DDR = Damned Dumpy Rear
Well, after seeing it in Vegas and at Kyle and Evan's, and getting recommendations from some of the blog readers, I used my Christmas Best Buy gift certificates to buy Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3 bundle for the Xbox. It was $67 altogether and I have to say it's a blast. Bailey had seen one at the store once and she thought it was fun so when I opened the box, she knew what to do. The kids really don't do anything but freestyle mode but they still enjoy the music and screen action.
As for me, the first night was fun but pretty tiring. Tom is right that you really are surprised when you see how much time has passed. About 30 minutes and I'm done. Tonight, I was fooling around with Xbox Live, Microsoft's online service, and I accidentally got into a threeway game. Playing at "Light" mode (that's one setting above "Beginner") and I got smoked. Badly. Horribly. I suspect that the Xbox's on the other end told their owner's "Geez, I think this Mkae guy is like 40 or something".
An interesting note on using the DDR for exercise. I was reading through some newgroups and according to them, the creator of DDR is pretty horrified at the thought of his creation being used for exercise. We're not appreciating the music and rhythym and blah blah blah. I did find some newsgroups with other "old guys" so I don't feel quite so silly. My wife thinks I'm an idiot, but no surprise there.
My only disappointment is that the music is pretty much unrecognizable. Lots of techno, hip hop, etc. I guess it doesn't matter much since it's all about those stupid, CURSED ARROWS but it would be nice to recognize the beat. I looked at the downloadable songs and it wasn't much better. I have seen whispers that it's possible to insert your own MP3's but Konami seems to always have those posts deleted. It's a DDR conspiracy!
The big surprise was that the package came with a free 30 day trial membership to 24 Hour Fitness. I had wanted to get 30 days in at a club between mid-February and mid-March and this will work perfectly, as there's one near my house and office.
As far as my diet, this has been a bad week with a couple of work functions and then our vacation tomorrow. I won't be back on track until mid-February but I'll keep everyone up to date.
posted by Mkae at
7:49 PM
3 Comments:
Ah, Mkae. A DDR three-way. :)
You're set on light already? Good job! And on the 'cursed arrows', another DDR player in our little ex-The Company circle refers to that moment when you stop understanding the arrows and where you should move as the arrows turning into "chicken feet".
And screw "not appreciating the rhythm". If they didn't put several crappy songs without a discernable beat in every DDR, I'd believe that rhythm means jack to the creator of the game.
The latest DDR for PS2 is the first one to have an online component, but I don't think it's very heavily used (certainly not as much as the XBox version). I don't think it's good enough to warrant setting up wireless for the PS2 or getting a REALLY long ethernet cable.
Happy playing! Let me give you a piece of advice that will save you a lot of time...when you put a foot on an arrow, leave it there until you need to move it somewhere else. The tutorial shows the example person moving back to the center after every step, and you can't do anything harder than Light that way. Blog when you start playing Intermediate and I'll tell you how to do crossovers. :)
Welcome to the goofy over-30 DDR players club!
(Hope you're having fun with the Mouse as I type this, and that you escaped before the storm grounded the planes. There should be a Disney-themed DDR machine there for you to practice on.)
By
Kathy, at 10:51 AM
I'm still DDR-resistant, but I saw two people play Guitar Hero on Friday, and I am so wanting to play that game. Which has some of the same follow-the-music mechanics, with rock songs you already know.
Now I realize the exercise component is totally not there with GH, but I was upset at the guy who was playing sitting down. That is NOT rock and roll.
By
Shocho, at 7:28 AM
DDR has been a love of mine since it first came out in the arcades. I have a tradition of playing it in the arcade whenever I travel to a convention or conference. A lot of it depends on what kind of hotel you stay in, but there are a surprising number that have the game. I played it in Nashville and there is an example of why you WOULDN'T want people to be able to add their own songs. Next up I will search it out in Baltimore, Hawaii, and Chicago.
By
Hayden, at 9:35 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home