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J Dogg
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Joined: 16 Jan 2002
Location: Sunnyvale, CA |
0.  Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:57 am Post subject: Open letter to fans from ITG Producer |
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John Tam, Producer for In the Groove on PS2, has written an open letter to the fans. Unfortunately, "Edit Mode" has been replaced by "Practice Mode" in the Playstation 2 version of the game.
Dear In The Groove Fans and Supporters
In The Groove Gold Master Disks have been approved by Sony QA and being entered into manufacturing. Expect to see an official press release regarding going gold and announcing a street date shortly.
Regrettably I have to announce that the edit functionality has been removed from In The Groove for the PlayStation 2. We have replaced âEdit Modeâ with "Practice Mode." This new mode lets players select sections of every step chart in the game to practice and train. We can not give details as to why the edit mode functionality was removed, other than it was for "business reasons." Roxor, RedOctane and SCEA were all committed to making it happen but it was a decision at the "12th hour" to remove it. The fact is that it was fully working in the game and was not removed because of bugs or scheduling.
I'm writing this letter to you all because of we believe that this game will not be successful without the support of all of you. We wanted the fans to hear this news from us first and not any other source.
Despite this feature, we believe that In The Groove for the PlayStation 2 has come together in terrific form. We feel that both dance game fans and In The Groove arcade fans alike will be very happy with the PlayStation 2 version of In The Groove.
John Tam
Producer
RedOctane
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Last edited by J Dogg on Sat May 14, 2005 1:42 pm, edited 3 times in total |
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Dark Fish
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Joined: 18 Mar 2005
Location: MN on the SD border |
| 1. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:31 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder of Konami said 'you put edit mode in there and we sue your pants off for copyright infringement' |
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devillion
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Joined: 18 Apr 2004
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| 2. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| Dark Fish wrote: | | I wonder of Konami said 'you put edit mode in there and we sue your pants off for copyright infringement' |
And then sign an NDA so they can't talk about it. |
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Uiru
Contributor
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Location: the floating castle of Newfoundland |
| 3. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 10:36 am Post subject: |
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Of all the things for Konami to pipe up about...
~Uiru
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diddrstrait
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Joined: 01 Jan 2004
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| 4. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 10:41 am Post subject: |
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| business reasons doesn't neccessarily mean legal reasons. I personally believe they don't want people loading the official steps from their USB pen drives to their PCs so they can have arcade perfect stepcharts in stepmania. Keep in mind that ITG arcade edits are little more than .SM files that can be viewed easily in any OS. If people can get arcade perfect steps with arcade perfect syncing, they have no reason to go out and buy ITG for PS2. with RO ignitions now supporting USB functionality, I imagine it would be pretty easy for edit mode to be exploited and for the ITG PS2 mix to flop due to the massive amounts of piracy that would likely occur. |
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Uiru
Contributor
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Location: the floating castle of Newfoundland |
| 5. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 11:09 am Post subject: |
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ITG worried about piracy; that's hilarious.
~Uiru
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diddrstrait
Trick Member
Joined: 01 Jan 2004
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| 6. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Uiru wrote: | ITG worried about piracy; that's hilarious.
~Uiru |
because you know...ITG totally copied the source and program data of DDR.
riiiight. quit trolling. |
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Heffenfeffer
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Apr 2002
Location: Las Cruces, NM |
| 7. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 1:45 pm Post subject: Take the long way home... |
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| Syncognition wrote: | | I personally believe they don't want people loading the official steps from their USB pen drives to their PCs so they can have arcade perfect stepcharts in stepmania. Keep in mind that ITG arcade edits are little more than .SM files that can be viewed easily in any OS. If people can get arcade perfect steps with arcade perfect syncing, they have no reason to go out and buy ITG for PS2. with RO ignitions now supporting USB functionality, I imagine it would be pretty easy for edit mode to be exploited and for the ITG PS2 mix to flop due to the massive amounts of piracy that would likely occur. |
But...um...wouldn't it be easier to just download the ITG stepcharts that have already been made for Stepmania when the arcade version came out? I'd think that by and large, they're close enough. And since SM files are easily viewable (and editable), any disrepancies made in transcribing could be fixed. I figure someone with the knowledge that StepMania exists will find out where DDR and ITG songs and steps are anyway - thus it's a matter of choice to use such simfiles and refrain from buying the game. Even the exclusive home version songs will probably be SM'ed within hours of ITG hitting the shelves. Further, even without the (unmade as of yet) USB pendrive utility, aren't there PC utilities that look at what files on a PS2 disk out there already?
(The above was not an endorsement of piracy - I intend to buy ITG when it comes out to support the developers. It's merely disagreement with the statement being made that Edit more was removed to prevent piracy.)
That said, I dunno why they'd remove a working feature at the '12th hour', unless there was a legal reason. The closest I can really come to a reason is why Half-Life for Mac was cancelled: the developers ported the most recent PC version at the time, and had working multiplayer. Then it was announced that it wouldn't have TFC. And then that it would only have Mac-to-Mac multiplayer - the porting company just didn't have the resources to port all the PC point releases made after the Mac version was slated to ship. (Since point releases change multiplayer protocols, the Mac version would have to change too to communicate properly.) This last 'feature' caused the game to be shelved, even though it was in beta-testing (almost done.) Thus, it could very well be a support thing.
That, or an homage to Extreme US's Memories debacle..."Change these two bits in your memory card around for Edit Mode, the 16th of 15 unlocks!"
