The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => Hobbies and Recreation => Gamers Zone => Topic started by: pokeplayer984 on October 06, 2007, 01:37:46 AM
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Let's talk about THE hottest and coolest Dancing Game around, Dance Dance Revolution.
I'll start. :)
I really haven't been playing this much, just at the arcade where $1.00 gets you a chance at 3 songs, Survival Challenge or Battle. However, within that time, I've been able to master the easy level and am now working my way up.
However, today, when I was looking at the games for the Wii in the Wal*Mart Electronics department, I saw the version I was dying to have come out! DDR: Hottest Party for the Wii! :^.^:
DDR:HP features songs from the last 4 decades of music, charcter customizer, new battle feature that allows you to attack opponents, and you can use the Wiimote+Nunchuck to control the upper part of the charcter when you groove to the music.
If only it had on-line Battle, it would definately rule! :D
Cost me a good $70.00, but it'll be worth it! :^.^:
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Woohoo! I love you Pokeplayer! :D
I mean...er....Viva Le Dance Dance Revolution!
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DDR is great, but here's why Stepmania (a DDR simulator for PC) is that much better: :lol:
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/action9000/screen00052.jpg)
Stepmania on my computer. Look in the top-left corner. Nearly 1500 songs (fully customizable to add your own songs) ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzoBzqWy7aY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzoBzqWy7aY)
(random Stepmania video I found on youtube)
I had Stepmania, 2 hard pads (2 exactly like the one used in the above video), and an S-Video wiring the whole thing to my TV back in my mom's basement. Talk about fun!
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I've been into DDR these last 6 months. It's a fantastic game, I love it bacause of it songs and original gameplay, not to mention the fact it makes me exercise my body! XD These are the reasons why I want the Mario Mix game. (I just have a GCN, don't blame me)
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Check it out, THE master of DDR. Guess what? He's only 5 years old! :^.^:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JzcqALklRs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JzcqALklRs)
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not to mention the fact it makes me exercise my body!
I Totally agree with this! I had never been in better shape in my life than when I played DDR full-time (well..almost full-time), LOL. :p
One of my custom songs has somewhere in the realm of 25,000 steps. I made the step pattern myself, of a techno megamix. It's one hour long. :lol
I use to use this song as endurance practice. It averages out to about 7 to 8 difficulty for an hour straight, though it's a mix of 5/6 parts and 8/9 parts. I wasn't crazy enough to put 10-quality material in this thing. I could barely survive it as-is!
Once you get good enough to handle the 8, 9 and 10+ difficulty songs (when the songs start reaching 350 to 600 steps for a normal DDR-lengh song), you really start getting a workout! I haven't followed the DDR community since I lost the basement to play in so there are probably 11-difficulty songs in the newer mixes that I don't know about.
Check it out, THE master of DDR. Guess what? He's only 5 years old!
Oh come on, he's only playing on Standard!
J/k, that's pretty dang good for a 5-year old. I wish I could still find the video of the 7 year old who could AAA practically anything on Heavy.
Check it out, THE master of DDR.
I challenge this title! :p ...at least, I would have a couple of years ago. :lol
One of my friends recently got the Wii version of DDR at their house. I'll see about getting videos of me kicking butt in DDR! :D
Bear with me though; I'm not sure of the next time I'll be able to get over there to play. Also, I haven't played DDR on my feet in many months; I may be pretty rusty! :p I know for a fact I'm not in the shape I used to be and my legs (specifically, my calves. I can tell you right now, playing on your toes is usually easier to move around the pad faster, and that means you're on your calves a lot!) aren't as strong so I probably won't be able to pull out the scores I was used to, back in the day. B) I'll give it a shot though! :D
Here are a few tips for somebody looking to get into DDR or get better at DDR:
1) DO NOT return your feet to the center square on the dance pad after stepping on an arrow. Every beginner I've ever seen does this! Keep your feet where they were and proceed with the dance steps. There is NO penalty for stepping on wrong arrows, as long as you step on the correct ones. Don't make yourself move twice as much by returning to the center every time.
2) Try to alternate feet whenever possible. Using the same foot all the time gets both tiresome and inaccurate. It also causes your balance to become...iffy. Switching feet when possible helps you keep a more precise rhythm (meaning higher scores!) and helps you prepare for tougher songs. Later in the game, you will NOT be able to use one foot for 80% of the song. There are too many arrows and you will regret not learning to use both feet.
