Audition Online
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| Audition Online | |
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| Developer(s) | T3 Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Yedang Online |
| Distributor(s) | Various |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) |  2004 2004 2004 2005 2006 2006  September 1 2006 October 2006 November 2006
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| Genre(s) | Music video game and MMOG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Media | Download |
| System requirements | (Season 2) Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, ~2GB Hard Disk space, 128MB GeForce 6600 GPU, DirectX 9.0c, 56kbit/s internet connection Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista |
| Input methods | Keyboard, mouse |
Audition Online (Korean: 오디션 온라인), also known as X-BEAT in Japan, is a downloadable multiplayer online casual rhythm game produced by T3 Entertainment. It was originally released in South Korea in 2004, but it has been localized by various publishers around the world. Audition Online is free to play but it earns its revenue by selling virtual items such as clothes for the player's avatar. It currently has over 300 million players worldwide.[1]
In South Korea, PSP (called Audition Portable) and cellphone versions were released on June 1 2007 and June 4 2007 respectively.
On June 12, 2008, Season 2 was first officially released in Korea. Currently, Korean Audition, China Audition, Thailand Audition, Indonesian Audition, AuditionSEA, Vietnam Audition, Philippines Audition, and X-BEAT have updated to Season 2. Audition Season 2 features a new interface, sound system, expressions, and many new features.
During Fall 2008, a sequel was discovered to be in the making, Audition 2. As of Spring 2009, Yedang has posted a preview page in Korean as a preview for the game.
[edit] History
Audition Online first originated as a popular comic, called Audition. Inspired by the comic, T3 Entertainment created Audition Online, with additional help from Yedang Online. The game originated in South Korea, where Audition Online gained a massive following. As its popularity increased, T3 Entertainment and Yedang Online began localizing the game in other regions including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, North America, Thailand, Taiwan, South East Asia, Vietnam, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Remaining European Countries. Audition was also released globally, but was shut down due to hacking. The original Audition, Korean Audition, continues to be the most updated version, with a very large fan base and weekly updates.
Audition Online is free to play, using the popular Virtual Asset Sales which is a cash shop system that allows users to use real money to purchase in-game clothes, accessories, etc. The game is similar in effect to Bust A Groove, but because this game features online connectivity, it is referred to as a multiplayer online casual game.
[edit] Popularity
Audition's popularity began in South Korean and Global versions of the game. As popularity increased, more and more users signed up for the South Korean and Global servers. Due to hacking in the Global server, Bugs Corporation discontinued the server and most of the users migrated over to the South Korean servers. As more users joined the South Korean servers, T3 Entertainment and Yedang Online began localizing the game in other regions including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, North America, Thailand, Taiwan, South East Asia, Vietnam, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Remaining European Countries. In the Asian servers, the popularity of Audition has increased rapidly with millions of users on every localized region.
In North America, the popularity has increased rapidly due to commercials aired on MTV Networks and also being number three on Seventeen Magazine's list of hot summer to do list.
