I thought I'd make a post about another game-that's-really-popular-in-Japan-but-really-
obscure-in-the-US-that-I-and-many-friends-of-mine-along-with-many-other-music-game-enthusiasts-play.
Alright, so basically, it's a rhythm game in which you use your hands (not fingers) to hit 9 buttons in time with music.
Wikipedia wrote:Unlike most of the Bemani series, the Pop'n Music controller is not designed to represent any real musical instrument. Instead it is a pattern of nine buttons in two rows; four on top and five on the bottom. On the screen colored notes called pop-kun (ポップ君) fall from the top to the bottom in nine rows corresponding to the buttons. When the notes reach the bottom the player presses the button and the game emits a note of the song, along with a judgement ranging from Great (hit the note perfectly on beat) to Poor (missed the note completely).
Like beatmania, there is a life bar with a long green section on the left and a short red section on the right. Getting Greats raises the lifebar, while getting Poors lowers it. When it is completely full, a higher rating called 'Fever' replaces 'Great' until the lifebar drops again. A song is passed if the life bar is in the red section at the end, which lets the player play another song. If the song is failed, the game ends. A player may play a maximum of 3 songs before the game is over.
Pop'n Music is differentiated from beatmania by its lack of a turntable and by its hand-size buttons. Where beatmania is played by pressing buttons with one's fingers, Pop'n Music is played by hitting buttons with one's palms, fingers, and in some situations, arms and elbows.
http://www.konami.jp/bemani/popn/music14/howto/net.html
Pictures of a Pop'n 14 machine in Tokyo Game Action in Winchendon, Massachusettes:
-HOME VERSIONS-
As far as home Pop'n releases go, there are 1 on the Dreamcast (which is fucking terrible, ignore it), 6 on the PS1, and 6 on the PS2 (the latest release being Pop'n Music 12: Iroha).
The best ones IMO overall are 8 and 12.
-MUSIC-
Oddly enough, I haven't talked about the music yet, which is obviously the heart of Pop'n Music.
Songs range from happy J-Pop (lite pop, eurobeat, moe pop, hyper japanesque, etc.) to rock/metal (Jack, Hip Rock, Soft Rock Long, Ska, etc.).
Practically EVERY SONG has its own specific genre.
-HOME CONTROLLERS-
With home versions, comes the need for home controllers.
The cheapest, most un-arcade-like controller you can buy, is the Konami Official Controller, which runs for about $50 US. It's about the size of two and a half arcade buttons.
The next step up is the official Konami Arcade Style Controller. It has the exact measurements of the arcade and has microswitches, but runs for around $300 US, sounds like hitting a wet paper bag, and doesn't have lights.
The very best thing you can get is the Ransai Arcade Style Controller (this, I ordered).
They're made by hand can be made any way you want them, custom paintjobs, in-button LEDs; anything.
A fully customized Ransai (without anything TOO outrageous) can run for about $330 (the cost of mine).
-Purchasing Info-
Alright, first off, you're going to need to get a Japanese PS2 or mod your US/UK/whatever PS2.
Japanese PS2
One way to mod your PS2 is to get a fliptop and a set of Swap Magic Discs .
http://www.ps2fliptop.net/order.htm
S5 is what you'll want (what I got). If you live in Europe and have a European PS2 (and the vast majority of you do obviously) you'll change the USA disc to the Europe disc.
A tutorial for installing it can be found here.
Kay so the games and controllers.
Games:
Pop'n Music 12: Iroha
Pop'n Music 11
Pop'n Music 10
Pop'n Music 9
Pop'n Music 8
Pop'n Music 7
6 and down are for the PS1, and are therefore, much harder to find. You might find a pre-owned one on Play-Asia, but Ebay is probably your best bet.
Controllers:
Konami Official Controller
The Konami Official Arcade Style Controller is hard to find, considering it's out of print. Again, Ebay.
The next best thing to a Ransai, the Desktop Arcade ASC
It's not quite as good, and not nearly as customizable as a Ransai, and as a result is a lot cheaper. That's not to say Steve doesn't make a damned good ASC though.
And of course, the Ransai:
http://www.ransai.com/mall/order-popn.php
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