Dance Dance Revolution Extreme

"Dance, Dance... I heard you the first time!"

Dancing is about movement and sexuality. Video games are about geeks and loneliness. So what happens when these two worlds collide?

Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (DDR to those in the know), of course, and it’s infecting America’s youth with footloose fever. DDR is essentially a jukebox, dance floor, and arcade game wrapped into a bass thumping 8 foot tall rave machine—and the best thing is there’s not a joystick in sight.

“I like it because it gives you a chance to show off or embarrass yourself,” said Peter, a 20-year-old video game mechanic and bouncer at the China Town Arcade. What exactly are players showing off? In a nut shell, a dancer must stand on a pad with four colored arrows: Up, down, left and right—a compass of funk, if you will. He or she then selects from a vast selection of mostly Japanese techno songs varying in speed and dance steps.

Then the foot stomping fun begins.

A bright colored music video starts to play complete with flashy psychedelic Japanese computer animation and directional arrows swimming up the screen. When one or more of the arrows gets to the top, the dancer must step his foot in that direction. But it’s more than a graphical Hokey Pokey, a typical minute and a half song can have up to 400 steps. Rumor has it a kid in Japan collapsed in tears because he couldn’t keep up with MAX300, a DDR song involving close to 500 steps.

“It looks too fast for my brain,” said Mark Epstein, a promoter for the Lazer Park arcade. “It must be body memory or instinct half the time.”

They player is given praise or insults by the computer based on how accurate his feet are—a “perfect!” for landing a direct hit, or “boo!” or “Miss” for having two left feet. Too much jeering from the computer will result in losing the game. Consecutive “Perfects” will give the dancer a “combo” tally. Every once in a while the machine mixes in strange compliments like, “Are you an Alien?” if the combo is unusually high, and smack talk like, “Did you eat breakfast this morning?” if it’s disappointedly low.

Most advanced players memorize the dance routine to particular songs, allowing them to look away from the screen and still get the steps right. “I see kids break-dancing, spinning around and jumping all over the place,” Epstein said. Since the dance pad can accommodate two, players can either go it alone or take on a friend in a dance-off. “It can get very competitive,” said Shaw. “I’ve been to DDR contests where prizes were as high as a $1000.” And as Saturday Night Fever taught, competitive dancing can bring out the worst in people.

“I had to throw one guy out of the arcade because he was laying on the machine, and wouldn’t let anyone play. He’s stomp on the dance pad really hard and yell at people,” peace-keeper Peter said. Rumors of DDR gangs have even surfaced on the internet. “I have heard of guys wearing colored bandanas and gloves,” Peter added. But DDR gangs seem as mythical as Mike Ovitz’s gay mafia. “I haven’t seen any scuffles yet,” said 23-year-old Hwa-Shyang Lu, “but plenty of people I wanted to physically abuse. Plus, the people who play it are wusses, they don’t fight, they dance.”

There are non-violent DDR clubs such as “DDPD” (known as the dance police) and DDR websites like www.ddrfreak.com which condemns “[pushing] a kid off a DDR machine, [laughing] at him, and then [stealing] his turn.”

The game isn’t cheap, however. It ranges in price from $0.75 to $3.00 for 3 songs lasting a mere 90 seconds. “I’ve spent more than $1,000 of my parents money in 3 months on this machine,” said 16-year-old Jordan Lewis, drenched in sweat. Epstein estimates he makes a couple hundred dollars of just the DDR machines every weekend.

IS McDONALD'S MAKING YOUR CHILD FAT? DON'T SUE...DANCE!

One of the odd and happier accidents of the DDR craze is its aerobic health benefits. “DDR won’t teach you how to be a better dancer, but it’ll make your legs stronger and some say you’ll actually lose weight doing it. It’s a better alternative to dieting,” said Peter.

“I’ve seen dudes 200 pounds or more dancing on these machines, they’ll never dance with a girl at real club so I guess this is a way for them to have fun,” said Lu. “Fat kids tend to excel at [DDR], maybe because their excess weight holds the buttons down longer.”

Even though Attorney General John Ashcroft believes dancing will send you to hell, the director of research, planning, and special projects for the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Christine Spain, thinks DDR machines are great ideas. “I’ve never seen one but any dancing is wonderful because it’s so fun, you get health benefits without ever knowing you’re working out,” Spain said. “Massive calories can be burned in 20 minutes of hot polka.”

But polka, whatever its temperature, is hardly what DDR fans are craving. Although DDR is primarily trance music at heart, its library of over 200 songs offers reggae, ska, REM and Duran Duran remixes and even a bag pipe ditty for those comfortable enough in their masculinity to exercise in a kilt.

