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[drtomoe123]

I used to be obsessed with Dance Dance Revolution back in '02-'05. I was lucky enough to have an arcade with a machine nearby, so I was playing nearly everyday in the arcades and I had all the US home versions up to the first Supernova. I wasn't amazing or anything, but I could hold my own and AA most 8-9 footers.

Anyways, I've played once or twice a year since then, most often when I'm out with some friends and come across an arcade machine -- nothing serious. I ran cross country in college and I've been trying to get back into running now that I've finished grad school. Everything's been going great on that front except for speedwork; it's so hard to do fast intervals when I don't have the motivation of being on a team!

This past weekend I was feeling really down and nostalgic so I drove up to an arcade about an hour away to play on their three machines (Extreme, Supernova, and X2) and I had a blast. It was totally like riding a bicycle. Even though I couldn't finish 10 footers, I left the arcade drenched in sweat, feeling like my heart was going to explode. It hit me: why not start playing again to supplement my running?

I bought the PS3 bundle a while back but never got around to playing it because the tracklist was so bad. Instead, I bought a cheap, brand new Disney Channel DDR bundle for the pad. I decided to follow this guide and made my own soft mod earlier today.

I've been playing DDR Extreme JP on the PS2 and it's been so much fun getting back into the game, especially now that I've got a pad that doesn't slip and slide around! I'd love to get a metal pad (used CF? Omega GX?) but I don't really have the space or $$$ for one right now. It's crazy thinking that this series is almost 20 years old -- anyone else still play, either at home or in the arcades?

 

[DeadlyBunny]

I've always been a fan of DDR. Konamix and a soft pad was my first introduction, and eventually the interest peaked with a custom hard pad plugged into a pc running stepmania. Eventually my wife built one as well and we still occasionally play when we want to put in some exercise.

I'll post some pics of our pads when I get home, but we went with the stealth pad design. Works well for the most part.

Edit: pics posted below http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=179250118&postcount=44

 

[Ochibi]

Been a fan of DDR since 2008. I give up the game since DDR X3 vs 2nd Mix. Konami is trying to get back with DDR 2013-2014-2015 but only in the US, not in Europe. Their dedicab are craps. The latest mix was on Wii (Hottest Party 5 / DDR II).

Playing now Pump it Up and In The Groove. I might buy a pad from Precisiondancepads...

 

[LucidMomentum]

DDR was my JAM back in junior high / high school. My local arcade had free play Fridays for $10 and I would stay there until my parents or the staff forced me out.

Had a blueshark metal pad and Stepmania setup, and lived every minute of it.

Over time the machines in town fell into disrepair so I didn't keep up with it, but we have an X2 machine in town in good condition I still play on a few times a year.

Earlier in the year though, my friend bought a machine and we fixed it up:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oT-QO7rUqSM

So much fun. Extreme is the GOAT just for having all of the songs I played for hours on end. At one point the only song on that can I couldn't pass was PSMO.

 

[drtomoe123]

I've always been a fan of DDR. Konamix and a soft pad was my first introduction, and eventually the interest peaked with a custom hard pad plugged into a pc running stepmania. Eventually my wife built one as well and we still occasionally play when we want to put in some exercise.

I'll post some pics of our pads when I get home, but we went with the stealth pad design. Works well for the most part.

Konamix was my first, too. Hard to go back without speed mods though -- I'm so spoiled!

I hadn't even thought about Stepmania! Do you run into any lag issues? And please post those pics!

Been a fan of DDR since 2008. I give up the game since DDR X3 vs 2nd Mix. Konami is trying to get back with DDR 2013-2014-2015 but only in the US, not in Europe. Their dedicab are craps. The latest mix was on Wii (Hottest Party 5 / DDR II).

Playing now Pump it Up and In The Groove. I might buy a pad from Precisiondancepads...

I've been horrible at PIU the few times I've tried it and ITG is the only machine I've got locally, but I haven't messed around with it too much. I know that a lot of the top tier players really liked it because it had some really difficult material...is it still fun for midrange stuff?

Seriously though, that Omega GX is tempting. I had no idea pdp used to be based out of East TN -- that's so close!

