This page is under HEAVY construction.

BEMANI Timeline
1997 - 1998 - 1999
2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019
2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024

2007

In early 2007, Tatsuya Shimizu left BEMANI (and subsequently, beatnation Records as well) due to health issues. His previous role as sound director of the beatmania IIDX arcade titles would be taken up by Toshiyuki Kakuta. With Kakuta's introduction to the arcade titles, beatmania IIDX would begin its first steps towards the more hardcore-oriented sound direction seen in modern titles. Meanwhile, the role of head sound director was transferred to Yoshitaka Nishimura. Alongside the release of beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD, beatnation Records took in three more members: the synthesizer wizard Sota Fujimori and the 4th style duo Kosuke Saito and Ryutaro Nakahara. A few months later, the label released its first artist album, milestone. These six artists have been heavily influential in the development of beatmania IIDX and would continue to play a big role in the future of BEMANI as a whole.

Arcade releases continued along, but console releases began to change. pop'n music 14 FEVER! CS and GuitarFreaks V3 & DrumMania V3 CS would be the last traditional entries in their respective series. DanceDanceRevolution begins to make the jump to seventh-generation consoles with titles like UNIVERSE and HOTTEST PARTY while titles based on arcade releases continued to stick to the PlayStation 2.

The end of 2007 also marks the 10th anniversary of BEMANI. Building up to this milestone, three live events were held throughout the year: pop'n music Culture Festival (ポップンミュージック文化祭) in February, beatnation summit in August, and THE GITADO LIVE in December. As one can infer from the names, each event focused on a specific series (namely, pop'n music, beatmania IIDX, and GuitarFreaks/DrumMania respectively) and featured live performances from artists and vocalists involved in those series.

2007 was a celebration of the old and much of this continued into 2008. However, the following year would also become a celebration of the new, starting with the beginning of a new series.

January

February

March

April

June

July

  • July 2nd: beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK released.
  • July 12th: pop'n music 14 FEVER! CS is released in Japan for the PlayStation 2. It is the last pop'n music CS title released on PlayStation 2 and also the last pop'n music CS title based on an arcade release.

August

September

October

  • October 4th: GuitarFreaks V3 & DrumMania V3 CS is released in Japan for the Playstation 2. It is the last GuitarFreaks & DrumMania CS title released on PlayStation 2 and also the last GuitarFreaks & DrumMania CS title based on an arcade release.
  • October 24th: DanceDanceRevolution HOTTEST PARTY (Japan) is released in Japan for the Wii.
  • October 25th: DanceDanceRevolution HOTTEST PARTY Original Soundtrack released.

December

  • December 2nd: THE GITADO LIVE ~BEMANI 10th Anniversary memorial event~ is held at Zepp Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan.
  • December 4th: DanceDanceRevolution UNIVERSE2 is released in North America for the Xbox 360.
  • December 12th: Dancing Stage UNIVERSE is released in Europe for the Xbox 360.
  • December 14th: A commemorative compilation album celebrating the 10th anniversary of BEMANI, titled BEMANI BEST for the 10th anniversary, is released.
  • December 19th: beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS is released to Japanese arcades.
  • December 21st: Dancing Stage UNIVERSE is released in Australia for the Xbox 360.

Unknown Date

  • Scott Dolph, the former International Affairs Manager of KONAMI Japan, and a frequent contributor to BEMANI, as well as various non-BEMANI projects at KONAMI, leaves the company after nearly a decade of service.
  • Tatsuya Shimizu leaves KONAMI due to health problems. He would return in 2010 as a commission artist.