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- Dec 22, 2009
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streaming beatmania THE FINAL: http://twitch.tv/danadamkof
nice cab. I been unlocking a coupla songs myself...
streaming beatmania THE FINAL: http://twitch.tv/danadamkof
I bought a few things.
IIDX is very much a thing still, but basically only at Round 1 arcades.(Yeah, I realize it's a few months out, but...) Damn that's insane. I've been so out of the bemani thing for years now. Is IIDX not really a thing anymore over there?
Anyway, awesome stream. Looks super clean and smooth.
IIDX is very much a thing still, but basically only at Round 1 arcades.
In those few years you missed a bit. I'll try and break it down.
Starting with IIDX 20, Konami designed the game so that it would not work at all without an always-on connection to their eAmusement server that worked as DRM. This made it impossible to import and play a new version, so everyone was stuck on IIDX 19. Not even just IIDX, they set up all of the BEMANI titles to require this connectivity.
Some hackers created a private eAmusement server called Programmed World that could boot a cracked version of the game and had the same functionality of eAmusement (rivals, online score saving, etc). Arcades connected to Programmed World had parity with Japanese releases as a result.
Konami caught wind of this and C&D'd the server a few years later. RIP Programmed World.
Arcades downgraded to old versions since the cabs couldn't run the later versions at all without PW being up.
At about the same time, Round 1 arcades were opening up around the USA. Round 1 is an arcade chain run out of Japan, and due to that they were able to in one way or another get Konami onboard with providing eAmusement access to American Round 1 arcades, letting IIDX, Sound Voltex, Gitadora, DDR, and Museca go online. (Pop'n at R1 still runs older offline mixes due to licensing issues, I am told)
So anyway, non-R1 arcades on PW at one point had decent traffic to the BEMANI games, then PW died, and no one wanted to play the downgraded versions. Daily all-day card lines turned into a few credits per machine a week in most cases. Then with R1 offering shiny new versions, the downgraded cabinets in areas with a R1 nearby got even less play. It was under those poorly profitable circumstances that I had opportunity to buy Sunnyvale Golfland's machines (except for their DDR X3 and Re-Rave (lol)).
Wow that sucks. Are there still many players at R1?