Having different volume levels for each ear is actually a surprisingly considerate disability support. My left ear doesn't hear nearly as well as my right, so I have to adjust levels using software, which I doubt was possible directly on the PS2, since it was intended for TV speakers, for which left/right differences don't matter nearly as much.
Fun fact: Konami’s music games division was simply called the Games and Music Division, but due to the unexpected success of Beatmania, it was renamed to BEMANI, a portmanteau of Beatmania.
the different side volume sliders on the dj station pro would actually be pretty useful for me :O i have hearing loss in one ear so with this i could adjust the volumes so both of my ears sound the same
yeayea~! it makes for a great accessibility option. it just seems odd that they'd include an accessibility feature in a mainstay home controller is all.
Yeah! Same here, I've got hearing loss in my left ear, it's honestly more accessible than most volume things nowadays (even though when I play it's not that big of a deal, and I use subtitles by default)
@@planetclue I think it is due to how DJs sometimes only use one end of the headphone to monitor the music and leave the other one open to hear how the songs are played out to the crowd so it's a good level of detail I'd say to emulate that DJ feeling!
wdym, they still have a very active presence in the realm of non rhythm and non pachinko lol bombergirl does the "make it make money" for konami pretty ridiculously well
11:50 for whatever reason, when stereo audio was becoming widespread in the 80s and 90s, there was subsequently a trend of headphone makers and other electronics companies giving people more control over left and right volume seperately. Supposedly producers back in the day really liked to play around with panning certain instruments and vocals left and right, so naturally some people would want certain sounds louder than others. This continued a bit into the early 2000s and the concept eventually died out as more music moved away from experimenting with panning so heavily.
Ironically you want little or no stereo separation in live DJ venues because otherwise people on different sides of the room would hear the song very differently.
I'm enjoying this video! Just wanted to point out that guitar hero is not keysounded, but instead mutes the track if you miss a note completely, plays the error sound if you play the wrong note, and if you play the note within the acceptable timing window (even if you are early or late) it will play the correctly timed guitar track (not early or late like it would be if it were keysounded). It's a small but important distinction between what they do and what keysounds actually are.
It's pretty much Harmonix's workaround for the Keysound patent, as Konami Will Sue actually was a threat instead of a joke. EZ2DJ and DJ MAX were targeted by Konami's lawsuits for having keysounds (And EZ2DJ looked 'too close' to beatmania even if it had 1p Left Turn Table like IIDX and an awkward 7 button mode that added in the effector buttons FAR AWAY FROM THE STANDARD BUTTONS as gameplay buttons) and it caused a redesign of both games. The "Harmonix Style" appeared as early as Frequency, but it would mute the track that wasn't activated or you missed on (and there was like 6 tracks per song in Freq.). This carried over to Amplitude, but with up to EIGHT tracks now instead of 6.
As someone who is partially deaf in one ear (I've got about 25% hearing left in my left ear), being able to crank one side up higher than the other is a game changer. I know I'm the minority, but I've always enjoyed when pieces of hardware have this feature. Not sure if the DJ Station Pro was built with this in mind but it's a pretty neat feature.
DJ's tend to use only one side of their headphones for mixing purposes, for example so they can hear the current song and the upcoming song at the same time. I think it tries to emulate that instead.
I tried that arcade locator thing mentioned at 4:45 Expecting Galloping Ghost Arcade to have it and was shocked to find out someone in my home town not more than 12 blocks away from me owns a Beatmania cab along with several other rhythm games in a private home collection that he allows public access too upon request.....never expected something like that when I clicked on this video XD
if this ever becomes a series where you talk about old bemani rhythm games like this then you should make a video of pop'n music next since not only is it very good but you also seem to acknowledge it greatly and be a fan of it too
Oh man, you should've mentioned that the Bemini also doubles as a shortcut board thanks to running QMK! I've seen people easily pay $100+ for shortcut boards with the same number of keys soldered. But $60 for a full set of 12 hot-swappable keys, a rotary encoder, AND it's a full function IIDX board on top? That's a steal of a deal!
Welp, nearly a year and several missed restocks later I still don't own one myself. But they are making one with a better microcontroller, so it's not all bad. Here's to another year of Bemani goodies. (Edit 9 months later: looks like KK has abandoned the project entirely. RIP)
I find it hard to get through videos on subjects like this that I know very well, I often get annoyed when Information isnt presented well or I think someone who may not understand the full fundamentals of a subject might not be doing full justice to ideas / product given. etc Bemani has been apart of my life for so long , and the community /family I've grown up with of people through forums and arcades over the years has made it a very close subject to my heart. I think you did a great job explaining the culture, feel, music and opened a small window of what it was like to love these games. Thanks for the video you did a really good job.
hi, personal account here. dude i know!!! i legit can't stand videos about bemani stuff because i'm a huge nerd and i know too much about it. people gloss over too many details to the point that it's unsatisfying, or they get tons of things totally wrong. good to hear from people that love these games as much as i do. keep on keepin' on brotha!!!
2:08 - "It can be hard to defend sometimes" (still plays a song that I groove to) All we're gonna say is that if the shoulder's schmoovin' the music's groovin'
Got a feeling having the different levels for each ear on the pro controller is to mimic how the cue function works on actual DJ mixers, while still making it have some functionality for an arcade title. On an actual mixer we can have the main audio in 1 ear, and the next track we're preparing in another :)
@kkclue have a feeling he isn't aware of how that works, everyone else in the comments thinks its for accesibility when Japanese developers (espcially in the 90s/early 2000s) have next to no consideration for accessibility in games.
