In the Groove 2
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| In the Groove 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Roxor Games |
| Publisher(s) | Roxor Games/Andamiro |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date | June 18, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Music |
| Mode(s) | Multiple one-player and two-player modes |
| Input methods | Two 4-panel dance pads, eight buttons, USB Memory Card reader |
| Cabinet | Custom |
| Display | Horizontal, Raster, standard resolution |
In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro. The price for a dedicated cabinet is $9,999 USD and the upgrade kit (sometimes referred to as a "Boxor") is $2,999 USD.
There is a total of 137 songs available in the arcade version. This includes all 72 from the original arcade game, the three new songs in the home version, and 65 brand new songs, four of which are hidden and unlockable.
A lawsuit filed by Konami on May 9, 2005, asked for an injunction against the sale of the upgrade kit version. October 23, 2006 Konami and Roxor reached an out-of-court settlement which resulted in Konami acquiring the intellectual property rights to the In The Groove franchise and thus effectively terminated the distribution of the game in North America. [1]
In development, it was known solely as In the Groove 2. On June 18, 2005, Roxor Games officially announced the release of the game, and announced that it would add the name of Andamiro's Pump It Up line, becoming Pump It Up: In the Groove 2. However, "Pump It Up" only appears on the marquee of the dedicated cabinets developed by Andamiro. The name also appears on the title screen of a un-updated Andamiro made cabinet. The name appears nowhere on a unupgraded cabinet.
The game also features a modified interface, based on the first version but recolored red and incorporating other changes. The interface also features a new font; the first version used a generic font.
Contents |
[edit] New features
The Novice difficulty level is a feature added to the home version of In the Groove, carried over to In the Groove 2. On this dfficulty level, all songs are rated as ones (including the hardest and fastest songs on other difficulties), and play in Novice mode places a traffic light graphic on the screen that tells players when to step. As always, two players can select different difficulty levels for the same song, but if one selects Novice, then the traffic light always appears instead of the normal backgrounds. It is also worth noting that on ITG2, Novice always forces a constant speed of 120 BPM (a "C120" mod). As a result, since C-mods disqualify scores from appearing on the scoreboards if the song played has pauses or speed changes, those songs will never have any Novice scores saved.
Rolls are a new feature. They look like spiky hold notes and usually come in pairs. The player must continually tap the corresponding arrows until the end of the roll, much like the drum roll notes in Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin. Regardless of the song's speed, rolls must be tapped at least once every 0.3 seconds.
Survival Mode is another course-based gameplay mode. The player must play a five-song course, where each song has a time limit less than the song's length. Time left over after each song is carried over to the next, and missteps deplete the time remaining - time is only added for Fantastics, with no change for Excellents and detractions for anything lower. The lifebar in this mode is not used to determine whether the player passes. Instead, it serves as a visual indicator of how much time is remaining. The game ends when the remaining time is fully depleted.
Fitness Mode is a common home version feature on dance games that is included in the arcade version of ITG2. This gameplay mode allows users to keep track of time spent dancing and calories burned.
Three previously Marathon-only modifiers - Bumpy, Beat, and Robot (a metallic gray Flat arrow type) - have also been added to the regular modifier list. In addition, a multi-colored arrow type, Vivid, has been added for colorblind players. It resembles the default arrow color scheme used in Dance Dance Revolution.
"Excellent", "Great" and "Decent" judgments are now prefixed or suffixed with a dash. A prefix (-Excellent, -Great or -Decent) indicates that the player stepped too early; a suffix (Excellent-, Great- or Decent-) indicates that the player stepped too late. In novice mode, "Way Off" becomes "Way Early" and "Way Late" respectively; in other modes, the dash system still applies.
"Stretch Jumps" have been included in double play, a jump that requires a player to hit two panels simultaneously that are farther away from each other than normal jumps, such as 1PU+2PD or 1PL+2PL.
[edit] Songs
In the Groove 2 includes more than 60 new songs in addition to the entire songlist from the previous version, In the Groove. The sequel includes new songs from established artists like ZiGZaG, Kid Whatever, Inspector K, Nina, Digital Explosion, and Machinae Supremacy. It also introduces songs from newcomers like Tekno Dred, Affinity, Hybrid, Lynn, and Onyx.
