What Made You Interested in DDR in the First Place?

What was Konami thinking when they decided to implement a feature like this that discourages people who aren't used to the game yet? I can understand the sharks (and skulls if that's what's in Dancing Stage versions) although I could see them being scary to children.

When I first heard about Dance Dance Revolution, I didn't know anything about it. I assumed it was just some game about dancing that wouldn't interest me, but when I saw it in action, it was not what I expected -- it actually seemed interesting, and I liked the music. A few months later, I actually got to try the game (EXTREME 2 home version and I think we may have switched with one of the Ultramixes at one point one of the first two days I played).

I don't know how some of you managed to pass your first song because I failed just about every song I tried (the difficulty was on light) -- I couldn't pass three-footers, probably not two-footers. The second time I played a week later, I did manage to pass After the Game of Love with a D. I recall when everyone else had stopped playing and moved on to another activity, I was the only one still playing.

A couple months after the first two times I played, I finally obtained Dance Praise. Over an 11-month period, I got to where I could pass the toughest songs in that game, then finally got SuperNOVA 2 for PS2. I could pass three-footers with A's and maybe some four-footers, but Dance Praise did not prepare me at all for eighth notes.

Since then, I have blown a lot of money on several home versions and pads, and have played Pump It Up, Beatmania, Guitar Hero, In The Groove, and Rock Band. I've watched many dance-game-related videos, and have played using the PS2 controller a lot. Seeing the folders of different music games on EXTREME got me interested in trying any music game I can find in an arcade.

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I've been into dance-rhythm gaming for a long time. I started out on the PIU machine in a small arcade in a small shopping mall. First then, I didn't found it interesting. In our country, Vietnam, there are few to none DDR machine, mostly are PIU. I also played SDO and Audition on the computer for most of the time also, played for 4 years and SDO for barely 1 month. When I come to the U.S. I miss PIU because the one in D&B is a rip off, and also all I found was DDR. It's funny. My passion began to grow just recently during June. When I found out a girl that I like is into DDR, and I'm addicting to DDR since then. I play DDR in every arcade I visited, trying to nail an A on her favorite song, rainbow rainbow on Expert. Now, I still try to find a chance to impress her. The thing that sucks most is that I got friendzoned

Welcome to the site

By the way, you're not the only person I know that has tried to get their crush into rhythm gaming. And it's not me, It's this kid in Mexico who apparently wants to get chicks by playing DJ Hero and his dream girl is a girl who can play on Expert in DJ Hero.

Aaaahhhh, kids these days

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When I was a kid, I used to (actually, I still do) go to this one local arcade that has a DDR Extreme machine out in front (as of this day, it is in the far back) since let's say AT LEAST since 2003-04 and there would be crowds of people hanging around, watching the guy/gal/or whatever pronoun they were up there playing a song of sorts. I began to take interest in the game a few months later, and decided to ask my mom to get DDR Max 2 on PS2, along with a pad; and from there, I was hooked. With that said, the community aspect got me interested; but also the joy of stepping of arrows and nostalgia.

I think I was roughly 7 or 8 years old when I first saw a DDR machine; I believe it was 5th mix. Of course, being the curious little kid I was, I went to try it. Obviously I had no idea what I was doing, but I still played it several times and found it to be really fun. However, I really started getting into the game when I was about 10, where I also discovered Stepmania. I feel that it brought out my love for the series, and rhythm games as a whole.

Unfortunately nowadays I don't get to play DDR/ITG as much, since there isn't really any machines in my vicinity, but I still try to play whenever I can.

I've seen DDR before, but never was really interested in it. A friend of mine brought over his PS2 and dance mat though, and got me and a few other friends into it.

I then bought a softmat and some PS2 games; was pretty fun, but then my first softmat broke (down arrow wasn't responding). Bought another softmat, but decided I wanted something more... durable. Ended up building my own, which ended up being pretty fun.

Now, I just have a computer dedicated to DDR (StepMania).

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When I was pretty little, my cousin came and visited my family from Arizona and blew my little kid mind! I remember watching him play a ton during that time he stayed, several years later I think I picked it back up to get active and I remembered how fun it was, only this time I was actually old enough to improve. It's been about two years since I started playing seriously, and just recently I've beaten a couple of his scores (in PIU I think). He's still way better than me, but it's still cool to beat your DDR mentor or whatever you might call it hahaha.