The EQ sliders/ effector is probably the most under-appreciated feature of the game. Soundphile I am I spend most of my time fiddling around with EQ to get the best sound. Fun stuff
Hey! Arcade/rhythm game "aficionado" here. My qualifications include working at a Round 1 for about 6 months. Regardless, I absolutely loved this video! I've been watching your videos for a while, and I absolutely adore everything you make. I have a few things to note, though. With the custom sliders on the cabinet, the newest version of Sound Voltex cabinet has the sliders on a second screen, like the IIDX cabinet you showed in the video. Also, not every version of the game came with a new cabinet. I know you didn't say that specifically but the way you phrased it sounded like that may be the case. Just thought I'd add that in there. Another thing is that all modern versions of beatmania use 7 buttons standard. You showed both old and new versions, so I just wanted to say/show that the majority of charts/songs always use all 7 buttons. I also don't think that there's an option for using only 5 keys on modern cabinets/versions. I could be missing something in the controls, but I don't know. Also, for controllers, the company Yuancon is amazing. I got a Sound Voltex controller from them and I absolutely adore it, and they also make beatmania controllers. With that said they're all handmade so their stock is extremely limited, but has amazing quality, customer service, and a super helpful discord server with tons of people more than willing to help you. If I think of anything else to add, I'll edit this post, but those are some of the things that I thought I'd add as someone who also adores rhythm games. P.S. damn you I was planning on making small/tiny version of the beatmania controller but you beat me to the punch lol. Regardless, amazing video, I can't wait to see what other projects you make :D
I was waiting for a comment like this. I just was too lazy to type my own if i didnt find it 😭 ty for letting more ppl know abt this stuff! its cool to see more ppl get into this niche :D
I think the reason that there are 2 sliders for the headphones on the controller at 12:22 is something about older stereo having all of the top end in one ear and all of the bass in the other one. So you could adjust the volume of the bass only
Surprisingly, I still see a few of these arcade machines in some arcades in my area. And no surprise, those are old models from the 2000s so it's so refreshing playing them again with old 90s and 2000s song varieties instead of playing the recent DDR-like machines that are mostly k-pop songs with little varieties and need a little break from Taiko No Tatsujin machines I usually play.
Absolutely amazing video. I've been playing bemani games for quite a while and to see a video essay on beatmania at THIS QUALITY is just the best thing ever. keep up the great stuff kk!
I love coming across channels with videos of people talking about their passions. Even though I'm not personally interested in rhythm games (I have this abhorrent skill for making typos by pressing too many things at once), I have loved watching these dives into these topics. Great content, great aesthetics, great comedy. Thanks so much!
Hi kk! This video is obviously from a long time ago, but I thought I’d just share something about the DJ Station Pro seen at 10:18. This is actually very cool and something I don’t see very often on older game controllers, but is relatively common on stereo playback (if you search hard enough). *It accommodates for hearing loss* - that way if there’s decibel loss (up to a certain percentage of course) in one ear and not in the other, it can be accommodated for inside headphones WITHOUT the discomfort of wearing a hearing aid along with your headphones. This being on such an old controller is INSANE and really shows that they had all players in mind, even those who don’t seem like they “fit” the audience. Sound accommodation is insanely cool and I highly respect audio engineers for making it happen!
It's really nice to see any kind of representation for the 5-Key era of Beatmania, it's still very much my favorite era because it's uniqueness through it's experimentation and while I love IIDX just as much for different reasons, I don't think beyond 10th it had the same amount of charm the older stuff had. either way, banger video as usual
Oh hell yeah! You've pretty much singlehandedly raised the bar for Bemani and general arcade rhythm game content on youtube this past year and I've been hyped to see it! (although I've gotta step up the pace now that my beatmania video isn't the top dog in town haha). The only thing that felt missing from this was that you could've easily slipped a mention of bemani pro league during the small bit talking about how modern IIDX has changed for the modern gaming landscape but otherwise this was a blast of an overview!
Thank you so much for making such a well edited, heartfelt, entertaining, and well-researched video, this is absolutely the best beatmania video on TH-cam, you are EPIC
You put SOOOO much effort in your videos, i dont care about the upload frequency. You always dig into the details of both popular and obscure hardware and software!
for the dj station pro that actually could be super useful for someone who is hard of hearing in one ear, so it's actually super cool and friendly to people who need different volume settings! as well for people with noise sensitives, it may be super useful actually so they dont get overloaded and stressed from too many sounds at once. for most hearing folks it probably is annoying to have to readjust so it sounds the same, but accessibility and inclusion are always a must for games like these, and it is a pretty cool thing to see
beatmania is one of the rhythm games I always found very unique, I always wanted to play it but didn't have to money to buy a controller and no arcades around me had it. I'm glad you made a video on it!
MORE KKCLUE CONTENT! I can’t tell you how much your content has helped me! I love watching it while building legos, playing chill games, etc! You also made me comfortable with being pansexual! I have a boyfriend now, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been! Keep going, man! I love your stuff! :3
I really enjoyed this video and I would LOVE a second part including all the content you had cut out from this one, I think the history of Bemani is fascinating along with their seemingly unique work culture (until Konami ruined everything in 2017) I can tell this took an eternity to edit and polish so I really appreciate the effort as well.
Surprised you didn't talk about the yearly music video contest with "BMS of Fighters", I always thought it was super cool that Bemani did that and the results that come out every year is always a spectacle to enjoy.
i learned a lot about a series i've loved for a long time (but sadly fallen out of in recent years) from this neat video. thank you for this! it's super interesting and informative
This video was actually the final catalyst that got me to go buy a beatmania controller/game, and I'm so glad I did. I'm absolutely terrible at it, but the vibes are immaculate
"All the keys are lit in a weirdly pressure sensitive way." I imagine the key moves but the light doesn't, so if you push the key harder, it looks like the light shines brighter.
As someone who is a DJ & artist, I like the game itself. It seems like a lot of fun. My one wish is that they'd update the appearance of the controls to resemble something like a Pioneer CDJ-3000, Pioneer XDJ-XZ or Denon Prime 4.
I'm an artist, Beatmania player, AND pretty much an alternative input-device nerd, so I've been looking for/trying to make a mini IIDX controller where I can just leave on my desk as a shortcut key for when I work AND use as a controller when I'm done. that Bemini is perfect!
12:28 no but the two different ear sliders make sense like real djs sometimes just turn the volume of one ear down, to hear the headphones in one and the room's music in the other, and it must be imitating that
Wow this channel rocks, these are some of the highest quality rhythm game youtube videos I've ever seen. Its cool to see someone talking about arcade rhythm games... I wonder if you play any sound voltex...
Aw man, I've been planning to build something like the bemini but you beat me to the punch and made it better than I could have myself! Will definitely order one when they come back in stock!
It's amazing how far we've come since the first rhythm games, and now we have titles like Mad Rat Dead & Cadence of Hyrule evolving that genre in new ways even today. Great video!