[edit] Available regions
| Region | Official Name | Language | Countries | Local publishers | Registration Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 오디션 Club Audition |
Korean |  South Korea |
Bugs Corp. (2005 - October 23, 2008), Yedang Online, and HanbitON | A Korean Registration Number is required to play. |
| Japan | X-BEAT | Japanese |  Japan |
Hanbit Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc. | No Registration Requirements |
| China | 劲舞团 | Simplified Chinese |  China |
9you.com | Chinese Identification Number is required. |
| Philippines | Dance Battle Audition Philippines | English |  Philippines |
IP E-Games Ventures, Inc. | No Registration Requirements |
| South East Asia | AuditionSEA | English |  Singapore, Malaysiaand  Thailand |
AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd. | A National ID (Identification Card) of any country is required. |
| Thailand | Audition Online Dance Battle | Thai | Thailand |
Asiasoft Corporation Co., Ltd. | Thailand identification number is required |
| Vietnam | Nhịp điệu cuộc sống | Vietnamese |  Vietnam |
VTC - Game Online | No Registration Requirements as of 9/12/06. |
| Taiwan | 勁舞團 | Traditional Chinese |  Taiwan |
Insrea Game Center Corporation | Taiwanese Identification Number is required. |
| Hong Kong | 勁舞團 | Traditional Chinese |  Hong Kong |
9you.com and Gameone | Hong Kong Identity Card Number is required. |
| North America | Online Dance Battle Audition | English |  United States, Canada, Mexico,and  Central America |
Redbana US Corp. | No Registration Requirements |
| Latin America | Dance Mania Audition | Spanish |  South America, Mexico,and Central America, |
Axeso5 | No Registration Requirements |
| Indonesia | Audition AyoDance | Indonesian |  Indonesia |
PT Megaxus Infotech | No Registration Requirements |
| Brazil | Audition Online Dance Battle | Brazilian Portuguese |  Brazil |
Kaizen Games | No Registration Requirements |
| Europe | Audition Europe | English German French Spanish Italian |  All European Countries |
Burda:ic GmbH (alaplaya) | No Registration Requirements |
[edit] Gameplay Features
A player is allowed to create a room or join a room. The 'DJ' (the player who creates the room) is given power to choose songs and settings for the room. The DJ also has the power to kick people out of the room and close the dance floor off. The song's BPM (beats per minute) usually will determine the song's difficulty (with certain exceptions e.g. beat up mode).
The basic game is played by pressing the arrows displayed on the screen (with the exception of red Chance arrows, which the player must do the opposite of) and pressing spacebar or the control key on every 4th beat of the song. The more accurately the spacebar or control key is pressed, the higher the score, "PERFECT" being the best. The player currently with the most points during the game will have their character in front and the most visible part of the stage.
A special move during most gameplay modes is the "Finish Move". If a person does not miss the move before it, they have the option to do the "Finish Move". Finish moves issue a lot of points and can often be the key to success.
When a player does 2 or more PERFECTs consecutively, he will get bonus points for doing so. These PERFECT combos (or "Perfect chains") enable players to interfere with the opposition. A blue circle indicates that you made a PERFECT in your move, and acts as a shield. When a player performs a PERFECT X1 (or perfect X2 in some cases) they will make either the player ahead or behind them receive a yellow circle. While under the yellow circle, points will not be given if that person does not achieve a PERFECT (in a finish move it reduces a percentage rather than the whole move). In addition, players can increase their points by playing 'chance'. This can be activated by pressing the delete key or the . key on the number pad whereby red keys appear and players have to press in the opposite direction of the red keys. At the end of the dance battle, the person with the most points is the winner. Each player will receive experience points and Den/BEATS according to what position they finished in.
If a single/group game (not including NPC, One-Two Party and Beat Up modes) is full, while also having the music set to random, a random event (also called a mission) will occur. This is where bonuses are given if you accomplish a certain challenge. Examples are not getting a specific beat judgment (e.g. no COOLs or no BADs), getting perfect combos (e.g. PERFECT X3), or getting a standing (e.g. getting number 1). The music can be random, random(new), or random from any range of tempos.
Chance levels (not available in all versions)
There are chance levels from 1 till 6. With the addition of Chance levels, the DJ can now set a standard number of red (opposite keys) arrows a player will face when they use the chance mode. The choices range from 0 to 6. Alternatively, the DJ can select the free chance mode which will allow players to cycle through the levels at their leisure, or random level chance where a random amount of red chance keys appear per move (ranging from 1 to 6). The more red steps a player clears, the more points they will score. The ability to choose your own level of difficulty adds a new level of strategy and can greatly stratify scores between weak and strong players. In addition, whether or not players are using chance and their current chance level are displayed next to player scores during the game.
Microphone function (Korean Audition)
There is a new function that allows the player to interact within the game using a microphone. There are settings for the player to set whether he/she wants to be muted, adjust the volume and so on.
Server-side exclusives
Different Audition Online servers around the world have their own unique features added-in for gameplay modification and visual enhancements:
- Korea, Indonesia, China and Vietnam - Lyrics
- Korea, China - In-game text fonts
- Philippines - Music Ticket, which gives access to hear Phiilippines exclusive songs. They are playable without this item, but will be replaced with a metronome.
