DDR at Home

Mai-Kero

So my girlfriend just introduced me to DDR and it seems like a lot of fun so far. I'm interested in getting a home version and wondering which to choose. I have a 360, a Wii, and a PS2.

Any reccomendations?

greeble

My favorite DDR was DDRMax2 for the ps2. I've tried some of the "Ultra Mix"s afterit, but disliked the music for dancing. I haven't tried a newer version in a while so I'd be curious to see what others have to say.

Mai-Kero

Is there any real difference in the quality of pads between the systems?

UncleSporky

PS2 has a very big collection to choose from. You don't need fancy graphics to enjoy DDR.

I have DDR Hottest Party on Wii and I like it, it has more recognizable (pop) music than most DDRs though many call that a negative.

mastrius

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Is there any real difference in the quality of pads between the systems?

Not that I know of. The only sad thing is the console ones have a lot of rap songs on them, although they started turning more away from that in the newer versions, even so they still have a good amount of the rap on em. I just liked the good ol days of crazy japanese songs, not these slow rap ones.

Ive always had great luck with pads for some reason, the one I got for my PS2 around 7 years ago still works so I dont know, Im lucky with em. My friends on the other hand....hahaha...yeah...no. Theyre not. Its the luck of the draw man.

Edit: and by "console ones" I mean the new DDRs on the 360 and PS3. Not the PS2 versions.

greeble

Yeah exactly. I think DDR was better back in the ps2 days with crazy japanese dance songs. The newer ones have a lot of pop or slower songs which kind of suck to DDR to imo.

Brym

DDRMAX2 on PS2 was also my favorite console DDR. It also had a relatively sane unlock system.

Sixfortyfive

I don't think it really matters which console version you play as long as it's not Mario Mix, which is basically so easy that it's almost insulting.

This is also one genre in which none of the console games can really give you the arcade experience, so I'd only recommend a home version for the sake of practice. Once you're good enough to play Heavy mode and the soft pad isn't cutting it anymore, just graduate to the real thing. I only ever used consumer pads for Stepmania.

Kaseius

I played DDRMAX2 after playing DDRExtreme -- I personally liked DDRE a lot more, but that's just me. It might be worth checking out if you can get it cheap enough.

ArcSyn

I liked Extreme 2's songlist, personally, and cheap $20 pads will do just fine for you to learn on and get used to. You can play with them (depending on your floors and how well they stay put) up through heavy difficulty without much trouble.

I would recommend grabbing one of the PS2 versions just because you can probably find them very cheap now that they have gotten pretty old. Only real reason to buy another version is when you are tired of the songs that are on the one you have.

mastrius

greeble wrote: »

Yeah exactly. I think DDR was better back in the ps2 days with crazy japanese dance songs. The newer ones have a lot of pop or slower songs which kind of suck to DDR to imo.

Yeah, it makes me cry. I still play the games but still. Saddening.

Sixfortyfive

Meh. On the whole, DDR never had much good music. It speaks to how fun the actual game is that I still enjoyed it plenty, regardless.

Pump It Up and In the Groove both generally have it beat as far as tracklist goes. Version dependent, of course.

That_Guy

Get one of the DDR clones for the PC. Many of them allow you to add tracks and many are free.

As for the pad; make sure you can play on a hard surface. If you get the soft pad, tape it to a sheet of plywood.

DarkSymphony

DDRMax 2 is the best home version along with cobalt flux/blue shark being the best home pads. The pads are metal and are durable as fuck. $250+ for a metal pad, or you can check out ignition pads for roughly $30 and will hold up very well until you start doing the hardest songs in the game.

so if you're just starting out, I can't think of a better way to go than ignition pad + DDRMax 2 on PS2. Should you decide to keep at it and get really good, then the metal pads come into play.

solsovly

I have the the first and second ddr for the 360. Both of them are bad. Single player unlocks are incredibly hard and time consuming. There's an amazing amount of loading between screens. The songs and the way they play aren't very good either.... not that I can even unlock a lot of the songs.

Get the PS2 versions.

UEAKCrash

I highly recommend getting a pad that has the thick, dense foam inside of it. It helps out a ton and you won't have to sell a kidney to afford one.

http://www.ddrgame.com/ultra.html

This is the one I used forever, and while it ripped pretty bad on top eventually, some quick duct tape work fixed it pretty decently. I've never been able to stand the thin flimsy mats, even taped down, as they don't feel like anything, and usually end up getting pretty beat up.

Moioink

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Is there any real difference in the quality of pads between the systems?

Never buy a Konami made mat: they tear easily and slip around.

As for DDR music, it was a product of its time. In the mid-late 90s it was new and exciting and it did the job even if the Euro mixes were pretty awful when we eventually got them. The step charts weren't always particularly well thought out (I never liked the really hard settings, they just made you look like an idiot) and charging 2 credits for doubles sucked but it was fun all the same, we made do.

Kinda weird to be getting into it in 2009, not to sound snobby but you really missed the boat on DDR It died as an arcade game over 5 years ago and it's pretty meh at home. The social aspect was what elevated DDR from a mediocre game to a very good one.