3) Learn to "crossover" as early as possible. You will see songs with step patterns such as *Right - Down - Left*. The obvious solution to stepping this is to use your right foot on the Right arrow, the right foot for the down arrow, adn the left for the left arrow....well, what if you have to do it very quickly? That right foot can't hit two arrows as precisely, one after another.
Solution: Pivot your body and switch feet for each step. Step it like so:
Right foot: Right arrow
Left foot: Down arrow
Right foot: Left arrow
YES: Use the right foot on the left arrow in situations like this, if the following steps allow it (otherwise you may be put into a situation where you need to spin to keep a good flow going, which isn't always a bad idea but it takes getting used to!).
Your right foot will cross in front of your left foot and you will be facing left. From here, you can set up for the next steps.
Don't think you will play DDR facing your body forward all the time. It's not going to happen if you want the high scores. B)
4) Don't be afraid to put in steps that aren't part of the dance pattern you see on the screen. If it helps you keep the beat by tapping arrows when you don't see any, go ahead! If you have a run of arrows with a short break before another run, maybe tapping arrows of the rhythm you were just playing will help improve your timing precision, depending on the playing style you have. I do this sometimes. The trick is to do it in such a way that it doesn't make the song harder. In other words, pick rhythms and arrow combinations that don't complicate the flow of the steps in the pattern.
5)Don't continue to play songs that are too hard. Focus on getting high scores on songs that don't tire you out too fast or cause you to miss sections of the song. If you can get high scores on the moderate (to you) songs, you will have the fundamentals to succeed in the higher-difficulty songs. If you say a B or C grade is good enough on a song you find reasonably simple, and try to move on, you will have a very hard time with the next difficulty up. If you can play a difficulty until you get consistant A or AA (or AAA if you're at that level, but if you're AAAing anything, this beginner guide probably won't help you much :p) grades, the next difficulty will seem so much simpler because you can nail the rhythms and step patterns of the easier stuff. If some stuff has you stumped on a certain difficulty, back down one or two difficulty points and see if you can A or AA those songs. If not, you know what will help you succeed. ;)
:cry2 I miss playing DDR, so very much. :cry2
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Well, I just played DDR:HP for the last 45 minutes, and I can tell you that this is THE toughest DDR yet!
You not only have to step in time with the music, but you also have to shake the Wiimote/Nunchuck at certian times, avoid Dance Destructors and be ready for the Double Step, Screen Blocker and Step Confuser.
Notes:
Dance Destructors kill your Dance Guage if you hit them.
With Double Step, you have to be ready to step twice in a row.
If you miss the Screen Blocker, your screen will be blocked for a few seconds, which WILL hurt your score.
Step Confuser will continuously spin and go to different arrows at random to fool you. Keep an eye on it. ;)
On top of that, you select the song with the Wiimote, which is rather sensitive in this game, and the difficulty with the Nunchuck.
I like going with Random as the music choice, because you never know what's going to come up. It always keeps you guessing and makes it more fun. :)
Excellent tip for Beginners with this one, practice the song 1,2, Step. It's great training for timing with the Wiimote/Nunchuck. :D
Whew! I'm definately out of shape. To be honest, I haven't played this in months at the arcade. I need to take a break for now. I'm worn out! -_-
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I always wanted to get into Dance Dance Revolution, but I never seem to have gotten a chance to get into it. But now with Dance Dance Revolution: Hot Party being released, I'm gonna try to get into the series with that one. I've played it before and I admit I'm horrible at it XD
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I'm fairly good at DDR. I can't really get past the easiest levels though. I got DDR: Hottest Party for my Wii and that's really fun. Though it's kind of tough for me to use the hand markers with the Wii remote and Nunchuck because sometimes I get a response and sometimes I don't. So I just go to the options and turn it off. XD
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I would probably end up turning off the hand controls too. I won't say for sure until I try it though! ;)
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Thnx for the tips, action9000! I'll consider that. Matter fact I'm almost good playing in Light level.
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Woohoo!! :D
I have received a reason to believe that my friends and I *may* have a full-fledged Stepmania setup by January! :D :D
While there isn't any room in my house for Stepmania controllers, a friend of mine is willing to volunteer his basement for setting up a DDR/Stepmania game. He will be getting a dance pad for Christmas. All I need to do is split the cost of another one with a 3rd member of our group (about $175 each, for a total of $350 roughly per dance pad, depending on the exchange rate at the time), haul an old computer out of my basement (my ex-web server actually :p), install Stepmania on it and we're good to go!
