Jim,

Someone over at Bemanistyle just pointed out that the Namco Cybertron arcades supposedly have an ITG2 dedicab for sale on their website for less than $5000. This is extremely cheap for this machine and I though that you might be interested in this.

http://namcoarcade.com/Game-Sales.asp?search=Video
Note: I didn't change the search parameters. Just click "Search for Games" at the bottom of the page.

30034     IN THE GROOVE 2     URV/CONV     $4,495.00     STERLING HEIGHT, MI     (630) 238-2200 Ext. 2318

Only thing that confuses me is that they have multiple In the Groove 2 games listed, most are only $1000! I assume that these are the upgrade kits or upgraded cabinets, but the one above is much more, but it also has the attribute CONV, which says that it means it's a converted cabinet. If you're interested, I would call and clarify what, exactly, this cabinet is.

They've also got DDR Extreme and SuperNova machines for sale, but the prices on those are pretty average.

PiU Pro 2 was supposedly updated today.  Anyone try it out?  Any new songs?

Yeah I was there with Chris and Kristina. There were some other people too.
Chris added some more songs, I can't remember each one specifically, but it was a good amount. Some charts were changed, and more routine charts were added.

Oh one song that was added is called Rockhill. It's a 12 on crazy, and well......it's crazy.

Overall it's pretty awesome in my opinion. I passed summer speedy mix today hahaha.

Is my score still up on Summer?

what was it?

I don't think anyone took it.
As far as I know there aren't any SUPER hardcore PIU players in WA as of right now.

I'm there right now, Keby has the top score on Summer. Not a fan of some of the chart changes (particularly July on crazy). Also, the missing licenses hurt a lot, I miss not being able to play I Love You Baby, I'll Give You All My Love and So.

Also, the skipping was fixed.

Edit: Raaaage. Played Rave till the Night is Over on Crazy and it hung for five seconds right at the beginning, causing me to fail. Not sure if it's specific to that song since I didn't care to waste a credit trying to repro. 

If you experience any hangs or issues with the PUI Pro...let the game technician know and they will pop in a service credit for you. 
Jim

So I made a visit to this place earlier today for the first time...

PIU Pro 2 looked pretty nice. Pads were superb. Volume was fine...all that good stuff.

I took a few records and made some non-amazing ones too.

I'll definitely keep this place in mind for future free days.

I've been playing here every now and then, mostly in the middle of the day when nobody else is around.  I met Jim. 

Do usb songs work on the machine, and does anybody know the rules on them if they do?  Ie do they take up one song, or depend on the length of the song?  What is the lengths that change how much each song takes up? 

This game doesn't have custom songs. You can make custom steps for existing songs with stepmania or something though.

Really?  I knew that there were less of then, but I definitely remember coming across a whole website/database dedicated to them.  I'll have to find it, maybe they were just simply remixed stepcharts like you mentioned.  

edit: here it is http://www.pumpproedits.com/  

Hmm, it does seem to be only modified stepcharts of the same songs.  

Beta feedback section:
Add custom song functionality.  There really is no excuse not to have this.    

Yes there is. You can actually get sued over various licensing issues relating to public performance of songs.

That, and what's the point of buying new versions when you could just download all the songs on "pump it up pro 3" or whatever.

(protip: roxor only added that functionality to in the groove because konami acquired the entire itg game from them. if that hadn't happened, there would not have been an "r21")

"That, and what's the point of buying new versions when you could just download all the songs on "pump it up pro 3" or whatever.

(protip: roxor only added that functionality to in the groove because konami acquired the entire itg game from them. if that hadn't happened, there would not have been an "r21")"



sigh....   I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way then.  (and by hard way I mean find a pump machine that nobody uses and convince the arcade to let me put openITG on it...)  

absolutely awful idea :G :G :G

They are not going to add in custom song functionality.  OpenITG on a Pump FX cabinet would be a waste of a perfectly fine machine too.

This would be like me asking an arcade operator to put Mugen in a SF4 cabinet.

Why?  Darklink did it, and his machine looks awesome.  Check it out:

My OpenITG Pump It Up Machine

 What does a normal pump machine have than openitg doesn't (openitg has a pump mode, so its not just itg on a pump machine. That would be aweful!).  Whereas openitg has TONS of stuff that pump does not have.  



