2008

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2008

After the success of the original group of BEMANI titles in the late 1990's, KONAMI attempted to introduce more new entries throughout the 2000's. None of these new games passed more than a few entries, but in 2008, a new game would begin its path to success.

jubeat introduced a different style of gameplay to arcade music games. Based on the concept of "touch", jubeat's gameplay consists of 16 buttons arranged in a 4x4 grid, hitting buttons in time with the music as they light up. It doesn't actually use touch screens, but it was the first arcade rhythm game to emulate touch-based gameplay. The cabinet itself doesn't take up much space in arcades and it's often paired up with other cabinets for local multiplayer. Another thing that sets jubeat apart from its BEMANI siblings was the bigger focus on licensed music. The number of licenses ended up overtaking the number of KONAMI originals in a 2-to-1 ratio. The game was released in Japan in the mid-summer; an American location test under a different title (Ubeat) was held shortly after, though never released. Despite the oddball appearance and nature of the game, it managed to obtain a crowd with its unique style of gameplay. The series is still going strong to this very day.

KONAMI continued to throw the dice and take risks on newer entries in established series. One of these risks was DanceDanceRevolution X, one of the more peculiar entries in the series. For one, it's the first (and so far only) arcade title in all of BEMANI headed by an American sound director, the late Jason Borenstein. Another thing is that it actually debuted on the North American PlayStation 2 three months before it was released in the arcades of Japan. As such, the entry is more Western-focused in its sound, visuals, and artist selection. X expanded the difficulty scale to the current 20-level model and also introduced the Shock Arrow mechanic.

While 2008 saw many celebratory releases, it also signaled a change from the old to the new. Mutsuhiko Izumi stepped down from his position as sound director of the GuitarFreaks & DrumMania series, and Asaki would take his place for GuitarFreaks V5 & DrumMania V5 Rock to Infinity. Likewise, beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS would be dj TAKA's last title as a co-sound director of beatmania IIDX. pop'n music 16 PARTY♪ was the last BEMANI title that Reo Nagumo would be involved in, and many of his songs would be removed later that year (and the next) in other BEMANI titles.

January

• January 8th: DanceDanceRevolution Disney Channel EDITION is released in North America for the PlayStation 2.
• January 17th: DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2 is released to North American arcades.

February

• February 19th: DDRMAX2 -DanceDanceRevolution- and DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME CS (North America) are re-released in North America as part of the PlayStation 2's Greatest Hits series.
• February 21st:
  • DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2 CS (Japan) is released in Japan for the PlayStation 2.
  • DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA2 Original Soundtrack released.
• February 22nd: GuitarFreaksV4 & DrumManiaV4 Яock×Rock Original Soundtracks released.

March

• March 24th: pop'n music 16 PARTY♪ is released to Japanese arcades. Final appearance of Reo Nagumo in BEMANI. Several of his songs would be removed in upcoming BEMANI titles.
• March 28th: Dancing Stage HOTTEST PARTY is released in Europe for the Nintendo Wii.

April

• April 4th: beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.
• April 11th: Dancing Stage HOTTEST PARTY is released in New Zealand for the Nintendo Wii.
• April 18th: Dancing Stage HOTTEST PARTY is released in Australasia for the Nintendo Wii.

May

• Day unknown: PACHISLOT beatmania, a spinoff of KPE's PACHISLOT series, is released. Its interface is based on beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD, and features new art by IIDX illustrator GOLI.
• May 14th: Handsome JET, a frequent vocalist for the GuitarFreaks & DrumMania series for the past seven years, dies in a traffic accident.
• May 22nd: pop'n music Be-Mouse is released for PC. Its interface is based on pop'n music 14 FEVER! and allows you to play pop'n music songs on a tiny mouse with nine pop'n music buttons.
• May 28th: PACHISLOT beatmania ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, an album based on the slot game PACHISLOT beatmania, is released.
• May 29th:
  • L.E.D.'s first album, 電人K, is released.
  • beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD CS is released in Japan for the PlayStation 2.
  • MAYA's first art book, puzzle / MAYA TAKAMURA'S PIECES, is released.

June

• June 18th: GuitarFreaks V5 & DrumMania V5 Rock to Infinity are released to Japanese arcades.
  • Mutsuhiko Izumi steps down as sound director to work on jubeat, and his position is given to Asaki.

July

• July 24th: jubeat is released to Japanese arcades.

August

• August 29th: Sota Fujimori's first album, SYNTHESIZED, is released.

September

• September 8th: Location testing for a North American version of jubeat, titled UBeat, is under way. However, it was never released.
• September 16th:
  • DanceDanceRevolution X CS (North America) is released in North America for the PlayStation 2.
  • DanceDanceRevolution HOTTEST PARTY2 is released in North America for the Nintendo Wii.
• September 29th: pop'n music 16 PARTY♪ original soundtrack released.

October

• October 3rd: Dancing Stage SuperNOVA2 is released in Europe for the PlayStation 2.
• October 15th: DanceDanceRevolution Mobius is released in North America for cellphones.
• October 21st: DanceDanceRevolution UNIVERSE3 is released in North America for the Xbox 360.

November

• November 18th: Dancing Stage UNIVERSE2 is released in Europe for the Xbox 360.
• November 19th: beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS is released to Japanese arcades.
  • BEMANI debut of designers NAGI and Cody.

December

• December 5th: GuitarFreaksV5 & DrumManiaV5 Rock to Infinity Original Soundtracks released.
• December 18th:
  • Keiichi Ueno's first album, Rewind!, is released.
  • beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS CS is released in Japan for the PlayStation 2.
    • This is the final beatmania IIDX title to feature dj TAKA as a sound director.
  • ダンスダンスレボリューション フルフル♪パーティー, the Japanese counterpart to DanceDanceRevolution HOTTEST PARTY2, is released in Japan for the Nintendo Wii.
• December 24th:
  • DanceDanceRevolution X is released in Japanese arcades.
  • pop'n music request best! album released.
  • Seiya Murai's first solo album, plug+program, is released.

Unknown date

• MAYA leaves KONAMI, though would continue to contribute to BEMANI as a freelancer. Her last credited work as a staff member was beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS.