Question for all DDR fans

[Journalist23]

Hi everybody,

My name is Joe. I am a journalism student at San
Diego State. For my journalism class I am doing an
article about DDR. I was hoping you would be willing
to answer some questions for me. It would be a great
help.

How would you describe DDR as a phenomena? Did it sort
of sweep the nation?

Are their any defining characteristics of DDR
"freaks?"

Why did the name "DDR Freak" stick?

What is the DDR culture like (if there is a culture)?
Does it have its own unique slang?

What are the big DDR competitions like in terms of
numbers of people as well as atmosphere?

Do participants consider it a sport or a form of dance
or both?

Who are the best in the world right now at DDR?

What is the difference between the earlier versions
and the most current versions?

Is there anything special about DDR you can only know if you play it?

Anything you want to contribute would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

[Griesus]

How would you describe DDR as a phenomena? Did it sort
of sweep the nation?

No i don't think it "swept the nation" at all. I would say less than 2,000 people are "really" into it.

Are their any defining characteristics of DDR
"freaks?"

usually gamers that are sick of the norm. They are sick of games that don't require you to push yourself. They are gamers that want more out of the whole gaming experience.

Why did the name "DDR Freak" stick?

Many people who play at the mall hear "Look at that freak" and it is almost like we are put on display at the mall as "freaks". People walk by and chuckle or make a comment about how much time we have on our hands.

What is the DDR culture like (if there is a culture)?
Does it have its own unique slang?

Well, I do not think it is big enough to have a culture. Slang would include "Bar-raping" which means you hang onto the bar at the arcade incesently to pass a song. I personally don't use the bar. But for more there is a slang dictionary on the site you can use.

What are the big DDR competitions like in terms of
numbers of people as well as atmosphere?

Umm.. The last tourny I was in had 16 people. I got a miserable 4th because the top 3 could SDG (single digit great) songs. The atmosphere was that of any tournament. You wait until your name is called and u get up on the pad and give it your all.

Do participants consider it a sport or a form of dance
or both?

I do not consider it a sport. Some disagree. I also play poker and I do not think that is a sport. What is next? They are going to call NASCAR a sport? ugh.

Who are the best in the world right now at DDR?

Well, I would say Yasu. He is this tiny guy in japan who can AAA max 300 without seeing the arrows.

What is the difference between the earlier versions
and the most current versions?

Current versions have pretty crappy songs except for DDR Etreme 2

Is there anything special about DDR you can only know if you play it?

After awhile you don't see individual arrows, but patterns. The arrows come so fast that you need to not only recognize the arrow, but react in less than a second. Some songs like Max 300 have around 6.14 arrows/second which gets really hectic. (thats right, 6.14 arrows a second. somewhere around 550 divided by 90 seconds approxamately)

I hope I helped,

Sam Griese

10/18/05
_________________

Phrekwenci wrote:

frick the thread.

[AA Bob]

[gerinis]

How would you describe DDR as a phenomena? Did it sort
of sweep the nation?
-I would say it's an underground taste. It only looks like i swept the nation when you're on a site like DDRFreak.

Are their any defining characteristics of DDR
"freaks?"
-It depends on the person, really. Some DDRers are really competetive, some are jerks most of the time, and some just play for fun. Half the kids who play DDR you would never expect so, at least around here that's true.

Why did the name "DDR Freak" stick?
-It's and underground taste, like I said, and people of the underground are often referred to as what surface dwellers find offencesive; freaks.

What is the DDR culture like (if there is a culture)?
Does it have its own unique slang?
-The DDR culture is like any other, there are those obsessed with it, there are those who randomly stop by, and there are those who can speak with perfect DDR jargon to the effect that outsiders have little to no idea what they're talking about. And yes, there is a unique slang.

What are the big DDR competitions like in terms of
numbers of people as well as atmosphere?
-Never been, can't say.

Do participants consider it a sport or a form of dance
or both?
-I consider it a sport more then dance, unless you start freestyling.

Who are the best in the world right now at DDR?
-Small, energetic, Japanese kids, I would guess.

