Will Pop'n Music ever come to the US?

[hello271]

Will there ever be a US arcade version? What about a US home version? They tried with Beatmania, although personally I think Pop'n Music has a lot more potential for mass market appeal than Beatmania.

[ranatalus]

there was an arcade pop'n verison in the US, it was basically pop'n 1st with a few less songs. as one could imagine it was not successful, since the target audience for pop'n in japan doesn't really EXIST in the US outside of people that are already dedicated to it

[Arbel]

There was also a first mix arcade version of GF (Not sure about DM or IIDX), needless to say it bombed hardcore as well. I don't think its really the target audience as much as the first mixes were really terrible, and also confusing to learn. I find it pretty easy to get new people to play and enjoy Pop'n if you actually sit down and teach them. Ive had people come in and play 2 dollars worth of Popn who look like they are definitely not part of the Popn audience.

But yeah, it will never happen. People want easy to learn, instant success games in America. I mean how many time have you heard someone say they are awesome at guitar hero. And then if you have them try like IIDX or Popn they will say I will never be good at this game ever.

Originally Posted by hello271

Will there ever be a US arcade version? What about a US home version? They tried with Beatmania, although personally I think Pop'n Music has a lot more potential for mass market appeal than Beatmania.

This is actually pretty true. Its pretty easy to get people into playing it cause it has an easier start to it. Of course the music is a turnoff to most, although there are enough genres to where someone will find something they will like. Not enough to make it successful, but I think people will be at least willing to try it once compared to IIDX, which I find very difficult to get people to try out of intimidation.

[mengzor]

Y'never know , they're releasing guitar freaks and drummania again in US from the success of rock band, if that takes off we could even start seeing IIDX/PNM appearing.

Whilst the music is a turnoff for most , it didn't stop DDR..

[US certainly has better chances than UK thats for sure :<]

[ranatalus]

they aren't for-sure releasing GF/DM stateside. that's currently just a rumor.

And that aside, GF/DM (and even IIDX) is a LOT different than pop'n. if you take an average person, sit them down in front of pop'n, and show them some screenshot and the cabinet design (not gameplay because that likely won't be what people see at first) and ask them who they think the target audience is, I can bet you they're going to say it's for little girls. rememeber that people in the US (not sure about europe, lol) are all about appearances, so you won't get a lot of "cool guys" playing a game that looks like it's for little girls. hell, lots of people look at DDR that way and it is considerably less "gay looking" than pop'n

i personally would have no problem with pop'n being released I'm just saying the market for it IS NOT there and it will almost certainly be a huge financial loss for konami

[OrangeRight]

If they're going to release another Bemani in the US, it's most likely going to be GFDM. I mean, they're already putting more Western licenses than usual.

The only advantage Pop'n has is that it's the game from the video.

[vajiggio]

Originally Posted by mengzor

Y'never know , they're releasing guitar freaks and drummania again in US from the success of rock band, if that takes off we could even start seeing IIDX/PNM appearing.

It had a test location in the US but that doesn't guarantee it will be released stateside. IIDX Gold would be released stateside too if that was the case and unfortunately it isn't.

Pop'n probably won't even get a test location out here either because it's too "japanese". It's cute, colorful, has bouncy 'kawaii' characters, has Japanese TV show themes as playable songs, and most of the songs have Japanese titles or lyrics. The songs most likely wouldn't appeal to people out here as well. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it's a niche game.

[Rivorus]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

if you take an average person, sit them down in front of pop'n, and show them some screenshot and the cabinet design (not gameplay because that likely won't be what people see at first) and ask them who they think the target audience is, I can bet you they're going to say it's for little girls. rememeber that people in the US (not sure about europe, lol) are all about appearances, so you won't get a lot of "cool guys" playing a game that looks like it's for little girls. hell, lots of people look at DDR that way and it is considerably less "gay looking" than pop'n

I think this is exactly it. As someone else already said, I too have introduced Pop'n Music to at least 20 people, including people who don't usually play video games or who have never played a music game, and out of that only 1 or 2 people did not like it. The problem is getting the average gamer past the thought that Pop'n Music is for little girls.

[hello271]

Oh Konami...you're so misunderstood.

I dunno, a lot of Americans find Japanese stuff "cool." Just look at how popular anime has become. I think Bemani could be a welcoming change to the video games today that's mostly high-def, shooting and killing. Sure Pop'n looks kiddy, but so does Taiko Drum Master, and didn't they come out with a US version of that with moderate success?

[ranatalus]

Originally Posted by Rivorus

I think this is exactly it. As someone else already said, I too have introduced Pop'n Music to at least 20 people, including people who don't usually play video games or who have never played a music game, and out of that only 1 or 2 people did not like it. The problem is getting the average gamer past the thought that Pop'n Music is for little girls.

i agree this is the main problem, and getting people past it can be tough. also, out of those 20 or more people you've showed it to, how many have showed a continuing interest in it (as in, wondered how much it would cost to get their own controller and home versions) and made any steps towards doing so?

