When I was at Anime Con with my daughter, she played some of the Japanese rhythm games and loved them. I want to buy one for our basement, but it seems like they are very hard to come by in the US. Below is a picture of the game my daughter liked the most. It appears to be made by Konami. What does something like this cost, and where can I buy it? Also, do these games need to be hacked in order to work over here?
Since this thread hasn't received any responses yet, I have to assume that these games simply aren't very popular over here. 
Quoted from gweempose:Since this thread hasn't received any responses yet, I have to assume that these games simply aren't very popular over here.
Ive NEVER seen one in the wild man. Good luck with your search.
Rhythm games are fairly popular over here, they're just in a fairly niche market. I own a Pop'n Music arcade, and have had in the past: DDR, Pump it Up, Beatmania, Keyboardmania, Drummania.
I don't know if there are many Mai Mai's in the states. The larger issue with a lot of the newer Konami games is they require their network (eamuse) to even boot the game, which isn't in the states. Cost wise, to get any of the newer games, you're probably looking around at least $2,000; possibly upwards of $5-6,000 for certain ones.
If you're really interested in getting one, let me know and I can point you in the right direction. I also might know people selling some machines and can help out.
I want a Sound Voltex 3. 
Gweem, are any of these close to you?
https://www.round1usa.com/location/
The one here in Grapevine is AWESOME. The music games can get a bit spendy, but just off the top of my head, we have... 2x Sound Voltex 3, 2x Final Fantasy Theatrythm, 2x Beatmania IIDX, 4 or 5 DDR/PIU, several of the Project Diva games, some lightgun music game, Pop'n'Music, Taiko Drum Master, 2x Museca (REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS ONE... WISH TO CHRIST I COULD READ ANY OF THE TEXT!!), and 2x Groove Coaster.
I'm sure there's others I missed. :Þ
Quoted from animesuperj:I don't know if there are many Mai Mai's in the states. The larger issue with a lot of the newer Konami games is they require their network (eamuse) to even boot the game, which isn't in the states.
Yeah, that's what I was wondering. It seems like they would need to be hacked. There must be some way to run them here. I played a bunch of different ones at the convention from Sega, Konami, etc ...
Quoted from animesuperj:If you're really interested in getting one, let me know and I can point you in the right direction. I also might know people selling some machines and can help out.
I'm definitely interested to find out more information and to see what's out there.
Quoted from Frax:Gweem, are any of these close to you?
https://www.round1usa.com/location/
The one here in Grapevine is AWESOME. The music games can get a bit spendy, but just off the top of my head, we have... 2x Sound Voltex 3, 2x Final Fantasy Theatrythm, 2x Beatmania IIDX, 4 or 5 DDR/PIU, several of the Project Diva games, some lightgun music game, Pop'n'Music, Taiko Drum Master, 2x Museca (REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS ONE... WISH TO CHRIST I COULD READ ANY OF THE TEXT!!), and 2x Groove Coaster.
Thanks! I've never heard of that place, but it looks like there is one out in Aurora, which is about 45 minutes from me. I'll definitely check it out. I would absolutely love to procure a Project Diva machine. My daughter is a HUGE vocaloid fan. In fact, I took her to the Hatsune Miku concert last year.
I haven't played it because I couldn't figure out what the hell was the deal with the controls LOL.
Quoted from gweempose:There must be some way to run them here. I played a bunch of different ones at the convention from Sega, Konami, etc ...
VPN to proxy server in Japan? I dunno how Round One handles all of that. I'm sure there's gotta be some way around it though. Round One sells the access cards for all those games I mentioned, they've gotta have them hooked up somehow.
Check out Para Para... it's got these laser beams and you break the beam with your body in time to the music. There are actually music videos with dance moves that match and work with the game. Entertaining to play/watch 
Quoted from Frax:I haven't played it because I couldn't figure out what the hell was the deal with the controls LOL.
VPN to proxy server in Japan? I dunno how Round One handles all of that. I'm sure there's gotta be some way around it though. Round One sells the access cards for all those games I mentioned, they've gotta have them hooked up somehow.
R1 is a special case, as they're a Japanese arcade; the games are connected to Japanese servers. I'd play at the Stratford Square Mall location, and they'd have server maintenance downtime from 2 - 6pm everyday; cause that's middle of the night in Japan.
As for Tokyo Attack, who brings all the games to anime cons; I forget exactly how he's doing it. I'm friends with the guy who runs the company and owns the machines. He's running legit hardware for everything but I can't remember who he's handling the server for the newer style games. I don't really want to guess at it, since I don't want false into getting out about things I'm not sure on.
Quoted from animesuperj:As for Tokyo Attack, who brings all the games to anime cons; I forget exactly how he's doing it. I'm friends with the guy who runs the company and owns the machines. He's running legit hardware for everything but I can't remember who he's handling the server for the newer style games.