DDR was my JAM back in junior high / high school. My local arcade had free play Fridays for $10 and I would stay there until my parents or the staff forced me out.

Had a blueshark metal pad and Stepmania setup, and lived every minute of it.

Over time the machines in town fell into disrepair so I didn't keep up with it, but we have an X2 machine in town in good condition I still play on a few times a year.

Earlier in the year though, my friend bought a machine and we fixed it up:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oT-QO7rUqSM

So much fun. Extreme is the GOAT just for having all of the songs I played for hours on end. At one point the only song on that can I couldn't pass was PSMO.

I am so jealous! The only reason I even started really thinking about DDR again was because of that bucket list thread -- getting an Extreme cab is something I hope to do when I've got a semi-permanent living situation and a bunch of $$$.

 

[xzeldax3]

Max 2 and Extreme are great. I remember having to use the controller to beat some missions in Extreme 2 though.

 

[Sephzilla]

If I didn't live in an upstairs apartment Id still play ddr

 

[5taquitos]

I lost a lot of weight playing DDR in high school, then got a job in an arcade so I could save quarters on it. I miss those days, but I don't think my knees would be too happy if I tried that again.

 

[perfect free]

I still play, but all that's around me are a couple of Extreme cabinets, and that was also the last console release I had--so when I play, it's like I'm in a time warp to 2004, and my brain goes "you have literally been stomping arrows to these same songs for 10 years," and I don't know how I feel about that.

I'm a scrub, though. Got up to a level where I could pass some easy 9-footers and have never been interested in progressing further. I just play for fun.

 

[plasticpassion]

Anyone remember V for Extreme? As corny as it may sound, I recall the feeling of exercise/dance bliss when playing that on heavy.

Edit: and the foot rolls on .59 dj TAKA heavy....hell yeah I loved that one too.

Edit 2: Tsugaru was also tons of fun. Wish I still had this game because it was awesome exercise.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

DDR Extreme was fantastic, but AFAIK there's no real way to sync it to a modern TV, and I don't keep my PS2 connected anymore. I got the PS3 DDR with a new crappy pad, but never got into it much. I miss my old favourite songs!

 

[JCX]

DDR Extreme Arcade is my favorite version. Has pretty much every song I want. Home version pales in comparison.

 

[janoDX]

I've been following DDR since 2000, and I gotta say, Extreme was great, but X2 (AC) and the recent 2015ver are the best DDR versions of them all.

 

[Mesoian]

DDR kept me in shape for so many years.

Now I can barely get through a fucking set.

This is what being old is. Seeing the thing and knowing that 10 years prior, you could do it for hours upon hours, and now you can barely last minutes.

 

[Ochibi]

I've been horrible at PIU the few times I've tried it and ITG is the only machine I've got locally, but I haven't messed around with it too much. I know that a lot of the top tier players really liked it because it had some really difficult material...is it still fun for midrange stuff?

Seriously though, that Omega GX is tempting. I had no idea pdp used to be based out of East TN -- that's so close!

In my opinion, In The Groove is not a bad game, but isn't better than DDR. What it makes great is custom stepcharts with custom music. There is fun for midrange, you need to find the right step pack.

I've heard they make great stuff so it's worth trying, especially with Pump it Up since metal pads for Pump are only sold in South America or SEA. I do think if you're good at Pump it Up, you're good at everything. This game is so versatile. What I love in Pump it Up is the songlist. While DDR sticks to his Japanese roots, Pump it Up is a mix of every continents in the world. One of the best player in the world of DDR is a player of PIU (and also Beatmania + Sound Voltex). This guy can do everything. In Asia, they like what I call garbage stepcharts.

As for Extreme, it was one of the best mix in DDR era. Then X2 Arcade came. The console version has been cancelled and we got the bad PS3 version. DDR 2013-2014-2015 are good.

Paranoia Revolution Challenge Simple : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBuCoxlErFA
Paranoia Revolution Challenge Double : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz3KorF_8Ls
Fascination Maxx Expert Simple : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOcgWDgQtQ
MAX.(period) Challenge Simple 2015 ver. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akxo1GiM-Yg
Anti-Matter Challenge Double : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3N-FMdddhw
Dream to Nightmare Double 25 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9ugWza9Lo
Mental Rider Double 23 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig6N7R2PN2o
Yog Sothoth Simple 23 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jhKYOrP2vw

 

[Boulevard Bob]

omg DDR MAX. The fondest memories.

