2011

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2011

2011 would signal the beginning of a series of events that would not only come to shape BEMANI, but the current arcade rhythm game market as a whole. The first of these was the promotion of beatmania IIDX programmer Kenji Watanabe to director of the beatmania IIDX series. Many of his decisions would bring the series into a new era, starting with beatmania IIDX 19 Lincle.

Lincle introduced a handful of new concepts to the series. The first of these is Qpro, an avatar character that can be customized by the player with the usage of Qpro parts. The EXTRA STAGE system, Lincle Kingdom, also expanded on the boss concept seen in the MILITARY SPLASH EXTRA STAGE system in DJ TROOPERS. Lincle's most notable addition, however, is STEP UP MODE, a mode designed to introduce and ease brand new players into the gameplay of IIDX. Sound-wise, it brought in many new, younger faces to the series, some of whom would stick on board for future titles.

GuitarFreaks & DrumMania also kept moving forward with GuitarFreaksXG2 & DrumManiaXG2 Groove to Live. KONAMI continued to push the new XG series, focusing less and less on the original V series. GuitarFreaks V8 & DrumMania V8 ended up being the last entry in the V series and the style of gameplay introduced by the XG series became the main format.

While IIDX and GFDM went in new directions, DanceDanceRevolution decided to take a look back at its roots. DanceDanceRevolution X3 VS 2ndMIX is what some would call a love letter to the classics, making an HD version of DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX into its own separate playable mode from the main game as well as reviving almost every playable song from 2ndMIX. The mode even received its own remastered soundtrack release, DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK presented by ダンスマニア.

Meanwhile, following the success of jubeat and REFLEC BEAT, KONAMI planned the release of another new game which underwent location testing in mid-2011. Little did anyone know just what would become of it when it made its debut in 2012.

January

• January 26th: Naoyuki Sato's third album - and the second under his main 猫叉Master alias - さよなら世界 - is released.
• January 27th: Kanako Hoshino's third album, Articulation, is released.

February

• February 23rd:
  • SUPER STAR 満-MITSURU-'s only album, ONLY ONE ACT, is released.
  • beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.
  • DanceDanceRevolution X2 Original Soundtrack released.

March

• March 3rd:
  • A follow up to pop'n music Cafe music selection, titled pop'n music Cafe music Espresso, is released.
  • KONAMI♪MUSICフルALBUM is released. It contains some BEMANI tracks and remixes previously exclusive to the KONAMI♪MUSICフル service.
• March 9th: GuitarFreaksXG2 & DrumManiaXG2 Groove to Live are released to Japanese arcades.
  • Yuei Uematsu steps down as sound director, and his position is given to Yoshihiko Koezuka, who still holds it today.
• March 18th: DanceDanceRevolution New Moves, the European counterpart to DanceDanceRevolution (PS3), is released in Europe for the Sony PlayStation 3.
• March 23rd:
  • jubeat knit APPEND is released to Japanese arcades.
    • Mutsuhiko Izumi steps down as sound director, and his position is taken over by S-C-U.
  • HELLO! POP'N MUSIC is released to Japanese arcades.
• March 28th: GuitarFreaks V8 & DrumMania V8 are released to Japanese arcades.

April

• April 6th: The third and final album of The Epic of Zektbach media project, The Epic of Zektbach -Masinowa-, is released.
• April 12th: DanceDanceRevolution, the Xbox 360 port of DanceDanceRevolution (PS3), is released in North America for the Xbox 360.
• April 20th:
  • Mutsuhiko Izumi's second album, ポン太と巡る世界の音楽, is released.
  • REFLEC BEAT ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.
  • jubeat knit APPEND ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.

May

• May 6th: DanceDanceRevolution hottest party4, the European counterpart to DanceDanceRevolution (2010), is released in Europe for the Nintendo Wii.
• May 13th: DanceDanceRevolution X2 is released to European arcades.
• May 25th: GuitarFreaksXG2 & DrumManiaXG2 Original Soundtrack 1st season released.

June

• June 9th: Sota Fujimori's third album, SYNTHESIZED3, is released.
• June 29th:
  • pop'n music 19 TUNE STREET original soundtrack released.
  • Yasuhiro Abe's first album, RADIUS OF PLANETS, is released.

September

• September 7th: TЁЯRA's second and final album, ЁVOLUTIФN, is released.
• September 15th:
  • beatmania IIDX 19 Lincle is released to Japanese arcades. Kenji Watanabe is promoted to director, while long-time series director KAGE is moved to producer.
  • jubeat copious is released to Japanese arcades.
• September 21st: Sana's sixth and final album under KONAMI, Miracle☆Sparkle, is released.
• September 28th: jubeat copious ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.

October

• October 11th: DanceDanceRevolution II is released in North America for the Nintendo Wii.
• October 12th: GuitarFreaksXG2 & DrumManiaXG2 Original Soundtracks 2nd season released.

November

• November 16th:
  • DanceDanceRevolution X3 VS 2ndMIX is released to Japanese arcades.
  • REFLEC BEAT limelight is released to Japanese arcades.
• November 23rd:
  • Seiya Murai's second album, 0/1 ANGEL, is released.
  • pop'n music portable 2 is released in Japan on the PlayStation Portable.
• November 24th: REFLEC BEAT plus is released in Japan for iOS.
• November 25th: DanceDanceRevolution hottest party5, the European counterpart to DanceDanceRevolution II, is released in Europe for the Nintendo Wii.
  • It marks the final retail BEMANI game in any region on a home console to date.
• November 30th: DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK presented by ダンスマニア released.

December

• December 4th: The finals of KONAMI Arcade Championship 2011 are held.
• December 7th:
  • pop'n music 20 fantasia is released to Japanese arcades.
    • PON starts sharing sound directing duties with wac.
  • cyber beatnation 2 -Hi Speed conclusion- is released.
• December 16th: pop'n music SUPER BEST BOX, a collection of (most) of the songs from the first 16 arcade pop'n music titles (pop'n music through pop'n music 16 PARTY♪), all 14 mainline PlayStation/PlayStation 2 pop'n music titles, pop'n stage, ee'MALL, and ee'MALL 2nd avenue, is released.
  • It also includes various longs of old pop'n music songs from the various albums released over the years. The only new addition is PM SUPER BEST すぺしゃるメドレー, a medley of pop'n music songs made by Tsugumi Kataoka exclusively for the album.