Interesting. I guess that explains how they are able to have all those super cool state-of-the-art games at the cons. I assumed it was like Pinball Expo where everything was brought by individual collectors. So it sounds like it would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, to have something like the latest version of Groove Coaster fully operational in my basement. So what are some of the more modern games that are doable? Does it have to be something that came out before they switched to server authentication?
Quoted from gweempose:Interesting. I guess that explains how they are able to have all those super cool state-of-the-art games at the cons. I assumed it was like Pinball Expo where everything was brought by individual collectors. So it sounds like it would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, to have something like the latest version of Groove Coaster fully operational in my basement. So what are some of the more modern games that are doable? Does it have to be something that came out before they switched to server authentication?
I have a friend who just bought a Groove Coaster 3 and has it in his basement with a IIDX and DDR. I also have friends with JuBeat cabs as well. I haven't been up on how all of this can be run at home in a while, cause of moving and remodeling my basement over the last year; and in general just don't have time to keep up with it. But, it is possible; somehow; to run the games.
If anything, shoot Tokyo Attack an email; specifically Anthony. He can help you out question wise on a machine and what can be run at home. I think he's shipping another container of games from Japan, if he hasn't already; so he might be space in there for another one. That's how I got my pop'n music. He also tends to have some games he's looking to sell, just to upgrade to newer versions; so might be able to get an "older" one (that's not really THAT old, just not current version of a game). Plus, he just moved to Ohio recently, so he's not that far to pick something up.
Gweem, if ya get solid info, I'm curious about the answers to these. I doubt I could ever afford anything that would need internet connectivity to function (I expect a Sound Voltex would be like trying to get a Cactus Canyon..lol), but it's an interesting topic.
Really REALLY want a Pop'n Music..gotta pay off some debt first.
Finally got my Pop'n Music back up after moving and being down for a year. Super happy to be able to play again! Skills just got rusty, so need to practice a bunch again.
I finally made it out to Round1 at the Stratford Square Mall this weekend with my kids. What a cool place! My daughter and I had a blast playing the rhythm games, while my son lost $30 in the claw machines in less than 10 minutes.
The experience made me want a Groove Coaster 3 for my home even more. There is just something about that game that I love! My daughter's favorite was Museca. Here's a shot of her playing ...
Quoted from kismetnumber1:The coolest game you will ever play is Sega Flash Beats » YouTube video
It's air hockey with light to dance music.
This is super freaking cool....wow.
A user on Pinside bought a Taiko no Tatsujin arcade machine from Japan in the thread below. He may be able to provide insight on how to buy and import a modern Japanese arcade machine if you're willing to go all the way like he did.
Quoted from XXVII:A user on Pinside bought a Taiko no Tatsujin arcade machine from Japan in the thread below.
Thanks for the link! They had that exact drum game at Round 1. I didn't play it, but my son's friend was really digging it!
Quoted from gweempose:I finally found my game! A Groove Coaster 3 in great condition. Had to get it shipped from California ...
That's awesome! Been looking for something "different" to add to the gameroom. I have to look into this. Was it hard to move?
Quoted from stpcore:Was it hard to move?
It was insane to move. The thing is very tall and must weigh close to 500 lbs. If I didn't have my Escalera, it would have taken at least four strong guys to get it down into my basement. Even with the Escalera, I was still nervous as hell bringing it down.
Congrats on finally getting one! Groove Coaster is super fun. I haven't played 3 yet. I can relate to the weight of these rhythm games, they're crazy how heavy they are; which is why my Pop'n Music isn't in the basement, lol.
Quoted from gweempose:It was insane to move. The thing is very tall and must weigh close to 500 lbs. If I didn't have my Escalera, it would have taken at least four strong guys to get it down into my basement. Even with the Escalera, I was still nervous as hell bringing it down.
Well that may be a deal breaker for me unfortunately. Does it separate into pieces as it looks like it wouldn't be friendly to my basement stairs landings as one big piece?
Quoted from stpcore:Well that may be a deal breaker for me unfortunately. Does it separate into pieces as it looks like it wouldn't be friendly to my basement stairs landings as one big piece?
Yes. The front part with the controls detaches pretty easily. I have a landing with a 180 degree turn, and I was able to get the game down. The hardest part was getting it started at the second flight, since there wasn't a lot of room to get the leverage needed to lean it backwards on the Escalera. That back part with the monitor is very tall and heavy. I'm used to pins which have cabinets made mostly of wood. This entire thing is metal, plus it houses a computer, speakers and a powered sub.
Not going to lie, I just brought out the Wii the other day to play some Guitar Hero. I tend to gravitate towards arcade games like that because the unique controls make them more difficult to emulate or port.
Quoted from kismetnumber1:The coolest game you will ever play is Sega Flash Beats
It's air hockey with light to dance music.
Sucks they took this out of pinball Pete’s!
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Aurora, IL
