Turning Twenty

Andamiro Revamps Player Fave Pump It Up for Anniversary

Released near the turn of the century, the mega-popular dance and music video game Pump It Up is hitting its 20th anniversary this August and its manufacturer Andamiro is celebrating with a newly-released software system.

Loaded with 100 brand new, mostly Korean-inspired K-pop songs – 500 songs in total – and updated graphics, the 20th anniversary edition of the game is now shipping in the company’s current Pump It Up LX cabinet with a 55” display.

Upgrade kits featuring the new software are also available and include a “20th Anniversary XX” marquee. Aside from the current LX models, the kits support cabinet versions FX (42”), CX (43”) and TX (55”).

“The first shipment (in late January) included about a dozen dedicated games and more than two dozen upgrade kits,” said Nick Montano, marketing director for Andamiro USA. Some, he said, are already on game room floors across the country.

The game – dubbed PIU-XX – was first featured in November at IAAPA, where more than 40 speed and freestyle dance enthusiasts, known as “pumpers,” showed up specifically to play the game.

“These are young people who are still in school and don’t have a lot of disposable cash (and) they do it on their own dime,” Montano said. “They’re very dedicated to this game.”

But the game also appeals to casual players as it “allows players to grow with the game as their abilities advance.”

After IAAPA, the updated edition was tested in South Korea in December and the final touches were made in January just before its release.

It introduces several new features to the player interface, including renewals for song and step difficulties and more than 100 reward titles. Renewals allow players to continue dance and song sessions from where they left off, while reward titles are designations like “advanced,” “specialist” or “newbie” that are assigned to a player’s user ID.

The anniversary edition also has an online matchmaking system that can match players of similar abilities and styles.

Made for both dance pros and casual players, Pump It Up initially hit game room floors in August 1999 in South Korea and quickly expanded into North and South America and Europe.

The game has received annual improvements since its release with major system introductions rolling out every other year, such as 2010’s Pump It Up Fiesta, which introduced two new mission modes and removed difficulty levels in favor of chart options.

“It’s extremely popular among dance game enthusiasts,” Montano said. Many of them, he added, started on Dance Dance Revolution, which originally came out in Japan in September 1998, but prefer Pump It Up.

In addition to the new arcade cabinet, stay tuned for Andamiro’s release of the Pump It Up mobile version, which is expected to begin a beta test soon.

For more information about Pump It Up and other Andamiro offerings, visit www.andamiro.com.