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Dance Dance Revolution
Katchem_ash
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I am trying to get this but I really don't know where to start.
What kind of pad would be good for this sort of game? I mean most of my family, my brother, sister and maybe my parents, would be playing this so we need to have something that won't break easily. DO they make first party brand or have some third party brand that is good?
Also what DDR game would be good for us to start? I was thinking any PS2 one or GC one, but if I have to get a 360 for it, I might as well in anycase.
What kind of pad would be good for this sort of game? I mean most of my family, my brother, sister and maybe my parents, would be playing this so we need to have something that won't break easily. DO they make first party brand or have some third party brand that is good?
Also what DDR game would be good for us to start? I was thinking any PS2 one or GC one, but if I have to get a 360 for it, I might as well in anycase.
Katchem_ash on
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My favorite version of DDR is probably either DDR Maxx or DDR Extreme 2. I think Maxx has the better gameplay mode.
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As far as pads go, I've had lots of trouble with all the cloth ones I've tried except for the Konami ones that are often bundeled with the games. Never played on any hard plastic ones, including at arcades. I've still got the origional pad that came with MAX2 when I bought it, in comparison I've gone thru 2 Mad Catz pads, and one wireless pad by someone called Naki-World.
I prefer DDRMAX2 or Extremem2 more techno on those and thats what i want to Dance Dance to.
R.I.P. Captain Jack and his CJ Boogie
Also what about the third party pads from EBGames? I have seen them returned a couple of times, but are they that bad?
Yes, yes they are. I'd say probably 80-90% of the time they're unresponsive, flimsy, all around terrible. Don't risk it. Either a Konami wires-in-a-trashbag mat or any of the more expensive ones will suit you fine. Just remember that if you get the Konami one, to somehow secure it to the floor. Duct tape, whatever. The thing slips around like crazy if you just let it sit on its own, especially once you get to the more hectic levels of the game.
As for the game itself, PS2 all the way, easily. Maxx, Maxx 2 and Extreme 2 are all good choices. Extreme gets the job done, but I don't care for the interface or the song choice, plus the lack of a dedicated workout mode. Be warned, however, that Maxx doesn't have a beginner mode, so if you're a real DDR newbie, hold off on that one.
Hope you can find a way to get into this game, because it really is great with the right setup, and beats pouring your wallet into an arcade machine any day.
Fellow Nerd Closing: Oha-lucky~
... Never had experience with EBpads. Sounds like they might be sketchy.
Don't buy madcatz. Peroid. They'll be toasted in like 2 weeks.
I've never liked wireless pads, even the Konami ones, they always felt like they had lag. But it could just be my imagination.
Extreme 2 is my favorite of the Max, Extreme, and Supernova.
GameStop pads will do you quite fine. Yes, they aren't the best, but for $20, you really won't find many other pads that are nicer, and since you guys are just starting out on the game, you won't be playing Standard or Heavy songs that will make the pad slide.
When you get good, then you'll face the choice of getting a better pad. That's when I agree with these guys that the GameStop ones are not that good. Granted, it's all I got, but they work fine for even Heavy songs. But you would probably do well to get something nicer like a $50-100 foam pad from RedOctane or similar brand to do some of the more difficult songs. If you are REALLY into DDR, then go with the Cobalt Flux as your pad of choice because those things are absolutely awesome and durable.
Summary:
Pick up Extreme 2, just play the regular mode, and not dance master at first, just to get to have fun and learn some songs. You could start on beginner, but I suggest light because beginner is so sparse that you don't really recognize any beats and you spend more time standing than moving.
Once you start to get the hang of songs, start up dance master mode. They start you off with low difficulty and easy songs and then work you up to harder songs. It's a great way to build your DDR skills.
If you can find a copy of Extreme 2 with pad for a decent price, go for it. If not, just pick up the game (new is like $20 or so) and a GameStop pad (also new for about $20) or two. If you get a bad pad, you can always return it and get another, but I've had no bad experience with either of mine (have 2) even though they are a little over a year old.
Enjoy!
I'm going to go ahead and disagree here. Now the pads aren't great by any means. I mean they're only 20 bucks. However they do work. In the entire time I've been selling them, I've only had like 2 comes back immediately because they didn't work. I've had a few more come back because they stopped working in a year period and the customer had the warranty and almost everyone gets the warranty on those. We sell crazy amounts of them during Christmas.
If you're going to be playing casually or just want a cheap pad, they aren't completely worthless. However I would still recommend a better pad if you want to make the investment. We use the RedOctane Ignition pad and have had no problems with it.
