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= 1999 =
= 1999 =


1999 was a very big year for music games in general. Following the success of beatmania, DanceDanceRevolution, and pop'n music, several video game developers started releasing their own music games. ANDAMIRO's ''Pump It Up'' and Amuse World's ''EZ2DJ'' very hitting Japanese charts, and even established game series made before beatmania became big got sequels: NanaOn-Sha's ''UmJammer Lammy'' was a huge hit, combining the engine of its predecessor ''PaRappa the Rapper'' with more freeform guitar licks, and Enix's ''Bust-A-Move 2'' was hitting shelves in early 1999, and NAMCO's cult hit ''Pacapaca Passion'' received a PlayStation port, as well as an upgraded version (Special) and a sequel. The PlayStation also received several of its own ryhtm games - Warashi's ''Le Concert ff'' and ''Le Concert pp'' took it a step forward and has you controlling an entire orchestra. NanaOn-Sha also released the cult classic ''vib-ribbon'', which used an unique, scribbled black and white aesthetic and had your character literally changing as you moved around.
1999 was a very big year for music games in general. Following the success of beatmania, DanceDanceRevolution, and pop'n music, several video game developers started releasing their own music games. ANDAMIRO's ''Pump It Up'' and Amuse World's ''EZ2DJ'' very hitting Japanese charts, and even established game series made before beatmania became big got sequels: NanaOn-Sha's ''UmJammer Lammy'' was a huge hit, combining the engine of its predecessor ''PaRappa the Rapper'' with more freeform guitar licks, and Enix's ''Bust-A-Move 2'' was hitting shelves in early 1999, and NAMCO's cult hit ''Pacapaca Passion'' received a PlayStation port, as well as an upgraded version (Special) and a sequel. The PlayStation also received several of its own ryhtm games - Warashi's ''Le Concert ff'' and ''Le Concert pp'' took it a step forward and has you controlling an entire orchestra. NanaOn-Sha also released the cult classic ''vib-ribbon'', which used an unique, scribbled black and white aesthetic and had your character literally changing as you moved around. The end of 1999 also saw SEGA step into the music game genre with Compile's ''Puyo Puyo DA!'' and Sonic Team's ''Samba de Amigo''. It would be far from the last rhythm games from the company.


KONAMI itself was pretty busy, too. In addition to three new arcade beatmania titles, six new DanceDanceRevolution arcade titles, two and two new pop'n music arcade titles, KONAMI also introduced two brand-new games: [[AC_GF1|GUITARFREAKS]] and [[AC_GF2DM1|drummania]]. Unlike their previous game series, though, these games originally featured music from almost entirely veteran KONAMI music composers. Originaly sound director [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]]'s hard rock sound from over 20 years of previous music experience helped developed a very rich sound the series has to this day. Together with veteran [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]]'s more mellow 80s sound, veteran [[Harumi Ueko|Jimmy Weckl]]'s jazz tracks, and newcomers [[Hideyuki Ono]]'s ska inspired sound and [[Toshio Sakurai]]'s more rock pop sound, GUITARFREAKS and drummania quickly became hits, the former receiving a [[CS_GF|PlayStation port]] by the end of the year.
KONAMI itself was pretty busy, too. In addition to three new arcade beatmania titles, six new DanceDanceRevolution arcade titles, two and two new pop'n music arcade titles, KONAMI also introduced two brand-new games: [[AC_GF1|GUITARFREAKS]] and [[AC_GF2DM1|drummania]]. Unlike their previous game series, though, these games originally featured music from almost entirely veteran KONAMI music composers. Originaly sound director [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]]'s hard rock sound from over 20 years of previous music experience helped developed a very rich sound the series has to this day. Together with veteran [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]]'s more mellow 80s sound, veteran [[Harumi Ueko|Jimmy Weckl]]'s jazz tracks, and newcomers [[Hideyuki Ono]]'s ska inspired sound and [[Toshio Sakurai]]'s more rock pop sound, GUITARFREAKS and drummania quickly became hits, the former receiving a [[CS_GF|PlayStation port]] by the end of the year.
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The Sony PlayStation became the new home for most of these new BEMANI arcade releases. DanceDanceRevolution games became huge hits on the system, and the beatmania games continued to sell quite well. KONAMI even dabbled with the Game Boy with their beatmania, producing three games in all.
The Sony PlayStation became the new home for most of these new BEMANI arcade releases. DanceDanceRevolution games became huge hits on the system, and the beatmania games continued to sell quite well. KONAMI even dabbled with the Game Boy with their beatmania, producing three games in all.


