DDR for xbox 360 - which one (and "none" don't count)

vegas-steven

Ok so my wife wants to get into DDR. She is playing bayonetta and wants DDR. Backwards move but everyone loves a wife who stays thin (ha!)

anyhow, seems I can get most versions except the first one for like, $30 for a mat and game, but which version is best for a newcomer?

I already ruled out the third because the songs are terrible. Any suggestions?

SniperGuy

Everyone's going to tell you to get a hard shell mat. Or at least a bit of plywood or something to put underneath it. And they are correct.

vegas-steven

SniperGuy wrote: »

Everyone's going to tell you to get a hard shell mat. Or at least a bit of plywood or something to put underneath it. And they are correct.

Can't afford an expensive mat but I'm thinking plywood with linoleum on top may work and afix the mat to that?

fragglefart

I got a 360 DDR game but didn't really get on with it.

Any way to push her towards Rock Band for her rhythm needs or must it feature dancing? :P

Maybe some crazy dance-type games will arrive with Natal later this year.

Bartholamue

Can you reconsider Universe 3? It's been called the best CS release in years, and I agree.

UnbreakableVow

DDR Universe 2 is the best one on 360 for newcomers to start on, honestly

The original Universe is a piece of shit, mainly because unlocking songs is a total pain in the ass

Get Universe 2

Lord Jezo

I'd recommend looking into getting some new pads if you are going to get serious about this. We have two 1" foam BNS pads. We aren't good enough for the metal ones but having these are a huge step up from the stuff that comes in the box. You might not think you need a new pad but the difference they make in game play is phenomenal.

http://www.buynshop.com/category/4985/

There are a lot of choices out there, hang out on the DDR forums to get some good suggestions

http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/

http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/

Do you like more American style music or more of a fan of the old arcade DDR style stuff, with tons of jpop and techno? If so the PS2 is the way to go, the imports are awesome.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-19-71-3-49-en-15-dance+dance+revolution-43-3.html

Many of the older ones are out of stock but you can find them around.

ArcSyn

Ok, seriously people?

Check out the song lists and find one that you like. Probably Universe 2. Then pick up a cheap $20 mat if one isn't included. Enjoy playing on it.

Don't even bother listening to anyone about mats until you find that your current cheap-o mat is not performing properly. That's when you should start worrying about plywood or foam inserts or whatever else people start talking about. I played DDR for over a year, over half of which between two hardest difficulties with standard $20 GameStop mats on carpet. Sure, they slid around a lot, but it worked fine. I was going to get a metal pad until I broke my ankle and couldn't play for months. But really, playing on beginner or easy and even through most songs on normal will not require anything more than the standard cheap plastic mat that comes with the game.

Kaseius

Coming into this thread lead me to follow a link to a website with DDR pads that someone posted, which then lead me to checking out other parts of their site, which lead me to seeing they had Dreamcast accessories, which lead me to looking up Dreamcast on Amazon, which made me realize that a lot of it isn't as expensive as I thought, then I noticed how much I wish I still had my Dreamcast, and now I added like 10 things to my wishlist to buy in the future. Along with the nostalgia along the way.

How did you do that.

vegas-steven

yeah, i understand that people dont like the standard pads but honestly it wont matter at first.
you can get the bundle for $30... thats cheap.

i guess i will go with ddr universe 2. sounds like one to get.

UEAKCrash

You can find the mats with the foam inserts on ebay for cheap usually. I think I paid $40 for two maybe 3 years ago. It wore out for sure, but it was 100x better than the cheapo ones without anything inside of it. It's not that big of a price difference but it makes a huge difference gameplay wise.

Arc, your experience at home is only with the standard mat I take it?

TDawg

vegas-steven wrote: »

yeah, i understand that people dont like the standard pads but honestly it wont matter at first.

The big pads are a big investment for a game your wife may not actually like that much. Start with the soft pad they give you in the bundle, and if she gets plays the game enough that the soft pad is not adequate then you can look into modifying the pad/upgrading.

cj iwakura

Are the oXbox DDRs BC? Because Ultramix 4 is phenomenal.

Prodigy!


And yeah, if you're going to play at anything above Standard, those soft pads will not cut it.


The fusions with the foam inserts aren't that costly at all, and very much worth the investment for a serious player.

vegas-steven

cj iwakura wrote: »

Are the oXbox DDRs BC? Because Ultramix 4 is phenomenal.

Prodigy!


And yeah, if you're going to play at anything above Standard, those soft pads will not cut it.


The fusions with the foam inserts aren't that costly at all, and very much worth the investment for a serious player.

i have no idea what you just said.
i dont move my feet to arrows enough.

afaik it is DDR Universe 1-3 that are on the xbox.
thats all i can find on the internets.

and this may be a "ends up sitting in a box" sort of thing. i dont know that yet.
hell, maybe i will play it. i do not know.

cj iwakura

The original Xbox had four DDRs; the Ultramix games. They had a lot of great songs.

They may or may not work on the 360. Probably not.

ArcSyn

UEAKCrash wrote: »

Arc, your experience at home is only with the standard mat I take it?

Yeah, the basic el-cheapo GameStop pad for $20 that had GC/XBox/PS2 ports. I used it for GC and Wii. Friends of mine had pads with foam in it, and I've played on arcade and cobalt flux pads as well.

They slid around (by the end of a song on hard I'd end up maybe 3/4 of a pad away from where I started, where if I was playing on the hardest difficulty it would end up 1 1/2 pads away from where I started) a bit, but it wasn't too terrible and I compensated for it. Sometimes I'd have to quickly jump off, slide it back, and start up again if it started hitting the couch or chair and curl up. That's why I started looking up better pads, hoping that one of the metal pads had a Wii connection, but none did back when I was looking. I haven't looked in a while since I haven't played in a while and my ankle still bugs me if I play too long.

vegas-steven

ArcSyn wrote: »

UEAKCrash wrote: »

Arc, your experience at home is only with the standard mat I take it?

Yeah, the basic el-cheapo GameStop pad for $20 that had GC/XBox/PS2 ports. I used it for GC and Wii. Friends of mine had pads with foam in it, and I've played on arcade and cobalt flux pads as well.

They slid around (by the end of a song on hard I'd end up maybe 3/4 of a pad away from where I started, where if I was playing on the hardest difficulty it would end up 1 1/2 pads away from where I started) a bit, but it wasn't too terrible and I compensated for it. Sometimes I'd have to quickly jump off, slide it back, and start up again if it started hitting the couch or chair and curl up. That's why I started looking up better pads, hoping that one of the metal pads had a Wii connection, but none did back when I was looking. I haven't looked in a while since I haven't played in a while and my ankle still bugs me if I play too long.

carpet + velcro FTW!

ArcSyn

Velcro... That could have been a good idea so long as it doesn't tear up the carpet too much.

UnbreakableVow

ArcSyn wrote: »

Ok, seriously people?

Check out the song lists and find one that you like

No.

I can't vouch for Universe 3 because I haven't played it, and Universe 2 is much better about it, but Universe 1 really is a considerably worse game in how songs are played and unlocked.

Also people talking about DDR brings me back to days on the DDR Freak forums *hides in shame*

cj iwakura

At least Bemanistyle still exists. The DDR scene is pretty much dead, thanks to Konami's awful arcade versions. The only series that's stayed consistently good is Beatmania.

vegas-steven

From the song list I was leaning away from 3 and towards 1... Tha averages 2 tho.
Someone on amazon is selling 2+3 and a konami pad for $36.00 but it's the seller who u can't see where they're selling from etc etc but with 97% good feedback.