Audition - Dance Battle Online (source : Wikipedia )

Audition Online (Korean: 오디션 온라인), also known as Dancing Paradise in Japan, is a downloadable Multiplayer Online Casual Game produced by T3 Entertainment.

History

Audition Online first originated as a popular comic, called Audition, that is read by young adults of South Korea. With the inspiration of the comic, T3 Entertainment created Audition Online alongside with Yedang Online. The game originated in South Korea, where Audition Online gained its popularity. As popularity increased, T3 Entertainment and Yedang Online began localizing the game in other regions including Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, North America, Thailand, Taiwan, South East Asia, and Vietnam, including publishers who licensed the game in Europe. Audition was also released to a "global" audience at one point, which largely consisted of American and Vietnamese players. Updates to Global Audition were stopped due to hacking and so the server was shut down; however, as of March 1st the global server was brought back. Audition Korea continues to be the most updated version with a very large support base and weekly updates.

Audition Online is free to play, using the popular Virtual Asset Sales (VAS) model (as officially called, while in China it is called Virtual Item Trading or VIT) or a cash shop system that allows users to use real money to purchase ingame clothes, accessories, etc. to dress up their avatars. The game is similar to Bust A Groove, but takes a different approach, besides the fact that it is a multiplayer online casual game.

Electronic Times Internet, an IT news website, reported that Audition reached 50 million registered users in China, with 500,000 concurrent players. Baidu, the Chinese search engine, revealed that Audition ranks first in all its searches, and is ahead of games like Crazy Racing and World of Warcraft.

Available Regions

Region	Official Name	Language	Countries	Local publishers	Registration Requirements
South Korea	오디션	Korean	South Korea	Bugs Corp.	A Korean Registration Number is required to play.
Japan	Dancing Paradise	Japanese	Japan	NEXON Japan Co., Ltd.	A NEXON Passport is required to play.
China	劲舞团	Simplified Chinese	China	9you.com	Chinese Identification Number is required.
Philippines	Dance Battle Audition Philippines	English	Philippines	IP E-Games Ventures, Inc.	e-Games Philippines account
South East Asia	AuditionSEA	English	Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand	AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd.	A National ID (Identification Card) of any country is required.
Thailand	Audition Online Dance Battle	Thai	Thailand	Asiasoft Corporation Co., Ltd.	Thailand identification number is required
Vietnam	Nhịp điệu cuộc sống	Vietnamese	Vietnam	VTC - Game Online	No registration requirements as of 9/12/06.
Taiwan	勁舞團	Traditional Chinese	Taiwan	Insera Game Center Corporation	Taiwanese Identification Number is required.
Hong Kong	勁舞團	Traditional Chinese	Hong Kong	9you.com and Gameone	No Registration Requirements
North America	Online Dance Battle Audition	English Language	United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America	NEXON America Co., Ltd.	Nexon Passport is required. NOTE: North American IP's may access the game (others may not).
Indonesia	Audition AyoDance	Unknown	Indonesia	PT Megaxus Infotech	No Registration Requirements
Brazil	Audition Online Dance Battle	Brazilian Portuguese	Brazil	Kaizen Games	No Registration Requirements

Gameplay Features

By following the arrows displayed on the screen, and pressing spacebar or the control key at the correct beat, the player may gain a score of MISS, BAD, COOL, GREAT or PERFECT. The character will dance on the screen respectively to how well the player scored. The person who currently has the highest score will be dancing in the front centre. The position is swapped once someone else tops that person's score.

A player may combo PERFECTs and get bonus points for doing so. PERFECT combos (Or "Perfect chains" as some people call it) also enables players to interfere the opposition. The person with the most points at the end of the dance battle will land first place. Each player will receive experience points, and Den points according to what place they resulted in. Players can increase their points by playing 'chance'. This can be activated by pressing the delete key or the . key on the number pad whereby red keys appear and players have to press in the opposite direction of the red keys.

If a single/group game (not including NPC, One-Two Party and Beat Up modes) is full, sometimes a random event will occur, where bonuses are given if you accomplish a certain challenge. Examples are getting no COOLs or MISSes, or getting a x5 combo. The chances of getting the random event is greater if the music is set to random.

