Review: RedOctane Afterburner

[GiantRobot]

So, as the title says this is a review for the RedOctane Afterbuner metal dance mat. I have owned two of these pads for a little over two months and with daily playing they still work the same as the day I got them. This is from my personal experience only. I cannot speak for everybody that has ever owned one of these pads but I can speak for myself. Ok here we go:

My first impression of this pad after getting out of the box was a bit iffy. Everything looked all well and good but the arrow panels and the metal panels were not quite flush which each other so I could see the wood in between the cracks. A minor flaw but a flaw non-the-less.

As advertised on their site, the arrows are actually recessed into the pad to create a more arcade like feel. This is both negative and positive in that it does feel very much like the arcade pads; however they are recessed a little bit further than the arcade pads. But with a little practice I got used the arrows quite fast. Switching between playing on the arcade pads and at home is painless now. I don't have to do a few songs to get the feel for the arcade anymore. One thing I must say about the arrows is that they 'sink' in ~1/2cm or ~1/4". So in that respect they are different from the arcade arrows.

RedOctane uses very dense wood for their pads so they are actually heavier than they look ~50lbs or ~23Kg. The bottom of the pads is covered with a same nonslip surface used on the Ignition3.0's. I find that the pad will move on carpet floor albeit very slowly. Mine moved roughly 6" in about 4 hours of play time. However after my second pad arrived I hooked the two together with the brackets that RedOctane provides you and I have never had to move the two pads back into place after playing. The brackets are quite handy for keeping the pads right next to each other while playing doubles or for giving a more arcade like feel when playing with a friend.

The upper-right and upper-left panels on the Afterburner are actually raised metal with sensors underneath. This adds to the sleek design of the Afterburner while still allowing functionality of these buttons. If you do plan on playing singles with this pad, however, think again as these buttons do take a fair amount of force for them to register.

I hooked the pads up to my computer running the GNU/Linux distro Kubuntu with Stepmania3.9. I went into the options menu and configured all the buttons to the way I liked them. Absolutely no trouble what-so-ever. I played a few songs to see how sensitive the arrows were and I was not disappointed. The arrows take fairly little effort for them to register and sensitivity is great all around the panel, not just in the centre. Ok everything works great on PC, how about on PS2? I plugged both of the pads into my Playstation and again, was not disappointed.

One thing I must say about this pad though is that one of mine squeaks fairly loudly. It's not like it overpowers the song or anything but it is noticable.

Now one might be thinking that this is all fine and dandy while playing DDR but what about ITG where the usage of hands in necessary. It does require a tiny bit of effort to get the pad to register while using hands. I'm assuming thats normal; however I have not played ITG in the arcade before so I am not 100% sure. But you won't break your wrists trying to get the pad to register your hand, a little effort is all you need.

So overall a great pad. I am not sorry with my investment in these.

Feel free to leave comments, questions, or whatever you want. But don't bash these pads if you have not, at least, used them for a few hours to get the 'feel'.

-GiantRobot

[PureBlue]

That was a good review. I'm now leaning to getting an Afterburner instead of a Cobalt Flux.

[MasterInuYasha]

[Kalek]

[Fred 00]

[jpoppyz]

problems with afterburner
the panels crack easily.
it uses cheap foam to absorb recoil
the wire is on top of the panel
it's made out of the cheapest plywood
to control boxes often suck or break
that cord you hook the control box up to.
it's $100 more than it should be

problems with cobalt flux
no foam/anything to absorb you step...basically its stepping on concrete.
arrows arent recessed
control box is PS2 only(or maybe its USB now, too?)
its about $150 more than it should be.

if your looking for the best price wise, make a homepad. if you lack building abilities/want a pad thats low-matenince, get a cobalt flux. if you want the best buy, lack building abilites, and still want a decent pad, get an afterburner. but what you should do is wait for the DT pads.
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[Discoman]

I have experience with two Afterburners used for an anime convention I staffed in Georgia about a year and a half ago (don't get me wrong, I love Japan but anime is not my thing). We received them direct from RO and they were nearly inoperable or had faulty arrows within 6 hours.

Squeaky? Yes.

I have to say that the design felt cheap.

Question: This Afterburner design is the same or different than it was around September of 2005? Note that I bolded the portion above to qualify my statement. The two pads I dealt with were probably about 20-30 pounds, if I remember correctly. 50 pounds really doesn't sound right to me...

[mgcloud]

I'm glad the OP had a good experience with the RO Afterburner pads.

I, however, had a terrible experience with them (so, buyer beware!)

My pad arrived late October 2006, but due to some personal stuff, it never really got much use until the warranty expired (unfortunately :/).

The pad got warped after only a few hours of light play (by average ~130-150lb people). The screws popped out of their sockets, the arrows were not flush with each other (and neither were the non-arrow squares), and corners jutted out dangerously.

This rendered it useless for anything above 7-8 foot DDR songs, at least for my particular play style.

After another month or so of moderate use (3 times per week for a couple of hours), the down arrow stopped responding. I then decided to give up on the pad entirely. Seemed like cheap construction with no regard to durability at all :/