In the Groove 2
Developer(s)	Roxor Games
Publisher(s)	Roxor Games/Andamiro
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release date	June 18, 2005
Genre(s)	Music
Mode(s)	Multiple one-player and two-player modes
Input methods	Two 4-panel dance pads, eight buttons, USB Memory Card reader
Cabinet	Custom
Display	Horizontal, Raster, standard resolution

In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro. The price for a dedicated cabinet is $9,999 USD and the upgrade kit (sometimes referred to as a "Boxor") is $2,999 USD. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 632 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1312 × 1244 pixel, file size: 233 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I took this picture and hereby release it to Wikipedia under the lisence below. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Roxor Games Logo Roxor Games, Inc. ... Roxor Games Logo Roxor Games, Inc. ... Originally founded in Korea in 1992 as Oksan Co. ... In computing, a platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Further information: Game classification Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay interaction. ... A music video game, also commonly known as a music game or rhythm game, is a type of video game where the gameplay is oriented almost entirely around the players ability to follow a musical beat and stay with the rhythm of the games soundtrack. ... It has been suggested that Dance Pad Games be merged into this article or section. ... USB redirects here. ... Four major types of memory cards (from left to right: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Secure Digital, and xD. A memory card or flash memory card is a solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device used with digital cameras, handheld and Mobile computers, telephones, music players, video game consoles, and other... Imagine the smiley face in the top left corner as an RGB bitmap image. ... Roxor Games Logo Roxor Games, Inc. ... In the Groove (abbreviated ITG) was a series of music video games that use a four-panel dance pad. ... is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Originally founded in Korea in 1992 as Oksan Co. ... USD redirects here. ...

There is a total of 137 songs available in the arcade version. This includes all 72 from the original arcade game, the three new songs in the home version, and 65 brand new songs, four of which are hidden and unlockable.

A lawsuit filed by Konami on May 9, 2005, asked for an injunction against the sale of the upgrade kit version. October 23, 2006 Konami and Roxor reached an out-of-court settlement which resulted in Konami acquiring the intellectual property rights to the In The Groove franchise and thus effectively terminated the distribution of the game in North America. [1] Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In development, it was known solely as In the Groove 2. On June 18, 2005, Roxor Games officially announced the release of the game, and announced that it would add the name of Andamiro's Pump It Up line, becoming Pump It Up: In the Groove 2. However, "Pump It Up" only appears on the marquee of the dedicated cabinets developed by Andamiro. The name also appears on the title screen of a un-updated Andamiro made cabinet. The name appears nowhere on a unupgraded cabinet. is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the video game. ...

The game also features a modified interface, based on the first version but recolored red and incorporating other changes. The interface also features a new font; the first version used a generic font.

New features

The Novice difficulty level is a feature added to the home version of In the Groove, carried over to In the Groove 2. On this dfficulty level, all songs are rated as ones (including the hardest and fastest songs on other difficulties), and play in Novice mode places a traffic light graphic on the screen that tells players when to step. As always, two players can select different difficulty levels for the same song, but if one selects Novice, then the traffic light always appears instead of the normal backgrounds. It is also worth noting that on ITG2, Novice always forces a constant speed of 120 BPM (a "C120" mod). As a result, since C-mods disqualify scores from appearing on the scoreboards if the song played has pauses or speed changes, those songs will never have any Novice scores saved. This article is about a traffic control device. ...

Rolls are a new feature. They look like spiky hold notes and usually come in pairs. The player must continually tap the corresponding arrows until the end of the roll, much like the drum roll notes in Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin. Regardless of the song's speed, rolls must be tapped at least once every 0.3 seconds. This article is about Namco, a Japanese leisure company and game developer. ... Taiko No Tatsujin 9 arcade game in Japan Taiko Master ) is a series of rhythm games created by Namco. ...

Survival Mode is another course-based gameplay mode. The player must play a five-song course, where each song has a time limit less than the song's length. Time left over after each song is carried over to the next, and missteps deplete the time remaining - time is only added for Fantastics, with no change for Excellents and detractions for anything lower. The lifebar in this mode is not used to determine whether the player passes. Instead, it serves as a visual indicator of how much time is remaining. The game ends when the remaining time is fully depleted.

Fitness Mode is a common home version feature on dance games that is included in the arcade version of ITG2. This gameplay mode allows users to keep track of time spent dancing and calories burned. The calorie is a unit of energy, in particular heat. ...

Three previously Marathon-only modifiers - Bumpy, Beat, and Robot (a metallic gray Flat arrow type) - have also been added to the regular modifier list. In addition, a multi-colored arrow type, Vivid, has been added for colorblind players. It resembles the default arrow color scheme used in Dance Dance Revolution. This article is about the Dance Dance Revolution series. ...

"Excellent", "Great" and "Decent" judgments are now prefixed or suffixed with a dash. A prefix (-Excellent, -Great or -Decent) indicates that the player stepped too early; a suffix (Excellent-, Great- or Decent-) indicates that the player stepped too late. In novice mode, "Way Off" becomes "Way Early" and "Way Late" respectively; in other modes, the dash system still applies.