I am a music student and as a musician I love rhythm games but for the most part playing a rhythm game is a very difficult experience from actually playing an instrument. Beat mania is probably the closest a rhythm game can get to playing a real instrument. I’m also lucky enough to live 5 minutes away from an arcade with a beat mania cabinet.
The DJ Station Pro Headphone Sliders are really useful, i (and I’ve seen other people) can hear better out 1 ear than the other, so it’s extremely useful for poor hearing
Honestly, having seperate volume controls for me would be a blessing. Got this weird issue where one ears a little more sensitive to sound than the other. But it could as just be some sorta weird audio mixing thing they thought was...Useful?
pretty sure the idea to having 2 volume sliders is an element of things like actual cdj's - i dont know the exact terms but i help my friends organize shows- they do music i do the visuals- and when mixing you can control the volumes of each track with similar looking sliders. i dont think it affects the volume in the left and right ear but its a cute idea to make it look like actual dj pads
The slider volume for the headphones had an explanation. Having one side of a headphones higher volume than the other is a common way for spatial audio. You can make it look like a certain area of music sound like its on one side. A good example of this is if you wear headphones while listening to paint it black.
One thing I think you could've acknowledged is the BMS of Fighters competition and all the other bms competitions (bms is short for bemusic source, which basically is a file format made for a simulator of beatmania.) They're basically the reason that most modern rhythm game artists exist today. Examples would be LeaF, xi, Frums, sakuzyo and many more! Its basically a competition where you have a team (usually consisting of 3 members doing music and a few others doing background art and charting) and each member that makes the music must make an original song, then its charted and then its submitted to the competiton. (So that would mean each team has about 3 songs in total) The scoring system works on something called "impressions" which is basically just reviews given out by other people. Depending on your team's overall impression score from all songs submitted and all of the other team's results your team is put somewhere on the leaderboard and that would be your team's final score. (14 out of 120 teams for example) Some popular example of songs that were made for this competition are: MopeMope (BMS of Fighters Ultimate 2017 -LEGENDA EST A MYTH-) ; Nhelv (BMS of Fighters Ultimate 2017 -LEGENDA EST A MYTH-) ; Aleph-0 (BMS of Fighters 2016) ; Ascension to Heaven (THE BMS OF FIGHTERS 2009 - revolutionary battles -) and many more! I might have gotten some stuff wrong or not exactly on point but it is a really interesting topic to look into for yourself (some really good history videos on rhythm game artists would be the ones made by RinnyThe16th, really good quality videos) as it basically is the reason why most modern rhythm game music exists today.
awesome video ! i only started playing when heroic verse was released, so it's cool to see the history of the game i currently play iidx almost every day now, and still just barely breaking into 11's the skill cap for this game is SO high which makes it really fun to keep progressing in
Man, the Happy Sky OST makes me nostalgic. It's the first version of the game I played on PS2, alongside... well, the US beatmania, but it's a decent starting point while waiting for an import.
As an owner of a whole ass IIDX cabinet, this video is very poggers to see. With that in mind, I'd LOVE to see a video on EZ2DJ because that series is fucking wild Also 2P best side
@@EvanClue If you'd like any further info on the backstory and such, I ALSO happen to own an EZ2 cab and know a number of others who do. We all sorts have a little collection of stories about our cabs as well as just knowing a bit about how the general series played out etc. It's truly a wild game
Just wanted to drop by to say I found your content after I started getting into Tamagotchi last week, and you cover like the outside edge of my interests and it's excellent! Big rhythm gamer (currently enjoying Spin Rhythm XD, but played a lot of DDR, Stepmania, Guitar Hero, tried iidx for a bit, was into neopets). Amazing channel. I have le booped your subscrib button cuz your content and overall vibe is dope as heck. Thanks for sharing all this stuff!
video is overall well done, you're knowledgeable about the series, and it's well written and edited. Also happy surprise about the open source hardware at the end, ended up subscribing to the restock. the rant at 12:00 kinda killed me though, considering the premise of the game
4:44 Protip: You can simplify your search for a playable Beatmania machine by looking for a 'Round 1' arcade location. I didn't say it would be any closer but will simplify it.
I don't play enough rhythm games, but stuff like this and your DDR video really make me want to. Thank you for being as passionate as you are about these things, it's super infectious!
the sliders are separate because osome headphones have a lot of unit variance so they need different volumes for each ear for it to be matched. maybe this was more of an issue when it released
You are a blessing dude. Not only do you make videos, you also make stuff that will help people itch the curiosity and interest that you have just given them. The way you talked the whole video got me as excited as you were, you're a beacon of hope on this GD platform. Instant subscribe, even though I have little to no interest in arcade machines. You're amazing man keep it up.
I do really love this video and I'm absolutely sure it got people started playing IIDX which is based but unironically my nearest IIDX is a whole ass country away... y'all have Round1 in the US but there are NO agreements in Canada for Konami. I have the option of either going to Vancouver for a cab that isn't network connected and will only ever be n-1, or driving down to the border to go to a Round1 LOL A 1-hour drive to a IIDX cab would certainly be an every-weekend thing for me.
I lived in Japan for 3 years and I have played beat mania! TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! If you are ever in Japan give it a go! It’s in almost every arcade! The experience is so fun!!!
As someone who recently gotten into Beatmania a couple months ago, it's really cool to see someone make a video like this for a series that doesn't get much attention in the west, especially for OG Beatmania. Glad you're getting the word out about the series!
The individual L and R sliders are acutally very nice to have on a sound mixing device. i'm a bit sad that the interface i use most doesnt have L and R. You can adjust the volume of L and R depending on the angle to the speakers so you can keep stereo sound with an off angle. very nice to have if you are not sitting directly in front of the speakers or change your position often, so you don't have to move your speakers but can adjust the sliders easily. Well, if you connect the output to either speakers or headphones, it doesnt really matter to have seperated outputs. I assume you can not premix any tracks with that anyway. Also if you use your phones and turn down L or R you could maybe better keep talking to friends while gaming, or listen to other music. Like djs often only listen to a new track with one side of their phones to match to the one that is running loudly. I see the benefits of L and R over 2 sliders for phones and speakers. Tho in addition most people have seperate sliders for their speakers or their tv anyway.... so wheres the point in having that over L and R.
