2013 Update to Counting Combos - DDR Book

Okay, so last year I published a book on the Japanese DDR Community...hoozah.



http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1475003161
Also : https://www.createspace.com/3819770
Between this and my AIJBot Poetry book I have had 10,000+ sales so I am very pleased with that.

So this year I am updating it somewhat, but not too much as to make the owners of the original book feel ripped off (the old content was fine for the most part; I just had a few small things to add and some more recent developments as well as the results of chatting on and off with a few guys here in Japan over the past year...So anyway, here is what is done so far in the updated beta version (I'll link you here)

(I made a blogspot post with the changes)
http://aaroninjp.blogspot.jp/2013/07/2013-update-for-counting-combos-book.html

But I can just as easily copy/paste the beta version here.
http://aaronin.jp/JDDR_book_5x8_update_2013b.pdf

I might have missed something, sorry (it is getting late here). I'll patch it up if I find anything. Here is what has changed:
(This is still a bit of a WIP and it is also being translated to Spanish and Japanese as I write so coordination is going to be...fun)

Please let me know if there is anything that needs to be fixed (spelling/grammar being important since I sometimes write in mad bursts of speed and forget to check it until much later)

Supplementary Information to old Content :

* In the 2000 section I added a brief mention that the release of so many mixes in the past year both for the main series and offshoots (as well as home versions) caused an over-saturation and partial alienation of the player base.
* In the 2001 section, I mentioned it was the last year for mass release of the various home and handheld editions of DDR, though this was primarily for the offshoots of the main series; official home versions of the DDR arcade mixes continued on for years.
* In the 2003-2005 section regarding bar usage, I added a quote from one of the musical artists associated with Konami (TAG). He mentioned that Konami had always kept bar use in mind when creating the harder stepcharts, and he specifically referenced the song "Healing Vision Angelic Mix" which premiered in the home version of DDR 5th and in DDR Max arcade back in 2001.
* In the same section I added a bit on the introduction of SuperNova and how in the East it wasn't necessarily seen as a knee-jerk reaction to ITG since the system was all new hardware, they were looking into anti-piracy measures since the older mixes (System 573) were so widely bootlegged and the eAmuse network was being developed at that time.
* Fixed the romanization of the song "Mikeneko Rock"
Added a bit more information on tournaments from the DDRX era, including rough numbers of participants and the spectators that would go only to watch others
* Various alignment and font size/position problems with the embedded image areas
* Swapped image of DDR Megamix to a screen grab of the warning screen instead of a photo of the game showing the warning screen
* Slight rewording in the additional chapter related to DDR and ITG timing windows. DDR timing is still polled and timed in ms, but the judgment is made relative to what frame the polled step lies within. I could expand on this even further but I figured for the casual reader this information might be getting too technical, and there are still unknowns related to the exact timing system of DDR

New Content :

* Various new photos in the older sections (mostly for the more recent years)
* A new 2012~ section that contains bits of information related to the era from when DDR X3 draws to a close and DDR 2013 begins
In reference to the above, the new cabinet and the initial launch problems both with hardware and software that made some players take a break from the series while things were patched up
* Mention of Dance Evolution AC and its position as Konami's new "real" dance game
* Mention of player skill gaps in recent years (originally there was some mention of it in the 2003-2005 chapter but that has changed in the modern age)
* Mention of players that play Double mode (8 panels) and how they tend to fall through the cracks of Konami official tournaments and events since they primarily focus on single mode play.

Other Additions :

* The new edition will be released in B&W and in Color.
* Color printing costs are pretty high and I was quoted as high as $28 for a color edition though I may be able to get a version myself for abour $18
* The book is currently 230 pages, up slightly from the original release.

Things I did not add :

* I wanted to mention the breakup of the band BeForU or Naoki's departure from Konami. Although this would have been definitely worth mentioning if it caused a mass influx or outflux of players to the series or extreme opinions and attitudes towards the affected parties, at the end of the day it really didn't affect the player base all that much
* The only worthy point of note was Naoki mentioning at the KAC 2011 that he was stuck at work and couldn't attend the DDR event but that he saw it all later on Nico Douga (as opposed to Konami's official channel; also, a non-authorized copy on Nico Douga to boot). He had to say "that was a joke" when met with awkward silence, but he had been hinting up until then he wasn't happy at Konami for whatever reason and his later departure wasn't that much of a surprise.
* I did mention names of somewhat key players in the scene if they resonated with the player base in any way, but I didn't name drop too many players because most of them just didn't have any real impact on the overall scene. This includes overseas players.

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From the preview I saw on Amazon, it looks like an amazing book. This is a great work!

Well, if I have a bunch of leftover copies of the 2013 update (when it is all done) maybe I can send you a copy if you're interested?

If you have patience and/or a good monitor or ebook reader you can try reading the whole PDF I linked.

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Ok I've DL'ed the PDF, seeing I don't have the money for a hardcopy. I look forward to reading this and by looking at the picture you are doing very very well with this. Major Kudos to you.

As per our conversation here are some starting mockups for the revision, Aaron. These are with the ribbon idea that you had mentioned and I used one of the actual DDR 2013 fonts for the "2013 Edition" part.

I can come up with some more although I'd like to know more about what you'd like to see on the cover art.

(My watermark won't be there in the final print)

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They both look great, The 1st Design is better because it doesn't take away from the image, but the 2nd one looks cleaner...Gah! I'm don't know which one is better!!!//

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I like the 2nd one better. The ribbon makes it look a bit too busy in the top in the first one.

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Hmm, both of these look great but I think I like the 2nd one better. At first I though it still seemed a bit intrusive to me but I printed out a mockup and it looked all right. I don't know what the balance would be between being too obvious and glaring and not noticed at all.

Also, I actually don't mind if you want to work your design company logo somewhere on the cover (maybe on the back?) and if you want any specific credit for your design company in the credits I can work that in too, of course.

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I've never been to Japan or anything, but I can't help feeling nostalgic about this book. This is gold. I might order a copy; my eyes hurt when reading ebooks.

T

Updated the book with one of your new photos. Looks good so far.

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