"Stretch Jumps" have been included in double play, a jump that requires a player to hit two panels simultaneously that are farther away from each other than normal jumps, such as 1PU+2PD or 1PL+2PL.

Songs

In the Groove 2 includes more than 60 new songs in addition to the entire songlist from the previous version, In the Groove. The sequel includes new songs from established artists like ZiGZaG, Kid Whatever, Inspector K, Nina, Digital Explosion, and Machinae Supremacy. It also introduces songs from newcomers like Tekno Dred, Affinity, Hybrid, Lynn, and Onyx. In the Groove (abbreviated ITG) was a series of music video games that use a four-panel dance pad. ... Machinae Supremacy (pronounced muh-sheen suh-prem-uh-see, IPA: [1]) is a band from Luleå, Sweden that combines modern heavy metal and alternative rock with chiptunes. ... Hybrid is a British electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings. ... Linnéa Handberg Lund, also known as Papaya or Miss Papaya (born Linnéa Handberg 22 October, Hillerød, Denmark) is a Danish eurodance musician who seems to have disappeared from the scene. ...

As with the original game, several artists that have released songs for Dance Dance Revolution games appear on ITG2. These include Bambee, Missing Heart, Spacekats (known as Bus Stop in DDR, with the exclusion of one member), Ni-Ni, Triple J, E-ROTIC and Lynn (Papaya in DDR). In fact, three songs appear on ITG2 that have been on Dance Dance Revolution games, though with different step charts: Typical Tropical and Bumble Bee from Bambee and Sunshine (originally Follow The Sun) from Triple J. This article is about the Dance Dance Revolution series. ... Promotional photograph. ... Linnéa Handberg Lund, also known as Papaya or Miss Papaya (born Linnéa Handberg 22 October, Hillerød, Denmark) is a Danish eurodance musician who seems to have disappeared from the scene. ...

Song List

This list covers the 64 songs that are new in the arcade version of In the Groove 2. This song list does not include the songs from the original game (although they are playable in In the Groove 2). To see those, reference the ITG song list. In the Groove (abbreviated ITG) was a series of music video games that use a four-panel dance pad. ...

The difficulties are abbreviated to conserve table space:

N = Novice

E = Easy

M = Medium

H = Hard

X = Expert

Songs that need to be unlocked are highlighted in red. Some Expert step routines have to be unlocked separately, even though the songs they go to are playable from the start. These are denoted with an asterisk.

This list includes the five songs made playable in the home version of In the Groove. These are highlighted in green, and do not have to be unlocked in this game.

Promotional photograph. ... Promotional photograph. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Machinae Supremacy (pronounced muh-sheen suh-prem-uh-see, IPA: [1]) is a band from Luleå, Sweden that combines modern heavy metal and alternative rock with chiptunes. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Chucho Merchan is a session jazz bassist. ... Chucho Merchan is a session jazz bassist. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Hybrid are a British electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Linnéa Handberg Lund, also known as Papaya or Miss Papaya (born Linnéa Handberg 22 October, Hillerød, Denmark) is a Danish eurodance musician who seems to have disappeared from the scene. ... Hybrid are a British electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Linnéa Handberg Lund, also known as Papaya or Miss Papaya (born Linnéa Handberg 22 October, Hillerød, Denmark) is a Danish eurodance musician who seems to have disappeared from the scene. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Kyle Ward is the main music composer and sound producer of the dance arcade series, In The Groove. ... Promotional photograph. ... Hybrid are a British electronic music group based in Swansea, formed around the duo of Mike Truman and Chris Healings. ... The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni in original Italian) is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. ...

Custom Songs

On October 11th, 2006 (a week prior to the official announcement of Konami's acquisition of the intellectual property rights to In The Groove), Roxor released Revision 21 (also referred to as r21). The patch adds a feature that allows players to play custom songs with an accompanying .sm file (see StepMania) stored on their USB card. The songs are stored in the "X:In The Groove 2Songs" folder, where X is your USB card. The .sm file should be in a subfolder of the "Songs" folder (such as songsB4UB4U.sm). StepMania is a rhythm video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux created by Chris Danford. ...

Limitations to this feature include[2]:

• The music file can be no more than 120 seconds (2 minutes) in length.
• The music file must be in Ogg Vorbis format.
• Ogg music files must be less than 5 MB in size.
• Banners and song samples aren't loaded, and are thus absent from the song selection screen.
• Background images (whether still or video) aren't loaded; instead, random background videos run during play.
• 50 songs maximum are loaded per player; sometimes fewer are loaded if the USB load time exceeds a certain limit.

Ogg Length Patch This page is about the audio compression codec. ...

