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Bemani

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Bemani (ビーマニ, 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.

Bemani video 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 <game> Nth <version>, 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.

Listing

beatmania

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

beatmania IIDX

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. 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: DistorteD

beatmania III

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/Dancing Stage

Dance Dance Revolution (known as Dancing Stage in Europe) was first produced in 1998 and continues to the present, with over 90 different versions accounted for. The newest of these versions was released internationally on September 28 2005 and has been named Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2. 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. Europe has seen the 2005 release of Dancing Stage Fusion, and home versions are still released periodically in all three regions. This still remains Benmani's most popular music game to date.

Arcade mixes released:

  • Dance Dance Revolution
  • Dance Dance Revolution USA
  • 2nd Mix
  • DDR Club: (connectable with Beatmania IIDX Substream)
  • 3rd Mix
  • 3rd Mix (Korean Versions 1&2)
  • 3rd Mix Plus
  • 4th Mix
  • 4th Mix Plus
  • 5th Mix
  • 6th Mix: DDR Max
  • 7th Mix: DDR Max2
  • Extreme
  • Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA (Currently announced in USA AND JAPAN. World wide launch, May 16 2006)
  • Dancing Stage SuperNOVA (Currently announced)


Dance Dance Revolution has been released as videogames for the Sony PlayStation 2, Xbox. A spinoff game, Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, has been released for the Nintendo GameCube.

Dance Maniax

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

Pop'n Music

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 13 Carnival in 2005. 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
  • Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Animelo
  • Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Animelo 2
  • Unknown (199?) - Pop'n Music Mickey Tunes

GuitarFreaks & DrumMania

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 two players 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

Toy's March

([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.

Dance 86.4 Funky Radio Station

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.

Keyboardmania

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.

ParaParaParadise

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.

Mambo A Go Go

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. 5

Only one version of Mambo A Go Go was ever released to arcades.

Karaoke Revolution

Cashing in on the popularity of Karaoke in Japan, this requires players to sing along to songs and match both pitch and timing.


Bemani Pocket

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)

Bemani artists

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.

See also

External links

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