 

[T.O.P]

I think half the weight i lost in highschool was thanks to this game

It was an addiction, i played like 4 hours a day without even realizing it lol

Some of my favourites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ziJk5o-kU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vsb01aeknk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSMuZsnaUt4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWtU1uTSqJw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfOTl8MREo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nZLLzFNAD0

and the GOAT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmvm7DIepJs


Goddamn, i miss this shit

 

[SatoAilDarko]

This question is actually related to DDR.

Are the any controller adapters for Gamecube, Wii Classic Controller or usb to PS2?

There are several adapters for PS2 to pretty much every system but seemingly not the opposite.

I have two Wii Dance Pads (Wii Pads are the same as Gamecube ones), two Gamecube to Wii converters, and a Wii to PC converter for two.

I also have 5 complete in box DDR games for PS2 I got for like $2 each at GameStop.

If worse comes to it I'll buy two PS2 pads and buy adapters to Gamecube so I can play 4-player on my 5 Wii games.

 

[DansDans]

Been an fan since 1999, when the arcade I worked in got Dancing Stage, followed by Korean 3rd mix, then bootlegs of the rest until Extreme. After I left some genius decided to 'upgrade' our bootleg Extreme to a hacked plus version, and it's been like that since...almost 9 years.

At its height it was our too earning dedicated cabinet, lots of people would play of varying skills, crowds of what seemed like hundreds would gather around. We ran successful competitions too.

I miss this game and the awesome scene it create at the peak of its popularity.

 

[PsionBolt]

DDR Extreme holds a special place in my heart for being the only entry in the series that I've played in an actual arcade. And it was glorious!

I love me some home console DDR, too, but it really can't compare to the experience of playing in an arcade. The wonderful pads, the atmosphere, the crowds... Arcades falling out of favour hurts more because of DDR than any other series, to me.

 

[Grisby]

Man, I must have started DDR'ing in 2000...2001? Arcade in Gainesville had it and I got hooked.

Managed to beat MAX 300 a couple of times, and got pretty good at doing doubles songs. Haven't done it in a long as time though. Dance Central has kind of taken DDR's place for me.

 

[perfect free]

Forgot to mention that my GAF username comes from a song on DDR Konamix, which was my first version of the game.

 

[Hispanicguy]

Oh man, I played DDR religiously from about 2001 - 2010. After that, my time cut down drastically but still found time to play.

I started at Barcade (arcade in Times Square) on a DDR USA machine. First song was Boom Boom Dollar, lol.

After that I branched out to Chinatown Fair, Broadway City and NYDS (which were the top spots back then). Took trips to Sportsworld in NJ, FYE in long island, SBA in Staten island, FnG in NJ..etc.

I don't really play anymore but I do get urges from time to time. Whenever I do play, it'll be at Chinatown Fair.

Soooooo many memories. DDR Freak..bemanistyle..aaroninjapan.

Sadly, DDR took a turn for the worse in terms of stepcharts. JP Extreme was the high point. Fantastic soundtrack/stepcharts. Supernova 1 had its bright spots but nothing on the level of Extreme.

Stepmania was a part of my life as well. Song too hard? Fire up stepmania and learn that rhythm!

Challenge mode in Max 2 was awesome. The pressure! Always loved Trick Oni aka the courses that throw mods at you.

Don't get me started on doubles. I think I prefer that more than singles. Really fun. Can't stop falling in love speed mix heavy doubles...AA heavy doubles..Rhythm and Police heavy doubles.

There's so much more I can say since it was such a huge part of my life. Very awesome series.

So Deep was the first time I ever had my stamina tested lol. The song never stopped! Beautiful chart/song.

Ok..Ok...I'll stop now, lol.

 

[drtomoe123]

I still play, but all that's around me are a couple of Extreme cabinets, and that was also the last console release I had--so when I play, it's like I'm in a time warp to 2004, and my brain goes "you have literally been stomping arrows to these same songs for 10 years," and I don't know how I feel about that.

