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Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro
1997 video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro[1] is a 1997 music game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The game stars Japanese singer Namie Amuro, and features two songs from her 1996 studio album Sweet 19 Blues: "Chase the Chance" and "You're My Sunshine". Gameplay focuses on watching virtual performances of the two songs and playing minigames themed around Amuro.
Development was led by veteran producer and game designer Yu Suzuki. Amuro participated by performing motion capture for her in-game model, which was one of the most detailed and technically advanced models created for a Saturn title. AM2 also implemented new TrueMotion video compression technology that was designed to enable high quality video playback on the Saturn hardware.
Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro was released in Japan on 10 January 1997, and was sold exclusively through convenience store chains including Seven-Eleven and FamilyMart. Reviews were mixed, with praise for the detailed model of Amuro, but criticism for the small amount of content. It sold over 116,000 copies by late 1997. Further installments in the Digital Dance Mix series were planned, but ultimately no other games were released.
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Gameplay
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Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro is a music game that includes three main game modes:
In "Digital Dance", the player watches a performance of either "Chase the Chance" or "You're My Sunshine", featuring choreography performed by a digital model of Amuro.[2] The player may customize the type of stage and Amuro's outfit, with five stages and six costumes being available to choose from.[3] During the performance, the player may adjust the position and zoom of the in-game camera to observe the choreography from any angle.[4] The speed of the song can also be changed.[5]
"Sing It" is a karaoke mode in which lyrics are displayed onscreen and the volume of Amuro's vocals is lowered so the player may sing along to the track. Players can freely stop, play, or rewind the song to practice.[3][5]
The "Presents" mode features four simple minigames.[3] "Chase the Dance" is a rhythm game in which button inputs must be pressed in time with the song. "Sweet 16 Cards" is a card-matching memory game. "Door my Sunshine" is a simple puzzle game where players must assemble a door from puzzle pieces. "A Walk In The Maze" is a maze game in which players must guide a monkey through a maze to reach Amuro.[5] A brief profile of Amuro's biographical information and a summary of her discography up to 1996 can also be viewed.[3][5]
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Development and release
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Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro was developed by Sega AM2.[6] The game was produced by Yu Suzuki, who explained that its concept originated from the Virtua Fighter CG Portrait series that AM2 had developed beginning in 1995, which featured still images of 3D modeled characters. The developers sought to create a more interactive title that would allow players to adjust the camera.[7]
Namie Amuro performed motion capture work for the game to produce its animations and choreography, and she personally selected the lineup of costumes that would be included.[8] The motion capture process was based on wireless technology AM2 had previously developed to create animations for Virtua Fighter 3.[7] The virtual model of Amuro, one of the most technically advanced and detailed models in a Saturn game, was created by scanning her face to create a 3D image that became the base of the model.[7][4] Amuro was reportedly very impressed with the game's accurate recreation of her choreography.[9][2] The dance performances are rendered in real time at 60 frames per second.[4] The music was originally composed and arranged by Tetsuya Komuro for Amuro's second studio album Sweet 19 Blues (1996); Komuro was correspondingly credited as a composer for the game.[5]
Video editing for the game's pre-recorded music videos was handled by editor Shuichi Kakesu, who was previously known for working with director Mamoru Oshii on the anime film Ghost in the Shell (1995) and had been introduced to Suzuki at a trade event.[10] Kakesu was provided with five of Namie Amuro's promotional videos, which he edited into two new videos that were three minutes long each. Kakesu was new to the video game industry, but was interested in working on the game as he believed there was growing interest in the potential of 3D animation technology to impact anime and Hollywood filmmaking productions.[10] A new implementation of the TrueMotion video compression codec was used to render the videos. This was written specifically for AM2 by an engineer at TrueMotion in response to criticism that video playback on the Saturn was inferior to other hardware, and allowed for enhanced playback that was superior to previous Saturn games.[7]
Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro was released on 10 January 1997.[11][12][13] The game was sold exclusively through convenience store chains in Japan, including Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Circle K.[8][7] Although the game was formally published by Sega, distribution at convenience stores was handled by DigiCube.[3]
Unproduced sequels
Suzuki stated in January 1997 that future installments in the Digital Dance Mix series were planned, which would feature other artists beyond Amuro.[8] He expressed interest in developing a second game starring Amuro, as well as a dancing game featuring the Virtua Fighter characters Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan.[7][4] In December 1996, shortly before the release of Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro, Michael Jackson visited Sega headquarters in Tokyo and was photographed performing various dance moves, leading to speculation that a Digital Dance Mix game starring Jackson was in development.[14]
Ultimately, no further games were released, leaving Vol. 1 Namie Amuro as a standalone game. In 2011, Suzuki commented on the game again, explaining that he had anticipated dance and rhythm games would become more popular, but that further titles were not developed because he became uninterested in making a sequel that would be too similar to its predecessor.[15]
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Reception
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Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1 Namie Amuro received generally mixed to poor reviews.[11] Praise was directed to the detailed model of Namie Amuro, while criticism focused on the lack of interactivity and the small amount of content, with only two songs included.
In an unscored review, the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine said that the game's content "seemed to still be in the planning stages", and wished that there was more interactivity in the gameplay.[10] A March 1997 review for the Hungarian magazine 576 Kbyte praised the high-resolution model of Amuro, but called the game "a video clip emulator" and considered it to not have lasting appeal.[16] In an April 1997 review, the English Sega Saturn Magazine lauded Amuro's model and the game's high framerate, but panned the minigames. The publication deemed the title "spectacularly without point" for anyone other than fans of Amuro, and considered it expensive for its small amount of content.[4]
The game sold 49,186 copies in its first week, placing number 2 in the Famitsu Top 30 for week 2 in 1997.[17] It reached 100,000 copies sold by April 1997,[4] and 116,553 copies by November 1997.[18]
Retrospective commenters identified the game as a precursor to other rhythm games, including Sega's Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series, of which several games were developed by AM2.[12][15]
See also
References
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