The Pad Arena Thread:Which pad is better? Ask/Find out here!

[ChilliumBromide]

It's good to see some older folks taking interest in actually playing the game. I hate when my aunts and uncles watch me and just mope about how they wish they were young and energetic like me. One of my more adventurous aunts tried it once and was able to pass 2 footers (granted, with D's) after the first few rounds. It doesn't really get insane until you get to 7's. I can't imagine most people over 40 being able to pass HVAM Standard; that's when it stops being 70% reflex, 25% coordination, and 5% endurance and starts leaning more on endurance and tossing in the raw speed and balance factors.

Anyway, I support the comment that the UM bundle would probably be your best bet at this point. However, not all hardpads are flimsy, rotten pieces of crap that you can just put your foot through (in fact, I think only AfterBurners are), so don't pay too much attention to that bit.
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[tfield98]

Hey, DancingTofu:

Thanks for the encouragement!!!

Not being a player yet, I don't know the jargon, like "2 footers w/ D's" or the “HVAM Standard.” But I'm macho (aka: "dumb") enough (or, know the kind of challenge I enjoy) to accept, sight-unseen, the goal of passing the HVAM standard! I'll let you know when I do. (I'm also the kind of guy who works out (spinning HARD currently for an hour) 3+ times a week while wearing a heart rate monitor, going to 170+ BPM and then the “WTF am I doing this for… I think I’m gonna puke”-zone!

Of course, being clipped into the pedals on a stationary spinning bike, clutching the handlebars, spinning like a caveman or dumb ape doesn't require much physical or mental coordination. I'm looking forward to the increased demands of DDR!

Question: the salesperson at Fry’s mentioned different kinds of softpads: something about the increased durability of “pre-compressed” pads that are slower to lose their padding after repeated use. Is there any truth to this?

Also, are their any suggested mods to the UM board? How will we know when we've grown out of it and it's holding us back?

Tom

[ChilliumBromide]

Jargons (15 points base score in Scrabble btw; good word):
x-footers: the "foot rate" of a song. 1-10 in DDR. You'll hear higher too, but 10's the highest official DDR foot rating.
HVAM: a very well-known remix of a very cool song from DDR 6th Mix.
Beginner/Light/Standard/Heavy/Oni/Challenge: Difficulty settings. Heavy, Oni, and Challenge are basically the same thing. SuperNOVA has them all renamed, except for Challenge.
I believe there's a terms dictionary on this site. I read through it once and it greatly elevated my understanding around DDR communities. If you can find it, read it.

I doubt I could handle anything like that. If nothing else, you're definitely TOUGH.

I'm not sure about the increased durability deal. However, a good modded softpad will last you just as long as a CF, when treated right.

There are lots of modding tutorials on and off DDRFreak. A basic Google search ("DDR softpad mod") should turn up some decent ones.
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[Tenchi50]

i'm getting a job to buy a set of doubles...

ninja or afterburner?

[Simo2541]

[azruial]

Hi everybody, I am a DDR noob and I am looking for a setup. I own an Xbox and an Xbox 360 but the Xbox is on permanent lease to my sister (she lives at home and I am at college). Over my spring break, she got DDR Ultramix 3 and a dance mat for the Xbox. Let me say, I have always been fascinated by the game, but I never had the guts to get up and do it in public, so I played for the first time. Needless to say, I got hooked pretty hard pretty fast. I can clear everything on Light and if I concentrate on it for a few plays, I can usually get an 'A' on 3-foot songs.

So I am looking to set up my 360 with it's new version of the game. Obviously that is going to narrow my selection pretty fast, I have found
two by Mat Catz http://www.madcatz.com/Default.asp?Page=249
and the Konami one. You probably don't have much experience since it is new, but do Konami's official pads have a good track record? What do you reccomend?

Also, I am planning on going through with this mod: http://www.angelfire.com/pro2/softpadmod/#_Toc71480697
if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance!

[ChilliumBromide]

I think getting a DDR Universe bundle would be fine. I spent a year and a half on a DDRMAX bundle before I even considered getting a metal pad. Of course, the official pad made it through 5 9-footers before it started getting shredded to pieces, but for everything under hard 8's, they're pretty decent pads. Bemani has a great team of engineers.
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[Promit]

Can someone tell me more about these pads?
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Hard-Foam-DDR-Dance-Ignition-Pad-for-PS2-Xbox-PC_W0QQitemZ330099476027QQcategoryZ21185QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

It's been like 3 years since I last bought pads -- it was Ignition clones from Vortz back then and they've held up beautifully. How are these things?

[Discoman]

[ChilliumBromide]

[foolbar]

Had a terrible experience with an ebay seller called monkeyhk1968. He sent me two "8.0 ignition pads", one was terribly torn in the creases where it was being folded (maybe because it was stored folded too long?), and the other had a very small hole in one of the folds and looked to me like it would look like the first pad after a few weeks of use.

I shipped both back to him (paid an extra $14 to do this). When he received them he acknowledged that one of them was badly torn, but claimed he could find nothing wrong with the other one. I kept asking him when he would send the new pads, but finally responded telling me that he need another 3 days to "test" the less damaged pad. I then demanded that he ship me new pads or I would file a claim with paypal. He told me to go right ahead, so I did.

Right now I don't have the pads and I don't have the money. Hopefully the paypal claim will work and at least I will get the money back (except for the $14 I spent to ship them back).

So be warned: if ANYTHING goes wrong with an ebay transaction you are likely to be screwed. Worst case, you lose all your money, best case you lose the return shipping.

[alinski]

[Duragon910]

BNS DX Vs. Ignition 3.0

Which should I get
8-10(hopefully 11)
step songs

[ChilliumBromide]

BNS.

Ignition 2.0 = win
Ignition 3.0 = lose
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[Duragon910]

Yah I was talking with darkcore about that he said go with 2.0 over the 3

so 2.0 > Fusion??

[ChilliumBromide]

[Duragon910]

Ohh
Well I've been looking for a 2.0 (other than ebay) and they're all sold out
Guess i'll go with the Fusion

[t3chb0y]

I'm thinking about creating a school club for DDR ..

I have searched throughout these forums and I'm still unsure about which pads to get..

Apparently...I can't get the most expensive pads eithor ...any recommendations?

[Duragon910]

Take donations? Fee to join the club?
Depending on the number of people and money

$80 DNS Fusions
sounds good to me

[ChilliumBromide]

25 cent fee for each club meeting.

Affordable, but it will pay for the pads.
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