I'm a scrub, though. Got up to a level where I could pass some easy 9-footers and have never been interested in progressing further. I just play for fun.

I've been thinking about this too. I'm super stoked to be playing the Extreme songs again right now...but if I keep playing for a few more months, how will I feel about them then? Guess it'll give me a chance to check out the JP mixes I missed. Or Stepmania.

In my opinion, In The Groove is not a bad game, but isn't better than DDR. What it makes great is custom stepcharts with custom music. There is fun for midrange, you need to find the right step pack.

I've heard they make great stuff so it's worth trying, especially with Pump it Up since metal pads for Pump are only sold in South America or SEA. I do think if you're good at Pump it Up, you're good at everything. This game is so versatile. What I love in Pump it Up is the songlist. While DDR sticks to his Japanese roots, Pump it Up is a mix of every continents in the world. One of the best player in the world of DDR is a player of PIU (and also Beatmania + Sound Voltex). This guy can do everything. In Asia, they like what I call garbage stepcharts.

As for Extreme, it was one of the best mix in DDR era. Then X2 Arcade came. The console version has been cancelled and we got the bad PS3 version. DDR 2013-2014-2015 are good.

Paranoia Revolution Challenge Simple : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBuCoxlErFA
Paranoia Revolution Challenge Double : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz3KorF_8Ls
Fascination Maxx Expert Simple : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOcgWDgQtQ
MAX.(period) Challenge Simple 2015 ver. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akxo1GiM-Yg
Anti-Matter Challenge Double : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3N-FMdddhw
Dream to Nightmare Double 25 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9ugWza9Lo
Mental Rider Double 23 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig6N7R2PN2o
Yog Sothoth Simple 23 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jhKYOrP2vw

I was always biased towards DDR, so I never really took PIU seriously. I might try out the PS2 version sometime.

And that's great to hear that the recent mixes have been great. Like I said, the last one I played was 2010 and that plus Konami as of late has left me wondering about the series's future. Hope I come across some cabs one day.

Been an fan since 1999, when the arcade I worked in got Dancing Stage, followed by Korean 3rd mix, then bootlegs of the rest until Extreme. After I left some genius decided to 'upgrade' our bootleg Extreme to a hacked plus version, and it's been like that since...almost 9 years.

At its height it was our too earning dedicated cabinet, lots of people would play of varying skills, crowds of what seemed like hundreds would gather around. We ran successful competitions too.

I miss this game and the awesome scene it create at the peak of its popularity.

DDR Extreme holds a special place in my heart for being the only entry in the series that I've played in an actual arcade. And it was glorious!

I love me some home console DDR, too, but it really can't compare to the experience of playing in an arcade. The wonderful pads, the atmosphere, the crowds... Arcades falling out of favour hurts more because of DDR than any other series, to me.

I agree with this so much. I was young (12-13) when I started playing and hanging out at the arcade, but DDR and the culture was such a transformative thing for me. The online communities, the people at the local arcade, and that feeling you'd get when you'd check out an arcade in a different town and play with new kids -- I'm really happy I got to experience something like DDR. It was so interesting.

I looked around on YouTube and saw some little documentaries that seemed to capture a bit of the feel of playing DDR back in the early '00s. They're kind of corny, but I guess that's a part of DDR too. It was a moment in time where we took something really seriously and got wrapped up in a video game that managed to do a little more than usual.

Oh man, I played DDR religiously from about 2001 - 2010. After that, my time cut down drastically but still found time to play.

I started at Barcade (arcade in Times Square) on a DDR USA machine. First song was Boom Boom Dollar, lol.

After that I branched out to Chinatown Fair, Broadway City and NYDS (which were the top spots back then). Took trips to Sportsworld in NJ, FYE in long island, SBA in Staten island, FnG in NJ..etc.

I don't really play anymore but I do get urges from time to time. Whenever I do play, it'll be at Chinatown Fair.

Soooooo many memories. DDR Freak..bemanistyle..aaroninjapan.

Sadly, DDR took a turn for the worse in terms of stepcharts. JP Extreme was the high point. Fantastic soundtrack/stepcharts. Supernova 1 had its bright spots but nothing on the level of Extreme.

