DDR Dance Pads - anyone know much about them?

[Asura]

After seeing some highly skilled players at a recent con, I realised that apart from a few quick goes here-and-there, I've never played much DDR.

Does anyone know much about the pads/mats/etc?

I've been told that the cheap vinyl/foam mats are useless, as they slip too much on the floor and are really just a novelty, so if you want to get much out of the games you need to get a metal one.

Had a quick search on the forum but much of the info is so old that it probably wouldn't be much use now.

Seen a few places online that have them in stock - this is one of them:

http://www.ddrgame.com/dance-dance-revolution-ps-champion-arcade.html

Seems it only supports PS1/2 (though I guess you could use a USB converter and such for other platforms).

Anyone have an old one for sale, perhaps? Or could you recommend a specific brand?

[fuse]

In my day (I used to play a lot ~10 years ago), CobalFlux pads were meant to be the pad to have, but I don't think they're even still about these days. Never heard of that one you've linked before, I would recommend doing some serious digging amongst more dedicated communities before you throw down the cash.

[speedlolita]

Definitely agree with fuse. The pad you linked above while expensive is pretty bad..

Vinyl/floor mats are okay if you have some way of securing them to begin with though.

[Asura]

I would recommend doing some serious digging amongst more dedicated communities before you throw down the cash.

Had a look online and they seem dead. DDRFreaks in particular has a forum that's still live, but hasn't seen any posts in 3 years. I guess the genre has gone the way of Rock Band.

If I can't realistically get a decent mat for ?150 then I'll probably forget about this idea.

[charlesr]

You can get hard plastic versions. They really hurt if you stepped on the edge in bare feet

[fuse]

Had a look online and they seem dead. DDRFreaks in particular has a forum that's still live, but hasn't seen any posts in 3 years. I guess the genre has gone the way of Rock Band.

If I can't realistically get a decent mat for ?150 then I'll probably forget about this idea.

Man - I joined DDR Freak in 2002 and was very much an active member for years - those are some memories! I know they killed off the UK section of the forum years ago though, killing some thousands of threads in the process...

I think you are probably not doing yourself any favours if search for a 'DDR pad' though. There is still very much an active dancegame community, but most people are more heavily focused on ITG/Pump seeing as that catered far more for the hardcore stepping crowd. That said, I think that home releases are less of a thing now too, and most everyone who's into it seriously has access to some kind of local cab, rather than trying to build a home setup.

[wakka]

Used to watch people play Pump It Up Exceed in Troc. Nutters/amazingly skilled. Quite a few of them had tshirts with the names of competitions in South Korea on too.

[charlesr]

And you can get PIUE for the PC with USB mats I think. Possibly a good option. And much more fluid than DDR due to the mat layout.

[charlesr]

http://www.bordersdown.net/content/706-Pump-It-Up-Exceed-Review-Sony-PS2