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

Except that people often still look to consoles for proper gaming? While mobile gaming has become more sophisticated, it hasn't yet rendered console gaming useless. They are two different areas that sometimes converge and there will always be a market for both.

As you put it yourself: you can't really hook up a mat to an iPhone, also not everyone WANTS to buy a phone from Apple in order to play a game. Some people appreciate the simplicity and availability of a dedicated console. There's also the fact of exclusives: I doubt that you'll ever see a Nintendo game on non-Nintendo system, yet the games still sell.

In the case of DDR, "normal" DDR will always be in an arcade or on a proper gaming system that supports a mat. Fun adaptations on a handheld just is never the same thing.


I was trying to be honest and serious. Your response seemed flippant like you weren't taking what I said seriously.


DDR still has selling power but it has dropped significantly since its heyday. I'm surprised that I'm the only one that'll admit this. DDR X2 feels like another game with a weird name and another number that won't bring anything surprisingly new and will probably fall into the same trap of having radically different AC and CS releases and being released in Europe when Konami decides to give a damn.

Forgive me if I'm suffering from "DDR fatigue" because of all these similar and uninspiring games. It would be nice if Konami could shake it up a little. Really mark themselves a place in the competition.


Which is the exact point I was trying to raise. Konami can't ride on how renown DDR is forever because these days a new series can pop up in a year and steal the show. Being "the original and still the best" might have worked ten years ago, but that excuse is getting a little old now. In fact, when I go to arcades people seem more interested in the older EuroMIX2 machines than they do in the new DDR X ones. It's almost like the connection people had to this great series was lost somewhere and the casual audience just doesn't recognise it anymore.

---

Don't you remember that Target ad that aired in 2008 with those teens dancing to Hottest Party 2?

But seriously, for some reason Just Dance seems like a better party game for American audiences. Full licensed tracklist, lenient scoring mechanic, and the chance to embarrass pretty much everyone playing is a trinity for sales. Me? I like both, so I don't mind when each series releases a game every single year without fail, Just Dance already two years in and six games created if we count the MJ spinoff

---

You could try playing the Tournament Mode and unlock the boss songs there. :3 Fastest way of getting the game to stop making you challenge boss songs. Do it once, get it out of the way, and you're FREE! Another tip from me is to not do Expert/Difficult songs just yet. Or, do like 2 of them, and then a Beginner and Basic song, so it resets while you're still gaining DDR Points. That's what I did at any rate. OTL

Also...you said you wanted something new? o.o The Wii games gave you something new to try. There's hands in all 4 games, and Balance Board in 3 and 4. Those offer new ways to play the game, as silly as they are. I didn't see DDR X/X2 try anything new like that. I'm not sure if DDR 2010-PS3 even used their Playstation Move thingamajig. It's a lot of fun to do once you get the hang of it.

Also, someone pointed out earlier that DDR 2011 is getting Doubles Mode. ._. I want to try it out so bad now just to see what the fuss is all about. But there you go. In the Wii games, there is plenty to do that is new.

@Xavious: You could also just beat the dancer in the dance battle, to unlock the song.

I did consider a lot of this, but the fact that you have to do workarounds to something that shouldn't even be a problem in the first place is ridiculous and negates the point of the game being fun to play.

Also what put me off Tournament Mode is the fact that it feels like I've done the same sort of thing twice before in the last two games and I kind of got sick of it so I really just wanted to play the licences this time. Strangely enough, there may be a lot of other people out there who pick the game up solely to play in Free Play and when they get good enough might share the same annoyances I have.


That's just the problem. I can do many songs on Difficult and Expert, but the battles are a little above my level due to the songs they entail. Believe me the first few times I tried to just do the battle hoping that that would stop it from pestering me, but I failed so it keeps pestering me.

It's a serious design flaw to not even give players the option to turn it off in Free Play mode where the impression is that you are free to play with less restriction.

Give people the option to unlock stuff in Free Play = YES.
Force them to with interrupting challenges even when they don't want to = NO.


Hands was a good concept done poorly. The second game only really started to use it right and even then it wasn't great. Most people I know just switch to no-hands and have done with it.

Don't own the balance board, so nice idea, but not suitable for everyone.

While I'm personally not huge on Doubles Mode, I agree with the point that it's more of a staple of the series than most other things, and it makes sense including it seeing as most people might own two pads anyway to play verses.

My point is, as I'm sure I've alluded to and people haven't really listened, is that Konami didn't do ENOUGH or as much as they could do between each game, when I've seen other games PANNED horribly by critics and fans when often they had more features and more inclusions and improvements than the DDR series has. I mean Konami can't even make a decent multi-platform game and release it in a timely manner worldwide; surely that's a given these days?