12:23 As a DJ myself looking at that controller I’d imagine that’s for when you want to: A) a typical “dj thing” to do is use one side of your headphone to listen in on your cued in music that you’re about drop into your mix. Ideally if you’re doing that you’d probably just turn one side down. B) there’s certain ways I’m sure this could plug up to an actual system and be used as a turntable/sampler launch/cue/etc. I’d imagine that’s just to give you more control as to whatever you have plugged into that jack. Ultimate goal of a dj is to have full ability to manipulate all songs and sounds in a variety of ways. Currently looking into getting a few myself. If they’re ASCIIs, they should put out a midi signal, then you should very easily be able to convert everything you need into a DJ program and actually use it. Be a super fun little gig to see for sure!
I've known of Beatmania for well over a decade now. Has never been able to play because of the dificulty to get it (for a boy that had no idea that eBay and world wide shipping when I was super into rythm games). Been listening to the music of Beatmania mostly. Beatmania IIDX 16 Empress might be my favorite OST.
Empress is probably the best one in PlayStation. I may have some serious nostalgia for 9th and 10th, but Gold, Troopers and Empress are the three truly worth finding a way to play
Note: For PS2 modding, GET THE SLIM MODEL! (Seen in video.) The “Phat” models are much more difficult to softmod, and some can’t be softmodded at all. All slim models are stupid easy to mod.
I actually grabbed the $5 PS2 Slim I bought to check and see if it could be modded. It came with 2 8MB Memory sticks and my friend hooked me up with all the cables and a controller. Just needs a good fixing with the capacitors.
I’m a huge fan of rhythm games but have never really checked out Beatmania, but now i’m really interested in checking it out courtesy of this video! You seriously made this incredibly comprehensive and it’s super helpful.
Always lov ur videos!!! They could literally be about anything and I would still watch them cuz u seem to make anything entertaining and honestly ur voice is just so calming!! lov seeing u make content at ur own pace keep up the amazing work!!
hi kids i hope ur doing ok today :)
go take a look at kayboards.com if you wanna :D
thank you kk i hope you are having a good one aswell
yes im doing ok!!!!!!!!!
i wil get a grovbrd wn i cna
i will definetly pick one up! tysm!
hmm
Having different volume levels for each ear is actually a surprisingly considerate disability support.
My left ear doesn't hear nearly as well as my right, so I have to adjust levels using software, which I doubt was possible directly on the PS2, since it was intended for TV speakers, for which left/right differences don't matter nearly as much.
Yeah I'm surprised they actually give you the ability to pan audio levels.
Afaik having control over each channel is actually pretty integral to real scratching
Yeah, I don't know how people don't notice. I'm happy it exists.
I have a hearing loss in my right ear, so I would appreacite that feature as well
from what i remember the reason why its each ear, its a classic way of doing EQ
kkclue, at this point you can make an actual cool and unique arcade room, since you like to make videos about this stuff. Keep up!
i want to see him try and build an arcade machine from scratch when he's able. that sounds cool
they can’t because they spent all their money (45,000$) on the keyboard controller
@@coffeebug it was too good for any possible ammount of money
Shelfs full of idogs and webkins plushes too!!!
Seen somone play beat Sonia a few months ago it was cool
Fun fact: Konami’s music games division was simply called the Games and Music Division, but due to the unexpected success of Beatmania, it was renamed to BEMANI, a portmanteau of Beatmania.
And now everyone hates them and no one cares about Konami because they're another greedy company.
@casedistorted correction we still love beatmani, we hate the people who own them(konami) who make some of the dumbest choices.
Now I know what the background context was for the Caddicarus joke about "not wanting to BEWOMANI"
@@casedistortedin fairness you can hate w company and still like their divisions. The problems are usually just related to the finance team
the different side volume sliders on the dj station pro would actually be pretty useful for me :O i have hearing loss in one ear so with this i could adjust the volumes so both of my ears sound the same
yeayea~! it makes for a great accessibility option. it just seems odd that they'd include an accessibility feature in a mainstay home controller is all.
Yeah! Same here, I've got hearing loss in my left ear, it's honestly more accessible than most volume things nowadays (even though when I play it's not that big of a deal, and I use subtitles by default)
@@planetclue glue them together or smthn
@@planetclue I think it is due to how DJs sometimes only use one end of the headphone to monitor the music and leave the other one open to hear how the songs are played out to the crowd so it's a good level of detail I'd say to emulate that DJ feeling!
@@louisantonio2462 yup this is exactly what i was thinking
It’s funny how Konami gutted their games division except for their rhythm games. They’ve been chugging along like nothing happened
wdym, they still have a very active presence in the realm of non rhythm and non pachinko lol
bombergirl does the "make it make money" for konami pretty ridiculously well
@@caldenza Though, sadly Super Bomberman R Online had a pretty short lifespan of 18 months. SBMR was still a good game at least
@@TheLomdr super bomberman r was fire as hell and i am tired of pretending that it is not
Right
As a bmIIDX player I still kinda sad what konmai did to other great series such as metal gear and silent hill, It's extremely dissapointing
@@Pokaroquai it's just how it goes, kojima was one example out of endless on how high level japanese corporate structure is a mess.
11:50 for whatever reason, when stereo audio was becoming widespread in the 80s and 90s, there was subsequently a trend of headphone makers and other electronics companies giving people more control over left and right volume seperately. Supposedly producers back in the day really liked to play around with panning certain instruments and vocals left and right, so naturally some people would want certain sounds louder than others. This continued a bit into the early 2000s and the concept eventually died out as more music moved away from experimenting with panning so heavily.
Dunno if exactly related but The Beatles' music is mega focused on weird panning stuff (which I love)
That’s why I continue the tradition of weird panning now
Ironically you want little or no stereo separation in live DJ venues because otherwise people on different sides of the room would hear the song very differently.
I'm enjoying this video!
Just wanted to point out that guitar hero is not keysounded, but instead mutes the track if you miss a note completely, plays the error sound if you play the wrong note, and if you play the note within the acceptable timing window (even if you are early or late) it will play the correctly timed guitar track (not early or late like it would be if it were keysounded). It's a small but important distinction between what they do and what keysounds actually are.
