PIU Exceed Preview @ E3

[Cutriss]

MadCatz was kind enough to offer us the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the upcoming release of PIU Exceed, and we couldn't turn that opportunity down. For the veteran pumpers out there, the purchase of this is probably already locked up in your minds. For those of you that have been curious about PIU but have had your issues with it in the past, you will definitely want to give this one a shot.



PIU Exceed will be released this July for both the PS2 and the Xbox. While the PS2 version will not feature online play, the Xbox version will (via Xbox Live), featuring downloadable songs, Internet rankings, and online versus play. Unlike the Ultramix series, Andamiro says they will be providing licensed content in the song downloads. They will be sold as packs, but no pricing has been determined as of yet. The first pack should be available shortly after launch, but they want players to enjoy what's in the game before they start pushing out new material.

PIU Exceed uses the genre-type interface of the arcade game, while also incorporating songs from Exceed 2. I don't have a full songlist handy as of yet (unlockable songs are displayed on the screen as such, so there's no "mystery songs" hidden from view), but Sherl0k and I have recorded videos and taken pictures of the game, so we'll parse that out and have a full songlist posted as soon as we have that set.

As I am not intimately familiar with prior PIU home releases, forgive me if some of these "new" features are simply new to me.

PIU Exceed features the regular arcade mode, with the songlist from the arcade version, and all your standard codes. Additionally, there's a Home mode, which enhances the experience greatly, and is probably just the ticket a DDR veteran needs to get into PIU. In the Home mode:

• Players can select independent difficulty settings
• Difficulty level per-player is preserved based on prior preference
• Instead of using stepcodes, players can use a modifier menu to add modifiers
• No countdown timer to force players to pick songs

Additionally, there are other new modes, such as Sudden Death, which allows you to play until you make a single miss, similarly to Oni mode. There's also a Workout Mode, Records, and the other usual options. One novel thing I noticed is that the game uses your stepcount to track "the distance" you've moved in the process of playing the game. After playing about 5 or 6 songs, the game said that Sherl0k had gone about 2/3s of a mile.

Those of you that have your concerns about the dance mats can rest easy - Mad Catz did have a hand in their design, but they're better than any of the DDR softpads you've played from them before. The entire underside is textured to help resist slippage (it did slip some, but not as much), and the material didn't crumple like most softpads do. I couldn't get a positive answer on whether the pad's outputs were the same as the Korean pads, but it is my understanding that the existing pads will work, so those of you with CFs set up for PIU play will probably be in the clear.

Overall, we were very impressed by this first outing of PIU in the US home market. Mad Catz says that they're working toward wide distribution of the game and the bundle (they will be available separately), so you may be able to find it in some department stores as well as your local game store. The target release date is mid-July, so mark your calendars.

Again, once we have the opportunity to upload the pics and movies, we will do so, so please look forward to it.
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Sentient Mode is capable...

[Falling/Fading/LostItAll]

Alright. Sounds nice. Might actually bring me to play PIU.

[act deft]

As I only played PIU like once...

This will be a great opportunity for me to, at least, try it.

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deft's Live Journal

[AceJay]

Uh...so how do you use the controller for PIU? Or do you just not do that?

<_<
>_>

WHAT?
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[0xYm0r0n]

sounds pretty sweet...but i doubt i'll buy it since that would require me to buy yet another pad.

[Anthony of TGA]

[TimeLord81]

[AceJay]

[RomeoJoe86]

[Life]

GUTS XBox dance pad/s for innards and makes two metal pads and throws away cover in trash where it belongs along with EVERYTHING Madcatz cept for his memory card.
Any word on if the XBL content will feature Extra Mix songs? I REALLY need "Funky Jockey", "Flower Of the Night" and "Move Your Head" on a home version of PIU plus I wanna show Hip-Hop heads PIU is the dance game for them!

[Light_373]

Sounds fun. Ill probobally get that sometime soon, hopefully.
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Sandwich Pirate! wrote:

Welcome to DDRFreak. Where mods are mods, n00bs think they're mods, and beginner members spam.

[BrandonMills]

Do CFs have middle buttons?

[Arturo]

Cutriss -- Was Smidget there, demo-ing the game when you were there?
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Dallas, TX

[Tsuri]

Why do so many people want to use Cobalts with the game? They just screw up your play when you use an actual PIU pad.... cobalts = no good for PIU play... slipping off the side and having your shoe land sideways does not feel good. Stick with pads made for PIU instead of a DDR pad that has extra arrows.

[sikraiken]

[Tsuri]

the areas it gets particularly screwy with me are :
-Nightmare mode
-Freestyle mode (when I'm actually freestyling) having such a narrow area makes some things impossible to do and makes FS dull.

[Thomas Hobbes]

I think this will be quite great and I can't wait. I'm also glad that my USB Korean PC pad will work for this release.
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"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."

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[ark_keeper]

Ugh, you didn't ask if the buttons can be remapped in the game?! So we still don't know if we're gonna need a Pump control box for the CF's.
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Moooooo

[Thomas Hobbes]

I believe you can't remap any buttons in the game, as that feature wasn't supported on any other PIU home version IIRC.
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"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."

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[Dan Druff]