Inside the World of Pro Dance Dance Revolution

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Ever play Dance Dance Revolution yourself? What about other rhythm games?

[@aldoelektrika]

I'm a Dance Freaks boy

[@curiouscommand5916]

Most rhythm games I play are on mobile, D4DJ, Arcaea, Muse dash, Cytus etc. I keep an Xplorer guitar controller around for Clone Hero, and whenever I do get a chance to go to round 1, I'm glued to the Sound Voltex, Groove Coaster, and Wacca machines. So less "dance" oriented but still fun.

[@Ubuyo]

Rhythm games were my big thing until I got into fighting games actually. These days though all I really play is Guitar Hero/Clone Hero and things like that.

[@xDJKerox]

I play EZ2AC and Pump It Up, did play 2DX for some time but I prefer EZ2 😝

[@Kiyobi]

Huge hardcore rhythm gamer here! I fell off from DDR after Extreme but got back with Technika 2, IIDX, Sound Voltex, Wacca, and now Gitadora

[@Robstafarian]

I feel sorry for communities who are dependent on Konami.

[@Absolute_LUNA-C]

tell me about it…

[@TheNaturalGamer1]

Get gud

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

A person who almost exclusively plays on a cracked version of the game just got top 4 at Mistake on the Lake 5 soooo there are other ways to play, especially over here in Europe where there is NO official support.

[@rmnhn]

@@TheNaturalGamer1Moron

[@mimixis]

Why are they even playing the official one with the same few songs all the time though? I don’t get it… why can’t they just play itgmania or something

[@GuileWinQuote]

The insane lore that Bemani games and their community have is such an unexplored topic on KZbin. Good stuff as always!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I got to watch the rabbit hole develop IRL when I played more growing up. Def want to dive deeper into it in the future because boy, there are STORIES.

[@RrizIIDX]

Really interesting seeing you here guile lol Didn't know you played bemani games 😅

[@Danku]

Losermanwins has a lot of material on the topic, if you are looking for content about it.

[@ms08gouf]

Somehow I'm not surprised that Konami is what's holding their game back

[@TonyTheTGR]

No, it's the cost-efficiency matrix of making online DDR servers, updates, databases, etc. work that's the real holdback. Imagine if fighting games had to *also* allow for online infrastructure - there's ALREADY enough technical problems with the stream setups and PS5s eating USB cords for lunch. We honestly could just reformat to doing Stepmania tournaments and there's an abundance of old cabs that would be supported and would work with songpacks, but the reason we don't is US choosing to keep KONAMI in the loop, for the respect factor. We WANT this game expanding and being successful!!

[@WhirlwindHeatAndFlash]

​@@TonyTheTGR How are you implying fighting games dont have an incredibly complex online infrastructure. You cant possibly be that dense.

[@TonyTheTGR]

I'm not saying they don't. But you know what else they don't have? Music licensing fees. Also, DDR isn't built on the premise of being competitive where fighting games ARE - music games are built on the premise of individual performance/scoring, and the competitive infrastructure is something we build around that, save for leaderboards/friends~rivals lists.

[@WhirlwindHeatAndFlash]

@@TonyTheTGR by saying "what else" youre literally implying AGAIN that fighting games dont have a complex online structure you fn muppet LMAO absolute bot

[@11910blackops]

Its more of a control thing with Konami

[@ayyOrca]

Hey! I'm part of ODDR staff and I was one of the Main TOs for GITADORA at MotL5 just this past weekend (which was featured in the video, thank you so much!), I just wanted to say how much it means to us to have our community featured like this. Like Ranatalus mentioned in this video, the rhythm game community has been around for over 20 years now and we're currently having the largest renaissance of new players and events since these games first came out. If anyone here is looking at getting into arcade rhythm games competitively please try to go to your nearest Round1 and try all of the eAmuse compatible games and see which one you like the best, they are certainly intimidating at first but by the time Mistake on the Lake 6 rolls around you'll be a pro!!

[@SopraninoBravado]

omg hi okra

[@ayyOrca]

@@SopraninoBravado haiiiiiii

[@Fightface]

fancy seeing you here

[@HalibutToast]

orca drummania??

