The future of pump it up

[onedisk]

Hi, I been playing pump it up for for some time now, but I am limited to playing home versions of the game due the fact that there barely any pump it up cabinets in Canada although I did find Pro in Playdium Mississauga. Do you think that Andamiro will stay on the path of not releasing any home versions in the future ( I know Exceed SE wasn't a success but with some good marketing it could be a minor success), considering the arcade market is in a decline. Do you think Andamiro will consider getting more expensive licenses like Tell Me by Wonder Girls that could possibly bankrupt Andamiro, after all its not like they have a Konami sized budget (I didn't really like Tell Me but that's a different story) or will they resort to using Korean licences that are considered obscure or old even in Korea? Will Banya be in decline considering that Yahpp have left Andamiro for various reasons?

I been asking these questions because to me I don't think pump it up is as good as before and I wonder if it will be successful in future or if it will fade away. Although I never played the recent versions of pump it up besides Pro, but judging from recent videos and the like but it seems that Andamiro only really care about having mission modes nowadays which they put big effort into and I agree that WorldMax is a good idea but it seems that the new songs are not as good as it was like a few years ago. The new K-Pop now have less variety as the new K-pop as the songs are either Hip Hop, Rock, Pop, and a few songs from a another genre (back then there was more genres like House, Dance, Trot, Salsa, ect in K Pop songs) the songs have steps files with stops and tempo changes in places where there is no tempo changes or actual stops. Banya is not as creative or have the wide variety in terms of genre as they have in several mixes ago. They concentrate on making too many classical remixes ( I like classical remixes , but the number of these of these remixes is a bit overboard), some the new songs sound too weird like Guitar Man ( it happened in previous mixes but not to a large extent) and it seems Banya is not interested in venturing into new genres nowadays. Don't forget about the Pop channel, most the songs in that channel are considered not very good except for a few exceptions like Essa Maneira and Hybs and the new pop channel songs in NX2 are basically Pro Crossovers and they choose some of the worser off songs from pro except for Energizer.

Some of you may be thinking that thinking that pump it up not in a decline, in some ways this is true like the modes that they introduced over the years like Half-Double, Battle, WorldMax, songs that introduced higher levels of difficulty like Love is A Danger Zone 2 and Canon-D and ect, but I have different opinions in what the series have become.

[BanYa4eVr]

Although I know there's a lot of controversy over this, I do think that the next step for Andamiro right now is to try and appeal to the home console market again. I hear mixed opinions about how Exceed SE fared from "People grabbing them off of shelves 'till there's none left", to "Almost no one knows the game exists". Well in the USA, I believe (sadly) that the only way to really appeal to the younger community as well as the teenage community, is to get the word out via commercials, ads, internet etc etc. You could sum it all up with one word, MEDIA. I think that (and I know i'll get an arguement over this, but...) Andamiro should start finding a way to make people to want to get up and go find the game, instead of randomly finding it in a store while looking for something else. I realize commercials cost buckets of money, and I'm not sure whether or not Andamiro would be willing to fork over cash to do it. But through commercials, ads, etc, you appeal to a much wider audience. Hype it up enough, get the "omg that game looks awesome! Let's go see if we can find it!" started.

I'll also bet I'm not the only one who would enjoy another PS2/Xbox release either.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

If there was another console release of PIU, it wouldn't be on PS2 or XBox, that's for sure :P

People just see Pump like this because they get older or can't accept change. It's like all that people who were complaining about NX and NX2 having ZOMG A LOT OF VERY DIFFICULT AND RETARDED STEPCHARTS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY LOLOLOL (clearly showing that they haven't touched the freakin' machines at all).


Pump urgently needs more attractive stuff for mainstream audiences, that's something sure.

