Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold

Beatmania IIDX 14 Gold
Titlescreen of the CS version
Developer(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher(s)	KCET
Distributor(s)	KCET
Designer(s)	KCET
Series	beatmania IIDX & Bemani
Platform(s)	Arcade & Sony PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	Arcade JP February 21, 2007 PlayStation 2 JP May 29, 2008
Genre(s)	Music
Mode(s)	Single-player & Multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A
Media/distribution	Hard drive (Arcade) DVD-ROM (PlayStation 2)
Cabinet	Custom
Display	Widescreen Television

Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold (stylized as beatmania IIDX14: GOLD) is the 14th game in the beatmania IIDX series of music video games. It was released in arcades by Konami on February 21, 2007. The game features over 45 new songs, some of which are unlocked over Konami's e-Amusement platform. The game instituted another hardware change for IIDX, now running on more powerful hardware using Windows XP Embedded as its operating system.

The user interface features a predominantly metallic appearance, with gold and silver accents throughout.

Gameplay

Main article: Beatmania IIDX#Gameplay

Core gameplay remained the same on Gold. A new hidden modifier, "REGUL-SPEED", locks the BPM of a song to a constant 150, but scores achieved with it turned on are not recorded. In addition, a new song folder was added, Assist Clear, for songs which were cleared using the 5-Key or Auto Scratch modifiers. Gold also utilizes less strict timing windows than previous arcade releases, utilizing more CS-like timings. Also, the ability for 2 players to play on separate difficulties was added.

e-Amusement

Main article: e-Amusement#e-AMUSEMENT in Beatmania IIDX

A new e-Amusement feature added to Gold are "GP", points earned during songs which can unlock secret songs such as console exclusives and revival songs from previous styles.

Extra Stages

If the player gets three AA's on any difficulty (without use of the Random or Mirror modifiers) and the levels for all the songs add up to either 20 for Hyper or 30 for Another, the player is awarded a chance to play the extra stage, Vanessa by 朱雀 (Suzaku). The stage is played on Hard mode, which removes the 80% groove gauge requirement, but will fail the player if it drops down to 0%. If the stage is cleared, the player gets to play One More Extra Stage, Fascination MAXX, a crossover from the then recently released Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova.

VIP Room

An additional extra stage-like system added to Gold through e-Amusement is the VIP Room, an extension on the system introduced by Distorted's "Cardinal Gate" system. To access the VIP Room, the player must play 30 songs on one difficulty, then pay 1700 GP. This unlocks the Silver Room, containing GOLD RUSH by DJ Yoshitaka-G feat. Michael a la mode.

Clearing 60 songs on one difficulty, then clearing GOLD RUSH with an A in hard mode, plus another payment of 1700 GP unlocks the Gold Room, containing CANDY GALY by edit] Music