[@thesmilingvagrants]

Green haired guy said that the concern with Ace was would it be missing features/lacking content. What happened was DDR X came out, the pads weren't that great and it had a screen with lots of lag. This effectively killed DDR for some time so when Ace came out my initial reaction was "Will it have the same timing issues as X?"

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I've seen the Raw Thrills DDR cabinets. They sure are something.

[@aguynamedAby]

That part about the closest modern cabinet being 4 hours away hits hard. The closest Round1 to where I'm at is over 5 hours away and was a huge roadblock for me personally in getting into games like Sound Voltex. It's funny to think how many people are out there that would love to give Konami money to play their games but in a lot of cases straight up cannot.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

It's real rough for some folks. I'm glad we at least have some support, but wish we could get some cabs in spots that sorely need them.

[@LightningXCE]

StepManiaX is aiming to help change that for sure, it's a shame that accessibility is one of the worst enemies to games like this. Awesome video, really fun watch!

[@Mageman17]

The more I hear about the struggles of long travel times to even play DDR in many places, the more I take for granted that I am blessed that there's a lot of online DDR machines in my area. Suddenly the drag of having to get off at train station, then walking back for about 15 minutes to get to the mall to play DDR doesn't sound like the struggle I thought it was.

[@colelegante]

More of a Pump It Up guy myself but always cool to see rhythm games thrive!

[@losermanwins4338]

Great video, love to see more bemani coverage! The community works very hard for every little bit they can get. Tons of passion.

[@ShiokenStar]

I’ve played competitively, but I loved playing DDR in high school. I even helped run my school’s DDR Club!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Same! It was such a good time and I think we're on the verge of another big DDR boom

[@InitialDL84]

I remember when I was in high school and I first saw a DDR machine; I saw someone playing it back in 2002-2003, I was like "that looks stupid, I could never see myself actually playing it 😂". Then I actually tried it, and ended up buying it on PlayStation/PS2 with a pad and was highly addicted to it. My friends and I would congregate at the local arcade at the mall near us and play back to back, playing in my baggy jeans and sweating my ass off. I think it was the songs that ultimately got me into the game, so much that later on I got into producing electronic music. Fast forward to now, whenever I see a DDR machine, I can't help but to hop on it for old times sake. Glad to see that it's still going strong!

[@ITSAHARDNUGLIFE]

This is my story with DDR as well

[@darkshortyx]

As someone who's 2 most favorite genres of video games are fighting and rhythm, this was a very good watch for me. Definitely have my thumbs up! Thank you So much for covering this!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Thanks for watching!

[@MarcusFenixKO]

3months late but hey

[@MarcusFenixKO]

Luckily a local place down here in FL has been doing weeklies for hand rhythm games along with the usual main staple FGC stuff. It’s great I feel like hand games don’t really get tourneys

[@Ryyudo]

The crossover between the FGC and the Rhythm Game Community is always fun to discover, and chatting with folks who continue to maintain both. Love this hyperspecific-content-for-me video! Good stuff!

[@DisasterArea]

TL;DR Being a rhythm game fan in Europe is tough. Fell in love with Sound Voltex, but unfortunately Germany has forgotten what an arcade is a long time ago. Thankfully, Exceed Gear was one of the Bemani games alongside DDR to get an online release on a subscription basis. It lacks some of the features the arcade machines have and it's supposed to be locked to Japan, but this can be circumvented by creating a Japanese account. The language barrier certainly doesn't help and English documentation of the game is sparse, but this is all we have for now. Sound Voltex was probably the most expensive and tedious game to get running because I bought a dedicated controller for it, but to me it's still worth every penny I invested into the game.

[@lillyvideogames]

If you haven't already, look into HI-SCORE in Hannover. They somewhat recently got a SDVX Nemsys cab running Exceed Gear as well as a bunch of other rhythm games like WACCA, IIDX, Chunithm and DRS.

