GDC Hands-On: In The Groove
RedOctane showed off "In the Groove" at the GDC and we were invited to be one of the first sites to check it out.
Published: March 23, 2005
In the Groove is an interesting title to say the least. Starting as an open-source title, which allowed people to play at home via USB dance pads and download custom music, In the Groove was created and released by Roxor as a cabinet upgrade for any existing arcade DDR machine.
Other arcade games use JAMMA cabinets so they may easily be swapped out to upgrade something in an older cabinet to minimize costs while keeping arcade operators inventory fresh. The In the Groove kit allows any arcade operator to upgrade any DDR cabinet that's just been sitting there since the game first came out and not only give it some new life, but with Internet access new features and updates can be downloaded to keep the game fresh for a while. The upgrade also features a set of USB slots to plug in an USB thumb drive and share data from home (the PC version) with the arcade release.
During the GDC last week we went to check out a preview build of the PS2 version with John Tam, the Producer from RedOctane. Joining us was an old friend who provided the background for In the Groove and has spent quite a few dollars on the arcade version of the game playing at the local Golfland. (He also worked on the first Xbox DDR game.)
Being a dedicated player of the original, he asked quite a few in-depth questions which we're sure no one else had asked before as they did squirm on a few as well as a few they asked us not to talk about. They had someone from the company (who recognized him instantly from Golfland) there to demonstrate the game and they played each other. Their person was playing better, but he held his own. When we left, we all agreed that this was a very strong first release for RedOctane and he was quite excited about the PS2 version.
The product is almost better than a perfect port. It has everything the arcade version has to offer as well as some new modes that fans of the arcade version will undoubtedly be excited about. The only thing missing is USB support - we were told that USB thumb drive support/drivers won’t be ready for the PS2 in time for release of the game to include support for it.
If this product sells well, it sounds like any future releases will have this support which we're sure is great news for any serious fan of the game. If this is the only negative thing to say about the product, we're sure many of the fans are willing to live with this one shortfall. They've added enough extras to more than make up for it.
If you're a fan of the dance game genre, this could be a must buy right out of the gate; Konami hasn't released an arcade DDR game in a while, and the latest console releases have been spotty at best. This is a breath of fresh air and with all the features and modes we've seen listed this is a product you won't be disappointed with. It's also by RedOctane so even though they say the product with be priced competitively, we expect to see some nicely discounted combo pack offering the latest RedOctane Ignition Pad (or two) with the game.
We'll have more impressives of the home version of In the Groove as it gets closer to release.
Other arcade games use JAMMA cabinets so they may easily be swapped out to upgrade something in an older cabinet to minimize costs while keeping arcade operators inventory fresh. The In the Groove kit allows any arcade operator to upgrade any DDR cabinet that's just been sitting there since the game first came out and not only give it some new life, but with Internet access new features and updates can be downloaded to keep the game fresh for a while. The upgrade also features a set of USB slots to plug in an USB thumb drive and share data from home (the PC version) with the arcade release.
During the GDC last week we went to check out a preview build of the PS2 version with John Tam, the Producer from RedOctane. Joining us was an old friend who provided the background for In the Groove and has spent quite a few dollars on the arcade version of the game playing at the local Golfland. (He also worked on the first Xbox DDR game.)
Being a dedicated player of the original, he asked quite a few in-depth questions which we're sure no one else had asked before as they did squirm on a few as well as a few they asked us not to talk about. They had someone from the company (who recognized him instantly from Golfland) there to demonstrate the game and they played each other. Their person was playing better, but he held his own. When we left, we all agreed that this was a very strong first release for RedOctane and he was quite excited about the PS2 version.
The product is almost better than a perfect port. It has everything the arcade version has to offer as well as some new modes that fans of the arcade version will undoubtedly be excited about. The only thing missing is USB support - we were told that USB thumb drive support/drivers won’t be ready for the PS2 in time for release of the game to include support for it.
If this product sells well, it sounds like any future releases will have this support which we're sure is great news for any serious fan of the game. If this is the only negative thing to say about the product, we're sure many of the fans are willing to live with this one shortfall. They've added enough extras to more than make up for it.
If you're a fan of the dance game genre, this could be a must buy right out of the gate; Konami hasn't released an arcade DDR game in a while, and the latest console releases have been spotty at best. This is a breath of fresh air and with all the features and modes we've seen listed this is a product you won't be disappointed with. It's also by RedOctane so even though they say the product with be priced competitively, we expect to see some nicely discounted combo pack offering the latest RedOctane Ignition Pad (or two) with the game.
We'll have more impressives of the home version of In the Groove as it gets closer to release.
