Konami now testing Sound Voltex Booth in Japan

arcadehero July 16, 2011 3

If it gets translated into English then it will probably be called Sound Vortex, but for now Voltex seems to be the chosen title. Konami has been on a roll testing out new music game ideas that go beyond familiar faces like Dance Dance Revolution, GuitarFreaks/DrumMania and Beatmania. A couple of years back they released Jubeat/uBeat, then last year Reflec Beat and now they have Sound Voltex.

How Sound Voltex works

It appears to be a vertical monitor game with six flat buttons – four white and two green ones and then two analog knobs. White buttons are for white squares that appear in the lanes, green for double lane green rectangles and the knobs for pushing red or blue lines onto the playfield apparently. To be honest it looks like an awkward setup so far but maybe it has a louder bark than a bite. Even then, just the combination of knobs with two kinds of buttons will probably keep it in the grey import arena since Konami has kept simpler games to North American and European markets but I’m certain that it will pop-up in other areas such as Taiwan where they have embraced Konami’s latest Bemani games quite well. But I still have to hand it to Konami for keeping the new ideas rolling, just because a control layout looks strange at first doesn’t mean that the game won’t be fun. Sometimes players also prefer complexity over simplicity, Defender being a classic example of that. Then again, in my observations of players in today’s world there are certainly more players who don’t give complicated games a chance because they have trouble with them at first. They are seeking the accomplishment of seeing the final game scene as opposed to the challenge of the machine like they used to. It’s not everyone but that’s the side I’ve been seeing a trends toward.

Here are two sources of information on the game: Purotora.com / Mieya.net / Small Room Aries initial impressions

UPDATE: Bemanistyle.com has a number of videos of this online now (Thanks to SixtyHertz for the tip). It makes more sense now as it appears to have an element in it which I guess you could sort of say is racing (although it reminds me more of a bonus level in Tempest 2000 where you have to keep your marker on the green track). Check it out below

3 Comments »

  1. 60Hz July 18, 2011 at 10:12 am - Reply

    Some footage on youtube… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yYRxnO87hs

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