[@EbonySaints]

I think to elaborate on that point made about the gap and the difficulty spike is that there was an effective ten plus year gap where DDR wasn't commonly available. I fell out for different reasons, but just recently got back into it (and PIU to a lesser extent). The fact he mentioned interested players is really telling because there are really only two types of people at my local Round1 who play DDR and PIU: The people who step on the machine, fail hard at an easy song, and go about their lives, and the experts who were hiding in the shadows for a decade playing Stepmania with an Ltek who can keep up with the insane difficulty spike. I go fairly often, but I feel like I'm adrift as a mediocre player solidly in the middle after years of bodily neglect and abuse. There's effectively no one else that I've seen around who is in that middle area of "good, but not great" and I think that missing middle really hurts the game as a whole, because people never see someone playing anything from like 8-12 in difficulty and doing okay, they only see people making fools of themselves on beginner songs and experts MFC-ing (There's one guy like that at my Round1. Massive props, but I will likely never reach that level.) ridiculous stepcharts. It just creates this impression of an impossible task for newbies and unlike fighting games, where the price for dedication is an arcade pad for $200, the entry point is way higher for DDR and PIU. Another point I heard in the community is that there are no more proper home versions of DDR anymore either. That lack of exposure also creates that missing middle because people really don't get a safe space to learn the basics and get the timing right with a cheap mat, you have to go out of your way to either hunt down a used copy of the PS2 releases and an old, ratty mat, or invest in the previously mentioned pads and get Stepmania set-up, which, while easy, will never be as simple as the old console plug-and-play. I personally don't mind being adrift alone as a mediocre player because -I play no bar Doubles too and no one else does so who cares if I launch myself off the pad playing Afronova poorly, I'll still get the high score.- I have the muscle memory and the experience of sucking, but I can't help but feel like this hyper focus on perfect doesn't help. Also, obligatory F Konami.

[@Ovalee]

wow, I never hear anyone talk about the "missing middle"! I also fall into that category and I wholeheartedly agree about your observation of players at arcades either being gods or complete noobies with nothing in-between. Accessibility is truly the biggest hurdle of the game's growth, and the peak of DDR in the 2000's in the west when even indie arcades could have a cab is proof of it. It's so sad that the "endgame" of arcade gaming is to play at home with 3rd party controller to grind the "missing middle" and even beyond that, maybe even having your own cab. It's so funny that Konami wanted to prevent piracy so much that it just turned away so many potential new players by decreasing its accessibility, and those who are dedicated likely end up playing pirated data of official charts anyway on Stepmania.. I miss it when DDR was a place to hangout. Young Gen Z and Alpha could really use an affordable third place like an arcade these days. (which aren't really cheap either now honestly) :(

[@EbonySaints]

@@Ovalee I stole that phrase from all those Urbanists channels on here, but I guess it applies to rhythm games as much as it does housing.

[@LQUEEZY]

i made a cameo LOL this is a great video!! thank you so much for supporting our community!

[@KINDLADYZAPHIE]

Hey that’s me at 2:15! Amazing and informing video! Thanks for including so many of us!

[@MrJotarok]

Is your name kind lady because of the ddr song ?

[@KINDLADYZAPHIE]

@@MrJotarok Yes actually!!

[@BrettsPlay]

I havent won a tourney since 2004, and havent been in ome since like 2007 but I'm glad people still play. I have been enjoying getting back into it!

[@lillyvideogames]

A little surprised ITG/Stepmania wasn't name-dropped in this video. Once a western indie alternative to DDR while Konami wasn't really releasing games in the west, is now a fully grassroots scene of players and content creators running events and releasing new charts to this day. Absolutely insane how far they've pushed 4-Panel dance games in the past 15 years.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Wanted to keep this first video specifically to DDR, but I def want to cover the ITG/Stepmania scene in a future longform video!

[@lillyvideogames]

@@Holdbacktoblock 👀

[@vivalamoochicken]

​@@HoldbacktoblockHappy to help out/put you in contact with key SM5/ITG Tech members when this happens 👀

[@HURGIIDX]

@@Holdbacktoblock I would absolutely adore this! If you do I recommend checking out the 3 main branches of ITG, stamina, tech, and mod charts/notITG.

[@poobd]

TEAM DRAGONFORCE VS TEAM MURDER CHAPTER REQUIRED

[@johnsmithsbasement]

With all of the negativity surrounding konami it's really cool to see Tag interact with fans and attend DDR tournaments in the US

[@hamhandler7697]

I commiserate with the difficulties of TO for an event like this. My background is mostly in tournaments for miniatures wargaming, where we have a lot of similar problems with capacity and cycle time. Even if we have enough tables, for a game where a match can go 2 hours the cap is mostly down to being able to finish before our venue closes. We usually use Swiss-style tournament formats where every player plays in every round and nobody gets eliminated, which I recommend for FGC tourneys if you have low headcount and want everyone to get plenty of games in. Great video as always!