The problem with such sweat-causing indoor activity is that odor levels also increase—not that arcades were ever mistaken for perfume counters before. “Some people just reek. I like to cake myself in Acqua Di Gio cologne before I dance,” Lu said. “You’re best off coming with clothes pins on your nose or a sinus infection so you can’t smell,” Lu added. Lazer Park was the first arcade in Manhattan to add fans next to the DDR machines to air them out. “All the sweating is great because my water sales are up,” Epstein said.

But DDR isn’t without its health risks. An online FAQ written by “GurtyGurt,” a professed DDR expert, warns that, “[DDR] can cause blisters…collapsed lungs…energy depletion…flat foot…[and] muscle cramps.” And smokers, beware. “I saw my friend playing with one hand on the machine to stand up, playing at times it hurts my heart as well,” Said Lu, a 2 pack-a-day puffer.

DDUI, Dance-Dancing under the influence, might also be something to avoid. “I suck either way. Drinking while doing it is very dangerous. Sober is dangerous on the psyche,” said Lu. Something to keep in mind when dancing at the Broadway City Arcade, seller of 99 cent beers.

IT'S ABOUT THE MUSIC, STUPID!

Health benefits aside, kids are choosing to dance on the machines because they love the songs. In a Napster world where software piracy allegedly costs the music industry billions of dollars, DDR provides a way to sell songs for less money.

“The music is great and cheap,” said 17-year-old Diana, dressed in a nylon gothic costume and a spiked collar around her neck. Females are still rare in arcades but the DDR machines have helped lure more in. “We don’t get quite as many girls as guys on the machines but we get our fair share,” said Peter of the Chinatown Arcade. Videogame makers, like Capcom, have tried unsuccessfully in the past to tap the female market by including characters in games who are women. Chun Li, a Chinese kung fu master, was the debut female fighter in Street Fighter II but failed to win Diana over. “I like music, not fighting. DDR is the only reason why I spend my Friday nights in an arcade,” she said.

But DDR’s techno beats are just as appealing to males.

“My favorite song is Holic,” said Francis Maling, a 14-year-old DDR fan. Beyond a remix to “It’s raining men,” the DDR jukebox also has “Afronova,” “Sexy Planet,” and “Blow my whistle, bitch.” The lyrics and graphics to some songs have caused church group to boycott DDR machines. In June 2002, the Youth Advocacy Coalition complained about a DDR music video in which a nurse straddles a syringe while pills and cocktails flash on the screen, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune article.

But others see the songs as positive forces. Derrick Rice, 38, drives underprivileged kids around Manhattan to arcades to dance on DDR machines as part of a Big Brother, Big Sister program. “When I first met these kids they were rude and disrespectful. But because the arcade dancing is something to look forward to, the kids have really turned themselves around,” Rice said. “Video games keep them off the streets.” But Rice admits he’s too embarrassed to use the machines himself. “I’d only dance on one if the place was empty.”

And the songs even attract professional musicians. Gangsta rapper Master P’s and his prodigious son Li’l Romeo recently hosted a charity event at Bar Code in Times Square, inviting 100 needy children to enjoy the dance machines, according to MTV news.

THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL DISCO?

Dance Dance Revolution first debuted in Japan in 1998 and is now on its 8th “remix.” To
put this in perspective, there have been 10 Friday the 13th movies since 1980, a new one coming out about every 2.1 years. A new DDR game comes out nearly every 6 months—now that’s sequel power.

Konami, the company who makes DDR, offers other “reality” games such as drumming and guitar simulators and other BeMani (notorious Japanese shorthand for “beat mania”). Obviously following in the foot steps of reality TV entertainment, it’s all about attracting the right demographic. “The ages of the dancers runs between 17 and 22 year old,” said Epstein. Maybe more adults would like DDR if it had a pole that taught strippers how to dance.

But how long will the genre survive? Players are able to buy home versions of DDR for both Playstation 1 and 2 and can even buy dance pads for $30-$100. Fan websites spring up everyday, allowing DDR fanatics to communicate in their own personal lingo: “RFO” means playing DDR with your right foot only, while a “Bar Hugger” is someone who puts all their weight on the safety bar behind them through the entire song. One site even let gamers vote on which directional arrow they liked better—by the way, the arrow pointing right carried it with 34.2% of the vote.

The hysteria seems to be going strong with 1,458 DDR machine locations, and with the exception of paraplegics and epileptics, everyone from every class, race, and gender seems to love the noise-pumping, neon-light flashing DDR. To dance fans, humans already average around 10,000 steps of walking every day—so what’s a few hundred more? Blood blisters on your feet come and go, but dancing is forever.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/03, Updated 02/27/03