Updates
Because the Korean Audition has been out the longest it has had the most updates. They currently have many more features in gameplay as well as options. Examples of some functions would be removing distracting stuff during replays as well as having a windows mode and being able to Alt+Tab. The bonus options were designed due to high request for such features. However, the gameplay features (dance moves, songs, modes, etc.) are regularly added based on updates. Depending on the update rate as well as the size of the update, different versions will have different number of gameplay features.
T3 Shop
The Korean Audition also has its own shop known as the T3 Shop. The T3 Shop sells merchandise based on its game. Though it is mainly clothes based on the game, they have also sold other items such as an official board game.
Real-Time Song Download function (Korean Audition)
As of the patch on January 8, 2009, Korean Audition now uses a new method for players to receive the song files. Songs are no longer included in patches and the songs that come with the installation has been reduced. The songs (with the exception of lobby songs) are now downloaded from the server when you play the song. This is to reduce the client size and the patch size. If the lobby song that's coming up next isn't already downloaded the game will also automatically download the song for you. Once a song is automatically downloaded, it is no longer needed to download it again. This is a one time thing for songs you have not played before.
New Macro System (not available in all versions)
The macro system was altered to make it simple to change even for new players. The player now has the option of manually editing the file from the macro.txt document in their Audition game folder or simply by going into the messenger options and changing it through there. The new macro system also allows players to save their macros to the server's database and allow them to use them on another computer.
New Emoticons System (not available in all versions)
One of the best thing for chit-chat, the Emoticons System, has been updated in Audition Season 2. The players can now select various Emoticons to enter with chat text, by either hitting CTRL + E and pick the Emoticon manually, or use short-cut text-to-emoticon conversion (I.E ;kiss, ;win...) The text-to-emoticon conversion also affected room name and players' name, so new players can enter prefix with his/her IGN in order to display as Emoticon in Lobby / Ranking Board User List
New Dress Room System (Korea Audition)
The newest feature in Korea Audition, allowing players to change their character's clothes without having to go to Fashion Mall. Instead, just click an Icon near ATV Icon and Clothes Wardrobe will open up. After picking new clothes, a small Dress Room shows up at the players' position and disappears - new clothes are now changed!
FAM (not available in all versions)
A fam is a function brought along with the Fam Office. It works very similarly to guilds in other games. In order to create a fam, the creator must meet the requirements of Lv. 21 or greater, and 1,000,000 DEN/Beats (not the same on all versions). The leader may then purchase a variety of Fam Office-based items including a home, clock, notice sign, and a forum ranging in price from 100,000 DEN/Beats to 2,000,000,000 DEN/Beats. If the leader wishes, he or she may add members to the fam that would then be permitted to donate DEN/Beats, and assist in earning Fam Points.
The fam leader is given the ability to purchase a channel for gaining Fam Points (which determine the ranking of the fam). He or she may pay 100,000 DEN/Beats for 2 hours of channel time, 200,000 DEN/Beats for 4 hours, and 300,000 DEN/Beats for 6 hours. The amount of DEN/Beats and time may vary depending on the server. When creating a game in the purchased channel, any fam member will receive 1 Fam Point per person in the room, therefore a total of 6 per full room. A fam room is indicated by a green FAM icon beside the room name.
There are three classes/rankings in total: Fam Leader, indicated with a red title, Fam Mod/Secondary Owner, indicated with a blue title, and a regular member, indicated with a green title. Promotion can only be done by the fam leader.
Fam Battles are started when a leader creates a fam battle room and waits until 3 members out of two different fams enter the battle room. The team then challenges one another to a regular game, with rules set by the fam with the DJ member.