Back to DDR in 3 months baby! :wow :wow I'll be 100% sure to take pics and videos as this project progresses. It won't be pretty but it will sure work!
Me happy! :lol
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GENERAL NOTICE to anyone who buys DDR Hottest Party for the Wii, or ANY other DDR/Stepmania game:
Please read! What to consider before buying DDR!
From what I understand, the Wii game includes a soft dance pad controller. I do feel that I should mention that soft dance pads are known to have short life spans. This is not just coming from myself; I used to belong to an online DDR community (I'm still a member on a couple of sites but I'm not very active, since I can't play at home anymore) who would generally say the same thing.
When I first got into DDR, I bought the PS2 version of DDR Max (yeah, this was awhile ago :p) and ordered a couple of soft dance pads online. They worked very well for...about a week or two.
After this time, I started having problems with the controller responding sometimes; not always, but just enough that it was difficult to keep a full combo in a song. I generally ignored it, just hoping it wouldn't get any worse. After all, I was only learning and still a long way from being "good". I was playing 4 and 5-difficulty songs at the time, and full comboing them from time to time.
After a month of playing, one of my soft pads completely failed on me. The other pad, which had much less use (only when friends were there) was still in okay condition, but not perfect. Within 2 and a half months, I was DDR-pad-less. Both pads had become completely useless, from playing only a small portion of harder songs. I wasn't good enough to handle the hard songs, yet the pads still crumpled under the stress of being played on for a couple of months.
To continue this story, I was a little ticked for spending nearly $150 on two soft pads (they were padded and not cheap-quality pads to begin with!) and having them die on me so soon. I was aware that other dance pad designs were available, at a variety of costs but didn't want to spend the extra for the higher-quality dance pads, especially since I was just starting off and didn't know how long I'd stick with it.
Feeling deprived of DDR, I invested in a set of metal-construction DDR pads, which ran nearly $200 per controller, totalling $400 for the set. I figured, hey, Im' playing the game *A LOT* and I need the quality obviously, and I couldn't afford the $950 (now $750 due to the USA/Canada exchange rate) dance pad set I was drooling over at the time. I received these metal hard pads and was absolutely in love with them...until I opened the box. The construction, while definitely hard and metal, was flimsy and a bit cheap. It is Highly unrecommended to play on these metal dance pads on carpet (which I was) without putting a piece of plywood underneath, otherwise the frame would bend and warp out of shape over time....so off to the hardware store I go with the measurements for the plywood...
Okay, I have it all set up. Wait a minute! The response on these pads is terrible! You have to press the arrows so hard and they don't work half the time; what's going on! I unscrew one of the arrow panels and look at the metal contact sensor for the arrow...the "sensor" on the panel is made of TIN FOIL! So, back to the hardware store I go, with my measurements, to pick up squares of sheet metal to replace the useless contacts that come with the pads. Okay, NOW I'm done with the modifications and I think I'm ready to play...Yes, I'm finally ready to play.
They work fine for a few weeks, not absolutely perfect but acceptably good. Within a month, I crack one of the plastic (cheap plastic, I might add!) arrows. It's still useable but it looks very...not pretty. I resort to using grey duct-tape to patch up the crack and keep playing. Over time, response becomes steadily worse and worse. There is a critical design flaw in these dance pads: The electronics are housed under the back-right square of the pad, where a lot of stress is put for long periods of time. These electronics and wiring simply become damaged over time and use; I tried to patch it up with my limited electronics knowledge and skill but it was no use; these pads were fit for the garbage as well.
Oh, did I mention the metal frame was starting to warp anyway, even with the plywood modification? :p
Great, now I'm DDR Pad-less again...and my birthday is coming up soon. I wanted to have a DDR party at my birthday but I'm suddenly padless! I rush out to a games store and buy a couple of cheap soft pads for the party (which, if I may mention, were completely useless within a week..they just didn't respond anymore). This worked well enough but they obviously weren't a solution.
$45 (for 2) Soft pads with no padding inside: both Died within a week
$140 (for 2) Soft pads with foam padding: both Died within 2 months
$400 (for 2) Metal pads: both Died within 3 months (but better performance than the previous soft pads while they did work).