[onedisk]

Originally Posted by Kyosuke Kagami

If there was another console release of PIU, it wouldn't be on PS2 or XBox, that's for sure :P

People just see Pump like this because they get older or can't accept change. It's like all that people who were complaining about NX and NX2 having ZOMG A LOT OF VERY DIFFICULT AND RETARDED STEPCHARTS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY LOLOLOL (clearly showing that they haven't touched the freakin' machines at all).


Pump urgently needs more attractive stuff for mainstream audiences, that's something sure.

In that case the most likely platform would probably be Xbox 360 or possibly Wii but I doubt I'll see it for the PS3 due to the difficulty of developing for the PS3. I don't live in a country where pump it up is popular so it will be near impossible to find the latest version of pump it up or even a machine of pump it up. So I based some of the things from videos of NX2 and a PSP version of pump it up zero. I played songs like Gun Rock on crazy and Phantom on crazy and all I have have to say is how can anyone pass these songs with an S or A or even a B using they feet? They are actual attempts to appeal to a wider audience by making a port of Exceed with song list modifications and 6 American songs but it was hampered by lack of advertising. There's also a spinoff called Pump it up Pro with songs from In the Groove, some songs from the unreleased ITG3, a few new songs that hasn't been featured anywhere else and songs from the regular Pump it up. The release was divided among the community. One side says that implements features not seen in 5 panel games or even in dance games prior to pro, and the chance to play some of the songs that were supposed to be in the unreleased ITG 3. Another side says it not in the sprit of pump it up because of the lack of new
K Pop, charts based on beat instead of rhythm, In the groove influence, ect.

[BanYa4eVr]

It's not that the PS3 is hard to develop for, it's just that (and many would agree with me...) Pump doesn't really need to be next gen. It works fine on PS2 or Xbox.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

onedisk, please use separate paragraphs for your messages. No offense, but your messages are a bit difficult to read.

I'm not denying the fact that some songs in NX and NX2 are retarded... but they're a very small minority compared to the rest of the featured stuff.

Music-wise, well... it's a hard and ver subjective matter. I personally liked more how they featured different music concepts in NX (and NX2, in a minor way) than in Zero or Exceed 2, but maybe that's just me.

[cj iwakura]

I think the music is still very unique. Check out songs like Very Old Couples and Banya works like Higgledy Piggledy and Pumptris if you think they still aren't experimenting with what they put on the game.

That said, I think they're better off staying away from the console market. It's DDR's turf. Let them keep it.

AM's only going to lose money trying to get that audience. The arcade's where they make their money, so they should stick with it.

[onedisk]

Originally Posted by cj iwakura

I think the music is still very unique. Check out songs like Very Old Couples and Banya works like Higgledy Piggledy and Pumptris if you think they still aren't experimenting with what they put on the game.

That said, I think they're better off staying away from the console market. It's DDR's turf. Let them keep it.

AM's only going to lose money trying to get that audience. The arcade's where they make their money, so they should stick with it.

Out of the three songs you mentioned I only liked Higgledy Piggledy and it's a good song but I wouldn't call it my favorite song and and its in a genre that's been done before. I only liked the 8 bit version Pumptris and the version of Very Old Couples featured in NX2 has annoying vocoders, then again the original version of the song wasn't that great either, but that's just my opinion. However I think Pump it up needs more songs like Beat # No. 4.

I know Andamiro's attempts to port pump it up to consoles wasn't successful but then DDR sales aren't high either. ( Only two titles manged to reach more than 1 million copies, the rest are usually around usually in the Hundred Thousands or lower)

I know pump it up is making more money from arcade sales, but do you realize that in the majority of arcade markets, they are currently on a decline, and I do know that in my country(Canada), pump it up arcade sales are not really high, and there is only 8 to 10 machines in the entire country.

I don't think pump it up will ever be making millions of dollars in game sales, but a home version can be a minor success if the publisher actually do commercials for pump it up. (The last publisher they used had no ideal how to increase the attention of the game)

[cj iwakura]

Mastiff tried some marketing, and it was borderline insulting(Pump Girls or some such nonsense).