It's pretty much Harmonix's workaround for the Keysound patent, as Konami Will Sue actually was a threat instead of a joke. EZ2DJ and DJ MAX were targeted by Konami's lawsuits for having keysounds (And EZ2DJ looked 'too close' to beatmania even if it had 1p Left Turn Table like IIDX and an awkward 7 button mode that added in the effector buttons FAR AWAY FROM THE STANDARD BUTTONS as gameplay buttons) and it caused a redesign of both games. The "Harmonix Style" appeared as early as Frequency, but it would mute the track that wasn't activated or you missed on (and there was like 6 tracks per song in Freq.). This carried over to Amplitude, but with up to EIGHT tracks now instead of 6.
@@TheLomdr oh I'm aware of all of that haha. All of that said, it's still not accurate to say that Guitar Hero is keysounded, because it's not.
@@krispykreme Just was adding on for those not familiar :)
@@TheLomdr fair enough :)
@@TheLomdr Don't forget ITG, although that's not due to Keysound patent. Such a shame that Roxor got sued out of commission
A wise man once said 'Ain't nothin like a funky beat'.
Spoilers: It was a funky beat
I heard a banger song with that line.
Lethal league blaze
So true.
Fun fact: Hideki Naganuma did compose a song for beatmania IIDX once. It's titled "LUV CAN SAVE U"
As someone who is partially deaf in one ear (I've got about 25% hearing left in my left ear), being able to crank one side up higher than the other is a game changer. I know I'm the minority, but I've always enjoyed when pieces of hardware have this feature. Not sure if the DJ Station Pro was built with this in mind but it's a pretty neat feature.
DJ's tend to use only one side of their headphones for mixing purposes, for example so they can hear the current song and the upcoming song at the same time. I think it tries to emulate that instead.
@@UksiHattu12 I've never seen it on a DJ controller. Some of them support split cue where different songs play on each ear 🌈
Thanks for using my IIDX video clips. :)
hey ik you:)
12:08 as someone with hearing issues in 1 ear I ALWAYS need the volume to be louder on the right side when wearing headphones
I tried that arcade locator thing mentioned at 4:45 Expecting Galloping Ghost Arcade to have it and was shocked to find out someone in my home town not more than 12 blocks away from me owns a Beatmania cab along with several other rhythm games in a private home collection that he allows public access too upon request.....never expected something like that when I clicked on this video XD
if this ever becomes a series where you talk about old bemani rhythm games like this then you should make a video of pop'n music next since not only is it very good but you also seem to acknowledge it greatly and be a fan of it too
I do like pop'n!
@@planetclue holy shit
pop'n seems really fun, everybody around me will kill me if I build a controller for it though so I stick to IIDX lmao
@@diberhaze Sweet
PMS exists ( for ppl who don't know other pop'n games)
Oh man, you should've mentioned that the Bemini also doubles as a shortcut board thanks to running QMK!
I've seen people easily pay $100+ for shortcut boards with the same number of keys soldered. But $60 for a full set of 12 hot-swappable keys, a rotary encoder, AND it's a full function IIDX board on top? That's a steal of a deal!
Welp, nearly a year and several missed restocks later I still don't own one myself. But they are making one with a better microcontroller, so it's not all bad. Here's to another year of Bemani goodies. (Edit 9 months later: looks like KK has abandoned the project entirely. RIP)
i can use the bemini to play 7k Osu maps xD
I find it hard to get through videos on subjects like this that I know very well, I often get annoyed when Information isnt presented well or I think someone who may not understand the full fundamentals of a subject might not be doing full justice to ideas / product given. etc
Bemani has been apart of my life for so long , and the community /family I've grown up with of people through forums and arcades over the years has made it a very close subject to my heart.
I think you did a great job explaining the culture, feel, music and opened a small window of what it was like to love these games. Thanks for the video you did a really good job.
hi, personal account here. dude i know!!! i legit can't stand videos about bemani stuff because i'm a huge nerd and i know too much about it. people gloss over too many details to the point that it's unsatisfying, or they get tons of things totally wrong. good to hear from people that love these games as much as i do. keep on keepin' on brotha!!!
2:08 - "It can be hard to defend sometimes" (still plays a song that I groove to)
All we're gonna say is that if the shoulder's schmoovin' the music's groovin'
Salamander Beat Crush Mix (CRASH MIX) is a hilarious hot mess. It's pretty much a meme before memes
90s beatmania is cool zero exception. It has a black taste. Modern 2020 trend of repeating cheesy high-pitched phrases is hard to defend.
Got a feeling having the different levels for each ear on the pro controller is to mimic how the cue function works on actual DJ mixers, while still making it have some functionality for an arcade title. On an actual mixer we can have the main audio in 1 ear, and the next track we're preparing in another :)
@kkclue have a feeling he isn't aware of how that works, everyone else in the comments thinks its for accesibility when Japanese developers (espcially in the 90s/early 2000s) have next to no consideration for accessibility in games.
The EQ sliders/ effector is probably the most under-appreciated feature of the game. Soundphile I am I spend most of my time fiddling around with EQ to get the best sound. Fun stuff
Hey! Arcade/rhythm game "aficionado" here. My qualifications include working at a Round 1 for about 6 months. Regardless, I absolutely loved this video! I've been watching your videos for a while, and I absolutely adore everything you make. I have a few things to note, though. With the custom sliders on the cabinet, the newest version of Sound Voltex cabinet has the sliders on a second screen, like the IIDX cabinet you showed in the video. Also, not every version of the game came with a new cabinet. I know you didn't say that specifically but the way you phrased it sounded like that may be the case. Just thought I'd add that in there. Another thing is that all modern versions of beatmania use 7 buttons standard. You showed both old and new versions, so I just wanted to say/show that the majority of charts/songs always use all 7 buttons. I also don't think that there's an option for using only 5 keys on modern cabinets/versions. I could be missing something in the controls, but I don't know. Also, for controllers, the company Yuancon is amazing. I got a Sound Voltex controller from them and I absolutely adore it, and they also make beatmania controllers. With that said they're all handmade so their stock is extremely limited, but has amazing quality, customer service, and a super helpful discord server with tons of people more than willing to help you. If I think of anything else to add, I'll edit this post, but those are some of the things that I thought I'd add as someone who also adores rhythm games. P.S. damn you I was planning on making small/tiny version of the beatmania controller but you beat me to the punch lol. Regardless, amazing video, I can't wait to see what other projects you make :D
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I was waiting for a comment like this. I just was too lazy to type my own if i didnt find it 😭 ty for letting more ppl know abt this stuff! its cool to see more ppl get into this niche :D
@@sehun4814 of course
I think the reason that there are 2 sliders for the headphones on the controller at 12:22 is something about older stereo having all of the top end in one ear and all of the bass in the other one. So you could adjust the volume of the bass only
Surprisingly, I still see a few of these arcade machines in some arcades in my area. And no surprise, those are old models from the 2000s so it's so refreshing playing them again with old 90s and 2000s song varieties instead of playing the recent DDR-like machines that are mostly k-pop songs with little varieties and need a little break from Taiko No Tatsujin machines I usually play.