Madpanda

If you want console pick up the ps2 versions, most of them are pretty good, extreme being my favorite. I highly recommend getting a supported usb adapter and running stepmania on your pc though. It will give you the ability to have a wide variety of songs, although discussion of getting the official songs is probably against this forums rules.


Get a cheap pad, if you decided to play a lot mod it with some particle board.

PikaPuff

I taped my pads to the floor. I honestly haven't tried it enough to form a real opinion, but the ones with foam inserts just look like they wouldn't work. I also play with shoes on.

AND DAMMIT MAI-KERO I'VE BEEN TELLING YOU ABOUT DDR FOR YEARSSSSS

Satsumomo

I recommend modding your pad so it's hard, or getting a premade one.

TacoMan

Moioink wrote: »

Mai-Kero wrote: »

Is there any real difference in the quality of pads between the systems?

Never buy a Konami made mat: they tear easily and slip around.

As for DDR music, it was a product of its time. In the mid-late 90s it was new and exciting and it did the job even if the Euro mixes were pretty awful when we eventually got them. The step charts weren't always particularly well thought out (I never liked the really hard settings, they just made you look like an idiot) and charging 2 credits for doubles sucked but it was fun all the same, we made do.

Kinda weird to be getting into it in 2009, not to sound snobby but you really missed the boat on DDR It died as an arcade game over 5 years ago and it's pretty meh at home. The social aspect was what elevated DDR from a mediocre game to a very good one.

I played DDR for what seems like years at home. My friend and I started going to tournaments and became quite the fanatics, so it was important for our pads to keep up with us.

The Konami pads are complete crap as they do tear and drop notes because you actually start tearing the paper-thin electronic sensor in the pad. The best pads in my personal experience are from here, at RedOctane. They have withstood years of constant expert playing. I highly recommend the Soft Foam insert ones. The metal ones are heavy and loud, almost requiring wearing shoes while playing as socks tend to get snagged. Soft Foam are easy to transport, store, and are easy on the feet.

Sixfortyfive

Yeah, your cheap standard-issue Konami pads suck, but they're okay for the person who's just starting out. Doubly-so if it's packaged with a cheap version of the game.

Any brand of soft pad is a waste of money for the more fanatic player. I can't imagine playing a doubles set-up on soft pads.

PikaPuff

ha i was about to ask how soft pads would work for doubles free style.

TacoMan

I never really got into doubles, although it's definitely a robust way to play the game. I was what I think you could call a fanatic player playing upwards to 4-6 hours everyday back when it was import-only. To say that any brand of soft pad is a waste, I couldn't disagree more.

Playing doubles, I can see, but like I said it wasn't really into it. First issue that may come to mind is sliding pads but the Ignition pads have pretty good rubber grip on the bottom. Prepackaged Konami pads were fine for medium difficulty, but they will tear. The material on the bottom is plastic/kiddy-pool/raincoat material.

redfield85

Sixfortyfive wrote: »

Any brand of soft pad is a waste of money for the more fanatic player. I can't imagine playing a doubles set-up on soft pads.

So, if you don't play doubles you aren't a hardcore DDR player? Pfft. I know that isn't what you said, but that is what it sounds like. :P

I have played this game for years and have never touched doubles. I have the older version of this pad. It works just fine. Screw doubles.

My suggestion for any new DDR player:
-DDRMax 1 & 2
-This pad

TacoMan

redfield85 wrote: »

Sixfortyfive wrote: »

Any brand of soft pad is a waste of money for the more fanatic player. I can't imagine playing a doubles set-up on soft pads.

So, if you don't play doubles you aren't a hardcore DDR player? Pfft. I know that isn't what you said, but that is what it sounds like. :P

I have played this game for years and have never touched doubles. I have the older version of this pad. It works just fine. Screw doubles.

My suggestion for any new DDR player:
-DDRMax 1 & 2
-This pad

:^: thank you, I concur, good sir.

I've always felt like the doubles game was secondary, and usually just a show-off feature. These pads are highly recommended.

Sixfortyfive

redfield85 wrote: »

So, if you don't play doubles you aren't a hardcore DDR player? Pfft. I know that isn't what you said, but that is what it sounds like. :P

That's because it more or less is what I said. This is the part of the thread where I pimp Pump It Up.

There are 2 other games in the dance genre that are worth looking at besides DDR: Pump It Up and In the Groove. Pump It Up is a Korean game with 5-panels per side instead of 4. In the Groove is an American game developed by the same people as Stepmania (I think).

Anyway, all 3 of these games have something called Double play in which one player uses both sides of the stage at once, so the charts are made for 8 or 10 panels instead of 4 or 5, and you're moving around a lot more. In DDR, Doubles play costs 2 credits to play, and you're locked into either Singles or Doubles for the entire duration of your game. You can't switch between the two after you start.

In Pump It Up, however, Doubles only costs 1 credit, and you can freely switch between Single or Double charts for the duration of your game. So, if you're not comfortable with Double style yet, you can play 2 songs on Single and then brave the waters for your last pick, which makes it easier to break into.