All this time, I was still drooling over the "high-performance" dance controllers from Cobalt Flux (http://www.cobaltflux.com) but I couldn't handle the insanely high price tag...but it was my birthday coming up! My mom knew how much I was into DDR and she saw me go through all this trouble with my previous dance pads. She bought me one of the Cobalt Flux pads as a birthday gift and I bought the 2nd one myself (discount if you get the set of 2). Within a month, they were custom-built and arrived at my door. From the instant I played on these things, I knew they were a very different beast; big, solid, heavy, and TOUGH! There is nothing flimsy about them: build on a solid hardwood base, the electronics are all sealed within an external control box which connects to the pad itself...basically, there's nothing to break on these things! I have pulled off combos in the thousands without the pad messing up, and it can withstand the hardest songs I can survive (I can (well...could...on my absolute peak days...)pass the hardest song on DDR Extreme, so that's saying quite a bit for these pads!) Solid copper and sheet metal sensors with adjustable sensitivity by loosening and tightening a few screws (try not to strip these screws because you have to undo them to clean the contacts). The arrow panels are all made of lexan plastic, which is basically bulletproof, quite literally. It never showed any signs of cracking, even after all those years. And carpet? No problem. The wooden base withstood all our years of punishment on carpet! My friends and I enjoyed the set of 2 for nearly 3 YEARS with a couple of minor repairs and the usual maintenance (cleaning the electrical contacts every month or so. It's an easy job). When I finally sold the pads, they were still in perfectly good-working order and looked basically like new (just not as shiny, from being stepped on for 3 years). I just didn't have anywhere to use them, I had a friend come up to me and ask to buy them and I needed the money, so I sold them.
The moral to this story?
IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE IN THIS POST, READ THIS:
$45 (for 2) Soft pads with no padding inside: both Died within a week
$140 (for 2) Soft pads with foam padding: both Died within 2 months
$400 (for 2) Metal pads: both Died within 3 months (but better performance than the previous soft pads while they did work).
$950 ((now $750) for 2 + shipping)) Cobalt Flux high-performance pads: Still live on! I've talked to the friend I sold mine to and they still work! :D They must be 5 years old by now.
If you want to play more than a couple of hours a week, you need *good* dance pads or you'll have nothing but trouble. Please consider the costs of replacement dance pads before investing in a DDR setup in your home. I can't guarantee that the soft pads that may come with your game will last you until your DDR career is over.
Bottom line: If you plan to upgrade DDR controllers, I recommend Cobalt Flux and ONLY Cobalt Flux. Feel free to look elsewhere for other opinions but CF pads are the only ones I will trust after my very expensive experience.
The other cheaper option? Build your own! Get a PS2 controller, tear the electronics out of it and build your own DDR controller around it. You can do this for less than half the cost of a CF pad...if you think you can handle the job. B)
Most DDR pads are sold as PS2 controllers. If you plan to use them with a PC for Stepmania, adapters do exist to convert PS2 controllers to USB controllers. This is how I connected my pads to Stepmania. Such adapters are difficult to find in retail stores however, and generally can only be found online.
Sorry if I sound like a walking billboard...I'm just throwing out these thoughts before somebody gets themselves in too deep with DDR. Due to the nature of the game, electronics are bound to get beaten around a little bit; I just wanted to expose everyone to the ins and outs of the DDR controller world and how some DDR controllers (fail to) address this situation.
ALSO NOTE that I haven't been the DDR controller market for a couple of years. Maybe the new soft and metal pads are better than they were 3 or 4 years ago. If that's the case, completely disregard everything I said :p. I just know I had bad luck with DDR pads.
That being said: DDR is fun! :D I've been deprived of DDR for over a year! Grrrr...*hopes to get it back soon...*
Any questions, feel free to throw them my way! :)
Funny side story:
I pulled a little practical joke on a friend one day. I invited him over for DDR, but I had a special..treat for him: I furniture-polished one of the DDR pads so it was niiice and slick. Of course, 3 guesses which pad I had him play on! :lol:
:lol I enjoyed that. :P:
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Best I've ever done is a C on Copa de la Vida and that was light. :lol: I'm not very good at it. At least I've tried in good spirits.
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Here's a tiny video of my DDR nerdiness :p
I loaded up my records on my PS2 version of DDR Max, where all of my long-term records are kept. This video scrolls through the records, with Single - Light, standard, heavy on the left 3 columns, and Doubles - Light, Standard, heavy on the right 3 colums.