EXP Table

Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req
1	0	11	71,000	21	403,500	31	1,113,500	41	2,288,000
2	220	12	90,000	22	456,000	32	1,208,500	42	2,434,000
3	1,260	13	112,000	23	512,000	33	1,308,500	43	2,585,000
4	3,480	14	137,000	24	572,500	34	1,413,500	44	2,742,000
5	7,140	15	165,000	25	637,000	35	1,523,000	45	2,904,500
6	12,500	16	196,000	26	704,500	36	1,638,000	46	3,072,500
7	19,695	17	230,500	27	778,000	37	1,757,500	47	3,246,500
8	29,000	18	268,500	28	855,500	38	1,882,500	48	3,426,000
9	40,500	19	310,000	29	937,000	39	2,012,000	49	3,611,000
10	54,500	20	354,500	30	1,023,000	40	2,147,500	50	3,802,500
Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req	Level	EXP Req
51	4,000,000	61	8,400,000	71	15,850,000
52	4,300,000	62	9,000,000
53	4,650,000	63	9,600,000
54	5,000,000	64	10,250,000
55	5,400,000	65	10,900,000
56	5,850,000	66	11,600,000
57	6,350,000	67	12,350,000
58	6,900,000	68	13,150,000
59	7,500,000	69	14,000,000
60	7,850,000	70	14,900,000

Fashion Shop

In similar fashion to many of the Virtual Asset Sales based online games, Audition features an item shop in which players may customize the look of their character. Players may choose from a variety of hairstyles, shirts, pants, shoes, and - in Korean and SEA Audition - faces and miscellaneous items. The in-game rewards system is called Den (BEATS in the American version of Audition). In every game in which a player competes against or with another player, a Den reward is given at the end of the song. Players may redeem this Den for the clothes and accessories in the Fashion Shop.

In addition to Den, players may use the Cash system. By purchasing Cash through their online payment system, players may buy Cash items in the Fashion Shop. Many of the items in the Fashion Shop are only available if bought with Cash. One can also buy the new "Nexon Game Cards," found in some retail stores. They work similarly with iTunes cards.

Game Modes

SINGLES MODES:

An example of the Audition User Interface.

Essentially a Free for All where each individual plays and competes to be the best in the dance room. You can start these modes as a single player, although you will not get experience points upon doing so.

Practice Mode
Allows new players to enhance their timing skills with a special guide on the rhythm bar on the first few measures. The measures only appear between Levels 1-5, and there is no finish move. When the rhythm bead passes through the fourth beat it isn't considered a miss in this mode and the player can press the space bar on the next measure. This mode is available in entry or Stiffy-exclusive servers only.

Practice Mode-8
Some servers allow players to practice using 8 key dance moves with an exclusive practice mode. This is the same as the former Practice Mode, except you have to enter commands using the Numpad because there are going to be 8 directions (diagonals). It is available on most Free/Novice servers. (Free)

Normal Individual
Normal individual (also called as Free Mode) is actually a mix of Freestyle and Choreography. The player proceeds higher each level by entering a dance move starting from Level 1 to Level 7, and proceeds to Freestyle. After a number of Freestyle moves the player proceeds to Level 8 and 9, and then Freestyle2. Freestyle allows entering of Level 6 and 7 commands, while Freestyle2 restricts to Level 8 and 9 commands. After Freestyle2 a player can do up to three Finish Moves. Anytime between the song the player can change from 4 keys to 8 keys and vice-versa using the Insert key, thus the name Free Mode.

Choreography
All players dance entering just one command, in effect dancing the same steps (thus the name Choreography). Only 4 key commands will be used in this mode. Upon missing a measure, you are penalized and cannot dance the next step.

Expert Choreography
As the name implies, it adds in 8 key commands to the mix. Same penalty occurs when you miss. The Finish Move is always in 8 keys.

SYNC-8
An exclusive 8 key mode that starts with Level 6. All players will enter the same command, thus being "Synchronized", hence the name SYNC-8. This is basically Choreography with only 8 keys.

Dynamic-4 / Dynamic-8
A dance style similar to choreography in which dancers also get to do Freestyle moves (worth more points than normal) in rotation. As the numbers indicate, this mode may be played in 4 key or 8 key. Freestyle moves can be performed in either 4 keys or 8 keys (can be changed using the Insert key). If you miss a measure before your Freestyle turn you are penalized and thus you cannot perform a Freestyle.

