
Pop'n Stage is similar to Pop'n Music but Pop'n Stage uses a
dance pad similar to
Pump It Up and
Dance Dance Revolution but has 9 buttons instead of 5 or 4.
Also known as the GitaDora series.
GuitarFreaks is loosely based after its namesake instrument, using a guitar-shaped controller with three buttons and a plastic pick lever.
DrumMania was released later, featuring
Yamaha DTX components: three drum pads, a cymbal, a high hat, and a bass pedal. Compatible versions of the two may be linked together, allowing up to three players (up to two guitarists and one drummer) to simultaneously play the same song on each.
*1998 -
GuitarFreaks*July 1999 -
GuitarFreaks 2ndMIX, DrumMania*March 2000 -
GuitarFreaks 3rdMIX, DrumMania 2ndMIX*September 2000 -
GuitarFreaks 4thMIX, DrumMania 3rdMIX*March 2001 -
GuitarFreaks 5thMIX, DrumMania 4thMIX*September 2001 -
GuitarFreaks 6thMIX, DrumMania 5thMIX*February 2002 -
GuitarFreaks 7thMIX & DrumMania 6thMIX*August 2002 -
GuitarFreaks 8thMIX & DrumMania 7thMIX*April 2003 -
GuitarFreaks 9thMIX & DrumMania 8thMIX*October 2003 -
GuitarFreaks 10thMIX & DrumMania 9thMIX*April 2004 -
GuitarFreaks 11thMIX & DrumMania 10thMIX*February 2005 -
GuitarFreaks V & DrumMania V*November 2005 -
GuitarFreaks V2 & DrumMania V2*September 2006 -
GuitarFreaks V3 & DrumMania V3([
1])A two-player drumming , in which each player has only one snare and one cymbal. The ' cartoonish graphics may be targeted towards a younger audience, and the soundtrack features many themes from teenage
anime, as well as popular J-Pop "anthems" by artists such as
Judy and Mary and
W. This was released in
2005, and has two versions to date.
*
Toy's March website (in
Japanese)
Controlled by a three-panel dance platform,
Dance 86.4 Funky Radio Station is a dance that targets young Japanese children with its anime, television, and J-Pop licensed songs. Currently only has one version, released in
2005.
As its name would imply, it uses a musical keyboard as an input device.Keyboardmania linked up for session mode between certain mixes of Guitarfreaks/Drummania. The cabinet featured two screens and two keyboards. There were 3 versions of the game.
Similar to
Dance Maniax, this features five sensors that players wave their hands over while stepping from one foot to the other. This was created in response to the
Para Para dance craze that was taking place in Japan at the time. The game ParaPara Paradise is also a spinoff of the
Avexvideo series ParaParaParadise, featuring the ParaPara Allstars (PPA). The game had a set of arrows that went along with routines found in the video series, and routines were made by the Avex club Velfarre or the club TwinStar (Which is now closed). PPP 2ndMix featured a CG character behind the arrows to show you the routines. 1st-2nd mix machines in Japan also had a DVD cabinet, showing you the routine from the ParaParaParadise video series.
Released in later 2001, Mambo A Go Go was a game in which the player controlled three different bongo-style drums. Each drum consisted of three sensors, for a total of nine sensors. In easier modes of the game, the three portioned sensors on a single drum were combined so that the drum may be hit in any of the three spots to register the note.
The songs playable in Mambo A Go Go fit the Latin American theme of the game and it's characters. Some of the songs featured included songs that would cross over into other Bemani titles such as
Gamelan De Couple, and covers of popular songs such as
La Bamba and
Mambo no. 5Only one version of Mambo A Go Go was ever released to arcades.
*
Mambo A Go Go website (in
Japanese)
Cashing in on the popularity of
Karaoke in Japan, this requires players to sing along to songs and match both pitch and timing.
One of the failed attempts of Konami on capitalizing in the market of portable entertainment. As the name implies, this are "scaled down" version of most Bemani (From DDR to ParaParaParadise)
Depending on the game, the playlist for a Bemani release may have a large number of licensed, well-known tracks or consist largely of in-house music. Most Dance Dance Revolution games, for example, have Konami original music and licensed music in nearly equal proportions. The abundance of licensed tracks was due to a lucrative deal between the record label
Toshiba EMI and Konami; in exchange for free advertisement for Toshiba EMI's
Dancemania series of dance music albums, Konami was free to use any Dancemania-featured song they wished free of charge.
(It is worth noting that, likely as homage, Konami named one of its Dance Dance Revolution characters "Toshiba Emi". Emi remains one of the most popular DDR characters.)
Several different Konami artists are involved in the process of song creation for Bemani. They often use
pseudonyms when signing their creations.
Remixes and reuse of songs from other games are common in the Bemani scenario.
*
List of Bemani musicians*
Konami official site
*
Bemanistyle.com Popular North American fansiteBemani Arcade
*
DDR Freak Popular
Dance Dance Revolution fansite
*
GDAmania Popular
Drummania/
Guitar Freaks 
