Pop'n Music!

[FreQstyle]

Just on the off-chance....

...any fellow poppers lurking in the shadows of the ntsc-uk forums?


Edit - Ooops, wrong forum. Can a mod either close this or shift it to general gaming? Sorry/thanks!

[Nisa]

Why is this in the Headlines part of the forum?

Anyway yes there are a few people around here who play Pop' n, I only have 7 & 8 (borrowed 9 and Best Hits from a friend) and play with the standard controller as opposed to some lucky bastards who have the Arcade Style Controller. I'm very much looking forward to Pop' n Music 10 this November.

Although I play Beatmania IIDX a lot more, Pop' n is one of the best games of its type, unlike Beatmania it's very easy for beginners to play but is also extremely challenging as well, particularly on EX difficulty. The variety of songs is greater than any other Bemani/"Action Rhythm" games as well.

If you wan't the best site to learn more about the game then I suggest looking up www.bemanistyle.com, they've moved to a new server so not all of their content is present but they have loads of pop' n tatsujin videos from Robo who is probably Japan's best player.

[FreQstyle]

Why is this in the Headlines part of the forum?

... I fekked up!

Blame the mind-numbingly dull day I'm having at work today
Is there an easy way to move it, or have I got to wait for a mod to come n tell me off?

As for pop'n - I've been addicted to it for a few months now. After hammering Frequency and Amplitude for a couple o years I came across a video of some crazy-hands japanese girl getting stuck into pop'n and had to have it!

Picked up an arcade style controller a couple of months ago and I was just wondering if anyone else round here played it really, see how I measure up! Other UK Pop'n fans seem quite hard to find....

Also very much looking forward to Pop'n 10 - Nyami's looking ever so cute in her little white-witch outfit

[MasterPlan]

I'm getting pop n music 10 for chrimbo, should be a laugh, seems like a fun game

Trying to get into music games before I goto japan etc

[Papercut]

I have the DC versions 1 - 4.

It's ok. too hard really. and not enough changes between versions (though I haven't played the latest PS2 ones).

[hankwangford]

Played Pop N' while I was in Japan in August for the first time and fell in love with it instantly. Some Japanese girls giggled whilst I miserably failed Goonies on 5 button :/

I will never play it in public again.

[FreQstyle]

I'm getting pop n music 10 for chrimbo, should be a laugh, seems like a fun game

Trying to get into music games before I goto japan etc

Good choice - I've got mine pre-ordered from play-asia.

If you've not played one before tho, be warned - it's brutally difficult with the normal controller.

I ended up having to play it on 5 button mode, with the shoulder buttons covering the 4 outside lanes and X for the middle lane (a bit like a souped up FreQuency or Amplitude, if you've played em)

I don't see how it's possible to play the 9-button mode on a normal controller at all. Hence coughing up a fortune for an Arcade-style controller

well worth it tho - i've a feeling it'll literally take years to get good enough to be able to master the harder songs and if they keep pumping out sequels every year... !

ONE DAY I *WILL* be this good tho....:

http://www.media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=asianarcade.wmv

!

[Nisa]

The long time fans of Pop' n Music all pretty much agree that the series pre Pop' n Music 6 isn't really up to scratch(short song lists & lack of hi-speed mods in the earlier versions are two major reason for this), the series really hits its stride from Pop' n 8 onwards.

There's a fan made Pop' n Music ranking site called www.popnnavy.com which was created by a guy named Remy who also created the excellent Beatmania IIDX ranking site vj army. It's only a beta right now I believe but it's a good way of keeping tabs on your scores and progress on every song in the series.

I'll need to get round to buying the Des-Row album that came out a few months back, he's responsible for some of the best songs in the series, it's one of his tracks that you can hear in Lost in Translation.

P.S. The guy in that ebaums world vid(its not really theres, they pinched it from Bemanistyle) is the one and only Robo.

[FreQstyle]

Cool, cheers for the info man

So that's Robo, eh? heheh he's absolutely incredible!

And it's definitely a guy?! I was convinced it was a (albeit not too hot...) gyal. Big up to him anyway - it was that video that inspired me to track down the game and controller. Wouldn't like to get into a game of slapsies with him that's for sure...

Be sure to let us know what the Des-row album's like if you grab it - he's done some of my faves on 8 and 9 - GoodCool's tracks are awesome too.

Not as awesome as Nyami tho... lol

[Nisa]

Where did you get your ASC from?, the cheapest I've seen it outside the Konamistyle site is around 250 quid from Play-Asia and Himeyasoft which is the same I paid for this IIDX ASC (plus 60 quid import tax >_<)

[FreQstyle]

I didn't go for the official one as I'd heard reports that is just didn't feel particularly sturdy (and was also damn noisy) as it's only made out of plastic.

After checking out the Ransai and DesktopArcade offering's I ended up sacking them both off and grabbing one of these....

http://www.controllica.com/pnm_asc/pnm_asc.html

... and I have to say it's the business. Absolutely rock solid, really well put together and it's just a joy to play on. I'm sure there's not much difference in how it plays compared to the Ransai's etc., but it's already taken a proper beating and still looks like it's fresh outta the box.

HIGHLY recommended if you've got the money (and even if not!).

Got hit for import tax of course (and a bonus ?15 'Parcelfarce Clearance Fee' - thieving bastards) but it worked out at about ?230 quid all told, with 3 day priority shipping.

?230 for 9 buttons!

It makes Steel Battalion almost look like a bargain.....