Red Octane Afterburner

[irvineking1980]

Now people have wars over CobaltFlux, AfterBurner, BlueShark Metal Pad. let's see which one is the best. I am still not sure which one is the best metal pad.

[Jman39]

Ok.... could someone BESIDES cata killer give me some assurance of this pad working with xbox?
_________________

<Raize> can you guys see what I type?
<vecna> no, raize
<Raize> How do I set it up so you can see it?

[Norkusa]

[Darkicarus]

ok in everybodies honest opinion, which pad is better Ab or Tx-2000? Afterburner can't be THAT bad.
_________________

"like.. wtf"

[jjang1993]

i think the afterburner is better than the tx2000. 2000 is crap cause of its worse control box probs(the cbox probs r worse than the ABs), the arrow panels crack faster than the ABs, and the soldering's worse than the ABs.
_________________

My Favorite DDR Song is So Deep.

[Marvel627]

tx-2000s also suck because they dont feel like the arcade and the small sensors that only work when u step in the center of the arrow.

[Jman39]

Well, that decision wasn't too hard. Thanks, Cata.
Flux, all the way
_________________

<Raize> can you guys see what I type?
<vecna> no, raize
<Raize> How do I set it up so you can see it?

[Liquid Zero]

I played on an Afterburner at an anime convention for hours upon hours upon hours each day (off and on, of course). I met Kyle Ward there, whom people would probably refer to as KeeL or KaW, or whatever. He's quite a very nice guy to talk to, and he's insane at ITG (which is probably old news to most of us here. But I wouldn't know).

But back to the Afterburner.

Arcade Feel and Playing 10-12 footers:
I played nothing but 9s 10s and 11s...and one 12 on the PS2 ITG they had. I didn't go less than 9 my whole time there...and neither did a few other people. Man, it was exactly like playing at the arcade...so people who are anal about that kind of thing shouldn't worry. Kyle played VerTex Expert each time he got on (from what I saw). I think I've estabilished now that 10s-12s are Arcade-worthy gameplay with the Afterburner with no hassle.

I remember Panemonium Expert being played. But I was half-watching. Chances are, though, if a 12 can be done well, so can a 13.

Lastability?/Problems?:
How long an Afterburner can last is obviously variable by now, due to so many complaints already...but I can at least give an idea of how well it's capable of being. Since an anime convention is 3 days, I played on it for many hours each day, all with the same "9 footer and above" gameplay. Not only that, but there was ALWAYS somebody playing on it all three days, which meant minor rest time for the pads themselves. Um, did I mention Kyle played VerTex Expert multiple times? He was there each day, so I assume he kept doing it each day.

The pads didn't show any wear until the last day of the convention. It was when doubles was attempted, though. None of the arrows were registering on one of the pads, but functioning returned when we went back to Versus/Single. But I dunno whether or not it happened again. Someone playing Doubles was a rare occourance.

Pad Shifting and Performing Hands/Quads:
In case anyone was wondering, doing Hands is equally as easy as on a normal arcade pad. The only hands song I played was Romeo & Juli8 Expert, though (so fun ). It pretty much never moved. The pad moves ever so slightly after even after 10 footers. I watched some guys do the Anubis Quads, and while the pad moved, that's the most it will ever move...because of Quads. Granted, it didn't move nearly enough to throw them off. Again with the VerTex Expert: it moved quite a bunch then, but it's a 12 footer...what do you expect.

Panel Cracks:
I noticed people being concerned about the issue of panel cracks. Well, all I can say is, from reminincing of all the stomping at the convention: It seems mighty clear that the Afterburner has very low susceptibility to panel cracks. And I didn't notice the panels concaving each time from stepping on them (which aids in getting panel cracks, due to physics). If they did, it was barely happening.

Furthermore, about what Syncognition pointed out with the ball-of-foot-stepping. After the 3 days of playing, it's clear that playing like that was the only reason the panels broke. =\

Special Treatment?:
BUT, being a sponsored ITG console set-up, I will have no clue whether or not their Afterburners had a special treatment of some kind. But they look exactly like the images of the ABs all over the net, with recessed arrows and everything, so I think all of my physical compliments to the pads (near-exact arcade feel, great for hands/quads performance, slim concave motion each time you press on them, and barely moving at all after even 10s) at least stand quite factual.

In fact, this gives me an idea to e-mail Kyle on the subject of that (since he was there hosting it...and, hell, if that was even him to begin with). He may lie to me anyway, but somehow I doubt it because they sold off the pads for 60 bucks after the con was almost over (because they were used so damn much, though that's still CRAZY cheap. I hate that I didn't know this in time to buy one of them, but my friend managed to buy one of them). The fact that they were sold off makes it seem more like they were just like the ones being sold now.

Sticky Plastic Cover?:
I'd advise you guys to play with the plastic covering still on the panels. Why? I have no logical reason. But that's how it was done at the convention. People kept stomping with the plastic on until they tore it to the point that it was pointless to keep on and instead rip off. Since it took quite awhile to wear a hole in them, perhaps it makes a slight durability aid...which probably wouldn't be much if it does, but Hey, it's a metal pad. Might as well find any simple way to keep it functional, no matter how small.
(EDIT: The problem here is, the plastic gets harder to peel off after playing with it on. All of it was still ripped off, but just beware of an extra hassle.)

DISCLAIMER: I Wasn't Always There:
Yeah. Since I wasn't always around, I have no idea whether or not they worked on the pads, or switched pads each day, or had replacements handy. What I CAN say, though, is I hung around for about an hour each get-go, and that this happened WAY back in late October. I can only go by that. However, since there were plastic tears from keeping the plastic on, the same remnants of plastic seemed to be visible on the panels each day, so it was likely that these were the same pads day after day.

Granted, I'm still reluctant to buy an Afterburner. But there's my experiences that I had with it. Hope I helped some of you guys out.

[jbean3535]

I tried playing with all the plastic still on but in the end, it only made it much harder to get off.
_________________

[Liquid Zero]

Hmm, yeah, I forgot about it being a hassle to get off...I think I'll restate that in that post...

[Catnapp3r]

the problem i have with my afterburner is how high you have to lift your foot to move from one arrow to another because of how recessed the arrows are, which is very tiring and is probbly the reason i rarely use it anymore and just go to one of my three friends that have cobalts' houses...

[Snapps50]

I played it at AX 2005. Much better pad than anything i've been on.

Hey guys stop fucking your CF and how goldly it is and buy this.

[Jman39]

[Edible Bondage Tape]

[Liquid Zero]

[Norkusa]

[Bosher]

like what the marines say: overcome and adapt.
_________________

It's not kids in the backseat that cause accidents, it's accidents in the backseat that cause kids.

[Norkusa]

[Liquid Zero]

[Norkusa]