Lmao
Absolutely amazing video. I've been playing bemani games for quite a while and to see a video essay on beatmania at THIS QUALITY is just the best thing ever. keep up the great stuff kk!
I love coming across channels with videos of people talking about their passions. Even though I'm not personally interested in rhythm games (I have this abhorrent skill for making typos by pressing too many things at once), I have loved watching these dives into these topics. Great content, great aesthetics, great comedy. Thanks so much!
😂😂🎉😂😂this comment cured my homosexuality😊❤
@@20.0.2 ???
@@trafficconememes331 do yoi scott the woz?😇
@@20.0.2 what
Thanks for making this! Hit my old ass right in the nostalgia. Ya'll remember to celebrate 11/20 responsibly.
I don't play rhythm arcade games at all but I always watch kkclue videos about them
Hi kk! This video is obviously from a long time ago, but I thought I’d just share something about the DJ Station Pro seen at 10:18.
This is actually very cool and something I don’t see very often on older game controllers, but is relatively common on stereo playback (if you search hard enough). *It accommodates for hearing loss* - that way if there’s decibel loss (up to a certain percentage of course) in one ear and not in the other, it can be accommodated for inside headphones WITHOUT the discomfort of wearing a hearing aid along with your headphones.
This being on such an old controller is INSANE and really shows that they had all players in mind, even those who don’t seem like they “fit” the audience. Sound accommodation is insanely cool and I highly respect audio engineers for making it happen!
It's really nice to see any kind of representation for the 5-Key era of Beatmania, it's still very much my favorite era because it's uniqueness through it's experimentation and while I love IIDX just as much for different reasons, I don't think beyond 10th it had the same amount of charm the older stuff had.
either way, banger video as usual
NEW CLUE!!!! beatmania has always had such a cool vibe to me - glad that you decided to show it off!!!
Oh hell yeah! You've pretty much singlehandedly raised the bar for Bemani and general arcade rhythm game content on youtube this past year and I've been hyped to see it! (although I've gotta step up the pace now that my beatmania video isn't the top dog in town haha). The only thing that felt missing from this was that you could've easily slipped a mention of bemani pro league during the small bit talking about how modern IIDX has changed for the modern gaming landscape but otherwise this was a blast of an overview!
ah, dang you're right that was a bit of a missed opportunity! ty for commenting :D
The bemini looks so cool!! Love when open source hardware makes things more accessible
I love your videos so much. They're so high quality and you seemingly put all of your effort in your videos. I commend you.
Thank you so much for making such a well edited, heartfelt, entertaining, and well-researched video, this is absolutely the best beatmania video on TH-cam, you are EPIC
I think the dual headphone slider is for people who are hard of hearing in one ear
You put SOOOO much effort in your videos, i dont care about the upload frequency. You always dig into the details of both popular and obscure hardware and software!
for the dj station pro that actually could be super useful for someone who is hard of hearing in one ear, so it's actually super cool and friendly to people who need different volume settings! as well for people with noise sensitives, it may be super useful actually so they dont get overloaded and stressed from too many sounds at once. for most hearing folks it probably is annoying to have to readjust so it sounds the same, but accessibility and inclusion are always a must for games like these, and it is a pretty cool thing to see
tf no when you dj you leave one ear out of the headphones so you can hear the booth speaker and hear in the headphones the next song in cue
@@UnderGround-EDM It’s still a good reason man. No need for the “tf no”
@@jacksawack6724 there’s the real reason and then there’s making something up that sounds like it could make sense.
Don't care about rhythm games that aren't guitar hero but this was fascinating and I watched the whole thing.
The fact that you could get a copy of the game with a controller for less than a god damn Beanie scares me
beatmania is one of the rhythm games I always found very unique, I always wanted to play it but didn't have to money to buy a controller and no arcades around me had it. I'm glad you made a video on it!
MORE KKCLUE CONTENT! I can’t tell you how much your content has helped me! I love watching it while building legos, playing chill games, etc! You also made me comfortable with being pansexual! I have a boyfriend now, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been! Keep going, man! I love your stuff! :3
dude ur the best and I love u so much!
Happy pride!!
happy pride month 2
congrats homie :3
@kkclue now I’m also comfortable being Bigender as well! :)
I really enjoyed this video and I would LOVE a second part including all the content you had cut out from this one, I think the history of Bemani is fascinating along with their seemingly unique work culture (until Konami ruined everything in 2017)
I can tell this took an eternity to edit and polish so I really appreciate the effort as well.
Surprised you didn't talk about the yearly music video contest with "BMS of Fighters", I always thought it was super cool that Bemani did that and the results that come out every year is always a spectacle to enjoy.
Although it uses IIDX's format, BMS of Fighters is a fanmade contest.
@@lajenehuen260 woah i never knew that, thanks for the heads up
i learned a lot about a series i've loved for a long time (but sadly fallen out of in recent years) from this neat video. thank you for this! it's super interesting and informative
Released (or at least revealed) since this video dropped:
beatmania IIDX 30 RESIDENT
beatmania IIDX 31 EPOLIS
beatmania IIDX 32 Pinky Crush
This video was actually the final catalyst that got me to go buy a beatmania controller/game, and I'm so glad I did. I'm absolutely terrible at it, but the vibes are immaculate
i paused at 15:43 to listen to cat song. you weren't kiddin, it's peak
"All the keys are lit in a weirdly pressure sensitive way." I imagine the key moves but the light doesn't, so if you push the key harder, it looks like the light shines brighter.
