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Reader Comments (28)

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 6:43PM (Unverified) said

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Funny you have yet to report this:

Arcade 360's not compatible with the forthcoming NXE

http://www.qj.net/Bad-news-for-Arcade-and-Core-owners-New-Xbox-Experience-requires-256MB-of-storage/pg/49/aid/124746

Oh dear Microsoft, you got caught trying to bury that info for as long as possible. I dare anyone to suggest the 360 arcade is not heavilly gimped.

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 7:42PM (Unverified) said

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wrong post, you mean the post one newer. Sorry. Plus, there was a post about it earlier.
http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/10/09/avatar-customization-requires-256mb-storage/
Read next time. Thanks for your comment.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2008 6:59PM Aeikozz said

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Beat n Groovy is a English Translation (or as best as we're going to get..) of a Popular game called Pop'n Music.

it's pretty fun but it also just like the other music games you mentioned has it's on controller.

and on that controller the colors match.

i do hope they provide some kind of updates to it though as it wasn't a good translation.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 10:48AM Aeikozz said

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Also if you enter in the Konami Code. (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a) it'll beep.


it changes the controller setup.

it uses LT LB A RB and RT for the buttons instead of the regular ones

Kinda like what you were complaining about... so there are two configurations for buttons in the game.
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 11:18AM (Unverified) said

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Why would they make you access a control config with a code?

I really don't understand Konami these days...
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 11:36AM Aeikozz said

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uh..... i don't understand konami either... i'm still trying to figure out why on the main screen there is a bunny and a girl with heart glasses... and so far i can't figure out how to unlock them...

but that's konami! odd and quirky
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Posted: Oct 9th 2008 7:20PM (Unverified) said

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Way to hate on Beat'n Groovy, I actually liked the demo. No way im paying 10$ for it tho.

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 7:27PM (Unverified) said

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Doesn't left always equal purple...?

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 1:15AM wellsley said

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Left should be maroon.

PS: You stole my avatar! omzg!
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 8:14AM (Unverified) said

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Member for longer, plus my avatar is better! :D
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Posted: Oct 9th 2008 7:32PM EnB said

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I think the reviewer might be retarded. Left doesn't equal purple in the developer's mind. Left equals the "trigger" on your controller that is on the far left. Thus, moving from LEFT to RIGHT, you have LEFT, UP, RIGHT, and then the buttons. That's why those are used to match the columns from LEFT to RIGHT on the screen. Just like the original rhythm games (Beatmania, Pop n' Music, etc), which kicked ass and didn't confuse non-retards.

Maybe retard is too strong a word. I'll go with mongoloid.

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 8:47PM (Unverified) said

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That's all well and good, except this was designed for the Xbox 360. Furthermore, why not actually use the buttons that are on the left?

Shoulder buttons, triggers? It would make a lot more sense if you could have your fingers on each button. Hell, why not set the left bumper and trigger as the two left lanes, use a face button for the middle lane, and use the right shoulder and trigger for the two right lanes?

That makes a LOT more sense in the 'left to right' argument.

If you like it, great. I think it's a bad configuration, made even worse because you can't even configure it a different way if you want to.
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 7:47AM John Z said

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Technically, Mr. Mitchell, this wasn't designed for the 360-- it's an Americanized port of a Playstation/PS2/Dreamcast(!) series that relied very heavily on a custom controller. I'm sure you've already been sent tons of hate mail with wiki links to Pop'n Music so I'll just leave it at that.

You're spot on about the incongruity between the colors and buttons, though. Except that, again, the control scheme matches that of the PS1/2 original (when not using the arcade-style or home-custom controller). Additionally, the control scheme is similar to that used by the somewhat more successful DJ Max Portable games (or so I hear-- I've yet to play any of those but I'm looking forward to it). It's inexcusable that the controls can't be rearranged, but when divorced from the colors it makes a little more sense.

I'm a big Pop'n/Beatmania fan, and dropped the money on this after playing the demo, but I can't in good conscience recommend this as a good way to get into the series. It's mostly the fact that the 360's d-pad is actually a detriment to playing it (you're penalized for pressing buttons when there's no note, and I have yet to reliably hit left without simultaneously hitting down and destroying my combo), but also because there are really only two good songs in the set (100sec Kitchen Battle and Starmine).

I respectfully decline to comment on MLB or Tenchu.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2008 7:53PM (Unverified) said

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The reason why Konami made the control configuration like that was to make the lanes match some sort of order from left to right on the controller. Or roughly how it *would* be played on a pop'n music controller.