Originally Posted by hello271

Oh Konami...you're so misunderstood.

I dunno, a lot of Americans find Japanese stuff "cool." Just look at how popular anime has become. I think Bemani could be a welcoming change to the video games today that's mostly high-def, shooting and killing. Sure Pop'n looks kiddy, but so does Taiko Drum Master, and didn't they come out with a US version of that with moderate success?

i couldn't find sales numbers but i would guess it was a "moderate" success at best

and while a number of americans find japanese stuff (read: anime manga and pocky) cool, an additionally large number find it incredibly stupid or actually corrupting of the youth (i remember my mother specifically saying to me that anime only existed for hentai because everyone in japan was a pervert)

[Yuki Ijuin]

I'm surprised at the narrowminded-ness of the Americans if they can't accept Popn as something Japanese-y and fun. Music games are music games. Although there aren't many people that approach the machine here they never think it's for little girls. (They'll comment that it's slightly kiddish, which changes when I actually play stuff in the 30's). I still believe that the reason games like this isn't going to work well in the American audience is because of no real rewards. You don't unlock stuff, you don't gain recognition because there's not much people playing in the first place. People just aren't interested in something that doesn't result in at least some degree of gratification i suppose. Normal conditioning applies to everyone as it is basic psychology.

I'll never get better at Guitar Hero. (I suck at that game.)

[Arbel]

Originally Posted by ranatalus

and while a number of americans find japanese stuff (read: anime manga and pocky) cool, an additionally large number find it incredibly stupid or actually corrupting of the youth (i remember my mother specifically saying to me that anime only existed for hentai because everyone in japan was a pervert)

So there IS an audience for Pop'n (the anime crowd) Before you were saying there wasn't there =P (The anime crowd is a LOT bigger than you think)

In all honesty I think this game would do moderate if released stateside (A CS release however compared to arcade I'm not sure). Yes, I've heard the "Pop'n is for little girls" comment a lot, but honestly that is usually coming from IIDX players haha. I've had quite a few people come into the arcade and look at Pop'n. I get this comment a lot "Oh I saw this game on YouTube, its crazy" Not "omg this looks like a kids game." Getting people to play it after that is hard. Why? Intimidation. It's as simple as that. The game is in Japanese, it looks fun yet hard. They don't want to fail. So they don't try. For some people yes, they think "OMG gay", but you would be surprised how many people think it would be fun but don't try out of intimidation.

I'm not saying Pop'n would do great by any means if released stateside, but to say there is NO audience, and everyone would dismiss it, is pretty ridiculous. There is obviously an audience for this game type. I think America is pretty accustomed to Japanese "crazy" stuff.

Pop'n mostly attracts casuals, whereas IIDX attracts hardcore players. Just look at the Japan player base. There is definitely a bigger fanbase in America for IIDX at the current moment, but what if Pop'n became released. I can bet you anything that a lot of the "Anime" crowd people would buy it for casual play, like pick up the controller and play it once a month. It would do no worse than IIDX's American release.

[ranatalus]

Originally Posted by Yuki Ijuin

I'm surprised at the narrowminded-ness of the Americans

why

Originally Posted by Arbel

lots of stuff that MAKES SENSE I GUESS

for some reason my retarded brain didn't like, think about the large percentage of the anime community that would probably get it if only for the reason that it is super kawaii~~~~

i still think it wouldn't do as good as beatmania (which was a pretty abysmal failure) but i also fully admit i could be wrong

[KMasaki]

To be honest, with the state of DDR- and arcades in general- it would be a pretty unwise move on Konami's part to release Pop'n stateside. Sure, it's one of the cheapest machines to manufacture, but without any mainstream support, it probably wouldn't even get off the ground, much like IIDX.

However, the best solution to get Pop'n in the states would be a Wii release. Casual crowd, large demographic, and the usual "Nintendo" philosophy where realistic graphics do not make the world go round.

In fact, it would be in Konami's best interest to embrace the fact that Pop'n is indeed "Japanese" and "cutesy"; base it off of the Pop'n 12 interface so that people instantly recognize that this came from the land of the rising sun.

Go with the DDR US philosophy of less songs = more focus on quality. 80 of Pop'n's best.

A cheap, ASC-dimension controller wouldn't hurt, either. For a more arcade-like experience that they probably won't be able to get to.

Retail it for no more than a Guitar Hero III bundle.

Online rankings, anyone?

Just throwing out ideas.

[K-Dash]

I like the idea of a Wii version of Pop'n... I think it suits the console well.. but with the trend of Wii games lately.... they all seem to have that special Wiimote action that tries to make the game unique. I know I wouldn't want to be playing Pop'n WHILE waving my Wiimote around (I'm thinking like in a DDR Eye-toy "hands" fashion).

I'm pretty sure that if Pop'n in any way was released for Wii.... it would come with some stupid special Wiimote feature to appease the casual gamers who just want to point and click.