Stepmania was a part of my life as well. Song too hard? Fire up stepmania and learn that rhythm!

Challenge mode in Max 2 was awesome. The pressure! Always loved Trick Oni aka the courses that throw mods at you.

Don't get me started on doubles. I think I prefer that more than singles. Really fun. Can't stop falling in love speed mix heavy doubles...AA heavy doubles..Rhythm and Police heavy doubles.

There's so much more I can say since it was such a huge part of my life. Very awesome series.

So Deep was the first time I ever had my stamina tested lol. The song never stopped! Beautiful chart/song.

Ok..Ok...I'll stop now, lol.

I was bummed when I saw that the DDR Freak forums had been spammed and abandoned. Are there any big communities left?

EDIT: There are some legit great songs being posted in here. I play Daikenkai probably every other game.

 

[opoth]

I recently rehabbed my cabinet (new screws and sensors) and it plays like a dream...I just wish I had the time to commit to it that I did in 2001-2003. I also switched from the standard 573 board to a Minimaid, which allows you to run recent builds of Stepmania 5 with lights support, along with a few other interesting features. I think it will be hard to go back to Extreme outright but its definitely the best of the 1st gen mixes.

I was bummed when I saw that the DDR Freak forums had been spammed and abandoned. Are there any big communities left?

http://zenius-i-vanisher.com is decent. It'll never be the way it was, but its better than nothing.

 

[ZealousD]

DDR Extreme 2 on the PS2 is the best NA home version of DDR and anybody who tells you otherwise is a goddamn demon who doesn't have your best interests at heart.

So get that.

 

[Northeastmonk]

What felt the most legit was having multiple machines back to back at the arcade. The arcade center we had up here relocated and remodeled to a more kid friendly type of place (Toy Story style). Lots of good games, but they went with the neon lights and dark walls. Not my style, plus they added cards instead of the tokens. They got rid of a lot of their machines too, a lot.

They use to have three floors of machines and an entire row of DDR machines. You'd get a really awesome crowd in town on the weekends. I never met anyone, but I saw really good players go at it.

 

[drtomoe123]

What felt the most legit was having multiple machines back to back at the arcade. The arcade center we had up here relocated and remodeled to a more kid friendly type of place (Toy Story style). Lots of good games, but they went with the neon lights and dark walls. Not my style, plus they added cards instead of the tokens. They got rid of a lot of their machines too, a lot.

They use to have three floors of machines and an entire row of DDR machines. You'd get a really awesome crowd in town on the weekends. I never met anyone, but I saw really good players go at it.

It's a shame thinking about how many places where I used to play have gone out of business. The arcade I went to growing up used to be an Aladdin's Castle, so it had all the recent Namco stuff alongside DDR. It went out of business ages ago but the mall still has a Supernova cab. Other arcades have disappeared totally. It's a bummer.

There are a few places around that do the "pay for an hour" kind of thing and they're pretty cool. If there's a future for arcades in the US, they'll probably be like this. The closest one has really shitty pads, unfortunately.

 

[Sillution]

Oh man, I played DDR religiously from about 2001 - 2010. After that, my time cut down drastically but still found time to play.

I started at Barcade (arcade in Times Square) on a DDR USA machine. First song was Boom Boom Dollar, lol.

After that I branched out to Chinatown Fair, Broadway City and NYDS (which were the top spots back then). Took trips to Sportsworld in NJ, FYE in long island, SBA in Staten island, FnG in NJ..etc.

I don't really play anymore but I do get urges from time to time. Whenever I do play, it'll be at Chinatown Fair.

Soooooo many memories. DDR Freak..bemanistyle..aaroninjapan.

Sadly, DDR took a turn for the worse in terms of stepcharts. JP Extreme was the high point. Fantastic soundtrack/stepcharts. Supernova 1 had its bright spots but nothing on the level of Extreme.

Stepmania was a part of my life as well. Song too hard? Fire up stepmania and learn that rhythm!

Challenge mode in Max 2 was awesome. The pressure! Always loved Trick Oni aka the courses that throw mods at you.

Don't get me started on doubles. I think I prefer that more than singles. Really fun. Can't stop falling in love speed mix heavy doubles...AA heavy doubles..Rhythm and Police heavy doubles.