[@marcbarbeau7543]

Still rocking my metal red octane pad playing all the PS/PS2 DDR games and in the groove.

[@RhythmandPixels]

The break between Supernova and Ace resulted in many players to migrate to ITG and further the game in other directions, such as pure stamina play. Love seeing the East Coast Stamina shirt represented!

[@zeronxepher]

This is such an amazing video. Thank you for this!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Thank you for watching!

[@SuperSmashDolls]

Keep in mind that according to Konami, Pump and ITG were also "pirate" versions of DDR :P 3:21 Not only were the SuperNova machines more expensive but Konami's US licensee (Betson) refused to sell upgrade kits to SN2 for US cabs. We were actually supposed to get eAmusement in 2008 along with SN2 but no arcade wanted to pay $300/mo/cab for it. (This story is even worse in Europe where they didn't even get SN2 because the PS2 was banned there. Yes all old DDR cabs have a PlayStation 1 or 2 in them.) 9:05 Fun fact: the reason why it's called "money score" is because the score in Beatmania was called "money" initially.

[@BonzaELTesto]

Itg are considered pirate because they used to be run with old ddr cabs

[@windowsxpnt2347]

to be more specific about the ps2 ban in europe, it was something to do with the specific model of ps2 being used (japanese scph-50000), which apparently either pissed sony off or some european environmental agency. either that or it's some sort of rumor that spread around the community. remember that a lot of DDR things didn't happen in europe simply due to konami saying "lmao, fuck them europeans" (despite how well they treated us in the earlier days with new official releases up until 2005 while the USA was officially stuck on a release from 2000) edit: it appears sony had an export ban on the ps2 (to stop people importing the ps2 before it was out in their region) and presumably they kept it in place for the lifetime of the console. my guess then to how dancing stage supernova made it into existence is probably that sony didn't realize what was going on until konami had already shipped a shitload of em to europe. why the hell the USA was exempt from this for DDR supernova 2, i have no idea.

[@snowi3e]

Wish we had more online ddr in Canada :(

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I was just talking with some folks in Canada about the lack of DDR and IIDX. I hope you guys can get some machines soon :(

[@jac_238]

Hope you guys can get A3 at some point soon

[@DanceDanceNorth]

3:01 The _SuperNOVA_ and _SN2_ machines were pricey, but *any* arcade in North America could purchase one, big or small. Plus, there were upgrade kits, although few were sold, especially _SN2_ kits. _DDR A_ and newer are D&B and R1 only, as you say. For this reason, I appreciate the _SN_ era. It was a time when I didn't have to travel to another city to play the latest mix.

[@emmddr]

Great video! It's always crazy seeing how big American tournament can be - in the UK the scene is much smaller but we still have a highly passionate community, and there are tournaments every so often!

[@Kajoq]

Great stuff as always man! DDR was actually my first competitive gaming scene back in high school before getting serious about fighting games. Max/Max2/Extreme era was amazing!

[@Lenoh]

5th Mix era was the best, Max2 is where it all kinda fell off and everyone in the major DDR community was burnt out on Extreme as soon as Ver2 unlocked the 30th unlock over in Sunnyvale. If Extreme 2 had come out when it was supposed to, I'm sure we'd still have regular DDR mixes to this day.

[@steamyrobotlove]

Dude, amazing video! Takes me back to 2002, when I got a job at a local arcade just to get free DDR games. That's where I learned to PA fairly well on an Extreme machine. Good times.

[@Rickai85]

That's such a cool and unique memory

[@Jessmanseventy7]

I miss the old days of jumping in the public bus after school in Jr and going to Golf and Games and playing DDR all day with just 20 bucks in my pocket.

[@DDRaHolic]

Thanks for covering our scene.

[@kanchi21]

this brings back lots of great memories of play DDR for the first time in high school so many amazing songs and characters

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

It's a shame that this is still a purely North American and Japanese scene. We still have no online acces in the ENTIRETY of Europe.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

It's lack of availability in places like the Europe is something I def want to touch on in a longer piece. It's so messed up that you guys don't have places to play out there.