Freestyle
Dancers progress through all of the levels by inputting commands of their choice. Basically this is for showing off a routine that you created. Consecutive Perfects will progress the player quicker, while Bads will leave the player on the level he/she is on. You can do up to three Finish Moves if you Perfect all of them.

One-Two Party
In this mode players have to listen to the numbers that they say, for example, if they say 8,6,6,4,2 then you have to press 8,6,6,4,2 on the same rhythm that they said it. Sometimes at the end they will say go, or yeah. When they say go, you have to press space bar, and when they say yeah you have to press insert. Make sure you do it in the right rhythm, cause if you get too early or too late, you might end up with like 70 something misses

BeatUp Mode
Similar to the classic Pump It Up, BeatUp Mode is a mode exclusive to Korean, Chinese, Hong Kong, Japanese, Taiwan, Philippines, and South East Asia Audition in which six directions of arrows (corresponding to 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 on the numpad) are displayed and players must hit keys matching the arrows when they come in contact with the central area; they must also watch the bar at the bottom and hit Space (or Ins/5/Ctrl key) every four bars or so to get their character dancing.

Dance Battle (4 Key) or (8 Key)
Alternative name: [Sync©-4 / Sync©-8 Mode] or [Crazy11 (4 Key) or (8 Key)]

This mode features 4key and 8key variants in which the initial portion of the game is exactly like Choreography or Sync8 (respectively). Upon completing the finish, Crazy11 mode begins to shine.

Players are given Level 10 and Level 11 bars following the normal finish. A Crazy Meter appears that slowly builds depending on whether or not the player can complete a measure. Level 10 consists of 10 arrows, and consequently Level 11 is 11 arrows. After Level 10 and 11, players must do a Crazy Move - which is essentially another Finish move for these Level 10 and 11 moves. This Crazy Move consists of 11 arrows, one of which is a 'Chanced' arrow (a Red one). In addition to the points given for the Crazy Move, a bonus score is added from how far the player has built their Crazy Meter. The mode repeats in the way Choreography would - returns to Level 6, builds to the finish after Level 9, proceeds to Level 10 and Level 11, and finishes with the Crazy Move. The points accumulated on the crazy bar will only be added to the total score if the player does the Level 11 Finishing Move.

However in Dance Battle (8 Key) mode for Audition SEA , all Level 10 and Level 11 moves are 4-key except for the Level 11 Finishing Move.

License Mode
Before a player can gain experience after gaining a level (starting at level 6) in Audition Online, this player must pass a "License Test." This mode takes the player to a new room and shows them a required score, a required amount of perfects, and a required perfect combination that must be acquired within the time constraints of the song. The gameplay is almost exactly the same as Normal Individual, except for the fact that if it takes an extra measure or two to complete a move, the difficulty level does not drop (only the finish move can't be done in more than one measure). If the goal is met, the player receives a set amount of den, but if the player fails, he/she loses a set amount of den and must try again (and pass) before receiving any more experience.

GROUP MODES:
These modes utilize the Singles Mode but add the element of teamwork into the mix. Teams are Red and Blue and must consist of the same number of players on each team.

Normal Group
This is Team-oriented Normal Individual mode. Players on each team take turns performing dance moves in order to increase the level of dance moves. If one person misses, the dance moves are reset back to the corresponding level as in Single Normal Individual.

Choreography
Despite the name of the mode, this is the Team-oriented version of Freestyle. The difference is that, although the members have free reign over what move to perform, the members of each team must perform the same move (hence the title). If not, the turn is considered a miss (points are still added however) and the next turn is skipped.

Battle Party
A team of five players takes on a single AI-controlled NPC, wagering a varied amount of Den, depending on the level of the NPC difficulty. If their total score beats the increased score of the NPC, they win Den; if not, they don't get anything. In Korean Audition And SEA, there is the option to take on three NPCs in a row; if you beat all of them without losing a match, the reward is much higher. However, the matches get exponentially harder in comparison with single NPCs. You must be level 6 to enter Battle Parties.

