DanceDanceRevolution X (AC) (International)

we had a DDR X Tournament at the Geo Arcade in Okinawa on Sunday. my first round was against my friend SKA! and I barely beat him. the next round was against YNO and that was an easy win. the final round was against one of my toughest opponents in Okinawa, he changes his name all the time but his current title is MUTYKAPA. it was out of 5 rounds, any song was game. i lost to lead cyber and blind souls and won with waiting for you and bloody tears. final stage was chosen by the judges and it happened to be one of my favorite songs, a geishas dream. at this point my heart is racing and throughout the song i keep telling myself not to get a great, but i did. he beat me overall by 2-3 great steps over him so i got second place yesterday. it's an honor though to have played against people i envy top scores with, i'm good but my A game is not always consistent. next time i'll shoot for first place. it's also an honor when they have my name as their current rival on e-amuse. i just enjoy taking down top scores one at a time.

Its the HDX:UAA:2009060301 build, an US dedicab.
I have the DDR_EDIT\DDR_EDIT_U.DAT in my usb (a Kingston DT 101 C)
...
I'll test again, when the new update comes here. 3 more weeks to wait.
If not, I'll buy the i-mation nano usb mass storage (works in J and A machines, so it can works here too.) (the other USB brands are absent here, because are "japan only").

---

is the DDR_EDIT_U.DAT renamed from JP/Asia edit data file ?
i think it won't work in this way

and i suggest you to borrow usb drive from someone else,
test if it is ok before buying one

---

Hold your horses, remember that american machines are quite different in construction downright to the kind of pc they use for the game. Anything that's not cheap generic brands should work just fine, Lexar for example (I've had a Lexar 128mb stick that I bought for ITG nearly 4 years ago and it still works, lol).

That's the last nail in the coffin on DDR X US. better luck next year.

---

Are you shittin' me?

---

made it to trigger oni on boss rush and failed on my 3rd attempt. I'd upload the video but my new camera has been acting pysco about uploading shit.

Also im really curious how they will do the rest of the unlocks. Unlock all the x-specials one week? or will they draw it out for 8 weeks haha. I wouldnt put it past them. Also which will come first, trigger or xmix5?

---

well, another brand to add to my list. I've tested Kodak, i-mation, sony, maxell, sandisk and kingston usb sticks. Mostly all brands works, except Kingston DT 101 C, and some sticks like that. DT101C can be founded here at a low price (5-10 USD)

---

Fixed.

---

DDR X / Sunday 30th August / Player Test Report

Myself, Alan and two other members of the site were invited to visit KONAMI's European distributor Electrocoin to play DDR X and comment back on the machine to give thoughts and ideas for the future.

There were two machines set up and we were told one unit was set up differently to the other one, but we were not told what the difference was.

Along with DDR:UK, we were asked to spot the difference in the two machines and say which one we preferred.

After approximately one hour we were asked if we could spot the difference and then we were asked to pick which one we thought was running the latest software. Seven out of eight of us got it wrong! KONAMI then admitted the only difference was one machine was running US software and the other machine was running EU software where the sync is exactly the same.

Notes about the machine running US software:

Edit functionality: I had a great time playing with this. USB edits are disabled as standard, however this can be easily turned on in the operator menu, KONAMI said once the system was live in Europe, they would update all distributors and operators about the edit function.

After around 15 minutes of playing with the editor located at http://ddredit.konamionline.com/ddrse/, I had an edit I was ready to play. Edits worked like a charm and I believe this will be a widely used feature when the update is public. KONAMI said the current Beta version will be improved before the forth coming launch.

1P side of the machine was in brilliant shape, I myself managed to clear, near AAA, On the Break, SABER WING and Horatio within the first two credits. Pads were easily comparable in quality to that of the original DDR design.

Notes about the machine running EU software:

As stated, KONAMI had confirmed this machine was synced the exact same as the US machine, however the only difference was it was not possible to use the USB edit function on the EU machines at this time. They went on to say that the updated software was dispatched to locations in early August therefore all machines in the EU should now be software version: HDX:E:A:A:2009072300. If we find any with older software we were asked to tell KONAMI as soon as possible and they will ship new software immediately.

It's worth noting that this machine was perfectly in sync, as well as achieving scores around the 20-30 perfect margin and that freezes were an issue for both pads.

Notes about both machines:

Both machines pads had been altered with a modification that filled the sensor pipes, so there was no gap in the tubing holding the sensor. This modification made the pads a lot more sensitive; however freezes are still an issue with three out of the four pads.

General thoughts from attending the player test:

1. Pads were a lot more sensitive than the ones originally reported as shipped on the US cabinets.
2. Freezes were an issue on some of the pads, even given the fact that they had the same modifications done.
3. We gave a lot of feedback, which they said was valuable, and KONAMI are listening and working hard to improve the product where possible or necessary.
4. We now have direct communication with KONAMI about DDR and other games and where possible they said they would share information with us on current and future games.

---

i really love how KOE invited you guys out for private feedback. more of this should happen in the future.

the "test" they ran was kind of weird though, it mostly just proved how players complain about sync regardless of when there's any real issue. it could still be argued though as players in Asia have stated after playing on upgrades and dedicated cabinets that the sync just feels better on an upgrade even after both have been patched. if they would have just avoided such parts that create lag there would have been less room for problems.

i'm still happy that real work is finally being done to fix the problems on these machines, but its still too late in my opinion. i honestly don't see these machines lasting under strenuous arcade conditions.

i would like to see a route taken similar to Andamiro, have one deluxe cabinet (attractive cabinet and large plasma monitor) and one standard cabinet (standard cabinet and smaller crt monitor). either way most arcades will purchase the cheaper machine which in DDR's case would be these new X cabinets.

i really wish the design development process went from functionality -> cost -> appearance. the japanese cabinets went from appearance -> functionality -> cost and the US/EU cabinets went from cost -> appearance -> functionality.

if we could have just gotten the DDR X JP platform and a regular DDR cabinet that looks decent and is cost effective, it would have avoided so many problems ;/

Nice to hear the sync is perfect.

Brazen, just awesome.

---

thanks for the information, Brazen.
so... that will be the EU build... interesting.
--
Its odd the freeze arrow issue, but, playing songs with no freeze arrows (1-5th Mix and some MAX), the gameplay is sweet.

---

We need something like this here, or...just something so that we can literally give Konami of America feedback on the spot about the cabs and stuff...

---

I agree with you, Max.

---

I do hope you asked them if it would be feasible to add an option to turn off the annoyatron. If you did, what was the response?

---

Seriously, I'm very glad that Konami did this sort of test. Especially the sync issues to show that people don't know sync like they think they do. Also, to show people that Konami really is a business trying to make a good product.

I talked to a japanese Rep for konami yesterday. (was in my arcade helping with the Ju beat ripples)

I spent a good 20 minutes articulating my concern for DDR X in the USA and how its such a shame that players cant experience this great game on a decent machine. He seemed pretty passionate after I stressed to him every detail and promised me he would talk to his boss to stress the problem further and e-mail me back. I mainly pointed out that all we need is an upgrade kit and that has yet to be made and questioned why it isnt possible for japan just send out their upgrade kits.

anyways, not sure if any of my complaining will do anything in the big picture but just know I am trying for you guys. (I even tried to contact the company in taiwn that makes upgrade kits to see if it'd be possible to ship to the US.)

On top of that... my arcade is selling there SN1/SN2 upgrade kit if anyone is interested please contact me for further details.

I really hope that Trigger is unlocked today. I need to practice the challenge chart if Im ever going to clear Boss Rush X.

---