DanceDanceRevolution (AC) (Japan)

I'd personally prefer good crossovers over much of the remaining CS transplants anyday but I doubt seeing that happening, although it could happen still.

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I wish that if there is a new update, they would do the following:
- New game background
- New character costumes (like in DDR II has alternate costumes for characters)
- New dance stages (we've had pretty much the same ones from x and x2. new stages would be nice)
- Revived character(s) from the older DDR series (lady, akira, bass, blues)
- Maybe some revived songs from the club mixes, ultramix/universe series (G2, Outer Limits etc.)
- A new objective for the game (like Replicant D-action kinda thing)
- GOOD crossovers and other song revivals that people actually WANT

Just my opinion. Thoughts??

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The amount of attention and prominence that DDR got with the BEMANI Fansite redesign doesn't really suggest doom and gloom. To me this feels more like there was some reshuffling behind the scenes and the whole Naoki situation threw a massive wrench into it.

For all we know, they could be building a big backlog of songs for 2015 to either A) replace the unused Naoki and Jun songs, B) offset another big round of song deletions like in X.

Frankly, ANYTHING that isn't old-for-us-but-probably-new-to-DDR AC is better.

How about a new artist? Literally someone brand new to BEMANI/beatnation/rhyze to not only make music for DDR but also take over? Because if not one of the current artists want to handle the game anymore, at least give it to someone who will (try anyway). It could go bad since having someone new to a very old and beloved game series can be detrimental to their success in the franchise, but honestly it can't be as bad as what is currently going on with these unlock-I'm sorry, 'Please end my misery' event.

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Inb4 a hypothetical Dance Partay Oni level 15 shock arrow chart becomes the last unlock ever before they just pull the plug on the series, just to troll us even more.

How to kill a game series, an essay by CynicalOkie...

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You'll be lucky if even one of those things happen

This means it's time for a new global DDR, for sure.

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Exactly, I think it's time for a new Global/International DDR for sure.

I hate to be Johnny Raincloud on the Parade, though I'm gonna dissect your post and give my own thoughts:

- They were slower than molasses in January getting the updated background and interface added to the game for 2014. I don't expect them to be any faster getting another new one out before the end of 2015.

- I'm picturing new costumes isn't very high on their priority list.

- Again, probably the same thing, here. May not be big on their priority list.

- A part of me honestly doesn't think a majority of the people playing DDR notices or really will care about what character to use, let alone ones they've probably never heard of .

- A good majority, if not all of those songs are made by people who are no longer affiliated with Konami (nagureo especially left Konami on bad terms from what I hear.)

- It took a solid mix like X2 to get one of these out. I'm not sure if there's ever been anything like Replicant-D-Action, or if there will ever be something like it again.

- I think the big flaw about this part is PEOPLE. The game's not even a fraction as popular as it once was - but could be. It's ironic given that player feedback as of late probably hasn't been something they've been paying much attention to as opposed to even a couple years ago. They aren't even changing the ratings on certain songs that are way too misrated, let alone listening to anyone's opinion on what songs to add and such. If they plan on adding any songs, I'm sure they've planned it out and have set schedules, as much as I can barely say that with a straight face.

A low stock is more the reason NOT to send DDR world wide again. Doing that is not cheep and I don't think a good majority of arcades outside Japan even trust getting a DDR machine after the DDR X disaster. I honestly hope this is just filler until they bring out something new down the road. DDR needs a jumpstart.

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Yes it does, but how do you expect/how would you want them to jumpstart it?

Kickstarter?

Maybe open up "love hotels" like Nintendo?

This all sounds very much like stuff that isn't going to happen.

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Maybe they just have too many music game series to handle and develop. They freaking release a new series ever year or two it seems. It's no longer just DDR, beatmania, or Guitarfreaks. DDR is most likely taking a backseat to the newer music games that have been released. I don't know exactly whether there are specific teams working on each game separately or if one or two groups develop all of Bemani cause I suppose that could be pretty daunting and end up affecting the quality of work and effort put into them.

I really wish I could pinpoint what happened though. SuperNOVA was promoted as a rebirth of DDR, people were hyped, it was getting released in America and other countries, the RoXor acquisition happened, and then...SuperNOVA 2. I remember playing at the test location in Naperville, IL where it was connected to e-Amuse. After that, it got released but as far as I know, it wasn't adopted by arcades anywhere near as much as SuperNOVA or Extreme was. Plus e-Amuse didn't get picked up in America either, just one or two machines have it I think.

Next, DDR X came out with little fanfare and most people seemed to mainly talk about how poor the dedicated cabinets were and how many songs were cut. I've only ever played DDR X2 once in IL and I know of a location in Georgia but other than that, most of them seem to be on the East and West coast. X3 was never even officially released outside Japan and I think upgrade kits for Australia :/ Is it something up with Konami? Betson? Or just sales/community in general? I mean, if arcades don't want to purchase an upgrade kit or dedicab, I guess there's not much that can be done at that point. I even tried passing out flyers to some bowling alleys, casinos, and arcades that Konami made regarding leasing an X2 machine but no one bit lol. And when I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Mississippi, the bowling alley on base was looking to build an arcade and had a survey about what games should be considered. I remember typing up this detailed explanation of why I believed DDR X2 would be a great choice, or any DDR machine for that matter, and I even emailed the correspondent and got a reply. Alas, they never ended up building an arcade. Everywhere I got stationed, one of the first things I'd do is go explore the area to locate a DDR machine and I wasn't the only one. I'vet met so many men/women in the military who are crazy about DDR but some areas just don't have any machines or they are just in poor condition.

Not too long ago, they were promoting this whole thing about kids being active and healthy and having DDR for schools and how fat America is getting. I think it was Konami and Positive Gaming (Kyle Ward and Chris Foy from ITG). You'd think they'd have put more active type games in public places too instead of crap like the arcade version of Flappy Bird and Arcade Racer #774. Then again, I suppose that's where the money is and that's what's important to business -_- Whatever...I just know I don't wanna see DDR die anytime soon.

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A new console release would be helpful. Arcades aren't popular anymore, at least not as popular as the used to be. An arcade-only series simply won't get anywhere outside of Japan, that's why IIDX and jubeat are practically non-existant in the UK.

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Something I still don't understand is why so many people who have not recently been in Japan think DDR is dying/dead in Japan. There's most likely not actually a strong correlation between the amount of effort Konami puts into new content for a game vs. the amount of money the machine makes in a popular location. I don't have any numbers to point to but neither do the people who haven't been in Japan recently claiming the game is dying in Japan.

why am I actually now starting to kind of like dance partay?? -_-

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I don't know. No one knows. No one will EVER know.

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ok I have to admit, i guess dance partay now isnt as bad as i thought before. BUT, there is another song that if it is put into Yuniver hills, I will flip. That song is 'FREE' , the crappy remix of 'Freedom' - BeForU. Its in DDR 2010 and I absolutely despise that song. If it gets put in, I will personally take an ice bath, then camp outside in the snow for a night

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