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Revision as of 00:24, 13 June 2015 by 49.144.177.93 (talk) (→Arcade machines)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For other uses, see Dance Dance Revolution (disambiguation). Video game series| Dance Dance Revolution | |
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File:Dance Dance Revolution logo 2009.png  Dance Dance Revolution X2, the latest arcade release in North America | |
| Genre(s) | Music, Exercise |
| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami, Nintendo, Disney, Keen |
| First release | Dance Dance Revolution November 21, 1998 |
| Latest release | Dance Dance Revolution May 12, 2014 |
| Spin-offs | Dance Dance Revolution Solo |
Dance Dance Revolution (ダンスダンスレボリューション, Dansu Dansu Reboryūshon), abbreviated DDR and also known as Dancing Stage (ダンシングステージ, Danshingu Sutēji) in earlier games in Europe and Australasia, and some other games in Japan, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. Players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross with their feet to musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score.
Dance Dance Revolution has been given much critical acclaim for its originality and stamina in the video game market. There have been dozens of arcade-based releases across several countries and hundreds of home video game console releases, promoting a music library of original songs produced by Konami's in-house artists and an eclectic set of licensed music from many different genres. The DDR series was followed by games such as Pump It Up by Andamiro and In the Groove by Roxor. DDR celebrated its 10th anniversary on November 21, 2008.
Gameplay
Hardware
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Arcade System
The first Dance Dance Revolution as well as its followup DDR 2ndMix uses Bemani System 573 Analog as its hardware. DDR 3rdMix replaces this with a slightly upgraded Bemani System 573 Digital which would be used up to DDR Extreme. Both of these are based on PlayStation.
Beginning in DDR SuperNova, the hardware is replaced by Bemani Python 2, a PlayStation 2-based hardware which was first introduced on the fellow Bemani game GuitarFreaks V and Drummania V. This would also be used in the followup DDR SuperNova 2.
Along with the cabinet change, DDR X also changes its hardware to the PC-based Bemani PC Type 4. This more powerful hardware allows for high definition graphics which are used to this day.
Releases
Main article: List of Dance Dance Revolution video gamesDance Dance Revolution has been released in many different countries on many different platforms. Originally released in Japan as an arcade game and then a Sony PlayStation game, which was a bestseller. DDR was later released in North American, Europe, Korea, the whole of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Mexico on multiple platforms including the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii, and many others. Due to demand, Japanese versions of the game, which are usually different from the games released in other countries, are often imported or bootlegged. DDR fansites make an attempt to keep track of the locations of arcade machines throughout the major regions.
Home releases
DDR games have been released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox and Xbox 360, and even PCs. Home versions often contain new songs, songs from the arcade version, and additional features that take advantage of the capabilities of the console (e.g.; Xbox 360 versions such as the Dance Dance Revolution Universe series include support for online multiplayer and downloadable songs over Xbox Live, and high definition graphics). DDR has even reached Nintendo's Game Boy Color, with five versions of Dance Dance Revolution GB released in Japan; these included a series of three mainstream DDR games, a Disney Mix, and an Oha Star. The games come with a small thumb pad that fits over the Game Boy Color's controls to simulate the dance pad.
Home versions are commonly bundled with soft plastic dance pads that are similar in appearance and function to the Nintendo Power Pad. Some third-party manufacturers produce hard metal pads at a higher price.
A version of DDR was also produced for the PC in North America. It uses the interface of Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix, and contains around 40 songs from the first six mainstream arcade releases. It has not been as well received as the console versions.
Similar games
Due to the success of the Dance Dance Revolution franchise, many other games with similar or identical gameplay have been created.
Commercial competitors of DDR include the popular Korean series Pump It Up and the American series In the Groove by Roxor, the latter of which was met with legal action by Konami and resulted in Konami's acquisition of the game's intellectual property. As well as TechnoMotion by F2 Systems, EZ2Dancer by Amuseworld, and MC Groovz Dance Craze by Mad Catz. A Christian version of DDR, named Dance Praise, has been made by Digital Praise. Ubisoft produced a dance game based on Disney's The Jungle Book titled The Jungle Book Groove Party.
Fan-made versions of DDR have also been created, many freely available to the public under open source licenses. The most popular of these is StepMania (pictured), upon which the game In the Groove is based. These simulators allow for players to create and play their own songs to their own programmed steps. As a result, many DDR fans have held contests and released "mixes" of custom songs and steps for these simulators. Notably the Japanese Foonmix series and the DDR East Invasion Tournamix competitions. Other simulators include Dance With Intensity and pyDance for Windows, both of which are no longer developed, and Feet of Fury, a homebrew game for the Sega Dreamcast.
Besides direct clones, many other games have been released that center around rhythm and dance due to DDR's popularity. Dance! Online released by Acclaim combines dance pad play with an MMO element. ABC's Dancing With the Stars and Codemasters' Dance Factory are more recent examples of games that pay homage to DDR and the genre it created. Konami itself uses music from its other rhythm game series such as Beatmania and Beatmania IIDX, Drummania and GuitarFreaks, and Pop'n Music, as well as making references to DDR in its other games and vice versa.