[@ted90909]

​@@Holdbacktoblock do not get european people started on the lack of access here lmao, lot of factors that feed into this but it's still messed up that konami's first location test of the e-amusement network here was *deliberately* designed to fail on a title that wasn't even a rhythm game 🙃

[@Rickai85]

​@Holdbacktoblock NO DDRA locations at all in Ireland. Only a few places in the UK too. Its such a different scene over here 😢

[@riffcrypt8438]

@0:50 Holy shit bro. I remember streaming this freestyle of Dam Dariram on public library dial-up internet off DDRFreak in about 2001. The deepest nostalgia regarding the internet I can possibly be hit with. That website and it's 120p Real Player video files of routines happening in SoCal changed my life. Found where machines were, the local community, started going to tournaments, got a top 50 placement in New England region back in like 2003. But my real love was finding beatmaniaIIDX. Gah damn that game was just perfection, and still is. I lucked out doing some pet sitting very near the Burbank Round1 about a year ago. Just stopped in for the hell of it without knowing they have a music game selection I would have killed to have access to back in the day. I spent well over $200 there over the course of a few days playing IIDX and DDR while also trying out new games like SDVX.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Thank you for helping record those earlier years. A lot of history there I'd love to cover more in the future!

[@riffcrypt8438]

@@Holdbacktoblock Oh no I mean I watched it on the website DDR Freak. Sorry I phrased that weird, I didn't stream the event. Lol, but yes, the history of rhythm games is amazing, and it always surprises me how sparse the content on that front is on youtube.

[@xthvagabond7738]

DDR player who dabbles in fighting games, we have to best 2 communities and I hope we stay Best friends forever.

[@DanceDanceNorth]

11:49 That's also the case for me, if I want to play _A20 Plus!_

[@bills-beard]

Aaand d&b pulled out of the contract with konami for 2024 😔 my local d&b got rid of their machine at the end of march. Now round1 is all thats left.

[@DerekDickey]

What an incredibly sick video. Cant wait to see the tag interview.

[@DJPandaga]

Specifically came to comments to say I loled at the tiny Max 300 God Fist bit. Amazing. Thank you

[@Alexc99xd]

6:50 Yo that's me (alex) You actually used another Ohio tournament that is also run by ohioddr

[@rockclan7]

Great documentary! You should do one about Pump It Up

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I want to do a big piece one day that covers the entire rhythm game scene so look out for it!

[@rockclan7]

@@Holdbacktoblock Great!!

[@xopher314]

Yo thanks for the name drop at 11:49 :D

[@LordLiquidBaconII]

Super cool to see a DDR video on this channel especially since you have mentioned previously that you are really into DDR! One day I should give DDR a shot since I love rhythm games but I've only played the old console releases a handful of times.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Everyone should try it at least once. There's really nothing like playing on a nice cabinet.

[@tenkyoken]

With Dave and Busters no longer receiving updates, it's down to Round1 at this point. D&B machines are still online on the previous version, but it's only a matter of time until they get cut off completely. Sucks because there's only a D&B here and if I want to play at Round1 in order to unlock songs for Grand Prix, it's a 3 hour drive.

[@Miles64k]

Thank you for putting emphasis on the importance of scalable setups, this has not been an issue for us since 2010 when we implemented LAN Machine Linking on our ITG2 Upgrade Kits, we can easily have 4 machines linked and 8 people play at the same time with perfect sync and live score feeds sent to a Monitor PC. If we can do this on SM 3.95, a 15+ year old Dance Game engine, Konami can surely do as well.. But they never will, because they're Konami.

[@DanceDanceNorth]

That sounds awesome! Could you tell me more about this, please? I think _DDR Solo Bass Mix_ (and/or the _2000_ mix) is the only game to officially support linking, so having _ITG2_ on a LAN sounds like a cool idea.