There's so much more I can say since it was such a huge part of my life. Very awesome series.

So Deep was the first time I ever had my stamina tested lol. The song never stopped! Beautiful chart/song.

Ok..Ok...I'll stop now, lol.

Hey, I know you! We used to hang out back in NY/NJ

I miss the good old days of DDR 3rd mix thru Extreme. Traveling around the states to play with a bunch of people. I remember having a white board setup in the more popular arcades because if you went during prime hours, it would be at least an hour or two before you can get a turn in.

 

[cj_iwakura]

If there was ever a machine I wish I could own, it would be 4th Mix+. 3rd Mix Korean is so. good. Freestyler's paradise. BakkWo, Bu Dam, FACE, Tell Me Tell Me, sheer bliss.

I recently rehabbed my cabinet (new screws and sensors) and it plays like a dream...I just wish I had the time to commit to it that I did in 2001-2003. I also switched from the standard 573 board to a Minimaid, which allows you to run recent builds of Stepmania 5 with lights support, along with a few other interesting features. I think it will be hard to go back to Extreme outright but its definitely the best of the 1st gen mixes.



http://zenius-i-vanisher.com is decent. It'll never be the way it was, but its better than nothing.

Bemanistyle.com's still active, too. And ph-online.net never went away.

 

[Seraph_Nicholas]

I miss DDR. An arcade did just open up down the street that has Pump it Up, though, and I don't smoke anymore...

 

[Zing]

DDR Extreme is the reason I bought a PS2. I had an Xbox and it had a version of DDR, but the track list was odd, Americanized, if you will. I wanted the real deal.

This game was the best version. Extreme 2 wasn't quite as good.

 

[Tain]

Early 2000s Bemani is such a massive nostalgia point for me. I remember trying DDR at some anime convention in 2001 and finding it wild. It was the PS1 port of 3rd Mix. When I heard that a local arcade had Soulcalibur II, I started visiting it weekly and played their 4th Mix on the side. Shortly after I bought my Japanese PS2 (mostly for IIDX) and DDR Max, really diving in then. I never got beyond the 9-foot stuff, but it was a blast. And I toyed with Stepmania an awful lot, too.

Once I got into IIDX my DDR interest waned a bit, but it's always a lot of fun to revisit every few years (especially when I find it at an arcade). Pretty timeless! No wonder it was such a huge thing for a while.

Looking over this thread and remembering the height of my own Bemani craze, it really does feel like Extreme was the high point of this series.

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

I was always a huge fan of DDR Extreme in Arcades, but Max, Max 2, and Extreme for PS2 were always a disappointment to me. I went on a huge DDR spree last year and bought all of the NA released DDR games. Including all of the Disney ones, Disney Mix for PS1, Disney Channel for PS2 and Disney Grooves for Wii. If I could, I'd love to get a metal pad, but I have no room for it.

 

[Mattlikewhoa]

Oh man, this thread is bringing back some fond memories for me. I remember playing wayyyyyy back when. I believe it was DDR second mix arcade. I played from that all the way till Extreme rather religiously.

My favourite mix was 4th plus and then Extreme. I remember the rush to beat Maxx songs (extra stage) HAHA oh man, I remember looking at the step charts, and thinking to myself how is this even possible since the song is 300 BPM HAHA...

Bemani was such a great time for me. I loved playing DDR, IIDX, PNM, Drummania, Guitar Freaks. I still have a bunch of my Bemani games, and I think it's time I shake off a few cobwebs and play!

 

[Miletius]

I remember going to the arcade off base every weekend to play that DDR with my girl. All the Japanese guys loved us (her, probably) because we were practically the only Americans that would play the damn thing. We sucked of course, could only do the things on normal or easy, but the game was still damn hard (we probably weren't doing it right).

Either way, good times, Extreme was the best cause it had practically every song you'd ever want to play.

 

[drtomoe123]

I was always a huge fan of DDR Extreme in Arcades, but Max, Max 2, and Extreme for PS2 were always a disappointment to me. I went on a huge DDR spree last year and bought all of the NA released DDR games. Including all of the Disney ones, Disney Mix for PS1, Disney Channel for PS2 and Disney Grooves for Wii. If I could, I'd love to get a metal pad, but I have no room for it.