KONAMI knew it couldn't keep their music games to just Japan and Korea at this point, so they started releasing some of their arcade games overseas in North America as well. Unfortunately, the American arcade market at the time wasn't as receptive as they would be just a couple of years later to rhythm games. There were two exceptions, though. The first was [[AC DS 1st|Dancing Stage]], an European arcade game loosely based on [[AC DDR 2nd|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX]] that encouraged KONAMI to release a sequel the following year. The other was '''hiphop completeMIX''', a North American version of [[AC bm complete|beatmania completeMIX]] that also managed a year later to get a sequel. (Unfortunately the cabinet is quite hard to find, even back then.)
 
Lastly, 1999 also marked an extremely important milestone. KONAMI started adapting the BEMANI name for their games, the name itself taken from their first game series beatmania.
Lastly, 1999 also marked an extremely important milestone. KONAMI started adapting the BEMANI name for their games, the name itself taken from their first game series beatmania.
 


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So overall 1999 was a very big year for KONAMI's BEMANI series. But 2000 would make 1999 look like nothing happened at all.
So overall 1999 was a very big year for KONAMI's BEMANI series. But 2000 would make 1999 look like nothing happened at all.
 
== January ==
 
* January 19th: [[AC bm complete|beatmania completeMIX]], a compilation game of the first three [[AC bm 1st|beatmania]] [[AC bm 2nd|arcade]] [[AC bm3rd|games]], is released to Japanese arcades.
* January 29th: [[AC DDR 2nd|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX]] is released to Japanese arcades.


== February ==
 
* February 16th: [[AC GF1|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* [[PnM_CS_1|pop'n music CS]] is released in Japan for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast.
* February 26th: [[AC 1st style|beatmania IIDX]] is released to Japanese arcades.


== March ==
 
* March 11th: [[CS bm GB|beatmania GB]] is released in Japan for Nintendo's Game Boy Color.
 
== April ==
 
* April 10th: [[CS DDR 1st JP|DanceDanceRevolution CS (Japan)]] is released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.
* April 21st: [[AC DDR CLUB VER.1|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX with beatmania IIDX CLUB VERSiON]] is released to Japanese arcades. This game combines DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX and beatmania IIDX together to play 13 songs on for synchronized play.
* April 26th: [[AC bm 4th|beatmania 4thMIX -the beat goes on-]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* April 28th: [[CS bm WS|beatmania for WonderSwan]] is released in Japan for the Bandai WonderSwan.
* April 28th: ''' DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX LINK VERSION'' is released to Japanese arcades. This version added five new songs and allows you to play ''any'' song you wish for any stage, a first in the series.
 
== May ==


* May 29th: [[CS bm GOTTAMIX|beatmania APPEND GOTTAMIX]] is released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.
 
== July ==
 
* July 10th: [[AC GF2DM1|GUITARFREAKS 2nd]] and [[AC GFDM1|drummania]] are released to Japanese arcades.
* July 27th: [[AC substream|beatmania IIDX substream]] is released to Japanese arcades. This enhanced version of the original beatmania IIDX adds 11 new songs and many more charts for older songs.
* July 27th: [[AC DDR CLUB VER.2|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX AND beatmania IIDX substream CLUB VERSiON 2]] is released to Japanese arcades. A sequel to DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX with beatmania IIDX CLUB VERSiON, this version features six full charts for each of its 42 songs.
* July 27th: [[AC DS TRUE KiSS DESTiNATiON|Dancing Stage featuring TRUE KiSS DESTiNATiON]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* July 29th: [[CS GF|GUITARFREAKS CS]] is released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.


