DDR II & hottest party 5 (Wii) (International)

No argument from me there. I conceded to your worry about bad artist choices a long while back. And I am in no way defending mini-Aaron Carter...


...what I'm trying to convince you (and Oni and others) of is that your wish for DDR games to have a tracklist that appeals to everyone is already here... it just needs to cook a little more. It started last year, though it failed miserably. As Al pointed out the Wii series have ALWAYS been universal between America and Europe. And DDR/HP4 was Konami's first attempt at a proper DDR game that had the Wii's history of non-exclusives. But because the songs AND the stepcharts were such a flop we were too busy focusing on that realize that a groundwork had been laid to make future releases accessible to us and affordable to them.

This feels like an answer to what you mentioned before. The other games have so much in them that the fail songs don't matter. Now DDR has long songs again and DDR II has the biggest non-DLC tracklist in history (or close to it). Our faces when DDR III has 100+ tracks, all of them full-sized and (in typical Konami fashion) tries its darnedest to touch every major region with all possible genre of songs. Getting its fair share of WTFs. I want to believe that this is plan because at this stage DDR's life it could very well be its saving grace outside of Japan.

But DDR cannot rely on licences like most other games do. Generally most casual gamers don't care about many of the KO's and often only play them because they are there. A couple HAVE become casual favourites (Afronova, End of the Century), but these are few and far between and often older tracks that aren't always included.

Think about it this way: Just Dance 3 has, what, 50ish licensed tracks? If DDR only has 20 then there is a greater chance that it will have more songs people won't like. In their minds, why should they buy a game with 20 songs they know and 40 songs they don't when they can get a game with 50 songs they recognise for the same price?

These days people probably see the KO's as a way to pad the game out. Ironically the bonus songs in Guitar Hero used to be exactly this, but gradually they were weaned out in favour of more recognisable licenses. That's what the public expects from rhythm games these days. DDR is clinging onto an old and dying style in rhythm gaming. It hurts, but that's the truth.

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Ooh, he was in Euromix 2!

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But that's DDR's secret weapon, if used properly. A DDR game can have a library of music that Konami knows no other game can possibly have.

I looked at the tracklist for Just Dance 3. Wow, a lot of songs that have been on DDR. A lot more than I thought there would be. What if Konami marketed KOs like other games market licenses?

We've all heard the KOs for the last few years, they have definitely taken upon a style of their own. And they are as good as or better than what's on US radios. A lot of the artists that Konami works with have come into their own, releasing albums, making their own mark. They created Be For U out of nothing and that group matured, stood up on it's own and lasted for as long as any common J-pop group. Konami has a mysterious power over music regardless how serious they take that power. If they played it right they could make KOs become a craze to music gamers. Make DDR a highly sought after item and giving them a huge cannon that no other company would be capable of firing. Create an online presence for these artists and groups, hold concerts in the States and the in the Union. Push it as hard as Konami has been pushing their fitness brand for over a decade now. The possibilities are endless.

And in all of this, still have a competitive license list for the haters.

I think its sad how theres no reviews for this game on Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/dancedancerevolution-ii

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I fear that you are overestimating the popularity of KO's with the general audience. Unique music only goes so far and I think that when it comes down to it most people would rather have more songs they recognise than ones that they don't, even IF said songs are well produced and sound interesting.

In the past the KO's were mixed into the songlists in such a way that it was possible to "fool" people into believing that every song was possibly a licence. These days, and with the way music and the games are made, the KO's stick out a lot more and people notice.

Perhaps if the series were handled better what you say might come true, but I think that you give Konami too much credit.

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For what it's worth, I gave my 9-year old cousin a Hottest Party 3 bundle last Christmas, without her ever having seen DDR before. When I saw her again for the first time this week, she corrected me on mis-pronouncing Naoki's name, and her "favorite songs" folder consisted entirely of KOs, and one Rihanna song.

I must say, JB has been nominated for Grammys, so it is critical acclaim anyway you shake it.
I agree wholeheartedly to your arguments Aeron, but there is one point I must disagree with. JD 3 did have Satellite by Lena as a European exclusive. Also, Just Dance had a somewhat localized version of the second game for its Japanese release, mixing some J-pop with regular JD2 stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Dance_Wii_%28Japan%29.

Regarding "localization",I'd rather not have DDR selling out (that's an odd term I'm using for this argument, I must admit). Even with recognizable songs (The last Guitar Hero and Rock Band as testaments), if the gameplay sucks, well, you know the rest.
EDIT: Not that I'm saying GH/RB was terribly bad, but even with the innovations of the last installments, it started to become statle.


From what I'm hearing around the interwebz, it's clear that some people don't even know what the KOs are this time around. Have you looked at the Facebook page? Heck, this review (which I don't totally agree with, but it was like the only one) http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/dance-dance-revolution-ii-review actually states that it's for the Western crowd.

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Which engine does the Japanese game use? The songlist looks amazing, but.. Just Dance :{

What I said is what konami -could- do. Definitely not what they -are- doing.

I just wrote a million dollar solution to Konami's problem and I'm just a gamer. And sadly I almost know that they won't listen to it. I think Konami needs to fire every single employee they have in their western marketing divisions.

To be honest over here Konami + marketing nearly always = Pro FUCKING Evo.

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I would assume JD2's, seeing as how they use only songs from the second game (maybe the first, but idk)

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Which is Konami's best-selling game in every region in the world...

But we are talking about HP5 and the future of the series.

Either way, you specifically BOUGHT a bundle for her so obviously she'd give it a go. Most people aren't even BUYING the game, because unlike your cousin whether they like the KO's is down to chance, that's the issue. Most people aren't 9 and open-minded, they are 18 or older and buying it specifically based on their own opinions of the game and the included songs.

Also HP3 was actually pretty good. I bought it, but it's a couple of years old now and only came out around the time of Just Dance 1, so people were probably still interested in DDR then.


Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock is the best Wii rhythm game I've ever played. I'm not joking. It may have lacked a pro mode and not had that many improvements over its predecessor, but what Neversoft and Vicarious Visions did with it, they did well. Also the Quest Mode was extremely innovative; it's more coherent than many of Konami's Master Modes.

People may disagree with me on this, but I would like more Wii games like that.

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it's based on Just Dance 3's engine with the unlock and shop systems removed. It uses western songs from 1-2 DLC/Summer Party

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Hottest party 5 rated 16 thats weird for a ddr game that's like a T rating here in the states. Anyone know why it's rated 16?

Maybe they threw Jenny with her DDR X2 AC outfit on the game.

This is the first European DDR with the X-scale rating system, yes? Why shouldn't PEGI be allowed to get in on the fun too?

This is the most appropriate answer ever.

DDR II is rated E 10+, well below a PEGI 12 rating. Unless there's something culturally specific to Europe that makes this game inappropriate to anyone below the age of consent.

I still want to believe that this means the song selection really IS slightly different for hottest party 5, like I pointed out earlier (Even if it goes against my argument for a unified tracklist, it would at least be hella cool). Even though it is highly more likely that this is just a ratings blunder.