IndyDDR.com

Hey, I was just wondering if there's any site (preferably in English) similar to DDRFreak or ITGFreak for beatmania. I want a place where I can look at note charts and song lists. I tried bmfreak.com and beatmaniafreak.com to no avail.

Bemanistyle and the VJ Army forums would probably be your best bet, at least for locating what you're interested in, even if they don't directly host them.

Well, now that I've created a topic in the BM forum anyway, and it was pretty much finished in 2 posts, I'll ask my newest question here, even though it has nothing to do with my previous query.

How much (approx.) would it cost for me to mod my PS2 as to make it capable of playing Japanese games, and how difficult/time-consuming is it? I would prefer to NOT use a modchip.

Depends on what kind of PS2 you have. Fliptops seem popular, and if you have the old, large, tray load style you can use a slide card. Either method requires a swap set. There are also methods of using HD Loader if you have that available.

My solution was to just buy a Japanese PS2.

Well, I don't want to spend ~$200 for a JPS2, when I can just mod my current PS2. I have the original one, it was bought right at release. I would like the cheapest solution.

Cheapest is probably flip top.
Best (imo) is HD Loader.

Some versions of IIDX (and pop'n music, as well) skip with HD loader. I've noticed 9th seems to do it especially badly. PNM 10 also doesn't work AT ALL with HD loader. Otherwise, it's a pretty simple way to go, and the load times are awesome.

I can speak for the slide-card method (I'm an owner of the older, wider PS2 model).

It works fine.

9th and 10th skip on HDloader. I can't confirm RED currently.

Also, for those who have a slimline PS2 they can get Magic Switch Pro V3.

dance1005 wrote:Well, I don't want to spend ~$200 for a JPS2, when I can just mod my current PS2. I have the original one, it was bought right at release. I would like the cheapest solution.

If you're willing to be extremely patient, you can get a lightly used PS2-J for around $100. Or if you're willing to refurbish it yourself, you can get one from $50 (depending on what needs to be done to it).

Assuming that doesn't change your response, the cheapest solution is probably a slide card, with a flip top only slightly more expensive. The flip top is probably better for the health of the PS2 in the long term. How much better, I can't judge.

Arka wrote:

dance1005 wrote:Well, I don't want to spend ~$200 for a JPS2, when I can just mod my current PS2. I have the original one, it was bought right at release. I would like the cheapest solution.

If you're willing to be extremely patient, you can get a lightly used PS2-J for around $100. Or if you're willing to refurbish it yourself, you can get one from $50 (depending on what needs to be done to it).

Assuming that doesn't change your response, the cheapest solution is probably a slide card, with a flip top only slightly more expensive. The flip top is probably better for the health of the PS2 in the long term. How much better, I can't judge.

Okay, where can I find both of these solutions (slide card, flip-top). I know I can just Google it, but I'd like a response from somebody who has bought something like this before and can speak for the reputation of a site I'm about to give money to. Also, I noticed that on Play-Asia, the actual games regularly run for around $65. Is that as cheap as it goes for imported BM games?

$65 is about the going price. Sometimes you can find them cheaper as a pre-order or on special when they first come out (usally $60 in these instances), but that's about right. They cost at least that much on the shelf in Japan (sometimes over $70), so it's not like you're getting screwed over.

MonMotha wrote:$65 is about the going price. Sometimes you can find them cheaper as a pre-order or on special when they first come out (usally $60 in these instances), but that's about right. They cost at least that much on the shelf in Japan (sometimes over $70), so it's not like you're getting screwed over.

Oh, ok. Not that this is going to matter anytime soon, seeing as I don't even have the means to play the games yet, but which mix would you suggest for me? I want something with many songs, cool interface, HS1-4, songs that I know (like from DDR), and generally "good" songs. I don't want crap like g.m.d.

I'm a big fan of 6th, and then 9-11 are pretty good as well. Most players have 7 simply because it was the latest style released CS for a long long time. You probably don't need 4th and 5th unless you get fairly into the game. 3rd is handy to have because it has bunches of old stuff. I'm not sure that 3rd CS has HS4 (it does have low speed 1 AND 2, though).