== August ==
 
* August 19th: [[AC DDR Solo BASS|DanceDanceRevolution Solo BASS MIX]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* August 26th: [[CS DDR 2ndReMIX PS|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndReMIX]] is released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.
 
== September ==


* September 9th: [[CS bm 4th|beatmania APPEND 4thMIX]] is released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.
* September 14th: [[PnM CS 2|pop'n music 2 CS]] is released in Japan for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast.
* September 22nd: [[AC bm 5th|beatmania 5thMIX -Time to get down-]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* September 24th: [[PnS_AC|pop'n stage]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* September 30th: [[AC 2nd style|beatmania IIDX 2nd style]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* Date unknown: '''GUITARFREAKS 2ndMIX Link version''', an upgraded version of GUITARFREAKS 2ndMIX with five new songs, is released.
== October ==
* October 30th: [[AC DDR 3rd|DanceDanceRevolution 3rdMIX]] is released to Japanese arcades.
== November ==
* November 25th: [[CS bm GB Gatcha|beatmania GB2 ガッチャミックス]] is released in Japan for Nintendo's Game Boy Color.
* November 25th: [[CS DDR 2ndReMIX APPEND CLUB vol.1|DanceDanceRevolution 2ndReMIX APPEND CLUB VERSiON vol.1]] is released to Japanese arcades.
 
== December ==
* December 16th: [[AC DDR Solo 2000|DanceDanceRevolution Solo 2000]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* December 20th: '''pop'n stage''', an enhanced version of pop'n stage, is released to Japanese arcades.
* December 25th: [[AC DS DREAMS COME TRUE|Dancing Stage featuring DREAMS COME TRUE]] is released to Japanese arcades.
 
== Unknown ==
 
* [[AC DS 1st|Dancing Stage]] is released to European arcades.
* ''' Dancing Stage INTERNET R@NKING Version:''', an enhanced port of Dancing Stage, is released.
* [[AC GF1|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to North American arcades.
* '''hiphopmania completeMIX''', a North American version of beatmania completeMIX with a few songs removed, is released to North American arcades.
* [[PnM_AC_1|pop'n music]] is released to North American arcades. Several songs are removed, and a few character names were changed.
 
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:History]]

Revision as of 08:28, 16 March 2016

1999

1999 was a very big year for music games in general. Following the success of beatmania, DanceDanceRevolution, and pop'n music, several video game developers started releasing their own music games. ANDAMIRO's Pump It Up and Amuse World's EZ2DJ very hitting Japanese charts, and even established game series made before beatmania became big got sequels: NanaOn-Sha's UmJammer Lammy was a huge hit, combining the engine of its predecessor PaRappa the Rapper with more freeform guitar licks, and Enix's Bust-A-Move 2 was hitting shelves in early 1999, and NAMCO's cult hit Pacapaca Passion received a PlayStation port, as well as an upgraded version (Special) and a sequel. The PlayStation also received several of its own ryhtm games - Warashi's Le Concert ff and Le Concert pp took it a step forward and has you controlling an entire orchestra. NanaOn-Sha also released the cult classic vib-ribbon, which used an unique, scribbled black and white aesthetic and had your character literally changing as you moved around. The end of 1999 also saw SEGA step into the music game genre with Compile's Puyo Puyo DA! and Sonic Team's Samba de Amigo. It would be far from the last rhythm games from the company.

KONAMI itself was pretty busy, too. In addition to three new arcade beatmania titles, six new DanceDanceRevolution arcade titles, two and two new pop'n music arcade titles, KONAMI also introduced two brand-new games: GUITARFREAKS and drummania. Unlike their previous game series, though, these games originally featured music from almost entirely veteran KONAMI music composers. Originaly sound director Mutsuhiko Izumi's hard rock sound from over 20 years of previous music experience helped developed a very rich sound the series has to this day. Together with veteran Yoshihiko Koezuka's more mellow 80s sound, veteran Jimmy Weckl's jazz tracks, and newcomers Hideyuki Ono's ska inspired sound and Toshio Sakurai's more rock pop sound, GUITARFREAKS and drummania quickly became hits, the former receiving a PlayStation port by the end of the year.

