New to Console DDR, I have some general questions

[chemikalfat39]

I just recently bought DDRMAX 2 for PS2 and I have some general questions, hopefully you guys can help me out. I believe that when I bought the game I was tricked into buying the Madcatz soft pad (I didn’t receive the pad that came with the game). Is this a decent pad or should I mod it immediately? Also I’m willing to spend a good amount of money on a nice pad, any suggestions? (I’m willing to put up 200-275$) I've played the game in arcade and I’m sure it’s changed since then and have some questions on the "lingo" I’ve been hearing. I know that footers are the difficulty of a song but I can’t seem to find out how difficult my songs are in my game. (DDRMAX 2) Also in DDRMAX 2 are there more modes to get in the arcade mode than light and I believe the other is regular? And finally could anyone possibly give me a brief history of the games or direct me somewhere that might have a timeline of the DDR game? Thanks you in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.

[Caeru]

I don't know much about the Madcatz soft pad. However, as with any soft pad, modding a pad can really help the stability as well as prolong the life of a pad so I suggest you do so.

If you want to get the best for the money your willing to spend, I would go for a Red Octane metal pad. They havn't been out long so no one really knows their life span, but I've heard mostly good things about them. If your willing to invest a little more ($300), you could get a cobalt flux, which is a well established and trusted home pad in the DDR community.

Assuming your new to DDR, you don't even really need a hard pad. I'm sure your softpad will last you a while if your only doing light mode. I would save your money and buy a nicer pad when the one you have starts to piss you off. (which will inevitably happen once you do more then like 8 feet). Also, there is always the Red Octane Ignition 2.0 pad, which is a very decent soft (foam insert) pad. This will last you a while depending on how much you play. Their 100 bucks each, so you could get two and do doubles mode. I've had mine since January and its still doing ok. I'm definitly planning on investing in something better next though.

As for the foot rating in DDRMAX 2 USA, it should be in the lower left portion of the screen in the 'select a song' screen. There are 4 difficulty's in DDRMAX 2 USA. Beginner, Light, Standard and Heavy. You select these before you go to the screen to select songs. You can also change your difficulty while selecting songs by pressing (switches to easier difficulty)
or (harder difficulty) quickly on your mat.

This isn't really a timeline, but it has just about everything DDR, including songlists and stepcharts.
http://www.ddrfreak.com/versions/listver.php

If you want console versions, scroll down the the bottom.

Hope this helped at least a little.

EDIT:
As far US versions of DDR, it goes:
DDRUSA
Disney Mix
Konamix
DDRMAX USA
DDRMAX 2 USA

Just a note. US versions of DDR have different songlists then the Japanese versions (including both arcade and home versions of DDR). The only real US Arcade version of DDR was DDRUSA and it didn't go over very well, so basically everything you play at the Arcade is Japanese. For example (assuming you own DDRMAX 2 USA), the songlist would be very different if you were to go the the arcade and play MAX 2. Cool? Just wanted to mention this so you wern't confused.

[eddi.]

i would strongly suggest modding your soft pad before ever using it. it helps extend the life of the pad.
there's a dictionary of ddr "lingo" in this site somewhere. if you want a history of ddr i would recomend checking gamefaqs.com, i remember seeing a couple faqs covering all the mixes of ddr.
the song difficulty should be on the song selection screen under the groove radar. just count the number of colored in feet and that's your difficulty.
i wouldn't recommend paying so much money for a metal pad just yet. you probly wont need it till you can do you standar/heavy songs, and who knows, by then maybe the price will go down a little and that quality may go up.

[Silvanos]

I know I'm a walking advertisement for these guys, but they're the best around. Cobalt Flux all the way.

[chemikalfat39]

Im not new to DDR but just new to the console version. Thanks for the help guys, i apreciate it.

[dj-Luminus]

The other modes in DDRMAX2 are: Beginner (in front of light), Light, Standard, Heavy, and Nonstop (on other side of screen).

Also if you're serious about DDR you should buy either the Official Konami Soft Pad, but make sure it's a new one (says new and improved on the box) or goto Redoctane.com and buy an Ignition or Metal pad which are considered very good.

To tell the difficulty of the songs on DDRMAX2 there are feet at the bottom of the screen (1-easiest, 10-hardest, 4-5-average).

The other people answered the questions on the history of DDR.

Uh...some lingo:

shadow - when someone not playing plays on another pad or on the floor acting like their playing DDR

Cata/9 Footer- Called Catastrophic in DDR 3rd Mix and under, 9 footers are basically the hardest normal songs in the game, if you can pass one you can consider yourself a veteran/expert. 9 footers are only on Heavy (except for Legend of Max on EXTREME)

10 Footer- The diffuculty of all the "Max" series songs and Sakura.

Bar Hug- to hold the bar on a DDR Arcade machine.

there's more but I can't think here's a link to the dictionary http://www.ddrfreak.com/library/dictionary.php
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[Guderian]

If you're only willing to spend $200-275 on a pad, I got my Red Octane Metal pad for $240 including shipping. It arrived rather quick and have yet to have any flaws. 'Course if you've got slightly more cash the reknown Cobalt Flux is out there.
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Huh? I don't get it...