I am that cousin

Back in 2001, the first DDR game I got for the PS was Disney Mix.

i got it for a birthday gift

started playing it

managed to get AAs on soft pad

i was way too light (90 lbs) to even trigger the arcade pads sensors back then, so I only stuck to the home version

My sister played it. She played when DDR was super popular, but once she stopped being interested , she gave me her DDR pad and the game. Now after 8 years, I am still playing it

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Back in 2006, my older sister said that she saw some guys at a local arcade playing Extreme and she wanted to try it. My dad brought us to a local store and got us Supernova since it was the newest CS release at the time. We started playing it together and we were able to pass some songs on basic after a few weeks. My sister lost interest at some point due to school and stuff, but I kept playing. I slowly worked my way up to doing songs on difficult and then expert.
It unfortunately took me a couple years before I could pass actual boss songs because of my little kid stamina, though.

MAX2 was my first game. At the time, I was desperate to lose weight [not obese but not "healthy" either]. Over a year with proper diet and DDR as exercise, I lost about 50 lbs and have kept most of it off. Especially with DDR, you can see yourself progress as you start tackling harder and harder songs. My first AA was Days Go By [a quite easy song]. About 3 months later I passed CSFIL and another 6 months was So Deep. I worked at it nearly every day and it felt good to see your skill level climb.

Playing DDR SuperNOVA in my schools old DDR club

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Back in 2004 I saw my cousin pass KICK THE CAN and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever, so I made it a personal goal to become better than her at DDR.

I can pass 18's on a soft pad now. She never passed anything harder than KICK THE CAN. I think it's safe to say I met my goal.

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Back in 2007, DDR SuperNOVA 2 was almost at the top of my Christmas list (the Wii being the first). I played it every day for about a month, but back then I didn't have a memory card because I lost it. So I was frustrated with starting the game over and over again, and stopped playing. Eventually I stopped playing PS2 altogether because of this, up until 3 years ago when I bought a new card.

In 2012, I watched this video.

It reignited my like for DDR and made me end up downloading a 5thMIX simfile pack, and eventually had all the DDR packs. (Back then, I thought DDR EXTREME was some kind of brand-new DDR game, lol). I ended up buying DDR Universe 3 and DDR 2010. I ended up playing UNI3 for over 100 hours, and stopped playing 2010 after 3 days.

Then, in 2013, I saw a DDR SuperNOVA machine and played for shits and giggles. I found that I was better than I thought, and went on a mission to become one of the best DDR players. I bought every single DDR CS game, and eventually found out there were games past X2.

This year, I've played DDR at every opportunity, regularly visiting an ITG2 machine very close to my dad's house. I'm now clearing 13s consistently, and my stamina is constantly improving. (for comparison, I could barely clear HOT LIMIT in 2012 without getting tired )

^I actually think that DDRSN [Extreme 2 is a close second IMO] is probably the best CS release for North America. It is the only disk in my PS2 and it is the only reason my PS2 is still hooked up to my TV. I could even rattle off my "workout" mix without looking it up...

Freckles
Heaven is a Place on Earth
Jerk It Out
Shivers
Video Killed the Radio Star [hate ]
My Only Shining Star
True Love [don't like ]
CSFIL (Super Euro Mix)
Curus
Happy Angel
Moon
Rainbow Rainbow
Xepher or [depending on my stamina]
Balalaika, Carried With the Wind
DoLL
Ki-Si-Ki or [depends on mood; usually cuz I get tired]
Knockout Regrets
Love is Dreaminess [love/hate relationship with ]
Love♥Shine

If I still have the energy after all that, I go into my custom folder and tackle those.

For me, I first played DDR when I was at 6 flags for my birthday in 2001. I fell in love with the game. Immediately after I got a PS2 and the original DDR for PS1!

I first played it when I was 9 years old at 4H Camp when in 2003. It was DDR MAX US on PS2. I enjoyed it so much that my parents bought me the game along with the dance pad a few weeks later.

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My reason for getting into DDR originally is a little bit silly.

I once saw a guy playing this game, stepping and jumping around. He had a crowd that must have been about 40 people, the majority of them girls, all of them looking on impressed. I was jealous, I wanted the female attention...I wanted to be *that* guy.

That guy was playing Afronova on Standard (Basic)... It's amazing what could get you a crowd back then.

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