I never was too good at doubles, as you can see :p
I only have one "A" to get rid of on the Singles side though! :D
http://www.driveway.com/phqdz84932 (http://www.driveway.com/phqdz84932)
Please note: these were all played on a DDR pad, not on a PS2 controller. I'm actually better on a DDR pad than on a PS2 controller! :p
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DDR is pretty fun. I first time i've ever played a DDR game was Mario Mix. I got pretty good at that game but i realize that its also one of, if not, the easiest DDR games.
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The Disney mix is another easy DDR game. They used to have Disney mix at a local laser tag center (until they switched it out for DDR Extreme). I was able to get the highest possible score on the hardest song in Disney mix...yeah, it's an easy DDR. DDR Extreme takes some serious skill to get a good score on its hardest song. My best on DDR extreme's hardest song, "Paranoia Survivor max" on Challenge difficulty is a B, and I fail it about half the time. It's absolutely BRUTAL.
I've seen and heard of people getting AAs on that song, and single-digit great counts...dang close to a AAA... :blink:
How? Serious physical conditioning I'm sure doesn't hurt. This song is a major stamina burner. While technically a 10 difficulty, it's generally considered an 11.
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Woooooo! Okay, let the fun begin! :D :lol
My friend and I ordered a couple of DDR pads (controllers) a month ago, and they Finally arrived at my friend's house yesterday! :D Here's a picture of what we have right now. We'll upgrade the TV and speakers as we can but this works fine in the mean time:
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/action9000/DDRBACK005.jpg)
I hijacked my old web server and turned it into a DDR (well, Stepmania) machine :p oh, and don't mind the exercize ball...that's unrelated (though I KNOW *somebody* will think it funny to chuck it at a DDR player, resulting in something amusing)! B)
The DDR pads are from http://www.cobaltflux.com (http://www.cobaltflux.com)
Anyway, video time! I've hardly played DDR in the past couple of years, so I'm *really* rusty and out of shape (and it shows in my scores LOL)! That being said, I was amazed that I could pass some songs that I did. Unfortunately due to the size of the monitor, I wasn't able to get the screen and me on the camera at the same time, so the video focuses on me until the end of the song, when I grab the camera and show the final score.
Here are a few videos of me on the DDR pads after a year of abstinence :lol . And yes, I do play DDR in socks. :p and yes, I'm really out-of-shape! :lol: :slap
Starchild, Heavy difficulty (8/10 difficulty) (http://www.driveway.com/hhldx26672) (full combo!)
Max300, Heavy difficulty (10/10 difficulty) (http://www.driveway.com/qjodd35268)
Paranoia Survivor, Heavy difficulty (10/10 difficulty) (http://www.driveway.com/hfjde62433)
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I only saw the first video, but i can safely say that your better then me, as i've only gotten into DDR just recently. I should get back into playing it, such good excercise :lol , for me anyways.
EDIT: Those Dance Pads are $280 :wow . I was thinking of maybe getting one, but know im not too sure. I'm not a big enough DDRer.
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EDIT: Those Dance Pads are $280
Plus shipping plus taxes..>We were looking at about $350-380 each after all that. :cry :(
EDIT: You're in basically the same location as I am so I suspect our shipping costs ($48 each) will be the same.
You can get softer/cheaper dance pads elsewhere, starting at low as about $30 each...but you do get what you pay for. See my post above for details.
EB Games and Future Shop sell cheap DDR pads if you want something to start on. :yes It looks like at least one of the Future Shops here is selling a metal dance pad though I can't guaratee its quality.
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Never played until today. I need to get good at it. There is a DDR club at my school now. I am definitely joining.
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This type of game has never had much appeal to me. :p If I need exercise THAt bad, there are other means that are bound to be better than this. Mabey not quite as fun, but, you know, more healthy and... better. :p
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I really need to get back into this. I only stopped because the pad was frusterating me. Why? It wouldn't stay in one place! :angry: (Totally messed me up.)
I'm going to need something to hold it down. -_-
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I'm going to need something to hold it down.
There are a few tried and true ways of doing this, my friend. :)
Are you playing on carpet or hard floor? If you're on carpet, try picking up some velcro strips with adhesive on one side. You can buy it here for about $5 per meter. One meter (about 3 feet) per pad should do it. Adhere it to the bottom of the pad and the velcro will hold the pad in place on the carpet. This is how I got around this problem.