An unofficial patch was later released online which tricks the machine into thinking that an Ogg Vorbis file that is longer than the 120 second limit is a mere one minute and forty-five seconds long, commonly referred to as the Ogg Length Patch. This allows songs of any length to be played on the machine, provided the music file is still under 5 MB in size. Playing songs that are longer than 3 minutes is looked down upon by some arcade operators due to the possibility of losing money, and in some cases, bans have even been issued on players who play songs whose length exceeds 3 minutes. However, it may be worth noting that a portion of ITG players do keep their play of such patched songs in check when others are waiting in line to play.

How R23 Changes Custom Song Play

On January 26th, 2007, Roxor released Revision 23 (also referred to as r23). R23 mostly serves as a countermeasure to the Ogg Length Patch, as it forces all custom songs to end at 120 seconds of play (if the song is longer than that, it simply cuts it off at that point).

Despite this change, Revision 23 is more unpopular with the fanbase than Revision 21 was due to the strict time limit, since some official Dance Dance Revolution songs and many songs on the In The Groove 2 cabinet itself go beyond this time limit. Some players feel that RoXor should have implemented a system similar to Dance Dance Revolution 5th Mix (and already implemented in StepMania) in which songs longer than 150 seconds (2 1/2 minutes) are deemed a "long version" song, which takes up two stages (two songs' worth) of the player's credit, instead of just counteracting the Ogg Length patch. This article is about the Dance Dance Revolution series. ... Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX, or DDR 5th Mix, is the fifth game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. ... StepMania is a rhythm video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux created by Chris Danford. ...

Custom Song Exploits

General Info

Technologically savvy players have discovered several complicated (but if performed correctly, safe) ways to hack the machine to add custom songs to it permanently (and even organize them into their own categories), possible because the game utilizes StepMania's engine. The most popular methods involve utilizing a live Linux distribution (such as Slax Frodo) to boot the machine to a rogue operating system that the user has control over. Additional songs are loaded onto a USB card (plugged into the Player 1 USB port), and a USB keyboard (plugged into the Player 2 USB port) is used to type commands at the Linux console. StepMania is a rhythm video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux created by Chris Danford. ... SLAX is a Linux Live CD based on Slackware. ...

Pros & Cons

Songs loaded onto an ITG 2 machine in this manner are fully-functional: the banner and song sample load on the song selection screen, the background pictures and/or videos display during gameplay, and if the song is 2 1/2 minutes or longer, it takes up two stages of a player's credit. Songs loaded onto a machine in this way will play regardless of if the machine's USB slots are working. For machines that have flaky USB slots, it can be very beneficial for tournament operators to load the songs onto the machine before the tournament.

However, even with these benefits, arguments can still be made against hacking the machine. Aside from the difficulty of the procedure itself and the danger of damaging the machine, one can also question the amount of care being taken as to which songs get loaded onto the machine. Some songs aren't appropriate for all audiences, many simfiles are not synced properly or don't have all five difficulty levels for both singles and doubles play, and some stepcharts are "keyboard" charts meant for play on StepMania rather than "paddable" charts meant to be played with one's feet).

Custom songs that have been loaded onto the machine in this way also have more stringent formatting requirements. Because it is not a standard way of playing songs on an In The Groove machine, no safeguards or conveniences are made for the user.

For example, certain revisions of In The Groove 2 will not load additional songs unless cache files generated by StepMania are also present for those songs. Music must be in a static bitrate OGG file format, sampled at 48Khz (on certain revisions of In The Groove 2, OGG files that have been sampled at 41.1Khz have been known to play extra fast, "chimpmunk" style). Background graphics must be in PNG format, with specific dimensions and quality, and background videos must be encoded with a codec that the machine can understand. The exact requirements and consequences for not meeting those requirements differ depending on the revision of the cabinet.

Tournaments

In The Groove 2 tournaments are held at arcades throughout the world. Some of the most notable tournaments are NAT05 and the ITG World Cup, in which first place received an ITG2 dedicated cabinet. Most tournaments are scored on a player's dance percentage. There have been few others that have involved the use of mods, double, and even some that make use of custom songs with the R21 feature. After the lawsuit, the tournament scene began to die down, in part because Roxor could no longer sponsor local tournaments with small prizes and In The Groove paraphernalia such as t-shirts and posters. Still, there are tournaments held throughout the USA and Canada today that give out cash prizes and other various gifts, such as arcade tokens, coupons, and other video games.

Home version

Due to the Konami lawsuit, a PlayStation 2 port of In The Groove 2 was not released. However, a patch is available for the PC version of In The Groove that adds the new songs and theme from In The Groove 2 to the game. PS2 redirects here. ...

See also

• Dance pad
• Dance pad video games
• Roxor Games
• In the Groove (game)

It has been suggested that Dance Pad Games be merged into this article or section. ... Roxor Games Logo Roxor Games, Inc. ... In the Groove (abbreviated ITG) was a series of music video games that use a four-panel dance pad. ...

External links

• Official In the Groove Website
• Official RoXoR Games Website
• Official StepMania Website
• Custom Songs with In The Groove 2 Arcade