After finally playing through the JP PS2 releases, I have to agree. Wayyy too much licensed stuff in the US versions as the series went on.

 

[SigSig]

OP, get an Impact Dance Pad (the cheap one, not the super expensive arcade thing

Spoiler

even though it's magical

), download Stepmania (

Spoiler

and Cyberia Style theme

) and dance until you are dead.
And then some more.

 

[b4mv]

I have an Omega GX. Note, they're not metal.
It's similar to the feel of playing on a cobalt flux though.
I haven't had any problems with it.

Gonna recommend r21freak for information on simulation. Suggest getting your hands on OpenITG, and a theme. Either GrooveNights for a nice retro-8bit theme, or Simply Love for the defacto simplistic theme. Grab any and all of the Valex, Sudziosis, and Talonmix packs, they have great art, and full difficulties stepped.

Everything I've named, and [SO much more] can be found in the Public Simfile Database [Broguht to my attention I shouldn't directly link to this, It's around]
Check this link for more the names of some more high quality packs with full difficulties Beginner Pack Discussion

 

[Dreamwriter]

I too recently got back into DDR, I got DDR Max 2 (US) and Extreme (JPN). But I only play doubles so I need two pads, and I have one somewhat decent soft-pad (from Pump It Up Exceed) and one crappy soft-pad. If I duct-tape the two together I can play most songs somewhat decently, but it really makes me miss my old Cobalt Fluxes I really wish there was still existing middle-ground in dance pads - it seems all you can get these days are cheaper than cheap, or Omega GX. Or some metal pads that are like $200 so you might as well spring the extra for the Omega's anyways.

DDR Extreme was fantastic, but AFAIK there's no real way to sync it to a modern TV

All the PS2 games at least had a "timing" option, I set that to +16 in both my games and latency problems melt away.

 

[ssjChris]

I remember being really into it in the early to mid-2000's. My oldest brother had more time and money (I was still a kid) so he would play it on near daily basis. I'm pretty sure he mastered most of the songs on Heavy and some on challenge mode. We had the home console versions but they were always crap as the localized versions took a majority of the songs we enjoyed in exchange for a lot of weird-sounding westernized songs. We eventually imported the Japanese versions for PS2 and we used a Red Octane pad on a PC w/ Stepmania.

In western MD, we had an arcade known as Playland that had a DDR Extreme machine and he and his friends (and sometimes me if it wasn't a school night) would go there and play several rounds of DDR until the arcade closed. I remember the setup was in the back because people playing harder songs would shout profanity when failing songs but the arcade kept them there since they were paying customers, lol. I think the arcade even had a few holes in a wall thanks to sore losers. Fast forward a decade later, the arcade shut down without notice at some point and was later demolished. The feels hit me every time I drive by the patch of grass that was once the beloved arcade from my childhood.

The closest DDR machine now is a DDR X2 machine in a bowling alley here in town. Although the fate of the machine is questionable because the place just went under new ownership and is being renovated for the nightlife crowd. Which means I will probably have no DDR in my hometown anymore.

I never had the time or stamina to master Heavy mode although I could clear a few Heavy songs in a pool of sweat. I exercise daily now so as OP said, DDR might be a great and nostalgic way to get back into exercise. lol. Oh yeah and I grabbed the latest Stepmania version last year after grabbing a version I had from a DVD from 2003. Let's just say Stepmania is still incredible and if you guys like other rhythm series Osu on PC is also a ton of fun (based off the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents games on DS).

Enjoy your time with DDR again, OP. This actually inspired me to use a junk PC my brother gave me as a DDR machine. I need a new pad that will not slide around, lol.

 

[_jnup]

I used to play DDR all the time during 2003-2005. Arcade scene was booming during that time. Once the arcades were shutting down, DDR pretty much died for me. Every time I see a machine these days, I try to get a set or 2 in and only pick songs up to Extreme.

I want to get back into it but the soft pad that I have has a wonky down arrow. Might pick up the Omega GX some day.

 

[Skiptastic]

I had a strong love affair with DDR and Stepmania around 2003 - 2006. Prior to that, I had some experience with DDR at my local laser tag place, which had the Korean 3rd Mix, which is 100% my favorite mix of all time.