B-Boy Battle (4) or (8)
A team dance-off, one individual dancer on one team will perform a Freestyle move, then that move will appear for the opposing team and they will have to memorize then input it to 'counter' the move and score points. If a team member presses delete/0 on their turn after performing a freestyle, the team does a Team Move, and the other team will have to memorize the move while flipping 3 red chance arrows in their head, making it much more difficult to do. Successfully memorizing and countering moves increases a counter on the top corners of the screen. It takes one full bar on this meter to do a Team Move while it takes 5 bars accumulated throughout the battle to steal the Den won by the other team. This mode is available in 4 key or 8 key variants, with 4key starting at lvl 6 and 8key starting at lvl 8.

Couples Mode / Expert Couples Mode
A dance in which a male and female pair up and hit the same notes; if they both score a perfect, they get a heart. Getting 3 more hearts than the opponent team(s) will allow your characters to hug during the results screen, while getting 5 more will allow them to kiss. If a couple gets at least 5 hearts, they have the option to become a 'couple' in-game if both players have passed their license test. Again, this mode has 4key, 8key, and a combination of the two. In the Korean and SEA versions of the game, this mode is available for either 2 or 3 couples, with the 1st and 2nd couples being red and blue and the 3rd couple being green. The couple with the highest score wins, even if they do not have the most hearts.

Couples Battle Party
This mode allows two teams of 'couples' to face off against a pair of NPC Couple.

Night Mode (4) or (8)
Each team and each player progresses through Levels 6 - 9 and then proceeds to do 1 Freestyle for each levels 6 - 8, 2 Freestyle for level 9, and finally ends with a finish move.

This mode could be considered the true group version of Choreography - every player is given the same bar on every turn. What makes Night Mode unique (aside from a stage background exclusive to the mode) is that misses do not incur a penalty. If a player misses, they may resume dancing immediately after. This makes the mode much more upbeat and exciting to play.

This mode is also available in a "Girls vs Boys" mode, in which girls are on one team, boys on the other. At the end of the "Girls vs Boys" mode, the winning team will be awarded a bonus that a roulette provides for them. After the bonus is given, the losing team will be made to do something funny, from bowing to the opposing team to being dressed as penguins, depending on the award chosen by the roulette.

Dynamic (4) or (8)
Like the single dynamic, two teams square off at each other while taking turns to do their freestyle and choreographed moves. It is exactly the same as single-player dynamic except for the fact that the scores account for the team score. Missing does not affect your partners in any way.

Sync (4) or (8)
Sync (4) or (8) is played exactly like a choreography game, in which each player plays for him/herself. But the individual scores of each player (in the team) are added up and used for the final team score. The team with the highest score wins and losing DOES NOT affect the partner-he/she can continue playing.

Club Dance
Three boys and three girls face off in club dance. If they pick each other using the F1, F2, and F3 keys, they do a couple dance which ends with a finish move. If you do not get picked you do regular choreography. Available in 4k and 8k.

Wedding Party
After a successful proposal in Couples Dance, couples are allowed to get married in-game by accumulating 5 kisses, one per day, in this mode. The groom-to-be will then have to purchase a cash-shop item, the Wedding License. The couple will then be considered "married" and have a ring icon on the top left of their avatar. It is not confirmed that this is a SEA and Taiwan exclusive feature.

Criticism

Lyrics of Song
In Audition Online Philippines, profanity was noticed on the lyrics of the songs of Audition Online, this is most notably on hip-hop/rap songs that was made exclusively by Audition. The concern was addressed due to the fact that majority of the players of Audition are early teenagers (10-16 yrs old.) The Audition set of songs were therefore, revised and remixed in such a manner that they either remove the profanities scattered within the music, or remove words entirely. An example of an Audition song that is changed purely to instrumental is "Gloomy March", which originally included expletives and content that was not suitable for the younger audience.

External links

Official Websites

• Audition Brazil - Brazil Audition website
• Chinese Audition - Chinese Audition website
• Hong Kong Audition - Hong Kong Audition website
• Audition AyoDance - Indonesian Audition website
• Dancing Paradise - Japanese Audition website
• Korean Audition - Korean Audition website (BUGS)
• Korean Audition - Korean Audition Alt. Website (ROIWORLD)
• Korean Audition - Korean Audition Alt. Website (CLUBAUDITION)
• Philippines Audition - Philippines Audition Website
• Audition North America - Audition North America website *Requires Internet Explorer
• Thai Audition - Thai Audition website
• Taiwanese Audition - Taiwanese Audition website
• AuditionSEA - Audition South-East Asia website
• Vietnamese Audition - Vietnamese Audition website