As with the original game, several artists that have released songs for Dance Dance Revolution games appear on ITG2. These include Bambee, Missing Heart, Spacekats (known as Bus Stop in DDR, with the exclusion of one member), Ni-Ni, Triple J, E-ROTIC and Lynn (Papaya in DDR). In fact, three songs appear on ITG2 that have been on Dance Dance Revolution games, though with different step charts: Typical Tropical and Bumble Bee from Bambee and Sunshine (originally Follow The Sun) from Triple J.
[edit] Song List
This list covers the 64 songs that are new in the arcade version of In the Groove 2. This song list does not include the songs from the original game (although they are playable in In the Groove 2). To see those, reference the ITG song list.
The difficulties are abbreviated to conserve table space:
- N = Novice
- E = Easy
- M = Medium
- H = Hard
- X = Expert
Songs that need to be unlocked are highlighted in red. Some Expert step routines have to be unlocked separately, even though the songs they go to are playable from the start. These are denoted with an asterisk.
This list includes the five songs made playable in the home version of In the Groove. These are highlighted in green, and do not have to be unlocked in this game.
| Title | Artist | BPM | Single | Double | |||||||
| N | E | M | H | X | E | M | H | X | |||
| Agent Blatant | Ernest + Julio | 81-162 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| Amore | Uniq | 72-143 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9* | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9* |
| Baby Baby | Bambee | 134 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 | |
| Baby Don't You Want Me | Nina | 135 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Birdie | Doolittle | 68-136 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Bloodrush | Tekno Dred | 79-158 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| Bumble Bee | Bambee | 138 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Clockwork Genesis | Inspector K | 175 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
| Cryosleep | Machinae Supremacy | 69-137 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10* | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10* |
| D-Code | Dust Devil | 100 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Destiny | :) | 175 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Determinator | Dust Devil | 147 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Disconnected -Disco- | Kid Whatever | 139 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Energizer | ZiGZaG | 76-303 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
| Fleadh Uncut | Parker/Stiles | 132 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Funk Factory | Money Deluxe | 130 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Get Happy | Boom Boom Room | 67-133 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Go 60 Go | Takoyaki | 160 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
| Habanera 1 | Boom Boom Room | 81-158 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | |
| Hardcore Symphony | Digital Explosion | 174 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| High | Digital Explosion | 138 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| Hillbilly Hardcore | Benga Boys | 136 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| Hispanic Panic | Chucho Merchan | 140 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| Holy Guacamole | Chucho Merchan | 140 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Hustle Beach | Papa J | 128 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 9 | |
| Incognito | Inspector K | 150 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Ize Pie | Headtwist & Pump | 68-136 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| July -Euromix- | JS14 | 145 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| Know Your Enemy | Hybrid | 130 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Life of a Butterfly | Nina | 68-136 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Lipstick Kiss | Ernest + Julio | 165 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Liquid Moon | Inspector K | 160 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Little Kitty Mine | Ni-Ni | 139 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Monolith | Affinity | 49-196 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11* | 6 | 8 | 9 | 12* |
| Music Pleeze | B. Dastardly | 124 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | |
| My Life Is So Crazy | DJ Zombie | 140 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| No Princess | Lynn | 141 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| One False Move | Dust Devil | 53-105 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 10 |
| Out of the Dark | Hybrid | 136 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Pick Me Up & Tango | Nina | 133 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Psalm Pilot | Jason Creasey | 130 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Reactor | Jason Creasey | 125 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | |
| Renaissance | :) | 160 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| Ride the Bass | DJ Zombie | 138 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Robotix | Kbit | 150-1300 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 11* | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11* |
| Soapy Bubble | Fragmentz | 141 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
| Spaceman | Lynn | 137 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Spacy Crazy Girl | Ni-Ni | 135 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Spin Chicken | Freebie & The Bean | 124 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| Summer ~Speedy Mix~ | :) | 185 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
| Summer in Belize | Digital Explosion | 138 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| Sunshine | Triple J | 170 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 10 |
| Sweet World | Omega Men | 132 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 11 |
| Temple of Boom | Yanis Kamarinos | 146 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10* | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10* |
| The Message | Ni-Ni | 67-133 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| This is Rock & Roll | DJ Zombie | 140 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Tribal Style | KaW | 140 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 11 |
| Twilight | KaW | 136 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Typical Tropical | Bambee | 137 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| VerTex² | ZiGZaG | 88-555 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| Visible Noise | Hybrid | 132 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Vorsprung Durch -Techno- | Sly/Fly/Badman | 100-132 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Wake Up | Kid Whatever | 138 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Wanna Do ~Hardhouse Mix~ | Nina | 149 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 10 |
| We Know What To Do | Matiloe | 140 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| ! | Onyx | 155 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 12* | 4 | 8 | 9 | 13* |
[edit] Custom Songs
On October 11th, 2006 (a week prior to the official announcement of Konami's acquisition of the intellectual property rights to In The Groove), Roxor released Revision 21 (also referred to as r21). The patch adds a feature that allows players to play custom songs with an accompanying .sm file (see StepMania) stored on their USB card. The songs are stored in the "X:\In The Groove 2\Songs\" folder, where X is your USB card. The .sm file should be in a subfolder of the "Songs" folder (such as \songs\B4U\B4U.sm).