[@HeartburnMan]

Played high level DDR in the early and mid 2000s in london trocadero and namco days. I think i stopped playing not long after supernova and tried playing it just recently and lets just say im out of practice 😅😅 my brain can still read the aarows but the old legs aint as quick as thy used to be lol

[@Rickai85]

Trocadero days were the best

[@gippygames]

I was a huge DDR/ITG fan, but have since moved on to Pump It Up. Despite having a looser timing window, Pump is just the superior game overall, with more free-flowing and creative charts, as well as the superior double and co-op modes. Pump's latest generation cab, LX, also has a much better pad that public arcades can maintain. Playing on a public DDR pad now feels so cumbersome because the panels on the pads are sunk in. I also think the lack of interest with competitive DDR (and rhythm games in general) is that the goal of these games for many players is to better yourself, instead of exerting dominance over another player like in other video game genres such as fighting games. I suppose that puts it as the same niche level as other competitive events that don't interact much with opponents, such as numerous olympic sports. That, and the fact that most arcades only have 1 cab available, make the logistics and entertainment value a nightmare in terms of scaling.

[@WarriorTier]

Great video!

[@KTSpeedruns]

My closest Round 1 is an hour away. My closest Dave & Busters is also an hour away, but it doesn't have the latest version of DDR.

[@Saiche1337]

I never really thought about using a round robin format for an open tournament. I wonder if we could do some version of that in fighting games.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

It's a pretty interesting idea. Been thinking about it since this event and I think with some tweaking there could be some way to add it to fighting games.

[@kuro_mori_vt]

we do occasionally, it’s just mainly seen in online tournaments or ladder brackets where you play as much as you want, so everyone actually gets to actively play. wouldn’t work for big events bc we’re crunched for time already

[@Saiche1337]

@@kuro_mori_vt I wonder how big of a difference the time would be if you didn't need to wait on people to show up for their match. Might end up being pretty fast if everyone is able to bang out their matches for the entire pool.

[@Robstafarian]

@@kuro_mori_vt Yeah, just eight people is enough to make a round-robin tournament take three hours or more with the incidental delays.

[@DDRaHolic]

Y'all already do what we do. We seed players based on their relative skill, it's just like what you do with ranbats and Capcom Pro Tour points.

[@Rickai85]

Man, I miss the old school days of tournaments and meetups. Sadly the arcade scene over the last decade or so has really tanked. Specifically in Europe (UK, Ireland to be exact) Thankfully I found a new SMX machine right near me so I have rediscovered my passion for dance games. But no one really plays competitively near me anymore which is a shame. Love the video!!!

[@juegobuenoyomalo9501]

the fucking viper shirt lmao

[@KighaFreewren989]

Been playing competitive dance games since the early 2000's and still do to this day. Very well made video! Thanks for bringing light to this wonderful game

[@MusicGameHell]

nobody cares how long you have played for

[@KighaFreewren989]

That's the community alright. @@MusicGameHell

[@XeronosKuro]

LESSGOOOOOOOO DDR IS ALIVE AND WELL!!!!

[@Monkchelle_Kongbama]

4:50 just came back from a trip to tokyo, got to play in shinjuku, odaiba, and akiba and I'm glad to say that my local R1's machines were in better shape than the machines I played in japan kinda scratches that itch of "what am I missing by staying here?"

[@lNTERMANE]

Will u do a documentary on dance rush stardom?

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I def want to dive deeper into more rhythm games in the future, including DRS!

[@lNTERMANE]

@@Holdbacktoblock cool

[@Apocalypse754]

i love these videos bringing up light to DDR

[@kommisar_chiptune]

as someone who's been in that community for 20+ years this was a great vid

[@Holdbacktoblock]

That makes me so happy to hear. Thank you!

[@YeungMoni]

If anyone asks why marvelous = EWGF, to get that timing on point, it’s literally 2 frames and perfect is 3 frames. Also have to put the 250hz polling rate where sometimes you have to step a bit earlier in order to trigger it.

[@mgm3649]

The nostalgia hit hard. I remember the first time I cleared Maxx 300, then interest gradually fell off.

[@SnowboardinNinja]

Yo at 13:26 is that actually TAG?? I remember that he came to visit the states recently ish

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Yep! Have a small interview with him in the works that I'll post at a later date

[@AltimaMantoid]

I remember playing this heavily back in the early to mid 2000s, went to a tournament about 2 hours away and was 2nd in my state at one point. I miss playing so bad. Wish a location to play was near me but our Tilt closed down some years ago

[@loudlament1657]

So many baggy pants in that old footage. 😂

[@jac_238]

I’ve only found DDR A20 Plus outside of Round 1 and D&B on two occasions. At a convention where it was running on a upgraded DDR 2013 cab and at a mom and pop arcade that ran it off a upgraded old style cab

[@Holdbacktoblock]

There are some private cabs out there in the wild and a few touring arcades have started to get decent white cabs. Hoping that continues to grow!