As someone who is a DJ & artist, I like the game itself. It seems like a lot of fun. My one wish is that they'd update the appearance of the controls to resemble something like a Pioneer CDJ-3000, Pioneer XDJ-XZ or Denon Prime 4.
I'm an artist, Beatmania player, AND pretty much an alternative input-device nerd, so I've been looking for/trying to make a mini IIDX controller where I can just leave on my desk as a shortcut key for when I work AND use as a controller when I'm done. that Bemini is perfect!
12:28 no but the two different ear sliders make sense
like real djs sometimes just turn the volume of one ear down, to hear the headphones in one and the room's music in the other, and it must be imitating that
Great video as always! It was nice to see my cab.
Wow this channel rocks, these are some of the highest quality rhythm game youtube videos I've ever seen. Its cool to see someone talking about arcade rhythm games... I wonder if you play any sound voltex...
I got SOOO SUPRIZED THAT YOU GOT THAT ANIMAL OF AIR CONTROLLER IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE FOR SO LONG. CURSE YOUUUUU IM SO JEALOUS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
Aw man, I've been planning to build something like the bemini but you beat me to the punch and made it better than I could have myself! Will definitely order one when they come back in stock!
you can still make your own, bud! nothings stopping you
It's amazing how far we've come since the first rhythm games, and now we have titles like Mad Rat Dead & Cadence of Hyrule evolving that genre in new ways even today. Great video!
I am a music student and as a musician I love rhythm games but for the most part playing a rhythm game is a very difficult experience from actually playing an instrument. Beat mania is probably the closest a rhythm game can get to playing a real instrument. I’m also lucky enough to live 5 minutes away from an arcade with a beat mania cabinet.
Guitar hero/rock band drums are also similar to just actually playing an e drum kit
This is the very first TH-cam sponsor I’m actually gonna use. Holy shit. Idk if you care at all, but congrats kk clue
it was so perfectly on-topic I couldn't pass it up
The DJ Station Pro Headphone Sliders are really useful, i (and I’ve seen other people) can hear better out 1 ear than the other, so it’s extremely useful for poor hearing
Honestly, having seperate volume controls for me would be a blessing. Got this weird issue where one ears a little more sensitive to sound than the other.
But it could as just be some sorta weird audio mixing thing they thought was...Useful?
pretty sure the idea to having 2 volume sliders is an element of things like actual cdj's - i dont know the exact terms but i help my friends organize shows- they do music i do the visuals- and when mixing you can control the volumes of each track with similar looking sliders. i dont think it affects the volume in the left and right ear but its a cute idea to make it look like actual dj pads
The slider volume for the headphones had an explanation. Having one side of a headphones higher volume than the other is a common way for spatial audio. You can make it look like a certain area of music sound like its on one side. A good example of this is if you wear headphones while listening to paint it black.
God listening to this dork ramble about nerdy little games so happily warms my heart
One thing I think you could've acknowledged is the BMS of Fighters competition and all the other bms competitions (bms is short for bemusic source, which basically is a file format made for a simulator of beatmania.)
They're basically the reason that most modern rhythm game artists exist today. Examples would be LeaF, xi, Frums, sakuzyo and many more!
Its basically a competition where you have a team (usually consisting of 3 members doing music and a few others doing background art and charting) and each member that makes the music must make an original song, then its charted and then its submitted to the competiton. (So that would mean each team has about 3 songs in total)
The scoring system works on something called "impressions" which is basically just reviews given out by other people. Depending on your team's overall impression score from all songs submitted and all of the other team's results your team is put somewhere on the leaderboard and that would be your team's final score. (14 out of 120 teams for example)
Some popular example of songs that were made for this competition are: MopeMope (BMS of Fighters Ultimate 2017 -LEGENDA EST A MYTH-) ; Nhelv (BMS of Fighters Ultimate 2017 -LEGENDA EST A MYTH-) ; Aleph-0 (BMS of Fighters 2016) ; Ascension to Heaven (THE BMS OF FIGHTERS 2009 - revolutionary battles -) and many more!
I might have gotten some stuff wrong or not exactly on point but it is a really interesting topic to look into for yourself (some really good history videos on rhythm game artists would be the ones made by RinnyThe16th, really good quality videos) as it basically is the reason why most modern rhythm game music exists today.
a bit of a correction: BMS was created around the same time as the release of the first beatmania, and also stands for BeMusic Source
@@KyureiProductions ohhh actually totally forgot abt that
Thanks!
awesome video !
i only started playing when heroic verse was released, so it's cool to see the history of the game
i currently play iidx almost every day now, and still just barely breaking into 11's
the skill cap for this game is SO high which makes it really fun to keep progressing in
Man, the Happy Sky OST makes me nostalgic.
It's the first version of the game I played on PS2, alongside... well, the US beatmania, but it's a decent starting point while waiting for an import.
who are you!
Looking at all of these, it seems like I can get into beatmania for not a bad price! (Thanks for showing us this! Can’t wait to try it sometime!)
I never knew that cheap stuff from Buyee was good!
As an owner of a whole ass IIDX cabinet, this video is very poggers to see.
With that in mind, I'd LOVE to see a video on EZ2DJ because that series is fucking wild
Also 2P best side
amuseworld died for ur sins
heck yeah ez2 is cool. maybe someday.
@@EvanClue If you'd like any further info on the backstory and such, I ALSO happen to own an EZ2 cab and know a number of others who do. We all sorts have a little collection of stories about our cabs as well as just knowing a bit about how the general series played out etc. It's truly a wild game
@@AstralPhnx i wish i was cool enough to name a mix "fuck you Konami" but amuseworld already did that lmao
like i said they died for ur sins
Just wanted to drop by to say I found your content after I started getting into Tamagotchi last week, and you cover like the outside edge of my interests and it's excellent! Big rhythm gamer (currently enjoying Spin Rhythm XD, but played a lot of DDR, Stepmania, Guitar Hero, tried iidx for a bit, was into neopets). Amazing channel. I have le booped your subscrib button cuz your content and overall vibe is dope as heck. Thanks for sharing all this stuff!
kkclue I would like to thank you so much for bringing people into a community that I have enjoyed for many years.
video is overall well done, you're knowledgeable about the series, and it's well written and edited. Also happy surprise about the open source hardware at the end, ended up subscribing to the restock. the rant at 12:00 kinda killed me though, considering the premise of the game
8:25 I think that was an incantation to the rhythm game gods.