[edit] Fashion Shop
In similar fashion to many of the Microtransaction based online games, Audition features an item shop in which players may customize the look of their character. Players may choose from a variety of hairstyles, shirts, pants, shoes, faces, and miscellaneous items (not all items are available in every edition of Audition). The in-game rewards system is called Den, or Beats in the American version of Audition. In every game in which a player competes against or with another player, a Den/Beat reward is given at the end of the song as long as a player achieves a rank higher than miss on a certain amount of bars (amount of bars required varies between each mode). Players may redeem this Den/Beats for the clothes and accessories in the Fashion Shop.
In addition to Den/Beats, players may use the Cash system. By purchasing Cash through Audition's online payment system, players may buy Cash items in the Fashion Shop. Many of the items in the Fashion Shop are only available if bought with Cash. Different forms of payment are used to get cash, including PayPal, M-Payment, and various Prepaid Card and Code systems.
[edit] Game Modes
There are many game modes including single, group and battle party modes, available in Audition Online. They have different characteristics allowing players to compete in different skills. Some modes such as Beat-Up and One-Two Party, has game-plays that are unique to the other game modes.
Single modes are essentially a free-for-all where each individual plays and competes to get the highest score in the room. Group modes, on the other hand, require co-ordination between players to win the game. Battle Party modes are avenues for players to earn Den/Beats by competing against NPCs. There is also a story mode that consists of missions that are continued by stories. This mode allow players to explore more about the game alone.
New modes, such as Beat Rush, Team Beat-Up, Club Dance II and Crazy FreeStyle, are currently being released as the game develops, providing players with new features constantly.
Single Modes
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Group Modes
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[Battles: 1:1 Lead, 2:2 Serve, 3:3 Team]
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Battle Party Modes
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[edit] Receptions
[edit] Audition in China
Electronic Times Internet, an IT news website, reported that Audition reached 50 million registered users in China, with 500,000 concurrent players. Baidu, a Chinese search engine, revealed that Audition ranks first in all its searches, and is ahead of games like Crazyracing Kartrider and World of Warcraft.
[edit] Profanity in song lyrics
In some Audition Online editions including Audition Philippines, AuditionSEA, and Audition America; profanity was removed or censored from the lyrics of some songs. This profanity was found on numerous Audition songs, including songs produced for the game itself. In most cases, these songs were either remixed, or censored. Although most songs were censored, Nexon decided to completely remove some offending songs from Audition America. These changes were brought about in order for the game to retain a content rating suitable for ages 10+ which is supposed to be Audition Online's main market. However, numerous songs added by Nexon themselves contain profanity. (Nexon no longer hosts Audition America)
[edit] Audition America's Story Mode
In comparison to other Audition Online editions, Nexon's version of 'Story Mode', translation errors aside, has over-challenging NPC's throughout the beginning chapters [1-20], although Story Mode is available to those who reach level 6. Because of the lack of core Audition songs, due to issues with profanity in lyrics, or whether it be the copyright issues due to a used chorus, majority of the songs that are used in their place are too fast, or off sync for the average player to complete. It is unknown whether or not Nexon planned to enable Story Mode with this difficulty.
[edit] Price changes for all items in Audition Vietnam
Since the May 2007 patch in Audition Vietnam (6034 patch), all game Items have been re-marked with higher price of 20% as its original price. Later on, no more DEN items are updated - instead, many new items which officially DEN Item from Korean Audition, are changed into Cash Item. Resulting in endless complaints from Vietnamese, this didn't stop the publisher VTC Online from adding expensive Items more and more - especially some of popular items marked with "V.I.P" title, which cost a lot of Cash to buy. Newest DEN-to-Cash Items are the Motion Cards, which cost 10000 DEN each in Korea Audition, but cost 480 Vcoin (around $3, Permanent Use) each in Vietnam Audition.
Audition is currently for sale for $1,000,000
[edit] Advertisements in Audition Korea
Compared to the rest of the Audition series, Audition Korea has perhaps the biggest amount of advertisement promotions throughout its entire run. Ranging from replacing the Audition symbol with its current sponsor (Basic House, Sunkist) to more direct ones like Demi-Soda (where the winner in team choreo and non special modes would open up a can of Demi-Soda and drink it. Also there was the ad at the end of the song). T3 Entertainment also sells some real life merchandise based on Audition as well as Outfits based on real life converted into Audition form. Also Audition Korea's new patcher has got advertisement in it.
