1999: Difference between revisions

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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'' were hitting Korean arcades, 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. 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 rhythm games - Warashi's ''Le Concert ff'' and ''Le Concert pp'' took it a step forward and had you controlling an entire orchestra. NanaOn-Sha also released the cult classic ''vib-ribbon'', which used a 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.
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'' were hitting Korean arcades, 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. 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 rhythm games - Warashi's ''Le Concert ff'' and ''Le Concert pp'' took it a step forward and had you controlling an entire orchestra. NanaOn-Sha also released the cult classic ''vib-ribbon'', which used a 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, and two new pop'n music arcade titles, KONAMI also introduced two brand-new games: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] and [[AC DM|drummania]]. Unlike their previous game series, though, these games originally featured music from almost entirely veteran KONAMI music composers. Original sound director [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]]'s hard rock sound from over 20 years of previous music experience helped develop a very rich sound the series has to this day. Together with veteran [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]]'s more mellow 80s sound, veteran [[Harumi Ueko]]'s jazz, 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, and two new pop'n music arcade titles, KONAMI also introduced two brand-new games: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] and [[AC DM|drummania]]. Unlike their previous game series, though, these games originally featured music from almost entirely veteran KONAMI music composers. Original sound director [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]]'s hard rock sound from over 20 years of previous music experience helped develop a very rich sound the series has to this day. Together with veteran [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]]'s more mellow 80s sound, veteran [[Harumi Ueko]]'s jazz, 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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== February ==
== February ==
* February 16th: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to Japanese arcades.
** BEMANI debuts of in-house composers [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]], [[Toshio Sakurai]], and [[Harumi Ueko]].
* February 25th: [[CS pnm|pop'n music CS]] is released in Japan for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast.
* February 25th: [[CS pnm|pop'n music CS]] is released in Japan for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast.
** Veteran KONAMI composers [[Yoichi Hayashi]], [[Satoru Nakata]], and [[Junichiro Kaneda]] make their BEMANI debuts, the former staying on as head sound director of the series for the next five years.
** Veteran KONAMI composers [[Yoichi Hayashi]], [[Satoru Nakata]], and [[Junichiro Kaneda]] make their BEMANI debuts, the former staying on as head sound director of the series for the next five years.
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== March ==
== March ==
* March 1st: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to North American arcades.
* March 11th: [[CS bm GB|beatmania GB]] is released in Japan for Nintendo's Game Boy Color.
* March 11th: [[CS bm GB|beatmania GB]] is released in Japan for Nintendo's Game Boy Color.
* March 15th: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to Japanese arcades.
** BEMANI debuts of in-house composers [[Mutsuhiko Izumi]], [[Toshio Sakurai]], and [[Harumi Ueko]].
* March 18th: ''GUITAR FREAKS ORIGINAL GAME SOUNDTRACK'' album released.
* March 18th: ''GUITAR FREAKS ORIGINAL GAME SOUNDTRACK'' album released.
* March 19th: [[AC pnm 2|pop'n music 2]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* March 19th: [[AC pnm 2|pop'n music 2]] is released to Japanese arcades.
* March 26th: ''pop'n music original soundtrack'' album released.
* March 26th: ''pop'n music original soundtrack'' album released.
* March 26th: Singer [[Yurica Nagasawa]]'s third and final album with KONAMI, [[1999~VOCE~]], is released.
* March 26th: Singer [[Yurica Nagasawa]]'s third and final album with KONAMI, [[1999~VOCE~]], is released.
* Date unknown: [[AC GF|GUITARFREAKS]] is released to North American arcades.


== April ==
== April ==
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== July ==
== July ==
* July 10th: [[AC DM|drummania]] and [[AC GF2|GUITARFREAKS 2ndMIX]] are released to Japanese arcades. The former game introduced veteran KONAMI composer [[Motoaki Furukawa]] to BEMANI, while the latter game marked the debut of veteran composer [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]] and newcomer [[Hideyuki Ono]] to BEMANI.
* July 8th: [[AC GF2|GUITARFREAKS 2ndMIX]] is released to Japanese arcades.
** KONAMI composer [[Motoaki Furukawa]] marks his BEMANI debut.
* July 21st: [[AC DM|drummania]] is released to Japanese arcades.
** Marks the BEMANI debut of veteran composer [[Yoshihiko Koezuka]] and newcomer [[Hideyuki Ono]].
* July 27th: [[AC substream|beatmania IIDX substream]], an enhanced version of beatmania IIDX is released to Japanese arcades.
* July 27th: [[AC substream|beatmania IIDX substream]], an enhanced version of beatmania IIDX is released to Japanese arcades.
** Reo Nagumo steps down as sound director of beatmania IIDX, and his position goes to Takayuki Ishikawa, who would serve as head sound director of the series for the next five years.
** Reo Nagumo steps down as sound director of beatmania IIDX, and his position goes to Takayuki Ishikawa, who would serve as head sound director of the series for the next five years.