What is the difference between the earlier versions
and the most current versions?
-There are less mods, bells and whistles, in the older versions. But the fundimentals remain the same.

Is there anything special about DDR you can only know if you play it?
-The names of the step patterns, such as crossovers, gallops and whatnot.
_________________

くちにいれない

[Journalist23]

Thanks everybody.

I was wondering; what does it mean to be good enough to compete in competitions?

Is there a certain number of combos you have to be able to do to even think about competeing?

Also, what does AAA stand for?

[DanD]

Being good at the game just means that you practice, like any hobby/sport/activity you take up.

You don't necessarily have to be able to get a maximum combo on just about any song to be able to compete, but it helps if you're competing against people who can.

And a AAA is when you get all of the steps on a song on beat for a Perfect rating.
_________________

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&l=uk&code=36e44d4914f14070cc5b3d4c6bcd1042
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090310025322668

щ(ﾟДﾟщ)

[Journalist23]

More questions;

What do I need to do to play DDR in my home?
I assume I need a PS2 and two of the floor paddles?
What are the floor paddles called?

Can you guys give me examples of the slang and what it means?

What percentage of people who play DDR are women?

What are the difference between the home game and the arcade game? Any and all differences are important including personal taste.

Thanks

[Demon Bryant]

Let's see if I can help this forum at all...

What do I need to do to play DDR in my home?
-Well, you have a couple of options. You can go for the Playstation games, or the Xbox games. There are many more Playstation than Xbox, and some people don't even fully consider the Xbox games to be DDR games.
You could also use a dance simulator such as Stepmania from your computer.
You'll also need at least one dance pad, preferably a metal or at least thick foam core one (find more info here: http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=37 )
And then of course, you'll need a game.
To the best of my knowledge, the games available commonly in the US are:
DDR Max
DDR Max 2
DDR Extreme
DDR Extreme 2
DDR Ultramix
DDR Ultramix 2
and I believe there's a DDR Ultramix 3 coming out soon.

What are the floor paddles called?
-These are usually refered to as "dance pads" or "dance mats" but they could be called something else depending on who you're talking to.

Can you guys give me examples of the slang and what it means?
-Bar Hugger- One who refuses to let go of the bar and adamantly puts all their weight on the bar behind them throughout the whole song.
-Black Flag- Passing a song with all Perfects, and one single Great.
-Cata- Short for Catastrophic, generally refers to a 9-footer song. Eg - "passing a cata".
-Freestyle- A way of playing DDR where the object is to look good and perform for an audience
These are just a few examples, which were found on the DDR Dictionary on this site. Link here: http://www.ddrfreak.com/library/dictionary.php#heavy

What percentage of people who play DDR are women?
-I believe less than 50%, probably around 30%, but I don't believe there are any offical numbers.

What are the difference between the home game and the arcade game? Any and all differences are important including personal taste.
-There's a lot different between the 2, such as:
Home is usually a soft mat, unless you can toss out the $100-$300 for a nice metal pad
There's no bar at home most of the time, unless you make one with a chair or whatever, or if you buy one for your pad/one comes with your pad
The biggest thing, on home versions, the timing window for perfects is so much greater that it can actually make people who can pass all songs at home fail some of the eaiser songs. In other words, it's harder to get perfects in arcade.
Because of the above, many people discredit scores from home versions. It does make sense though.
Another huge difference is the crowds. In arcade, of course, people are going to stop and watch you play, so you have to be sure you're ready for an audience.

That's all I can think of right now, so I hope this can be of help to you.

~Bryant
_________________

Check out my Myspace and add me as a friend!
Bag: AA (Modless and barless)
Sakura: AA (Modless and barless)
Max 300: A (Modless but bar)
MaxX Unlimited: A (Modless and barless)
The Legend of Max: B (Modless but bar)
Paranoia Survivor: AA (Modless but bar)
Paranoia Survivor Max Heavy: B (Modless but bar)
Paranoia Survivor Max Oni: E
Max.(period): A (Modless and barless, but home-version *obviously*)

[AA Bob]

[wakassjak]

"Floor Paddle". That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.