[edit] Artist-related Promotions
Nexon released a patch on June 3, 2008 that introduced an artist spotlight promotion which featured songs, including recent releases by Natasha Bedingfield, along with modified stages which have various portraits of the pop diva. There is also a special Battle Party occasion when players can dance with Natasha Bedingfield replacing the chosen Battle Party NPC. There has been notice of negative feedback from the players about this patch, and as a result the game masters have provided a thread in the Nexon Audition forum on receiving opinions from the players on what Nexon should do in future patches.[2] As Nexon continues patching Audition on a regular basis, they also change the artist spotlight promotions. As of July 1, 2008, a new patch was released with a promotion of the band Lifehouse. 3 new Lifehouse songs were added, as well as modified stages with pictures of the band.
[edit] Philippine Music Ticket Item in Audition Philippines
There is an in-game item called the "Philippine Music Ticket" in the Philippine version of Audition and is required to play selected OPM (Original Pinoy Music) songs that are available. Only players who have the said item will be able to actually play the selected songs, otherwise the music will not play and will be replaced by a metronome. The said feature caused several complaints[3] from the players. Another complaint is that the said in-game item is expensive and is not available indefinitely, not to mention that there are very few OPM songs available. The said OPM songs were also played even in Random music selection, which causes everyone without the ticket to hear metronomes during the game, instead of the actual music. Players have been suggesting E-Games (the Philippine Audition publisher) to either decrease the price of the OPM Music ticket, add more OPM songs, or completely remove the said item.
[edit] Bugs Bids Farewell to Audition
After 2 years since Bugs closed its door for Global Audition it has done the same for its Korean site. On October 23, 2008 at 12:09 pm, Bugs had brought online their farewell page. Around 2-3 pm Bugs officially closed down their Korean audition site and has officially dropped out of the Audition business. http://audition.bugs.co.kr existed no more and automatically redirects to Bugs' help desk. Its members were transferred to ClubAudition. Though the accounts were transferred, a new account had to be made for ClubAudition. Due to the re-registration for ClubAudition, it required a KSSN which Bug's foreigner players did not have.
[edit] Nexon's North American Audition Closes
For months, the community has been debating on the status of the North American version of Audition. Speculations due to the patch and its contract on the game led people to believe the game was closing. On February 24, 2009, Nexon posted an announcement on its final decision of not renewing its license for Audition.[4] It has been stated that they will compensate its loyal fans with a MapleStory beginner package and a beta pass to its next game. This is to get the players to transition over to their other games. Nexon has also announced the new host, RedBana Corp. RedBana is a T3 Entertainment Studio company, and will be in responsible for localizing Audition America after Nexon surrenders its license on April 14, 2009.[5] On March 23, 2009, Redbana was officially launched and signups were made available.[6] On March 25th 2009, Character Transfers from Nexon to Redbana were made available.[7] Game Service for North America Audition has now finished with Nexon, and Nexon's Audition website has closed down. Redbana officially re-released Audition for play on April 17, 2009.
[edit] References
- ^ [1] Europe's Audition site
- ^ "Nexon Forums - Your non-flammatory opinions, please" (in English). Nexon. http://forum.nexon.net/AUDITION/forums/thread/1116764.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ "The Official Opm Ticket Thread, Reactions, and Suggestions post it here!!!" (in English). E-Games. http://forums.e-games.com.ph/index.php?showtopic=383. Retrieved on 2008-08-11.
- ^ http://audition.nexon.net/News/View.aspx?boardNo=101&contentNo=00480&pageIndex=1
- ^ http://audition.nexon.net/News/View.aspx?boardNo=101&contentNo=004FG&pageIndex=1
- ^ http://redbana.com/News/NoticeView.aspx?postid=2
- ^ http://audition.nexon.net/News/View.aspx?boardNo=101&contentNo=004aE&pageIndex=1
[edit] External links
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