On a completely seperate note, more beta feedback, I just came back from Powerplay today.  I been going there about every other day or so, around 1-3 when nobody else is around.  One thing thats been slightly getting on my nerves is that the machine doesn't tell you what round your on (or at least I don't think it does).  Sure, I know it isn't that hard to mentally keep track of what round your on, but if you play a bunch of games in a row sometimes you forget.  This is a problem because I like to play hard songs on the last round so that it doesn't matter if I fail.  

Also, I already let Jim know about this, but the left select arrow on the from of the machine for the left player is currently not working, so if you go down there you should probably play on the right side, unless this isn't a big deal for you.  

Again, none of the custom songs would be licensed for public use, that alone could get an arcade in a lot of trouble, even if it isn't really enforced.  Darklinks machine isn't in a public place as well, its in his house.

Plus this is kind of an insult to the devs of the game, since its still in Beta.

The reason most places hacked their ITG machines is because ITG software isn't being made anymore, so its kind of a way to keep interest in having the cabinets there.  Pump it Up games are still made frequently.

Some of the DEVs working on Pro 2 have worked on hacked ITG teams as well, so if you have any features you want to see, you should post on the PiU Pro forums about it.

Isn't the Acme ITG machine in a public place?  You can't use the copyright infringment argument and say that hacking an ITG machine is ok but hacking a pump machine isn't.  Its the same thing when it comes to the copyright infringment and an arcade would get equally in trouble for both situations. 

Also, i was only posting beta feedback here because the thread said that I should do so. 

Well, the legalities revolving around Pump it Up still existing and being owned by its parent company and the whole ITG/Konami legal battle must just be flying in one ear and out the other.  Pump it Up is not In the Groove.

As I mentioned before about songs/copyright infringement, it isn't something that is heavily forced, but it is a deciding factor for an arcade operator.  There was a pretty big period of time before the ITG machine at Acme was converted to what it is today.

I know most arcade operators are not open to having some guy come in to hack hardware in their $8-$12,000 machine.

oooooooooooooooookay you must not play pump, discussion over

You see those three dots at the top right or left of the screen? depending on which side you play.
Those will light up to tell you which round your on.

one lit up means: stage 1

and so forth.


Also this game is in Beta right now, why oh why on earth would the devs just let us hack a machine that's a TEST LOCATION?

The thing is though the whole itg/konami legal thing doesn't have anything to do with copyright law with regards to playing music in public.  Yes, I know that the reason why people think it is ok to hack itg machines is because of the whole ordeal and because they feel like they were wronged in some way.  Two wrongs don't make a right though, and playing copyrighted songs on an itg machine or a pump machine in public should be just as "bad".  But as you said, it isn't really enforced, and I don't think its that "bad".  

Yes, I am aware of the problems with convincing an arcade operator to let me install openitg.  Thats why I called it the hard way.  (although its probably just software hacking, not hardware)

The only possible relevance that the fact that Pump is still in production might have with regard to modifying a pump machine is that the company itself might have some sort of copyright power that protects there machines from being modified.  But people have been modifying them and nobody's cried fowl, so I doubt it.


Kevin:  I've been playing it quite a bit at powerplay (played about 90 rounds, as in songs, already), haven't seen anything special.  

Keby:  nononono, I was definitely NOT talking about the powerplay location.  Nor was I even talking about pump pro 2.  That would be stupid, as you pointed out.  I haven't even found a location yet, but ideally it would be one that nobody really uses anyway.  Powerplay is used a lot.    edit: hmm didn't notice the dots before, thanks!

ooooo well I think that's what everyone thought you were talking about. Sorry for this misunderstanding ^_^

Okay, then you haven't been playing the main Pump series. Come back in 2 years when you've finished Worldmax in NX2 and Absolute. There are many features in the main Pump series that OpenITG doesn't and won't support. Additionally, absolutely no one plays OpenITG-based Pump modes. Replacing a legitimate NX, NX2, NXA, Fiesta, or really any pump mix with something that inferior would just be stupid.