[@DeliciousOrange]

Interesting, I never really thought about why I grew to hate DDR as time went on, but seeing how they shifted from "dance" to "beatmania with feet" really makes it clear why I gravitated towards seemingly every other dance game.

[@sillygoosechinachina]

I was at the tournaments , fun time

[@RalphSylvestersen]

Sandy Hock school mass killer Adam L went regularly to a local movie house to play a Dance Dance Revolution, spending up to ten hours at a stretch listening to music and trying to keep up with complex dance moves

[@SebiIoan05]

While I really like DDR and other rhythm games in general, I‘m mainly a Pump It Up player, and recently a Stepmaniax player, too. In Europe, which is my home continent, Pump It Up and Stepmaniax are getting more popular than ever, because getting the newest version and access to the Online servers is much easier. For Online, you just need a wired internet connection. That‘s it. And while I personally prefer Pump It Up as a game overall, I still respect DDR though! We got a DDR A20+ white cab that is offline in Berlin (I live in Germany), and I still like to play on it whenever I‘m there:D

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I want to dice into PIU and StepmaniaX for sure in the future. Thanks for wacthing!

[@alijahb1962]

This video is great, competitive ddr is such an interesting game, i love it.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Thanks!

[@jfreakzach]

Love to see you cover pinball tournaments as well 👍 this vid's great!

[@_Adie]

Never been a fan of rythm games (which is ironic, considering I play guitar), but always found high-level DDR extremely impressive.

[@Robstafarian]

This make me want to see a DDR duo named Cacophony. 🤘

[@s34nvideos]

"Inside the World of Pro Dance Dance Revolution, in the USA, where the US players like to play singles because doubles is too hard" . I fixed the title for you hahaha! I enjoyed the video, thanks for putting the effort in. Great job

[@Holdbacktoblock]

There's been full doubles tournaments at both of the MotL's I've watched so far. Freestyle DDR at this year's event too!

[@s34nvideos]

wow that's great!@@Holdbacktoblock

[@Meepston]

PLEASE make a video on dancerush stardom, it would be so sick 🥺🥺🥺

[@Mirvana]

Man I wish our DDR-tournament scene around when we still had our Arcade (this was ~2006, we had an Extreme machine) was as popular and "gotta cap the entries cause we have too many folks" as they get now lol. We ran 5 tournaments in total and only naturally hit 8 players for a full bracket ONCE (we only had 5-7 regulars show up any given weekend).

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

Pretty happy with Stepmania and a Cobalt Flux pad but yeah it would be fun to challenge other people I guess. Though I never learned to play with the bar and probably won't.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

There is a player named No Bar Ben that made top 8 without the bar at this year's MotL IIRC!

[@rayciannello2268]

So glad we have Round 1 nowadays!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

Long live Round 1.

[@VoyageOne1]

I gradually switched from playing rhythm games to producing my own music

[@darktetsuya]

indeed DDR was my *jam* back in the early 2000s when my local bowling alley got a hold of a US 1.5 mix! played almost basically non-stop for the next five or six years, though kinda fell off near the end of the PS2 era. I did occasionally still play the arcade version whenever i found one, though. more recently I was actually able to import a Japanese PS2 and some of the games so I've been trying to get back on it again. But I do find it really cool there's a resurgence in fans of the series (although I haven't played anything past Ace at the last time I was at Dave & Busters, so hope to see A3 someday!) it does definitely look like it did to me in the early 2000s.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

A3 may be Round 1 only for the time being so if you can make a trip to one, please do!

[@darktetsuya]

@@Holdbacktoblock damn! I don't think we have one close enough to get to or I totally would.