New Songs

Genre	Song	Artist	Tier
Hindu Salsa	2hot2eat	Osamu Kubota
Flow Pop	Air Bell	D-crew
Psychedelic Synth Trance	ANDROMEDA II	Sota Fujimori
Epic Poetry	Blind Justice ~Torn Souls, Hurt Faiths~	Zektbach	Also on pop'n music 16: Party and DDR Supernova2
Spanish Cool	カミロ・ウナ・メンデス	山根ミチル
Nostalish Requiem	CaptivAte～誓い～	A/I
Nostalish Requiem	CaptivAte～裁き～	DJ Yoshitaka feat. A/I	Also on GF/DM V2
Trance	シティ・エンジェル	PINK PONG
Techno Rave	Come On	John Robinson
Dramatic Euro Trance	CROSSROAD *1	jun with TAHIRIH
Cyborg Trance	Cyber Force	Sota Fujimori feat. cyborg Akemi
Scouse House	Dreaming Sweetness	Auridy
Acid Jazz	earth-like planet	ELEKTEL
Buchiage Trance	FIRE FIRE	StripE	Also on DDR X2
Rock	four-leaf	Sis Bond Chit	Also on GF/DM V6: Blazing!!!
Disco	GHOSTBUSTERS	Remixed by DJ Yoshitaka
Electronica	GRID KNIGHT	SAW WAVE SQUAD
Progressive	HALF MOON	Mutsuhiko Izumi
Japanese Alteration	花吹雪 ～ IIDX LIMITED ～	S.S.D.FANTASICA feat.ユッコ	Also on pop'n music 17: Movie
Filter House	heaven above	kors k
High Speed Love Song	High School Love	DJ Yoshitaka feat. DWP	Also on pop'n music 14: Fever!
J-Happy Hardcore	HONEY♂PUNCH	小坂りゆ	Also on DDR SuperNOVA
J-Pop	星をこの手に	DJ YOSHITAKA feat.星野奏子
Millennium Trance	INORI	dj TAKA feat.HAL	Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Freeform Hardcore	KAMAITACHI	DJ TECHNORCH fw. GUHROOVY
Industrial Review	鬼言集	あさき
Future Pop	クルクル☆ラブ～Opioid Peptide MIX～	イオンチャンネル
Pops	Love Again...	Tatsh feat Junko Hirata	Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Nu Skool Breaks	LASER CRUSTER	L.E.D.
House	Make Me Your Own	good-cool ft. Raj Ramayya
Oldskool Hardcore Rave	METALLIC MIND	DJ TECHNORCH fw. GUHROOVY
Hyper Eurobeat	My Only Shining Star	NAOKI feat. Becky Lucinda	Also on DDR SuperNOVA
Dance Pop	never...	星野奏子 with dj TAKA
Piano Concerto	op. 31 叙情	akiko
Drum'n Bass	PHOTONGENIC	L.E.D. fw.堀澤麻衣子	Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 9th Style CS
小倉テクノ (Ogura Techno)	Play back hate you	AKIRA YAMAOKA
J-Pop	Red Rocket Rising	BeForU
Hyper J-Pop Zero	零 -ZERO-	TЁЯRA	Appeared in DDR X
Euro Trance	リグレット	星野奏子(with DJ Yoshitaka)	Revived from beatmaniaIIDX 11 IIDXRED CS
Eurobeat	Roulette	Y&Co.
Handz Up	Second Heaven	Ryu☆	Also on DDR X2
Ele Pop	smile	miru_maki. gjw
Trance	snow storm	dj TAKA
歌謡ハウス (Song House)	So Real	Y&Co. feat.mioco
Hyper J-Pop+	STARS☆☆☆ (Re-tuned by HΛL) -IIDX EDITION-	TЁЯRA	Cut version on DDR SuperNOVA 2
Schranz	the shadow	kors k
Pop	The Smile of You	猫叉Master feat.JESSY	Also on pop'n music 17: Movie
PSG Works	TRANOID	T&S seq. factory
Hiphop	Watch out!!	MAD Sequence＊
J-House	With Your Smile	Shoichiro Hirata plus Junko Hirata
Retro Rave	X-rated	SADA
Digital Rock	Yabis Starlight	DAJI
Techno	ヨシダさん	AKIRA YAMAOKA
Deceptive Gabba	VANESSA	朱雀	Extra Stage, Appeared in DDR X2
SuperNOVA Beat	Fascination MAXX	100-200-400	One More Extra Stage
Nu-NRG	電人、暁に斃れる。	L.E.D.-G	VIP Room (Platinum) Extra Stage
Happy	CANDY GALY	Risk Junk-G	VIP Room (Gold) Extra Stage
Reckless Rave	GOLD RUSH	DJ Yoshitaka-G feat. Michael a la mode	VIP Room (Silver) Extra Stage, Appeared in DDR X2(2 versions), pop'n music 18: Sengoku Retsuden
Rave	Sense 2007	good-cool	VIP Room (Black) One More Extra Stage

*1 CROSSROAD has 2 different versions in this game.

