Just a few days ago Konami announced a surprise location test for a new version of their long-running BEMANI series game, pop'n music. The series itself has been on life support for years now, receiving yearly updates on old machines and no major cabinet updates in nearly 15 years. That isn't to say they didn't try, with a new cabinet briefly tested back in 2020 that also drastically changed the game in ways that weren't so popular.

Now 5 years after that last attempt, Konami is finally breathing some fresh life into the franchise once again with a NEW!! pop'n music cabinet that sees some significant quality of life upgrades. Based on the feedback we've seen so far, this is a huge step in the right direction too, with many longtime fans singing the praises of the location test.

New arcade cabinet features

• 42" high definition monitor running at 120 Hz
• Upgraded sound system (4 speakers + subwoofer)
• Touch screen for song selection, options & settings (likely more features in the final version.
• Built in headphone jack
• 2 large additional buttons modeled after the game's "pop-kun" note markers

Some of the upgrades are the kind of things you would expect to see in a modern music game, such as the (significantly) larger screen and the touch screen which have become standard on Konami's other games. The upgraded sound system has long been needed for the game, with the original cabinet's sound hardware being fairly basic and just functional enough. The headphone jack is also something that has long been needed, with most arcades modding their own headphone jacks onto machines throughout the years.

All of these changes also beg the question if this new version will even be made available to older cabinets. It has been such a long time since a new cabinet design, and with Konami recently phasing out older beatmania IIDX and Sound Voltex machines, there's a good chance that this new entry in the pop'n music series will only be available on new machines.

The large pop-kun buttons are added on either side of the core playfield, and at the location test were only used to adjust the hidden & sudden modifiers but may be used for more in the final version. They definitely add a nice little visual flair to the cabinet, which is also noticeably larger than previous models.

As far as the game itself goes, things are pretty standard in the location test version. Noticeable changes include higher-fidelity animations for the characters featured in the game which are more expressive and almost have a vtuber/live2D quality to them. It also appears that they're bringing back the song genre classifications that were used in the game for it's first decade of existence and added a lot of personality to the old songlists.

Of course, the location test also has a bunch of songs that are new to the franchise, including songs from other popular BEMANI games. Kenshi Yonezu's popular theme song for the anime Medalist, "BOW AND ARROW", has also been licensed for inclusion in the location test and will presumably be in the final version as well.

Location test new songs

• "BOW AND ARROW" by Kenshi Yonezu
• "Oort" by BEMANI sound team "Yvya"
• "MILKY HIGHWAY" by BEMANI sound team "PON" feat. NU-KO
• "Kimi no Soba ni" by BEMANI sound team "KE!JU" feat. Nenne
• "Yuusei Genya" by BEMANI sound team "TAN1CHU" feat. HINAKO
• "Sarasa" by BEMANI sound team "PON"
• "Deep tenDon Reflex" by BEMANI sound team "Coyaan"
• "Uohi ni Nobori Kagayohite" by Asaki
• "BUZRA" by Nekomata Master vs. HuΣeR

No word on when the final version of the game will be out, or if they'll hold additional location tests before making the release announcement. In the past Konami has only held additional tests for brand new games, but the change to a new cabinet might be the kind of thing they want to get more feedback on. One thing is for sure, we'll be keeping an eye out as we're excited to see a proper return to form for one of music gaming's longest-running and most influential series.