Pump It Up was huge among my friends in high school, about half of us spent a lot of our time on Double mode, and we always incorporated Doubles rounds or Doubles brackets into our tournaments. In most circles, you're not considered good at Pump if you can't play Double/Nightmare mode. It's never been as common among DDR players because Konami is stupid about how credits are used.

PikaPuff

Doubles involves switching weight around side to side constantly, where singles you can keep your center of mass in the middle of the four arrows.

I'm not saying doubles is for the hardcore; I leave that for single play actually. What I'm saying is the constant side to side movements can probably make a pad slide around easier than single play.

TacoMan wrote: »

I've always felt like the doubles game was secondary, and usually just a show-off feature. These pads are highly recommended.

I can't leave that statment alone. I know you're probably saying it as opinion, but I'm worried others may read it as fact. I find the "show-off" feature of doubles to be primary for a dancing game. The high scores and getting perfects, single or double, I feel are secondary. I want to say that what's "best" for a DDR game can be left to opinion.

Raiden333

I used to be so addicted to DDR as a teenager. I would play nothing but maniac doubles. And this was back when the game was new, so you would get fuckin' crowds watching you play a video game.

Then I started smoking. That was the end of that.

Apogee

I highly highly reccomend you get A PC DDR clone, like Stepmania. It's free, and there are more songs out there than you could ever do. All you need to buy are the pads and an adapter. Seriously, no reason to get the console versions - all you do is limit yourself to one disc of songs at a time.

Remember that it's really easy to hook a PC up to the TV, which you'll want to do. Also, going PC means you can use and type of pad you want, if you get the appropriate adapter.

DeathPrawn

I used to be REALLY into DDR back in high school (even convinced the athletics department to give me PE credit for it). Here's my $0.02.

Download Stepmania and get a PS2->USB converter. Stepmania is a free/OSS DDR clone, and you can download tons of free songs for it. No question that's the way to go.

What pad you want depends on your budget and how much work you want to do. If you want the best experience (IMO), you can build your own metal pad for about $120-$150 in materials - it is probably the closest you'll get to an arcade-style pad, and it makes for a great project (there are very detailed instructions on the web). If you have lots of money to burn but are lazy, the $200+ CobaltFlux pads are awesome. If you're cheap, buy a $20 soft pad (they're all pretty much the same) and tape it down to a big ol' sheet of plywood. Don't bother with foam (Ignition) pads - they're less durable than a plywood'd soft pad and are a lot more expensive.

PikaPuff

"Free Songs" for stepmania. Uh huh.

Raiden333

Also, this is a really easy way to mod a cheapo pad into being decent:

http://itg.ddrfreak.com/library/contributor-article.php?postID=7890244

Sixfortyfive

PikaPuff wrote: »

"Free Songs" for stepmania. Uh huh.

100% user-generated content for Stepmania does exist... but everybody knows that that's not what most people use it for. :P

[vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZowHNUtGkY&fmt=18]I used to even make charts for it, way back in the day...[/vidurl]

Apogee

PikaPuff wrote: »

"Free Songs" for stepmania. Uh huh.

There are step files a-plenty made for certain songs... assuming you own the songs you want to use.

PikaPuff

Uh huh.

greeble

Is it easy to get you the songs off your DDR discs onto stepmania? I would rather not download ripped songs, but taking them off your own discs seems like fair use.

Moioink

TacoMan wrote: »

I've always felt like the doubles game was secondary, and usually just a show-off feature. These pads are highly recommended.

All depends on what you prefer Personally I always found the Paranoia-esque stepping fest difficulties to be ridiculous looking. Doubles on medium (or one of the easier hards) was a lot more fun to me because it looked and felt more natural.

I will second Sixfortyfive's PIU recommendation. Unlike the US, the UK doesn't have a big Hispanic or Korean community so it never took off here; places like cinemas, service stations, airports and bowling centres stuck to DDR. Its implementation of doubles and its step charts were very well designed. It felt way more... "on beat" than DDR did. I would have liked to have been able to play it more than I did.

PikaPuff

i like PIU's arrows and step charts, but the song listing and difficulty ratings were always completely off to me. Is so hard picking a song for PIU, whereas on DDR it's prety easy to tell what's going to happen in the song.

Sixfortyfive

PikaPuff wrote: »

i like PIU's arrows and step charts, but the song listing and difficulty ratings were always completely off to me. Is so hard picking a song for PIU, whereas on DDR it's prety easy to tell what's going to happen in the song.

It usually is a mess in that regard. Pump's rating system seems to change wildly in every other iteration of the game, a lot of ratings don't really seem to be accurate, and there's a huge gulf between the easy and hard stuff compared to DDR. It was a lot more consistent before the upper-end of the scale went [vidurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mRihWN2Zys&fmt=18]completely off the charts[/vidurl]. Seriously fuck that shit.

Hooray for multiple difficulties.

PikaPuff

i just have a select few i know i can do or enjoy, and play those. i really doon't play enough to try out new things.

DDR on the other hand I can set to easy/medium and go random double. everything but paranoia/paranoia level songs are easily doable.