Got to play a TON of DDR when I traveled to Japan in 2004 for study abroad. I was so young and in shape back then...

My dream is to one day get a DDR machine in my basement and load it up with Stepmania so I can have every song ever and then some as DDR options. I would cry many tears of joy.

 

[DeadlyBunny]

here's the pic of my pads

also the instrutions I used here

It works well enough, occasionally needed some maintenance but when it was working right i never noticed any missed steps. was able to get perfect combos on 6-7 foot songs.

 

[Spencircuit]

DDR will always hold a special place in my heart. I met some of my best friends back in high school from playing at my local Tilt and at an arcade near me called Rocky's Replay (RIP).

I've been wanting to get back into it as well recently. I used to take the average pads that slid around and i would duct tape them to a plank of wood of the same size, and then place it on one of those rug/carpet gripping sheets. It worked quite well for me actually, I'm planning to do that again as that was many years ago. Been slackin' on my cardio!

 

[5amshift]

Got into DDR and rhythm games in the Winter of '99 and is when the East Coast was slowly gaining players. Extreme is still a great and easily the best version of the game yet. Had my memory card scores saved after all these years. A friend has an extreme machine at his house so I typically only play there now, unless I'm on vacation and happen to fall upon a machine where I'll most likely play a round.

 

[adamantypants]

I adore DDR. And once I was able to beat everything on Extreme, I moved on to In The Groove. I started playing in like 2001 or so and for a long time it's what kept me in shape.

I played for hours at a time. Unfortunately the arcades that had those machines close to me have all closed. I do live in Vegas though so occasionally a good machine will pop up in a casino. Then I'll just start dumping quarters in to them. I would play at home, but years of playing DDR/ITG means that I tend to play 10-12 level songs in ITG, and in the most recent DDR (X2?) I'm playing 16s. That is no good for a soft pad.

 

[Hispanicguy]

Hey, I know you! We used to hang out back in NY/NJ

I miss the good old days of DDR 3rd mix thru Extreme. Traveling around the states to play with a bunch of people. I remember having a white board setup in the more popular arcades because if you went during prime hours, it would be at least an hour or two before you can get a turn in.

Hey! I feel bad not knowing who you are lol. What name did you use back then?

8 on the Break...totally forgot to mention them as well. That was THE place in NJ. I remember making weekly trips every Friday.

Kings of the Coast was always a great weekend to meet up with people.

I should go find out the conditions of the machine in Chinatown Fair. Might have to drop by sometime during the fall.

 

[jon_dojah]

here's the pic of my pads

also the instrutions I used here

It works well enough, occasionally needed some maintenance but when it was working right i never noticed any missed steps. was able to get perfect combos on 6-7 foot songs.

I built some about 10 years ago also using similar instructions

 

[drtomoe123]

I built some about 10 years ago also using similar instructions

here's the pic of my pads

also the instrutions I used here

It works well enough, occasionally needed some maintenance but when it was working right i never noticed any missed steps. was able to get perfect combos on 6-7 foot songs.

These both look fantastic! I took a look at the directions because I'd love to take a stab at it, but it requires so many tools I don't have at my place.

I have an Omega GX. Note, they're not metal.
It's similar to the feel of playing on a cobalt flux though.
I haven't had any problems with it.

Gonna recommend r21freak for information on simulation. Suggest getting your hands on OpenITG, and a theme. Either GrooveNights for a nice retro-8bit theme, or Simply Love for the defacto simplistic theme. Grab any and all of the Valex, Sudziosis, and Talonmix packs, they have great art, and full difficulties stepped.

Everything I've named, and [SO much more] can be found in the Public Simfile Database [Broguht to my attention I shouldn't directly link to this, It's around]
Check this link for more the names of some more high quality packs with full difficulties Beginner Pack Discussion

Thanks so much for the info. Moving from using soft pads at home to the modded one is like night and day, so I can only imagine how good it feels to move to the Omega GX. I think I'll start saving up for one now (especially if they have a $100 off Black Friday sale like last year).

It's so cool reading everyone's posts -- it seems like we all had similar experiences with the game growing up.