Dance Dance Revolution

[Drakstern]

Just got done playing a bit of it, and I was wondering if there were any other players on the board?

Mostly because talking to people about how badly I'm getting stomped by new songs I'm trying helps me keep trying. :p

Currently being stomped upon by Healing Vision on Standard. Those tempo changes kill me...

[Kusanagi]

Wait till you move up to Heavy. First 8-footer I ever passed.

I loves me some DDR.

[Drakstern]

Heh, I've done a few heavies. Mostly slower stuff, haven't managed an 8-footer... I think 7's the most I've finished, with the hardest of those being Can't Stop Falling in Love(Speed Mix) standard or Wild Rush(somethingsomethingmix) Challenge.

I mostly play at home(the only places that have the machines around here suck, though Gameworks apparently got Supernova in), so I just got the game w/Healing Vision back. Love the song, hate the stepchart.

[Kogarashi]

I currently have DDR Extreme 2 for my PS2 so I can exercise at home (especially after the baby's born). I'm actually a fan of Pump it UP, but the only place I've seen a PiU machine was the university arcade out in Utah. ::sigh::

Unfortunately, my progress through Dance Master Mode on DDR E2 has been halted due to my current inability to do fast steps and jumping.

[Kusanagi]

Poor kid probably thinks there's an earthquake :p

I have done a few 9 footers and I can pass Bag on 3x speed, which is a 10 footer. I have also passed Sakura - once. :)

[ShockQueen]

I had my first experience with DDRMAX on the PS2. I hook up the dancepads sometimes, but other times, I test my twitch muscles on the controllers. I actually chained MAX 300 on the controllers.............ONCE.

I'd try that one with the pads, but I'm not ready to break my legs yet. ;)

[Ringtail Z28]

Closest thing I've played to DDR was Punchmania 1 and 2. Same idea but played by punching pads instead of stepping on them. It caught my attention because it's based on Fist of the North Star.

[thegiraffe]

Haha - I'm convinved that if I tried DDR, I'd have to untie my legs. I have zero coordination lol.

[Banrion]

We got DDR for my mom when she said she wanted to exercise at home. Now it's a family sport, my brother is the best he's actually mastered a few. I am hopelessly uncoordinated but I have fun anyway. My dad uses what we have coined "The Stork Method". He plants his left foot in the center of the mat, and swings his right foot around to all the spots. HILARIOUS!! Mom just takes it easy, bad knees and all, but she has fun, and it does get her up and moving which was the goal in the first place. We have 2 mats, so whenever there's a party the DDR comes out.

[Kogarashi]

We need to save up some cash and get ourselves a second mat. Meanwhile, the game is good aerobic exercise, which is really what I need.

Though speaking of introductions to old DDR predecessors/clones, does that NES track game with the running mat count?

[RapidPad0]

I love DDR! It spread like cancer a couple years ago over here and whenever there's a cluster of people in the place who play the DDR gets dragged out. It's a blast. It's the best method of exercise at home I've seen so far, it's so damn fun!

[booger]

I have DDR Max 2 for the PS2. My husband was using it for exercise because he's trying to be more active and lose a few pounds. He actually lost 5 lbs. playing the game. But now he has an exercise game that uses the Itoy camera (I think that's what it's called), and he loves it. I tried the exercise game, and it's actually great exercise without all the jumping around that DDR inevitably involves. I don't worry about bothering my downstairs neighbors like I was always worried about with DDR.

I still love playing my DDR when the neighbors aren't home though! My husband broke the down arrow on one of my dance pads...so I need to get a new one. I don't like the pad it came with because I have big feet so it's hard to hit the right arrows sometimes.

[stormtreader]

What was the exercise game that you got?
Ive just bought a PS2 for guitar hero, and dont know any of the good games for it yet :D

Are the DDR mats for the PS2 any good? I had a cheap one for my pc, but it never worked properly :(

[Kogarashi]

Generally, if you're nice to the mats, they'll last a while. Don't tug the cords, don't stomp on the mats too hard, and make sure that if you fold them back up, you fold along the same creases that are in them from being originally packaged. Or you could slide them flat under your couch (assuming your couch is high enough off the ground and/or deep enough for an unfolded DDR mat. There are apparently some really sturdy, really nice ones, but they run $300 or so instead of the $20 ones you can get at just about any game store.

Booger: luckily for me, I am the downstairs neighbor. And I make sure only to play during decent daytime hours, which are pretty much fair game in our complex (luckily, none of the neighbors work a night shift. If they did, we'd obviously work out some sort of schedule for noise).

[AFpheonix]

I used to play it, but I had the pad folded up nicely in a corner of my room one day, and my sister's dalmatian heard the kids next door shooting for target practice (or just shooting and smoking pot, which is what I really think is going on down there). Unfortunately when she heard loud noises, she'd freak out and go try to dig somewhere, and she chose to dig to china through my DDR mat :( I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.

[Sunsetsky]

One of my friends has that game. We sometimes play it when I go to her house. I really suck at it. She's having a halloween party tonight and we'll probably play it...I always lose. But it's fun to play.

[Seanette]

Would anyone know if this game is reasonable for someone with hip problems? I could really use the exercise, but have to be careful about what my hips will put up with.

[Banrion]

In my opinion, this game would be OK as long as you take it easy, and don't let yourself go overboard. My mom has knee and back problems, and plays. She is not worried about the scores and never goes above the easy level. She skips the jumping in it's entirety. The problem is the music is good, and if you are like me, you will do all sorts of crazy stuff trying to beat your high scores. The game is 100% centered around a mat that has the up,down, left, right arrows that you stomp on with your feet, so the possibility for hip injury is high.

[Kusanagi]

Better yet, there's a PC program called StepMania that is a clone of DDR and you can download user created songs, stepcharts, along with the official tracks as well. I spent 20 dollars on an adapter to hook my Playstation controller to my computer and it's been alot of fun! Beats spending 50 bucks each time a new game comes out.

[Kogarashi]

Would anyone know if this game is reasonable for someone with hip problems? I could really use the exercise, but have to be careful about what my hips will put up with.

I agree with Banrion, it's easy to get carried away and injure your hips, but if you consciously take it easy, it should be safe enough. If you focus on the easy songs and turn off the quick step and jump settings (the newer games should have these), you should be fine.