Limitations to this feature include[2]:
- The music file can be no more than 120 seconds (2 minutes) in length.
- The music file must be in Ogg Vorbis format.
- Ogg music files must be less than 5 MB in size.
- Banners and song samples aren't loaded, and are thus absent from the song selection screen.
- Background images (whether still or video) aren't loaded; instead, random background videos run during play.
- 50 songs maximum are loaded per player; sometimes fewer are loaded if the USB load time exceeds a certain limit.
Ogg Length Patch
An unofficial patch was later released online which tricks the machine into thinking that an Ogg Vorbis file that is longer than the 120 second limit is a mere one minute and forty-five seconds long, commonly referred to as the Ogg Length Patch. This allows songs of any length to be played on the machine, provided the music file is still under 5 MB in size. Playing songs that are longer than 3 minutes is looked down upon by some arcade operators due to the possibility of losing money, and in some cases, bans have even been issued on players who play songs whose length exceeds 3 minutes. However, it may be worth noting that a portion of ITG players do keep their play of such patched songs in check when others are waiting in line to play.
How R23 Changes Custom Song Play
On January 26th, 2007, Roxor released Revision 23 (also referred to as r23). R23 mostly serves as a countermeasure to the Ogg Length Patch, as it forces all custom songs to end at 120 seconds of play (if the song is longer than that, it simply cuts it off at that point).
Despite this change, Revision 23 is more unpopular with the fanbase than Revision 21 was due to the strict time limit, since some official Dance Dance Revolution songs and many songs on the In The Groove 2 cabinet itself go beyond this time limit. Some players feel that RoXor should have implemented a system similar to Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix (and already implemented in StepMania) in which songs longer than 150 seconds (2 1/2 minutes) are deemed a "long version" song, which takes up two stages (two songs' worth) of the player's credit, instead of just counteracting the Ogg Length patch.
[edit] Custom Song Exploits
General Info
Technologically savvy players have discovered several complicated (but if performed correctly, safe) ways to hack the machine to add custom songs to it permanently (and even organize them into their own categories), possible because the game utilizes StepMania's engine. The most popular methods involve utilizing a live Linux distribution (such as Slax Frodo) and the additional songs loaded onto a USB card (plugged into the Player 1 USB port), and a USB keyboard (plugged into the Player 2 USB port).
Pros & Cons
Songs loaded onto an ITG 2 machine in this manner are fully-functional: the banner and song sample load on the song selection screen, the background pictures and/or videos display during gameplay, and if the song is 2 1/2 minutes or longer, it takes up two stages of a player's credit. However, even with these benefits, arguments can still be made against hacking the machine. Aside from the difficulty of the procedure itself, one can also question the amount of care being taken as to which songs get loaded onto the machine (as some songs aren't appropriate for all audiences, many simfiles don't have all five difficulty levels, and some stepcharts are "keyboard" charts meant for play on StepMania rather than "paddable" charts meant to be played with one's feet).
[edit] Tournaments
In The Groove 2 tournaments are held at arcades throughout the world. Some of the most notable tournaments are NAT05 and the ITG World Cup, in which first place received an ITG2 dedicated cabinet. Most tournaments are scored on a player's dance percentage. There have been few others that have involved the use of mods, double, and even some that make use of custom songs with the R21 feature. After the lawsuit, the tournament scene began to die down, in part because Roxor could no longer sponsor local tournaments with small prizes and In The Groove paraphernalia such as t-shirts and posters. Still, there are tournaments held throughout the USA and Canada today that give out cash prizes and other various gifts, such as arcade tokens, coupons, and other video games.
[edit] Home version
Due to the Konami lawsuit, a PlayStation 2 port of In The Groove 2 was not released. However, a patch is available for the PC version of In The Groove that adds the new songs and theme from In The Groove 2 to the game.