I love the fan mods that have grown from the gaming community. We can keep playing our old games and make new experiences with them.
4:44 Protip: You can simplify your search for a playable Beatmania machine by looking for a 'Round 1' arcade location.
I didn't say it would be any closer but will simplify it.
I don't play enough rhythm games, but stuff like this and your DDR video really make me want to. Thank you for being as passionate as you are about these things, it's super infectious!
the sliders are separate because osome headphones have a lot of unit variance so they need different volumes for each ear for it to be matched. maybe this was more of an issue when it released
23:15 Your personalized beatmania controller is ADORABLE!!
Always heard of beatmania but never really knew what it was, thanks!
i love seeing you talk about things you enjoy it’s so entertaining and i really enjoy it keep it up!!!
I just saw this game at an Arcade!!! I have to return so I can get to play beatmania!!!
Super awesome video 😄
Congrats on putting this video out! I enjoyed your summaries for each controller, it's nice to see so many of them shown off in one video.
Honestly, the ones with realistic piano keys look like, quoting Caddicarus: "A hub(gas stove)... With an organ!"
You never cease to make phenomenal vids on tech/games/media that I’ve never heard of. Love yr stuff 💖
FINALLY kkclue posted a FUCKING video. I can FINALLY do my DISHES!!!!!!
You are a blessing dude. Not only do you make videos, you also make stuff that will help people itch the curiosity and interest that you have just given them. The way you talked the whole video got me as excited as you were, you're a beacon of hope on this GD platform. Instant subscribe, even though I have little to no interest in arcade machines. You're amazing man keep it up.
I do really love this video and I'm absolutely sure it got people started playing IIDX which is based but unironically my nearest IIDX is a whole ass country away... y'all have Round1 in the US but there are NO agreements in Canada for Konami. I have the option of either going to Vancouver for a cab that isn't network connected and will only ever be n-1, or driving down to the border to go to a Round1 LOL
A 1-hour drive to a IIDX cab would certainly be an every-weekend thing for me.
Was really happy to see you in my sub box!
I lived in Japan for 3 years and I have played beat mania! TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! If you are ever in Japan give it a go! It’s in almost every arcade! The experience is so fun!!!
This game is such nostalgia for me. I have a few games on my PS1. So good. I think this arcade box is going on my wishlist.
been waiting for this one for a long while, finally glad to see it out
this game means so much to me lmao
As someone who recently gotten into Beatmania a couple months ago, it's really cool to see someone make a video like this for a series that doesn't get much attention in the west, especially for OG Beatmania. Glad you're getting the word out about the series!
The individual L and R sliders are acutally very nice to have on a sound mixing device. i'm a bit sad that the interface i use most doesnt have L and R.
You can adjust the volume of L and R depending on the angle to the speakers so you can keep stereo sound with an off angle. very nice to have if you are not sitting directly in front of the speakers or change your position often, so you don't have to move your speakers but can adjust the sliders easily.
Well, if you connect the output to either speakers or headphones, it doesnt really matter to have seperated outputs. I assume you can not premix any tracks with that anyway.
Also if you use your phones and turn down L or R you could maybe better keep talking to friends while gaming, or listen to other music. Like djs often only listen to a new track with one side of their phones to match to the one that is running loudly. I see the benefits of L and R over 2 sliders for phones and speakers.
Tho in addition most people have seperate sliders for their speakers or their tv anyway.... so wheres the point in having that over L and R.
3:25 That analogy hits me good as I just recently picked up a DJ Hero Turntable at my local Flea Market and I'm learning on how to get used to it
12:23
As a DJ myself looking at that controller I’d imagine that’s for when you want to:
A) a typical “dj thing” to do is use one side of your headphone to listen in on your cued in music that you’re about drop into your mix. Ideally if you’re doing that you’d probably just turn one side down.
B) there’s certain ways I’m sure this could plug up to an actual system and be used as a turntable/sampler launch/cue/etc. I’d imagine that’s just to give you more control as to whatever you have plugged into that jack. Ultimate goal of a dj is to have full ability to manipulate all songs and sounds in a variety of ways.
Currently looking into getting a few myself. If they’re ASCIIs, they should put out a midi signal, then you should very easily be able to convert everything you need into a DJ program and actually use it. Be a super fun little gig to see for sure!
At least we got iidx epolis and pinky crush
I've known of Beatmania for well over a decade now. Has never been able to play because of the dificulty to get it (for a boy that had no idea that eBay and world wide shipping when I was super into rythm games). Been listening to the music of Beatmania mostly. Beatmania IIDX 16 Empress might be my favorite OST.
beatmania as a whole has some pretty good soundtracks. Even beatmania 1 has some bangers like Ska a Go Go's Skacore remix
Empress is probably the best one in PlayStation.
I may have some serious nostalgia for 9th and 10th, but Gold, Troopers and Empress are the three truly worth finding a way to play
the controller reviews feel like a dank pods parody, awesome video
Note: For PS2 modding, GET THE SLIM MODEL! (Seen in video.) The “Phat” models are much more difficult to softmod, and some can’t be softmodded at all. All slim models are stupid easy to mod.
I actually grabbed the $5 PS2 Slim I bought to check and see if it could be modded. It came with 2 8MB Memory sticks and my friend hooked me up with all the cables and a controller. Just needs a good fixing with the capacitors.
I’m a huge fan of rhythm games but have never really checked out Beatmania, but now i’m really interested in checking it out courtesy of this video! You seriously made this incredibly comprehensive and it’s super helpful.
i’ve seen this in the local arcade before…
Always lov ur videos!!!
They could literally be about anything and I would still watch them cuz u seem to make anything entertaining and honestly ur voice is just so calming!!
lov seeing u make content at ur own pace keep up the amazing work!!