I don't honestly see how you can market Pump and have it actually be a success. Pump's appeal comes from freestyle and insane stepcharts, both of which aren't easily duplicated for home play.

Pump's a long way from dominating the arcades, but it's got a solid enough following to keep AM going for how many mixes now?

Though I don't really like the Korea > everyone direction NX2 seems to be taking. (They get exclusive songs, and most of the disc images were printed strictly in Korean.)

[aokiqiao]

Actually I think their doing pretty good with whats happend. Yahpp leaving is kind of a good thing so they can get some new unique stuff in pump. The ITG songs could've been better picks but I think it added a little something to it. Remember, Andamiro is trying to win over the 4 panel people. Thats why they made Pump Pro so the crossovers are actually a very good idea. They made a new AMAZING cabinet with USB features so thats something thats going for the game.

The only thing I wish they would do is start getting like 2-3 licences from like brazil, mexico, here (USA), etc.. instead of just getting alot of korean ones.

As far as the stepcharts go, you guys have to remember that ALOT of the world can already do crazy shit so they have to keep up with them. So naturally theres going to be hardER charts every mix. I personally have gotten way better because the charts have gotten harder.

Also, their adding mods!!! If you havent noticed I made a thread with a list of a bunch of mods you can use to make it funner. I know I use them every other game and I don't see konami adding any new mods for DDR.

Oh and the console market is'nt going to happen any time soon so don't count on it. But the good thing is theres always something that comes up every year or so for the comp or consoles.

Thats what I think.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

As good as PIU Pro is in theory, but it fails.

Reason: it doesn't use Andamiro's MK hardware and, in consequence, its distribution is way harder.

[cj iwakura]

For better or for worse, I've seen first-hand that Pro is succeeding in getting more casuals to play it.

The average person has no idea how to select a song using foot panels, no matter how much AM spell it out with on-screen instructions(I've watched, believe me; people are dense).

Put two arrows and a start button on a cabinet, and even a monkey can figure out what's going on.


I still would never ever want a Pro to replace the real thing, but if it gets some casuals into the series where the main games fail, then it's definitely worth at least having one in the area.

[aokiqiao]

Originally Posted by cj iwakura

For better or for worse, I've seen first-hand that Pro is succeeding in getting more casuals to play it.

The average person has no idea how to select a song using foot panels, no matter how much AM spell it out with on-screen instructions(I've watched, believe me; people are dense).

Put two arrows and a start button on a cabinet, and even a monkey can figure out what's going on.


I still would never ever want a Pro to replace the real thing, but if it gets some casuals into the series where the main games fail, then it's definitely worth at least having one in the area.

exactly, and when the time comes....pump pro will get cut off and theyll just merge the two.

[onedisk]

Originally Posted by cj iwakura

For better or for worse, I've seen first-hand that Pro is succeeding in getting more casuals to play it.

The average person has no idea how to select a song using foot panels, no matter how much AM spell it out with on-screen instructions(I've watched, believe me; people are dense).

Put two arrows and a start button on a cabinet, and even a monkey can figure out what's going on.


I still would never ever want a Pro to replace the real thing, but if it gets some casuals into the series where the main games fail, then it's definitely worth at least having one in the area.

Actually I liked Pro for introducing people like me to Pump it Up and I do like the ITG elements(again that's my opinion), but I think its sequel needs to be a bit more different from the regular series.

Maybe it should introduce features and modes that hadn't appear in a pump it up game yet, because right now some people still think that its basically its basically PIU+ITG. I don't think it will actually replace the main series but it has low effect to me because again, I don't see machines like NX1 or even Zero near anywhere I live.

Anyways Pro is a good start even if it's underrated and even through Andamiro had low success with home versions I think Pro might be a better candidate for a home release if they even attempt one again.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Damn, people, you're lucky.

I wish I could even try Pro once :/