But perhaps the biggest of the new games released that year was, ironically, a spin-off game; beatmania IIDX. beatmania IIDX added two new buttons to the overall game design, and also re-positioned the 1P to the left. But it also boast something the original beatmania never had; live-action video. For the first time, licensed tracks from the likes of m-flo and later artists down the line featured their original videos. This game also marked the debuts of the hugely popular BEMANI artists Takayuki Ishikawa (dj TAKA), and Takehiko Fujii (SLAKE). Fujii in-particular went on to sound director near every beatmania from 1999 onwards, while Ishikawa stayed on board with beatmania IIDX, inviting friends of his like TaQ and Osamu Kubota to help make a rich, more electronic counterpart to the more hip-hop/dance/techno tone that the original beatmania kept with Fujii.

beatmania wasn't the only game with a spin-off, though. DanceDanceRevolution had the DSolo BASS MIX and Solo 2000 games, which transformed the usual four-panel styling of DDR on its head. Now you had two extra arrows on the top left and right to work with, resulting in a far more difficult game overall. Both of these games contained almost completely brand-new songs never before in the series.

pop'n music itself had pop'n stage, which was a bit like Pump-It-Up, but keysounded. This game also had an almost completely original songlist, and near all of its songs would pop up in the main series of pop'n music titles. It even got an upgrade later that year known as pop'n stage ex, which added a new difficulty level, a few songs from the then current pop'n music 3, and two brand-new songs. One of the new songs, WE TWO ARE ONE, introduced Seiya Murai to BEMANI. Murai would be for years after one of the biggest names in pop'n music, and also a key staff member of KEYBOARDMANIA starting the following year.

The Sony PlayStation became the new home for most of these new BEMANI arcade releases. DanceDanceRevolution games became huge hits on the system, and the beatmania games continued to sell quite well. KONAMI even dabbled with the Game Boy with their beatmania, producing three games in all.

KONAMI knew it couldn't keep their music games to just Japan and Korea at this point, so they started releasing some of their arcade games overseas in North America as well. Unfortunately, the American arcade market at the time wasn't as receptive as they would be just a couple of years later to rhythm games. There were two exceptions, though. The first was Dancing Stage, an European arcade game loosely based on DanceDanceRevolution 2ndMIX that encouraged KONAMI to release a sequel the following year. The other was hiphop completeMIX, a North American version of beatmania completeMIX that also managed a year later to get a sequel. (Unfortunately the cabinet is quite hard to find, even back then.)   Lastly, 1999 also marked an extremely important milestone. KONAMI started adapting the BEMANI name for their games, the name itself taken from their first game series beatmania.  

Line 19: Line 17:   So overall 1999 was a very big year for KONAMI's BEMANI series. But 2000 would make 1999 look like nothing happened at all.  

January

 

February

 

  • February 16th: GUITARFREAKS is released to Japanese arcades.
  • pop'n music CS is released in Japan for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast.
  • February 26th: beatmania IIDX is released to Japanese arcades.

March

 

  • March 11th: beatmania GB is released in Japan for Nintendo's Game Boy Color.

 

April

 

 

May

 

July

 

August

 

 

September

October

November

 

December

 

Unknown

 

  • Dancing Stage is released to European arcades.
  • Dancing Stage INTERNET R@NKING Version:, an enhanced port of Dancing Stage, is released.
  • GUITARFREAKS is released to North American arcades.
  • hiphopmania completeMIX, a North American version of beatmania completeMIX with a few songs removed, is released to North American arcades.
  • pop'n music is released to North American arcades. Several songs are removed, and a few character names were changed.