If you're on a hard floor, perhaps an anti-slip material adhered to the bottom of the pad will be useful.
In either situation, a rough and dirty solution: Duct tape! Tape the pad to the floor surface (works on carpet or hard floor). With enough tape, trust me - the pads won't go anywhere. B) I've done this. It honestly works. :wow
If I need exercise THAt bad, there are other means that are bound to be better than this. Mabey not quite as fun, but, you know, more healthy and... better.
I was in the best shape of my life back when I played DDR regularly! :P: It's true, there are better ways to get exercise. I'm not a total health nut, myself. As long as I'm in good enough shape to *look* like I'm in okay shape and *feel* like I'm in okay shape, that's good enough for me. DDR could do that for me. When it comes to exercise, I like to find something that entertains me at the same time and DDR did a great job of that. I didn't even have to go outside (where it's cold 8 months of the year! :p) :lol
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I just got home from playing StepMania about two hours ago.
I went for fifteen straight rounds non-stop. I started with a lot of E's, then I did this one song that was not extremely difficult and got a B.
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I have a question: what brand of DDR pad would you recommend?
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I have a question: what brand of DDR pad would you recommend?
I have used many different DDR pads; cheap soft, expensive soft, cheap hard (metal) and expensive hard. I'll try to give you the best advice I can. :)
The (bad) news here is simple:
The more it costs, the better it is, when it comes to DDR pads. Now here's the worse news: The cheapest pads are all but useless. They fail to function properly after mere hours of moderate use and are not 100% reliable from the start.
Choosing a DDR pad depends on many, many factors, including
1) Your skill level. Playing harder songs requires a better DDR pad, as the cheaper ones break down quick and respond poorly on the quick steps. Also, soft pads tend to bunch/fold up while playing extremely hard songs (8+ difficulty are the main concerns). Think of stepping on a DDR pad as driving a car. Each step puts "miles" on the pad. Cheap pads can only handle so many miles before they break down. The high-end pads will keep going and going and going...I have a friend who I sold my old high-end hard pads to. They've been used heavily for over 5 years and still work great...I've also owned pads that died within a month. Quality is EVERYTHING.
2) The amount of playing you intend to do (1 hour a week? 5 hours a week? 1 hour a day? 4 hours a day?)
3) How much physical space you have, including the amount of available store space you have for the DDR pads when not in use. (Hard pads take up more space and need large storage quarters or need to be left in the playing area permanently if storage is not required/possible. Metal pads with built-on bars take up yet even MORE space.)
4) Your dedication. Do you intend to keep playing in 3 months? 6 months? 1 year? 2 years?
5) Noise. Soft DDR pads are much quieter when played on than hard DDR pads. Apartment dwellers and other specific cases may need to consider this.
6) How much work are you willing to do? Some cheaper metal pads require modifications before they are very usable. If you're very ambitious, you can a PS2 controller and build your own DDR pad from that circuit board.
Soft pads are the lowest maintenance but the least reliable overall. Hard pads all require some basic maintenance, such as cleaning of the electrical contacts every couple of months or so (typically very easy to do), depending on how much you play.
7) Are you playing on carpet or a hard floor (relates back to modifying some hard pads, as well as noise)?
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I started with a lot of E's, then I did this one song that was not extremely difficult and got a B.
If I can get an idea of your skill level and amount of playing you intend to do, I can direct you better. What difficulty (on the DDR game scale of 1 foot to 10 feet, or in terms of "light", "standard" or "heavy" if that's easier) were the songs you attempted?
Here's a basic "pad choice" system I'll post up for now, until I get some more details from you:
Soft Pads
If you are not sure how long you will stick with the game and don't intend to play often at all (maybe once or twice a week for short sessions), a good starting place is around the $40 mark, per pad. This is the absolute cheapest pad I am willing to recommend to anyone. Going any cheaper than this is asking for trouble.
This is a soft DDR pad with a thin foam insert.
http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsxpt.html (http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsxpt.html)
Bear in mind that going with such a cheap pad will demand a sacrifice if you end up playing a lot. This pad will not stand up to a player who spends 2 hours a day every day, gradually getting up the 6+ difficulty standard/heavy songs. Playing songs of difficulty about 6 or higher will wear this pad out fairly quickly.
Even 4s and 5s will take their toll on this pad over a relatively short time.