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

DDR is now exclusive to Round 1 and Dave and Busters?? I used to think, "wow, round 1 is so great. They're dedicated to having the newest rhythm stuff!" but no, apparently they're the reason I don't see it anywhere else.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

There are some private collectors and a few indy arcades that have it, but you kinda gotta know where to look. A few traveling arcades bring them eto events like Evo now as well, but Round 1 is king (Dave and Busters doesn't even have the license for new content anymore)

[@digispa]

God, i remember playing DDR from 3rd mix til about Extreme 2 and this makes me want to get back to it, but an Ace machine is 1.5hr drive. It also doesnt help that i moved on to IIDX 😅

[@renzylipumano]

Nice video, keep up the great work. Hopefully Konami expands on BPL Battle Mode to work on white cabs too rather only working on gold cabs.

[@TheNamesRyan]

6:31 i died of laughter at that punch

[@GuntanksInSpace]

Man I wonder how possible is it you can maybe peep at the Pump-it-up side of this? I hear somewhere that it's got also a pretty sizable community/tournaments or so (and I used to also play that one often). This was pretty damn cool!

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I would consider it! I've been learning Pump recently and really dig it

[@totoroben]

I think if you're looking for new DDR stuff in Europe, just do stepmania and keep it small/ informal meetups.

[@retrozaid1600]

1:48 that & I guess them removing all old tracks from 1st to 5th Mix Didn’t help (if only MAX kept all the older tracks it would’ve been the best mix imo)

[@DJLani]

0:45 big ups Eijiken

[@plotinusreadinggroup]

Where is the interview?

[@TonyTheTGR]

There's a LOT of overlap between DDR/Music Games and Fighting Games, competitively. 1v1 formats, high execution/accuracy focus, arcade setting, plus how the DDR/GH/RB uprising fit specifically in that big gap between Street Fighters 3 and 4 - and the Street Fighter 4 wave fit the difference between X2 and A (where the game became internet-dependent and Japan-only for awhile). Before COVID, I was a no-bar 17 player working on AETHER, Elemental Creation, and IX Expert. My MvC2 addiction is what led me to 3rd Mix and Solo 2000, and really... I worked a lot towards both the simulation scene early on and the international porting efforts up until SuperNOVA, which were to the same goal. I just had no idea it would become what it has today!

[@TonyTheTGR]

The lack of direct interaction between the players is one of the big differences, and so is the SWEAT/HYDRATION FACTOR. If there's a game that needs showers and isn't Smash, it's DDR!

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

During Mistake on the Lake 5 I had a DDR tournament open in one tab and East Coast Throwdown doing CvS2 and Street Fighter Alpha 2 on the other lol

[@Midori_Hoshi]

That's too bad the newer games require online. The internet should just be for the global leaderboard and nothing else. Personally, while I do care about score, the main reason I play DDR is for exercise, since it's a good fun way to motivate me to do intense exercise that I wouldn't do otherwise. It also means I don't use the bar.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

I've been playing for score lately, but I try to incorporate a run or three of no bar play because I enjoyed how demanding it is, so I'm right there with you.

[@autumnshinespark]

Ohio has big tournaments? That's cool. I used to play DDR for score, but I completely lost my competitive streak over the years along with my stamina. Went from tracking AAs in DDR Extreme to playing Light/Standards and Heavy final song. I still have really fond memories of the games, but I'd rather play keyboard since I don't like sweating.

[@DJLani]

AU RTG scene is pretty scattered since other arcade RTGs came about after DDR like maimai

[@TWKIC]

Where can I cop that MAX 300 shirt?!?! 😅

[@girlsnotblue3804]

.thank u for this man🌸

[@Seventh_Mix]

I've enjoyed DDR during the Dancemania era, where there was actual flow and feel to the music . Afterward, the new mixes are hit and miss.

[@Holdbacktoblock]

As much as I like new and challenging charts, I really do miss some of the older mixes for sure

[@ankokunokayoubi]

Why isn't this in Olympic's esports game list?

[@TheVeldaken]

I played DDR and ParaPara Paradise. My dream is to have enough money to get both games. I miss them.

[@DogHairDontCare]

At the end of the day, everything is about money. Konami runs a business and it's not trying to go under with bad investments. Personally, I think if they remarketed DDR as something that's more like a fitness equipment to compete with things like Peloton and sell to more places, like even gyms, they'd probably do better. It'd take a lot of licensing though with more contemporary songs, and that's not that easy to accomplish.

[@DK-ue5ks]

I don’t get why Konami is allergic to making more money. Like there are a ton of people that are willing to buy those expensive cabs.