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"If something should happen to me, all the world's women will grieve!" - Edgar Rene Figaro
"Your charisma exceeds that of mortal men. Many would lay down their lives for you." - Fall-From-Grace |
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Miryokuteki
Basic Member
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Cincinnati, OH |
| 8. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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I'm still kinda miffed over the license change we all -had- to agree to.. All of us SM developers will never be able to proove that we had anything to do with this product at all. I don't even want money from it, just the recognition to take credit for having my work in part of a commercial product.
*End whining session* |
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nekura
Trick Member
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Location: Bellevue, WA. |
| 9. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Miryokuteki wrote: | I'm still kinda miffed over the license change we all -had- to agree to.. All of us SM developers will never be able to proove that we had anything to do with this product at all. I don't even want money from it, just the recognition to take credit for having my work in part of a commercial product.
*End whining session* |
Aren't your names in the credits screen? There's a rather long list of developers there.
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diddrstrait
Trick Member
Joined: 01 Jan 2004
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| 10. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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my point is that it would be strange to have such a feature removed for legal reasons. Think about it, the gameplay is admittedly almost identical to DDR in concept. Of all the things to have legal problems over, I don't think edit mode would be the "straw that broke the camel's back". The inclusion of a training mode (which would likely be near-identical to DDR's) is strange. If Konami is supposedly making a fuss over edit mode, why the hell would they stand for the inclusion of practice mode? It seems unlikely to me that it has anything to do with legal issues between konami and roxor/redoctane. If Konami has the power or the interest to threaten legal action for such a small feature, it seems to me that they would've done it long ago when this game was first announced (even in the beginning, edit mode was publicly announced) and over a lot more than just edit mode. Why would they raise a stink about it just before the game's release in the supposed "12th hour"?
All I'm saying is that everyone here is too eager to jump to the conclusion that Konami is taking legal action. For the sake of the announcement at the top of this forum, lets not make this a big "konami VS roxor" legal battle scenario. Even since the first reply to this thread, people are itching to bring it up and create a legal battle when it isn't even clear that there is one.
</overly-long post about nothing of importance> |
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Plaguefox
Roxor Staff
Joined: 21 Oct 2002
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| 11. Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Miryokuteki wrote: | | I'm still kinda miffed ... All of us SM developers will never be able to proove that we had anything to do with this product at all. |
Kevin, you're in there. 
The entire StepMania development team is credited in the standard credit sequence seen at the end of every game. Even Frieza's there!:
| Frieza wrote: | What is the ultimate irony?
I get fanmail about In The Groove! Yes thats right! My name is in the credits. Why? Because I worked on the Engine many eons ago. That engine? StepMania. |
Anyway, apologies for slight off-topicness.  |
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Mr. A
Trick Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2003
Location: INTERNET |
| 12. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 12:55 am Post subject: |
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Eh, this stuff happens (re: the removal of edit mode.) It's too bad, but it happens.
PS - is there absolutely no way to load edits, period, or is there some possibility that someone might be able to make a program that could generate edits that could be loaded into the game off a memory card, and possibly convert between arcade edits and home edits? |
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cfusionpm
Trick Member
Joined: 24 Jan 2002
Location: San Diego, CA |
| 13. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 8:03 am Post subject: |
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wow... edit mode was pretty much the only thing that kept home versions of ddr from becomming stale after a week..... what a stupid decision to take it out of itg. then again, i can just make edits in stepmania..... and play itg in stepmania..... and do... everything else..... why am i buying this game again....?
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DDR1guy
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Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: @ tha crossroads |
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LET ME SHOW YOU THEM
Vivid Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2002
Location: Mountain View/Sunnyvale CA |
| 15. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 10:49 am Post subject: |
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| cfusionpm wrote: | | why am i buying this game again....? |
For the 4 locked ITG2 songs 
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| theficionado wrote: | | Seriously, they should make some sort of spray for you. |
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Kyrandian
Trick Member
Joined: 24 Mar 2002
Location: Portland, OR |
| 16. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Caffywhompus wrote: | | cfusionpm wrote: | | why am i buying this game again....? |
For the 4 locked ITG2 songs |
To support Roxor/ITG. |
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Disconnected airSpirit
Trick Member
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Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: Careeeeeeeeee, North Caroline In The City |
| 17. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Kyrandian wrote: | | Caffywhompus wrote: | | cfusionpm wrote: | | why am i buying this game again....? |
For the 4 locked ITG2 songs |
To support Roxor/ITG. |
I'll do that by playing it in the arcade a bunch.
This letter has made me make my final decision to burn it instead of legitimately buying it. |
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Heffenfeffer
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Joined: 22 Apr 2002
Location: Las Cruces, NM |
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cfusionpm
Trick Member
Joined: 24 Jan 2002
Location: San Diego, CA |
| 19. Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Heffenfeffer wrote: | | airSpirits on the Run wrote: | | Kyrandian wrote: | | Caffywhompus wrote: | | cfusionpm wrote: | | why am i buying this game again....? |
For the 4 locked ITG2 songs |
To support Roxor/ITG. |
I'll do that by playing it in the arcade a bunch.
This letter has made me make my final decision to burn it instead of legitimately buying it. |
Hey now - playing it in the arcade isn't monetarily supporting RoXor at all. Once they've sold the kit, it's the arcade owners, not RoXor, making money off your quarters.
I don't understand why you're refusing to buy a game you're excited about due to one missing feature. |
ive already bought it. i put my pre order in months ago so i could get that free tshirt and stuff. regardless of how good or usefull the game is, i collect music games. hell, i have stepping selection, which is by far one of the worst music games ever made.
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