How the F%#^ do you guys do it? (Or my 1st DDR attempt)

[scooterb23]

OK, I officially tried out DDR in an arcade setting. (JD, I hope you didn't take pictures of me actually playing...). There were two machines at Gameworks, a DDR USA, and DDR Extreme...

I started with absolute Beginner levels on USA...and did fairly well, went 9 for 9 on various 1-foot songs, found a 2-footer, did alright...nearly died trying a three footer though...

I then tried Extreme on "Light" level, one step above beginner...I had to try the remix of We Will Rock You :) Passed that one with a D :/ Then I went onto Butterfly, and my legs gave out on me...and I quit before the song was over...

You don't even want to know what it was like for me to try and work after that...

So I want to know, how in the heck do you keep up with the action on higher level songs?? Is it just repetition and practice? I would just stand there and watch, and I just couldn't even keep track of the movements...it was just too fast for me.

I'm probably hooked for good now...although I honestly don't believe I will ever progress any farther than 4-foot songs (I haven't found a 3-footer I can pass yet...)...I just can't process the information, and move that fast anymore.

I need to find a way to play Guitar Freaks at home though...I will pass Cool Joe!!!!!!!! (eventually)

[Sylentwulf]

Just practice man, just practice. That goes for 1 step through 9 steppers. Not a damn thing you can do but practice :)

[kainemaxwell]

I'm planning to finally get DDR and a pad after my birthday myself.

I guess just practice and learn the beats and timing is the advice people keep giving me.

[scooterb23]

I guess my biggest problem was that I would find myself set up on the wrong foot...a lot. I have arthritis in both ankles and knees...it's worst in my left ankle, so I try to keep my weight off my left side, which causes many problems game wise.

I need DDRMAX, and a better home pad now...

[davidbrit2]

After you play enough, the intense burning in your calves eventually goes away. Then you can concentrate on reading the arrows.

And Guitar Freaks 2nd Mix for PSX is awesome. It's got Cool Joe, and over 40 others. It's an append disc, meaning you'd need 1st Mix to boot it, but there are probably some patches floating around on the net and IRC (hint hint.) ;-)

If your hands are small like mine, you won't even need a guitar controller. Just look at control setting C, and you'll see what I mean.

[JWKobayashi]

I'm probably hooked for good now...although I honestly don't believe I will ever progress any farther than 4-foot songs (I haven't found a 3-footer I can pass yet...)...I just can't process the information, and move that fast anymore.


That all just comes with practice. I had been playing at home just on a controller for about a year before we even got DDR in an arcade, so reading the arrows wasn't as much of a problem. It's just really leaning how to pivot your body in order to be set up for the next batch of arrows. :)

[jdllama]

Scott, I didn't get any snaps of you during the game; I try not to distract anyone playing DDR since it does require a lot of dedication...unless you're l33t :)

Just a lot of practice and having no life. After all, you saw Russ do Dam Dariram Heavy...INCREDIBLE.

Oh, and if anyone wants to see the pics from today (including a pic of scooter himself in there!):

http://jdllama.marpirc.net/gameworks42603/

Oh yeah, and said linkage also includes some pics of my own Room of Doom. Not much, but still...

[Dahne]

Practice, practice, practice. :-D

Seriously though, I seem to have the same problem, though I'm a tad farther along. First off, get the home version. Not only does it give you lots more time for the first point, it gives you access to Training Mode, which I find extremely useful, though I don't know if anyone else really uses it. It's the only way I ever managed to pass Paranoia (even on Light, that's song's tough.) Going through Lesson Mode to learn the half-steps is immensely helpful, too.

I seem to have hit a plateau. I can get better at individual songs by going through them several times slowed down in Training Mode, but I never get better at the game as a whole. I'll never pass any of the Oni mode sets, I'll tell ya that much. :-D

Oh, and build yourself a good setup, once you get the game. Take one of those cheap cloth pads, then get a chunk of plywood, some padding (I use Astroturf. Ghetto, but it works!), some thin, hard plastic to go over the top (if you can find any. Hardwood floor covering is what I've heard, but I haven't had any luck at the local Home Depot), then nail the whole thing together. It's not pretty, but it's very nice for makinmg the damn thing stay in the same county when you jump on it.

[Sothy]

it helps if you wear pink.

[omnedon]

LOL @ Sothy

Call me old fashioned, but if DDR had existed in 1982 arcades, it would have been pretty ugly. Once any male walked off the dance pad, it would be open season on 'em. Good luck getting out without a line of people wanting to kick your ass..

I have no problem with DDR, I just see a guy doing it at an arcade, and I think how times have changed.

[zmeston]

LOL @ Sothy

Call me old fashioned, but if DDR had existed in 1982 arcades, it would have been pretty ugly. Once any male walked off the dance pad, it would be open season on 'em. Good luck getting out without a line of people wanting to kick your ass..

