Older players

I'm curious! How many players here are in my age range? As long as I've been playing it always seemed like I was an oddity because most of the DDR/ITG players were always A LOT younger than me. That still hasn't changed. Whenever I go to play I'm always surrounded by people much younger than I am.

Whenever I see older players it turns out to be the parents of DDR/ITG players who suck so horribly it makes my eyes hurt just watching them. So who's with me here? I'd love to hear your story.

Thanks Guys!

...well, how old are you first off?

---

Same here. I'm 30 year old. also considered the one of old players in my country.

But I don't care about the younger players.

As long as I can play DDR, that's enough.

but sometimes, the atmosphere is different when a lot of (much) younger players are playing.

They only looking for "who's the best", when you break combo, they shout "oooh....", and some people can be so annoying that they comment every movement you do and singing even their voice hurt my ear.

---

I'm 33 years old. I Turn 34 in November. It's funny when I do meet other people who are my age and they look at me playing DDR. They always say "There's no way I can ever do that!" Mind you that I play DDR without the bar. Most people are floored whenever I tell them my age and all.


I do the same thing. I've been a competitive player the whole time I've been playing, and I'm better than a lot of the younger players.

lucky you that you still have the stamina and skill.

I do still hyave my skill (it's even increase) but I 'm lack of stamina these days.

Besides, my main purpose of playing is to be halthy and to enjoy music.

but yes, it's kinda fun in some ways when you see younger players surprised watching you play

---

I just wish there were more people in our age range that would play. Most people are so lazy now-a-days. I did have a friend from japan who played. He was quite a skilled DDR player. His wife even played, and she was quite good.

There was a guy in New Jersey that was quite well known. He was in his 40s. People like us are quite the exception in the larger picture.

I do agree with you that I enjoy the music, but I found that ITG has done a better job a satisfying my music tastes than DDR did with R21 and all.

I'm 25, I might not be a Hardcore player, but Soft Core is just as good because it means you like a certain aspect about ITG or DDR.
I prefer ITG for accuracy and stepping of the songs, they actually made it that you actually use your body and NOT JUST THE FEET.
Also, you should play my files of ITG, IT's worth it. I've started getting into ITG because of the Edit Feature with files.

You're really never to young or old to play those games. I've been playing DDR for 6 years gotten into ITG for a few months.

---

Lucky you guys. I've been playing since 2000 January 1st.

And there's no itg in my country until now

---

Freestyle went the way of the dinosaur. I liked freestyling, but i saw that people had a hard time being original about it.

Anyway, most people seem to give up on an active lifestyle by the time the get to my age. A lot of people tell me that they were active when they were younger, but when they have to work and raise children that being active doesn't matter anymore.

This attitude unfortunately will be the downfall of this society. I've spoken with people from different parts of the world, and they view Americans as lazy people. I wish more adults would put more value in an active lifestyle.

I started playing 10 years ago as physical challenge. I feel the same way about running. I love running marathons as much I do stepping on arrows. I can't say I call it fun, but I can't imagine my life without it.

I think he was referring to hands in In The Groove.

Out of curiosity, what do you consider "a LOT" younger than you?

---

Most people I see play are usually <20

Thought I'd pump this thread. We need more responses.

I'm 27 and play ITG a lot.

Good to know ;). Im 30 and ive been playing DDR/ITG since 2002 (But obviously not ITG since 2002).
Have always loved improving my skill, but have struggled to get further as of late.

I'm almost 25 and I know there are people older than me still playing the game, but I've been playing since I'm 13. I don't frequent arcades anymore since most have closed down and the ones left all they got is Extreme/SN1(...no thanks). I see DDR as "the thing I did as a teenager"; I feel like I've pretty much grown out of it and that I'm not "on sync" (no pun intended) with the current generation of players. I still love to check out the newest releases because there's always good music here and there, but I'm done enough with the game. Maybe if we still got new releases out here (in playable form, of course) I'd still be playing once in a while, but even then I'm sure I wouldn't be nearly as hardcore as I was 6 or 7 years ago.

As for ITG, played it for a while, then it was shut down by Konami. I never had interest in getting competitive on custom simfile packs, since to me, if it's not official, it's not worth it. And not to mention that I've never agreed/liked the almost religion-like and douchebaggery environment of the ITG/Customs community.

Isn't that the truth.

I'm almost 30, been playing a couple hours every week since 2002. I've never completely plateau'd, but I'm finding it very difficult to make time for the game since I got out of college. Life has a way of squeezing ya for time as you get older.

---

I just had to comment about this. I started playing in late 2001, and I was quite satisfied with things till about 2005. I found myself wanting more than konami was willing to give me. Yes DDR progressed nicely till extreme came along, but along the way konami stopped caring about us long time players, and kept focusing on the noobs. That's when I started to cry foul. Even to this day my skills haven't realised their full potential, because of konami. ITG came along and changed everything. ITG gave us long time players something higher to aspire to. Overall, I'm a very athletic person who just happens to be 34. All you old people can slow down, but not me! I'm still strive to push my body has hard as it can go.

I think the whole community would have died had it not been for the simulators and ITG. Both freed us from having to play what konami wanted us to play, and put the power in our own hands. Since things changed, I've seen some things that I never thought was humanly possible. Seeing our top tier players in our community pushing the evelope makes me feel damn proud. It makes me glad that I devoted 10+ years to playing. Being that I'm older I understood early that Dance games had real potential to evolve into something greater. While many of the players who started at the time I did came and went because most of them were still kids and thought this was some kind of fad like afros or disco.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that without some kind of forsight one could never have understood that this is a form of expression that can last as long as people want it to. Music is forever and this form of expression will be right beside it. I guess it does feel like a religous experience even if I'm not religous by nature. It's like learning to play an instrument and being able to enjoy that love for the rest of your life. Dance games are no different.

I'm currently 32, going to be 33 in Aug 31, and I'm getting too tired to play...I'm focusing on games like Pop N Music or Beatmania IIDX but I do occasionally play DDR/ITG/PIU when I can. I can still do 10s and stuff but I tend to lose steam halfway through. I need to train more I guess...I'm still going to play till I get a walker. //

---

You can always come run with me. I run 10 miles a day. So I'll whip you back into shape in no time. I played pop'n music for 4 years. I was able to play a few 39s and 40s. Hard stuff indeed.

I have no idea where you get that much free time at 34. After work and daily chores, I'm lucky if I have 3.5 hours a day to do what I need to do before going to bed.

Even if I ran at a constant 8 mph (which is highly unlikely), that would be over 1.25 hours each day spent running, not including getting ready/showering afterwords. Add to that the 1 hour of ITG/DDR (average) that I play each day and I've pretty much exhausted nearly all my free time.

This is why I don't think there're as many older players in this genre. We just don't have as much time because life starts getting busy. I was busy in college, but in hind sight, I had a LOT more flexibility and time to play than I do with an 8-5 job.

---

For me running is a lifestyle. Not some weekend thing. I've been running for about 15 years now, and I'm trying to push this distance further. I'm trying to become an ultra marathoner. It's a passion like ITG. I love stepping on arrows now just as much as I did when I started playing 10 years ago.

I'm devoting my life to pushing my body to it's limits. I make time even with working 40 hours a week. No kids. No gf to nag me. Nothing holding me back. It's all about doing what you love in life.

Edit: 10 miles x 4 days. 15 x 1 (as long as my body is up to it)