DDR today
Tournaments are held worldwide, with participants usually competing for higher scores or number of Perfects (referred to as "Perfect Attack" tournaments). Less common are "freestyle" tournaments, where players develop actual dance routines to perform while following the steps in the game.
Playing styles
Many DDR players, in order to better focus on timing and pattern reading, will minimize any extraneous body movement during gameplay. These players are commonly referred to as "technical", "tech" or "perfect attack" (PA) players. These technical players usually play the most difficult songs on the highest difficulty levels in an attempt to perfect their scores. The more "technical" a song gets the more the player must use minimalistic movements in order to hit all the arrows with perfection. These players perfect using their heel as well.
Other DDR players choose to incorporate complex or flashy techniques into their play movements, and some of these "freestyle" players develop intricate dance routines to perform during a song. Freestyle players tend to choose songs on lower difficulty levels, so that the player is not restricted in their movements by large quantities of required steps. Some players can even dance facing away from the screen.
Somewhere in the middle are the players which choose to do a little bit of both of the formers. There are criticisms of the In The Groove style of play which focuses on "perfect attack". More traditional players say it takes the fun away from the game the harder the step-charts get, which makes players use much less movement overall to conserve stamina. By doing this, it is no longer a dance game and many arrows do not fit perfectly with the beat because there are simply too many of them. The middle players enjoy moving to the beat and still trying to improve their scores without having to adopt the In the Groove style of play.
A freestyling act can also involve performing other stunts while playing. On an episode of ABC's short-lived series Master of Champions, Billy Matsumoto won the episode when he played 5th Mix's "Can't Stop Fallin' In Love (Speed Mix)" on Heavy mode while juggling three lit torches.
As exercise
Many news outlets have reported how playing DDR can be good aerobic exercise; some regular players have reported weight loss of 10–50 pounds (5–20 kg). In one example, a player found that including DDR in her day-to-day life resulted in a loss of 95 pounds (43 kg). Some other examples would be Matthew Keene's account of losing upwards of 150 pounds (68 kg) and Yashar Esfandi's claim of losing 85 pounds (39 kg) in four months through incorporation of DDR. Although the quantity of calories burned by playing DDR have not been scientifically measured, the amount of active movement required to play implies that DDR provides at least some degree of healthy exercise.
In 2006 West Virginia introduced DDR to the physical education curriculum at all of its 765 public schools. In Norway, 'Machine Dance' has even been registered as an official sport.
Many home versions of the game have a function to estimate calories burned, given a player's weight. Additionally, players can use "workout mode" to make a diary of calories burned playing DDR and any self-reported changes in the player's weight.
Use in schools
At the start of 2006, Konami announced that the DDR games would be used as part of a fitness program to be phased into West Virginia's 765 state schools, starting with its 103 middle schools, over the next two years. The program was conceived by a researcher at West Virginia University's Motor Development Center.
California Institute of Technology allows its students to use DDR to fulfill part of its physical education requirement, as students may design their own fitness program.
University of Kansas has a class for Dance Dance Revolution open for students to take as a 1 credit hour course.
Cyber Coach has sold in excess of 600 systems in schools in the UK and features the DDR Game Disco Disco 2.
As a sport
In 2004 Dance Dance Revolution became an official sporting event in Norway. The first official club DDR Oslo was founded in 2004. The tournaments in Norway was divided into two parts, first there was a group play where the 2 or 3 best players from each group went to the final rounds. Elimination of the player with the lowest game score was used for each round in the finals. The scoring system used was based on people dancing to 2 or 3 songs. Some random selected songs (which had to be played by everyone) and some player chosen songs (which introduced some strategy into the game, as some songs had higher possible scoring than other songs). Dancing Stage EuroMix 2 was officially used for the Norwegian tournaments.
Awards
The success of the Dance Dance Revolution series has resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series with: Gamer's Edition 2008. The records include "Longest Dance Dance Revolution Marathon" which is currently held by Alex Skudlarek at 16 hours, 18 minutes, and nine seconds. and "Most Widely Used Video Game in Schools."
See also
- Dance Masters / Dance Evolution, Kinect (Xbox) game software developed by DDR Creators.
- Dance Revolution, a television series inspired by Dance Dance Revolution.
- List of Dance Dance Revolution video games
- Dance pad
- Exergaming
- Konami Corporation v. Roxor Games Inc.
- List of Dance Dance Revolution songs
- Music video game
- Carrie Swidecki
References
- Except those that were upgraded from first generation arcade cabinet of DDR.
- Dengeki PlayStation sales chart, August 1999, published in Official UK PlayStation Magazine issue 48
- "Publisher acquires rights to Roxor game". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- IGN Staff IGN: Dance Dance Revolution Tournament Report, Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
- "Welcome to Get Up Move!". Web.archive.org. 2007-10-11. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
- ^ "West Virginia Adds Dance Dance Revolution to Gym Class". MTV. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- "Positive Gaming: Machine Dance as Fitness and Sport". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- "Caltech Course Catalog- Physical Education".
- Weslander, Eric (2007-08-11). "10 cool classes / LJWorld.com". .ljworld.com. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
- http://www.Cyber-coach.co.uk
- Hoysniemi, Johanna. "International survey on the Dance Dance Revolution game". Retrieved January 29, 2015.
External links
- 2007 DDR Study, American Council on Exercise.
- DDR Global Gateway
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