It seems that people are only interested in valid criticism and improvements when it's a game that they hate, or a game you are allowed to bandwagon on the hate because the internet permits it.

---

I disagree completely. Hand Markers in HP2 worked really well and I always feel like I'm one of the very, very few who even gave it a chance (for, you know, more than one or two songs). For some songs, I feel that people are missing out on a whole other side to the game because of how strongly hands work in favor of flow and just the overall fun factor. That's why I was so disappointed with HP3's Hypermove Mode, but that's enough about that.

I like how you assume that I never tried it. Actually, I gave it quite a big chance, but it proved somewhat inaccurate at times and, combined with feet, made the game a little too tricky to play.

---

I give them credit for trying to innovate, but they have to do it in a way that compliments the feet portion of the game. If they don't, it'll just be a jumbled mess.

Choreograph Mode was a perfect way to do hands if you ask me. D8 Hands and Feet worked together perfectly to make some neat (and sometimes goofy) routines for EVERY SONG in the game sans New York EVOLVED. Especially Expert, where you had to do the routine from memory! You oughta try that out at least, Xavious, if you haven't already. D8 Choreograph is much easier to get into than the past hand ideas.

Plus, it's fun. Actual (kinda) dancing in a game called Dance Dance Revolution. D:

Also, if you're upset about EU missing out on DDR, why not import a US Wii? It might be expensive, but it'll be worth it if you're bitter about waiting for a new game to come out. It's what I did to get my hands on MUSIC FIT. OTL

Europe isn't really missing out on anything the US is getting. We're just getting it much, MUCH later. And for more money.

---

Choreograph Mode is fun. I'm gonna miss it though. I think Europe should have an earlier release date since US got one. A lot of games usually would release for US one day, and then Europe would have it the next day. That would be fair to them I hope.

---

I think Xenoblade kind of makes up for it, although we never got Walk It Out, which is a crime :{


Or you could just play US Wii games on an EU Wii? The problem with importing them is that they often only come bundled with the pad, which not only increases the price of the game, but more than doubles the price of shipping.

Google "Step To The Beat".

pop'n rhythm!!

---

I didn't, actually. I'm sorry if you took it that way. But the accuracy was more than adequate, I found.


This I definitely agree with. As much as I loved HP2's Hand Marker system, Choreograph mode was just so accessible with the dancers doing the movements along with you. And yes, for some of the charts, these turned out to be MORE fun than the strong Hand Marker showings from HP2. But for me, it wasn't a case of one wins over another. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, which is fine by me since it still gives me reason to play both games. For some Choreograph charts, though, Konami didn't put forth their best effort. So, no, I don't believe they were fun for "every song" (I've played the mode extensively). But that's just me.

I don't own DDR Wii, for good reason. Konami went back to their old tricks of super delayed releases for Europe so I returned the favour in kind by refusing to give them my money.

Looking up a video of the Mode though, my first thoughts are: "Just Dance in DDR form", which isn't actually a bad thing. I'd actually say that Konami should drop the ridiculously difficult songs and instead focus on making hands like this more a part of the main game and putting the challenge in there.

Looks a lot more fun than flailing my legs just so that I can say that I FC'd a song. Actually moving the game more towards actually choreographed dancing sounds fun and it might rekindle interest in the franchise.


Awesome idea! In fact, BRB, I'm just off to tell all those Project Rainfall guys that they shouldn't have to worry about the games they want being released in America, they should just import them and a European Wii! I'm sure that they won't respond by telling me to go screw myself!

Okay, so that came out a little more harsh than I intended, however the point still stands: When Europe is screwed over it's "oh well, you guys are used to this by now, right? Sucks for you...", but then AMERICA doesn't get a release and it's all "GRR, ARGH! How could they even CONSIDER doing this to us! Petition, email, complain; GIVE US OUR RELEASE!".

---

This is the first DDR Wii release that I think I'll hold off and wait for a used copy on. Have they announced a standalone release of it? I don't really want a 5th DDR Wii pad.

EDIT* NM, looks like it is getting a standalone release...

http://www.gamestop.com/wii/games/dance-dance-revolution-2/91794

Woohah!

---

It's nice that Konami is offering that option again.

Yeah, I'm just running out of space in my room for PS2/Wii/PS3/360 pads.

---

Plus their new trick of not getting any exclusive licences, therefore releasing exactly the same fucking game.

---