This is Konami's mindset and it works fine. Lane color isn't supposed to match a button on the 360 controller. It's meant to make it EASIER for you to know where the right button is.

Doesn't help that Konami put out crap in the first place though. You totally didn't go about talking about anything that really mattered as to why this game is really poor.

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 9:28PM Aeikozz said

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yeah i agree.. you didn't give any backstory on the game which i am kinda disappointed at cause you did for geometry wars, ikuraga and duke nuke'm

It wouldn't have been hard either to do some research.. you could have said what REALLY makes this a bad port(even though i bought it in support we get a ACTUAL pop'n music retail disc with pop'n controler)

how about mentioning... all the songs are easy. even through the diffculty meter has a 8 none of the songs go above a 4. How about the lack of DLC section?. Lack or a 7 or a 9 button mode? How about how the arcade mode knocks you back to the title screen after 1 stage?

there's sooo many things wrong with that needed to be mentioned than just the controller setup.
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Posted: Oct 9th 2008 10:46PM (Unverified) said

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Ah, the rant at the beginning about Beat'N Groovy, that was excellent. I was rolling with laughter to hear you just tearing the game a new one. I played the trial, and I agree with you, the button layout is horrid. Why green doesn't equal "A" and Yellow equal "Y" is beyond me.

Posted: Oct 9th 2008 10:47PM AoE said

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Hey Richard,

Thanks for the Brief! I was on the fence about Beat'n Groovy but your notes on the controls sealed the deal for me... no buy unless Konami updates/allows us to reconfigure the buttons (or at least provides alternate control schemes that don't involve the d-pad).

Tenchu on the other hand? Ah, I'm a big enough Tenchu fan I knew I'd get it unless it really sucked... looks like a rad game though, like a ninja board game!

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 2:28AM MyAbsolution said

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hilarious XBLA In-brief , keep up the good work.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 6:26AM Jayenkai said

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Controls are spot on in Beat'n'Groovy. They're exactly as they were on the Playstation's Beatmania.. I got no quarrals, there..

I just didn't like how the blobs seemed to stop at the bottom for a while. Kinda freaked me out as I played.
I'd prefer a good old Black background, BM title, to all this fluffy happy animated gubbins..
Bah, humbug...

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 6:56AM (Unverified) said

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I can't believe you have never heard of The Adventures of Lolo. Used to be one of my favorite games.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 9:59AM (Unverified) said

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i completely disagree with your opinion on the rhythm game. i played a lot of "video games hero" and my nintendods (its homebrew). there are 5 colors and they are assigned to the d-pad and the buttons (2 to the d-pad 2 to the buttons und 1 can be operated by both). this makes perfect sense! do you really think u can handle !!4!! colors with your tumb?!?! this would mean:
a) you are jesus or something
b) the game is as boring as watching paint dry.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 9:43AM Outinthedark said

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OK so I'm usually a fan of these XBLA in brief.

Not defending any title but you severely missed quite a lot in Beat'n Groovy as in the Camera mode. Personally I did not buy it because 9 tracks is just not enough but the camera mode you actually have to move rather than just pushing a button like boom boom rocket.

I think the camera mode needs to be looked at and previewed. I cannot for the life of me remember the arcade cabinets name but you wave your hand, legs or I've even seen head though the light sensors.

I think you should not be so bias and review the entirety of the game not just the single mode. You may not like the game but really this review isn't for you it's for your readers.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 10:46AM Aeikozz said

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Para Para Paradise.

Yet another wonderful konami franchise.
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 11:23AM Outinthedark said

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Very similar but this machine had like 4 pods and you could wave your hand above for the high notes and use your knees for the low notes if you can understand what I'm talking about.

Tried to find it before I posted.

Thanks for your help Aeikozz.
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Posted: Oct 10th 2008 10:45AM (Unverified) said

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WTF man, I can't believe you didn't touch on the rich and beautiful tapestry of history of the Pop'n series. Much like the art of the ancient Greeks, the Pop'n series have always enjoyed both critical and popular acclaim.

Posted: Oct 10th 2008 12:47PM Softserve said

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Honestly, I thought MLB Stickball was terrible. Looks awful and is just mindless and boring.

Tenchu wasn't so bad.

Posted: Oct 11th 2008 12:30PM (Unverified) said

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DJ Max 360.. now there's a thought. Beat n Groovy is too cutesy for me :/ Gameplay is the same as any other bemani game so that's fine. I don't like how the notes pause for a second at the bottom of the screen. music selection does indeed suck. can't complain about the controller config cuz it makes sense to me - lanes match button positions - akin to Beatmania and P'nM.

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