I have no problem with DDR, I just see a guy doing it at an arcade, and I think how times have changed.

Times haven't changed that much. I still know many gamers (including many fairly hardcore magazine/website editors) who refuse to play DDR because of the "gayness" factor. For a few of them, though, I think saying "Dude, that's gay!" is an excuse to mask their understandable fear of exposing themselves as uncoordinated doofuses that everyone will point and laugh at. Since people have been pointing and laughing at me for 30 years, I'm not bothered by that aspect of DDR.

As I stated in another thread, I'm very surprised that Konami has never brought Guitar Freaks to the U.S., as there isn't an American male on the planet who hasn't dreamt of being a groupie-bedding guitar god. No gayness factor whatsoever, although the dinky plastic ukulele of the home version could probably be considered fruity if you were being especially homophobic.

My most significant observation about DDR is that, virtually everywhere I see it played, the best players are Asian-Americans. I'm curious why this is, and if this holds true for other areas of the country. (I live in north-state California, so I've mostly seen DDR played in the Bay Area and Las Vegas.)

-- Z.

[Raedon]

I set it to the tutorial mode so that score doesn't matter then jump around on the pad and hope.

[Kroogah]

My most significant observation about DDR is that, virtually everywhere I see it played, the best players are Asian-Americans. I'm curious why this is, and if this holds true for other areas of the country. (I live in north-state California, so I've mostly seen DDR played in the Bay Area and Las Vegas.)

-- Z.

Some of the WORST players I've seen in my area are Asian-Americans. Most of the best are white boys. Let me compare....

I know an asian kid who, after about a year of playing the game for hours every day, can finally pass .59 on Heavy about half the time....(translation: I could do that after like 3 months)

And I've seen a white guy nearly full combo bag on 1x Flat Shuffle. (translation: no one else I know even wants to attempt PASSING it)

[davidbrit2]

I've made another interesting observation around here, too. In the Grand Rapids area, we've just got two Pump it Up machines. I see a lot of guys playing it that are of Asian origin. Here's the thing - I think the bars are going to die from venereal diseases obtained from the constant, intense rapings. I actually watched a guy try to hold the bar while playing Beethoven Virus double. He failed, obviously. It just seems so astereotypical that the white computer science major who's just had surgery then walks up on the pad, and annihilates Turkey March Double with ease. I guess Grand Rapids is just weird like that. :-)

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure the Asian-American Population thing is mostly a west coast thing. It did start over there, after all, and fads from Japan always hit the Asian population first, then pick up steam in the rest of the country. On a side note, the best players I've seen (one freestyle and one not), were both non-asians. There are also socio-cultural reasons which cause Asian cultures tend to be less afraid to publicly do things that people in the US would find 'goofy' which of course leads to more skilled players simply because they are more willing to play.

[Kroogah]

Just a random addition to this post....


I need to find a way to play Guitar Freaks at home though...I will pass Cool Joe!!!!!!!! (eventually)

"da-duh da-duh da-duh da-duh da-duh da-duh da-duh duh....daaaaah da-duh da-duh duh, daaaaah da-duh da-duh duh...." :D

[bizounce]

It comes with time. Don't be afraid to play, try not to think too much, play to the beat of the song, and remember to drink a lot of water and to rest between rounds. Eventually you'll notice a lot of stamina built up within yourself from playing DDR. I can play Kick the Can, Hero, and any other fast songs on Maniac without getting so exhausted to the point that I want to drop.

[WiseSalesman]

After all, you saw Russ do Dam Dariram Heavy...INCREDIBLE.

By "incredible", you mean "easy, right? :D

[Jorpho]

I heard the home pads were somewhat useless. Or was that just for the PC version?
________
Cumshot Movie (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/17/cumshot/videos/1)

[josekortez]

I tried it once, but I'm not coordinated. Luckily, no one was watching. I'm sticking to Frequency and Amplitude, thank you very much.

[lostsage]

ah, I remember the first time i tried DDR...
picked a song with a good beat (and didn't noticed that it was a 5 footer)...
lost my dollar quicker than a pull of a slot machine...

memories...

now, i can say that B4U (maniac) and Japan Re-Venge (maniac) are my bitches.

It only took me seven months and 23 days.

all i have to say is pratice, pratice, pratice. next one on my hit list is Afronova Primeal.

Sometimes, i would play a fast song that was a low footer, then i would play a slower song, but at a higher foot rating. it helped me see the arrows quicker for some reason.

i don't believe in the training mode for the home versions. but i've got my games set to end at the end of the music instead of the end of the playing bar. helps me see how the rest of the song goes.

and alternate your feet. it takes awhile to get used to, but it can be done. and don't return your feet to the middle! keep your feet on the arrows.

that's the secret to my ddr