Question about Keyboardmania

IAmSancho · 08-31-2008, 06:09 PM

I've never played it, and hardly know anything about it. I just have 2 simple questions that hopefully you can answer.

1. How rare is the game? Is it worth importing from Hawaii for $130+ shipping, or can it be found cheaper?

2. How hard is the game? I don't know anything about playing the piano, so would it be better to avoid this game, or can it be picked up?

*Loserbait* · 09-01-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IAmSancho

1. How rare is the game? Is it worth importing from Hawaii for $130+ shipping, or can it be found cheaper?

I haven't found a copy for a few years now so if you can get it at all, go for it. HOWEVER... You need the controller for it, too. A generic Yamaha USB keyboard should work and I'd use that over the Konami controller -- mainly because you can use the Yamaha outside of KM. With the Konami controller... well, it can only be used for KM as far as I know...
So, $130 for the game is decent, but get a controller, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IAmSancho

2. How hard is the game? I don't know anything about playing the piano, so would it be better to avoid this game, or can it be picked up?

I knew nothing about playing the piano/keyboard. It can *definitely* be picked up relatively easily. It just takes some solid practise (as with everything though). On top of that, because this is one of two Konami near-perfect emulations of instruments (the other being DrumMania), you can transfer the skills/songs you learn from the game into the real world.

By the way, are you an Orgazmo fan by any chance?

Jeff Paine · 09-01-2008, 05:07 PM

If it's just the game, you can find that a lot cheaper than $130.

keyboardmania, Games, Video Games items on eBay.com

The KOC is a lot harder to find, but if you have Keyboardmania II, you can pick up a Yamaha UX16 cable to hook up any MIDI keyboard to the PS2 and play with that.

It's definitely not as beginner-friendly as even IIDX, but practice makes perfect. It'll be easier on a KOC because that only has the two octaves you'll be using in the game, with a full MIDI keyboard you'll have to remember where the boundaries are.

Alexx5 · 09-01-2008, 05:46 PM

The game is definitely rare so you basically have to deal with whatever price you can find, but if $130 is for the controller + Keyboardmania I then it's a pretty good price. If it's either the controller OR the game then it is not.

I wouldn't pay more than $140 for a bundle or $100 for the controller alone. Though, with a little effort and/or patience you should be able to get the controller for 70-80. As for the games, Keyboardmania I runs for around $40 and Keyboardmania II for around $60 or more. Remember that only Keyboardmania II supports MIDI keyboards in case you're going that route. You will also need the OLD version of UX-16, which isn't too easy to find either. Personally I think you will save yourself a lot of hassle by just getting the official controller.

Blackraven · 09-11-2008, 12:51 PM

I think you'll need a Yamaha EZ-250i keyboard for this.

Jeff Paine · 09-11-2008, 05:29 PM

That's only the PC version, in fact it doesn't work at all for the PS2 versions

About the PC version, it's entirely MIDI-based and plays all the music through your keyboard, so the music quality suffers quite a bit compared to the arcade/PS2 versions, however, you can import <i>any</i> MIDI file and play it in Keyboardmania, so that's a bonus. The first Bemani game to support custom songs! (unless you count Dance! Dance! Dance! and Goo Goo Soundy, which weren't actually Bemani)

Good luck finding the EZ-250i though, especially one that still has the driver disc with Keyboardmania on it. And I'm not sure if it's really prone to breaking but mine started to act up after a couple years of non-use and it's pretty much worthless now. It can probably be repaired but I don't care enough to get it repaired >_>

Blackraven · 09-11-2008, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UseMyExciter

Good luck finding the EZ-250i though, especially one that still has the driver disc with Keyboardmania on it. And I'm not sure if it's really prone to breaking but mine started to act up after a couple years of non-use and it's pretty much worthless now. It can probably be repaired but I don't care enough to get it repaired >_>

I think they still sell these things.

www.YamahaPKclub.com

Yup they still do.

And at a cheaper price too hehe.

Jeff Paine · 09-12-2008, 05:13 PM

Nope, you can't buy it there, it's been discontinued for a few years now.