I know that there is a Extreme2 with pad sitting at my local EB/Gamestop, but I personally havn't seen any of the older games as bundles still sitting around. I'm pretty sure that since SuprNova came out recently that there is a bundle for it somewhere, but I havn't been looking for it so I might be wrong. eBay is actually a pretty good place to find 2 konami dance pads for relativly cheap, I've seen quite a few when I was looking for a wireless pad.
Do not get a 360 for it is the devil and there are no JRPGs coming out on it. Also, the DDR game is just barebones. Also, no JRPGs. And it's not japanese.
Regarding the dancemat, I bought a metal dancemat from a friend (he owns a video game store) and it is the best. Since I never played DDR on anything else though, I can't say how well "normal" dance mats perform.
Anyways I agree with getting the PS2 version, but if you're just getting into it, you might want to hold off on investing into a metal pad.
Or if you're industrious, you might want to make one for yourself.
Don't mind Klyka, it came late to the hate Katchem_ash bandwagon and is trying to catch up. You can ignore Klyka all you want though. It is pretty funny how Klyka seems to want attention.
I just told you to get a PS2 version cause these are superior and I also told you that metal dancemats are the best thing to play on.
If that is the hate bandwagon, I might as well sit on it all day.
Yeah, this comment is really helpful.
That's the helpful part.
The other part is playful teasing.
Teasing has a time and place. Teasing doesn't contitute you going to two threads "Teasing" me. One would be fine, but two is really pushing it in G&T.
And there are lost of sites around where you can improve/fix broken pads, thats what I did with my Konami pad. I started to wear out, so I opened it up, replaced some connection wires, added better foam, attached it to a peice of plywood, now it works better than ever.
I never went to any threads because of you,those were all threads I keep following.
And if I can post something there and see you posting before me, why not tease you a little?
And back to the DDR thing:
I honestly, without any jest, do not suggest you buy the 360 version.
It really is a barebones version compared to DDR games already released on the PS2 (or elsewhere).
You WILL have fun with it if you like DDR (which you obviously do) but it will have you crave for more.
And I don't think that there will be lots of downloadable content, that being the only plus the 360 version could have gotten.
And like I already said, the only dancemats I have experience with, are metal dancemats.
They are gorgeous but, as someone said earlier, probably "too much" for just a beginner.
Also, since I get that you want to play with someone else in two player mode, getting two metal mats might get a little to expensive.
So I recommend (as someone else also did) to look either on ebay or try to get a good pack (game + dancemats).
Have you guys ever looked inside one of those things before? The cheap ass soft pads I used originally stopped working, and my father was curious so he had me bring one over and we sliced it open. Three layers inside: Wires, Thin foam with small holes in it, and wires. It was unreal how wispy it was. I'm amazed those things are as accurate as they are.
I have a Cobalt Flux and could not be happier. I feel it's worth every penny spent on it since it's durable as all hell. I'd say they weight around 40 lbs. you can also build your own bar for it if you need to. I'm a huge nerd so that's what I did
And in any case, the best DDR mixes (I feel) are due to what songs they have and how much fun they generally are. In my experience I've found the best version to be Max 2 on ps2. it has the most notable awesome songs straight from the 8th mix Extreme arcade cabinet. My list from best to worst would go:
Max 2
Max 1
Supernova
Extreme 2
Extreme 1
and then there's ITG. In the Groove. That's my personal favorite (it's DDR except when you get to the higher end gameplay by getting to the hardest songs, it offers more than DDR in terms of difficulty).
If you're just starting out and you aren't sure really how serious you wanna get with it, perhaps buy an ignition pad. Don't buy a RedOctane one though, buy one from DDR nation. Just google it and you'll find ignitions for 30 bucks instead of 100+.
so, my pick for pad would either be the newest TX pad or a flux. if you get the newest TX with the bar I think it's less than a flux, but then again the flux has had years of use from me and has never gotten any worse for the wear and tear.
I actually recommend the Octane 2.0 pads, if you can find them. They're a beautiful thing. I've had mine for quite some time, and I play heavy DDR at least three times a week. Working my way through the ten foot songs is no cakewalk...
The pads are very accurate, and every time you screw up, you feel like it's your fault for not pressing something fast enough. The 3.0s do the same thing, only they don't last as long. I don't know about the 3.1 pads (3.0 pads in a different box which represented a sort of semi-upgrade), but they're probably better still.
Either way, you won't have to think about expensive pads until you can pass almost all the songs on Standard.