My guesses on Life expectancy:
for light usage: 6 months to a year, if handled carefully.
for moderate usage: 2 to 6 months. Could maybe be stretched a little longer.
for heavy usage: 1 to 2 months. I'd be amazed if it lasted a regular, fairly skilled player more than 2 months. A skilled player would also become annoyed with its inaccuracy, which gets steadily worse over time in many soft pads.
Symptoms of wearing out: some buttons become overly sensitive and may be triggered by stepping in places outside of the arrow graphic zone. buttons may stick on or off. Eventually, arrows will stop responding consistantly and eventually wear out completely.
Conclusion: good for a beginner.
High-end Soft Pads
Going up a level, if you want a solid place to start a DDR setup in your house, here's where I'd recommend starting. This price bracket is approximate $80 per pad.
http://www.redoctane.com/ignitionpadv3.html (http://www.redoctane.com/ignitionpadv3.html)
This is a high-quality soft DDR pad with nice, thick foam inserts. The nice thing about these pads is that the foam is high-density and will not sag over time unless the pad is used very heavily for a long time (years, perhaps). The overall sensitivity of the sensors on this pad is significantly better than the cheaper model above.
LIFESPAN:
light use: a year+
moderate use: 8 months to a year+
heavy use: 4 months to a year+
Symptoms of failure: Same as other soft pads.
conclusion: good for a beginner, light or standard-level player. Also useful for a moderately advanced player if more expensive solutions are not possible.
If you feel ambitious or you have a bit of money to work with, you can step up to the metal pads. Bear in mind that all but the most expensive hard pads will require some degree of modification and patience, which I will explain in some detail later.
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Hard Pads
The price bracket between the soft DDR pads and the so-called "Metal" DDR pads is the "hard DDR pad" in the $90 to $140 range. My advice:
Steer clear! These pads, while the sensors are good (though they're an odd shape and size...) and they are immune to the buckling and folding problems when playing fast songs on soft pads, these pads are Weak and break Easily! If a pad looks like this:
http://www.mymybox.com/ddrhd4.html (http://www.mymybox.com/ddrhd4.html)
Do NOT buy it!
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Metal Pads
Moving on to the next, and most expensive bracket of DDR pads: Metal pads. B)
NOTE: If you intend to buy metal pads, you need to go all-out. You are better off buying a good, high-end soft pad than buying a cheap metal pad!
Metal pads got the name because they contain metal elements in the frame and overall construction of the pad. In the case of some high-end models, the base is mainly wood, with metal reinforcements. These are also considered "metal" pads.
Here is an example of what I would NOT recommend:
http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmt6.html (http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmt6.html)
This metal pad sells for $150 and is an absolute nightmare...I owned two of these. STAY CLEAR unless you have a very good reason to pick this up over a high-end soft pad! They require excessive modifying to even be useful (even MORE modding if you're playing on a carpetted floor), the arrow panels are made of relatively weak plastic and actually crack after moderate/heavy use.
This pad might be okay for a beginner who doesn't mind having to modify the electrical contacts and clean the pad's internals regularily...Admittedly, once the electrical modifications have been made, this pad is MORE sensitive than any soft pad I have played on...while it lasted.
LIFESPAN:
light use: 1 year+
moderate use: 1 year+ IF You Don't Stomp on the pads too hard
heavy use: 1 to 3 months.
EFFECTS of wearing out: Immediate failure of one or more arrows with little indication, functioning perfectly before one or more arrows refuses to function properly at all. Very good quality, while it lasts but the lifespan is very short for such a high investment. The pads also absolutely require modifying to be usable.
There is a pad that looks similar to this one but it's cheaper and of even LOWER quality. If it looks anything like this one, be aware of this information!
Conclusion: Ideal for a fairly rich beginner who is willing to donate a few hours to ripping the pad apart and applying some modifications. Not for an advanced player or a stomper (the panels break easily).
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High-end metal pads:
If you have the money and intend to become a regular DDR player over a fairly long-term, this is my personal recommendation. The cost/quality ratio on this pad is fantastic. The downside is that these sell for $300 each...
http://www.cobaltflux.com/site/products_cobalt.htm (http://www.cobaltflux.com/site/products_cobalt.htm)
These are the cheapest high-end pads right now, and I honestly couldn't ask for anything more. I have split two of these with a few friends, and I used to own 2 more of them. The only reason I got rid of my old ones is because I had no use for them at the time so I sold them to a friend. They still work just like new, requiring minimal maintenance (taking off the arrow panels every few months, and just wipe down the electrical contacts). The arrow panels simply DO NOT crack or break. The panels could probably stop a small bullet if they had to. :p
Lifespan: Many years
Relability: Excellent. I've gotten combos in the thousands on these pads without a single unrecorded step. I have also AAA'd many a song on these things.