Notable songs from this version include:

• GOLD RUSH - a song accessed through the VIP Room system. The song is an extended remix of Gold's opening theme by DJ Yoshitaka, with additional vocals provided by "Michael a la Mode", and a middle breakdown containing a naming of all the IIDX versions in order of release. The song gained a cult following in IIDX online communities due to Michael's incomprehensible but booming vocals, and lines from the song have often become memes. Michael a la Mode as a character has appeared in other roles due to his popularity among fans, such as hosting the Tutorial mode in future versions, and later appearing in a B4U remix.
• TRANOID - a tribute to video game music. The video for the song contains an opening sequence for a fictitious game of the same name, starring "Tran", an alien character seen frequently in IIDX videos. The actual game, consists of her running down a track (which resembles the gameplay area of IIDX but tilted on its side), dodging other red, white, and blue aliens. The "game", is actually Tranoid's notechart on Normal for that portion of the song, and the game area and colors even imitate the standard colors of notes on IIDX. The logo for the game, resembles the logo for Gradius, another Konami game.
• The Smile of You - the theme song from the Konami game Elebits, which coincidentally also includes references to other Bemani games in general.
• Golden Cross, a techno song by DJ REMO-CON and dj TAKA, and one of the collaborations on the console version of Gold. The song is the toughest out of the new songs on Gold CS, with its another chart being ranked a 12 and containing a total of 1765 notes. The video features several of the musicians in a show named "Yoshitaka no Shogi" (a parody of Hikaru no Go, another television program based around a Japanese board game).
• Sense 2007 - a song accessed through the VIP Room system. Sense 2007's normal difficulty is rated a 9, making it the hardest normal difficulty in IIDX history.

Home version

The home version of Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold for the PlayStation 2 was released on May 29, 2008. The console version includes new songs such as 6 collaborations with IIDX regulars, 6 unlockable songs, and revivals of older songs from other IIDX versions and from the original 5-key Beatmania series, a total of 96 songs.

Two songs from the Kaiden course in Class mode, Vanessa and Kamaitachi, feature new Another charts only playable on the course, which are more difficult than their original charts. As with other recent PS2 styles, the game also contains unlockable interface items, such as different menu music, category announcers, additional lane covers for the Sudden+ modifier, and discs for the turntable icon in gameplay.

The original videos of Last Message and Sense 2007 (which are infamous for containing scenes of sexually provocative imagery, were replaced with generic videos on Gold CS due to stricter age certification processes by the CERO and a desire to keep the game A-rated, although Last Message's video was included on the console version of 7th Style (which does not have a CERO rating). On the contrast, 星をこの手に now has a dedicated video, and Metallic Mind now has overlays featuring Hihumi, the mascot of the game.

Some pre-order bundles for the game also include the "Beatnation Summit" DVD, the artwork book "Puzzle - Maya Takamura's Pieces", and L.E.D's album, Denjin K.

North American location test

Gold was the first version of Beatmania IIDX to have a dedicated English build for the North American market. As with other music video games, Japanese IIDX machines have been imported by some arcades, but are still considered rare. This is not the first time a Beatmania IIDX game has been released in North America though, as a Beatmania game based on 9th Style, featuring songs from IIDX, and the original Beatmania games, were released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. These did not have an arcade counterpart.

The build was first seen at a location test at Brunswick Zone Naperville in Naperville, Illinois. Most of the instructions in the interface was translated into English, though Dan mode was untranslated, and song titles were not translated or romanized (although the LED marquee does show titles in a romanized format on all styles by default).^[1] The English build of IIDX Gold was never released.

External links

• Official home page (Japanese)
• IIDX Gateway (Japanese)
• RemyWiki

References

1. ^ "Beatmania IIDX Gold to go on test in an American arcade". http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/28/beatmania-iidx-gold-to-go-on-test-in-an-american-arcade/. Retrieved 2008-04-02.