Symptoms of wearing: Unknown. I've never had one wear out. I would expect the worst that could happen is a broken wire but even that's fixable with a little effort. There's really nothing on these pads that CAN break.
If insensitivity occurs, a simple cleaning and/or adjusting the arrow panel's screws have always solved it.
Conclusion: Expensive for a beginner but ideal for an advanced player.
They have even more high-end models if the situation calls for it and you have money to burn. I have no experience with any of these:
http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsgxg.html (http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsgxg.html)
Here's a high-end metal pad with a bar included:
http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsgxg365.html (http://www.mymybox.com/ddrmbsgxg365.html)
FINAL CONCLUSION:
There is no good, reliable solution for an advanced player who can't spend $300 on a DDR pad. Soft pads break down and suffer various issues on the hardest songs and cheap metal pads are not sturdy enough.
For a beginner, there are many options, depending on your budget and you needs.
For an intermediate level player, stick with high-end soft pads until you can afford a high-end metal set. The cheap metals aren't worth it.
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They aren't for me alone. They are for the DDR club at my school. We are trying to raise money to get some new pads. I think that high-end hard pads would be best.
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For a school setting, I agree. These:
http://www.cobaltflux.com/site/products_cobalt.htm (http://www.cobaltflux.com/site/products_cobalt.htm)
Are probably the way to go if you can manage. B)
[EDIT] it depends on how hardcore your group is, but Cobalt Flux offers this mod:
https://www.cobaltflux.com/sunshop/index.ph...d=2&prevstart=0 (https://www.cobaltflux.com/sunshop/index.php?action=item&id=16&prevaction=category&previd=2&prevstart=0)
if you demand it. Basically it recesses the arrows, creating a more arcade-like feel than the flat top of the original design.
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Cobalt Flux also offers a school/commercial line of DDR pads as well, though I am not sure of the cost. Here's the website.
http://www.cobaltflux.com/commercial/produ...olplatform.html (http://www.cobaltflux.com/commercial/products/schoolplatform.html)
They're more designed for a phys-ed. teacher looking to incorporate DDR into the course than for a club of students though, I would think.
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Thanks. We will probably get the Cobalt Flux. But I was websurfing and I found some good pads with the bar. The two best players (one is literally godly) use chairs, but bars would be nice.
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The only thing I really have to say to this is that I miss what happened to DDR. They started making it a "Challenge" oriented game. Whatever happened to that golden play system where you play so many songs on a certain difficulty and more songs would just kinda open up? Now they have all these really weird, and in my opinion stupid, challenges that you have to pursue just to get one step closer to having the full soundtrack of the game you just bought. I mean come on: "Get this grade on this song on this difficulty." "Get this much of a combo on this song on this difficulty." "Don't hit the left and right arrows." ????????
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Well, I just like StepMania. The benefit is that you can turn all of those annoying features off. And you can upload songs and step charts that you create. That, coupled with a pair of metal dance pads bought on eBay, is what everybody at my school's DDR club do.
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I agree, SM is awesome...some of the stepcharts hurt my head to think about though. At least the ones that people make for the fingers...and the even crazier people who do the fingercharts with their feet...
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That is what I do, along with the other members of the DDR club at my school. We attach some metal pads to a computer with StepMania installed, then we play.
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Wow, this little podunk town would go crazy if something like that was even thought of.
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We are trying to get a website up. Once we get the green light, we can begin the web page. I'll post the link so you can see what we do.
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Well, the DDR club at my school got shut down due to legal issues. A shame. I liked playing DDR after school.
Anyways, I have found a way to get the work-out from DDR without pads and still pass a song! I recently duck taped my wireless keyboard to an old belt I had and slung it over my shoulder. I then reconfigured some of the keys on Stepmania to make it easier to play with on a keyboard that is vertical. Then, I can select songs and dance to them with my feet, while hitting the notes with my hands. I ust finished a thirty minute work-out from this. It was great. I felt just like I finished playing a real game of DDR. The photo of it is at the "Picture of Yourself" thread.