DDR without Japanese Pop music?

January 2, 2008 2:55 PM

What game system has the best Dance, Dance, Revolution array of games if avoiding Japanese synth-pop is a priority?

I am researching a belated Christmas gift for a DDR-fanatic: I'm open to PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, so there's a degree of backwards compatibility to add to the accounting. Does anyone with experience in these matters know which set of games have the most interesting music? Alternatively, if one of the systems has good online addons (where you can purchase songs online, I think?) with a Euro-american dance music bent, that would help too.

posted by anotherpanacea to media & arts (10 comments total)

As long as you make sure you're getting one of the backwards-compatible ones, I'd say PS3. According to Gamerankings, the PS2 has more DDR games than every other system put together.
posted by box at 3:03 PM on January 2, 2008

The PS2 versions are made by KCET (Konami Computer Entertainment, Tokyo) and there are lots of them and IMO they're the funnest, but they are still oriented to japanese sensibilities.

The Xbox version is made by KCEH (Konami Computer Entertainment, Hawaii) and does have a more American feel. It also has a lot of add-on tracks, because that was the XBox's big thing, downloadable content. The PS2 has no downloadable content.

Here is a list of a bunch of DDR games including song lists. I think it's out of date - there is a Wii game (DDR Hottest Party) and an Xbox 360 game (DDR Universe) that aren't listed.

I would say the PS2 is the platform for DDR, but I don't really mind cheesy J-pop influenced stuff. It's hard to fathom that anyone could become a DDR Fanatic (as you say) with such an aversion!

Does anyone know if the xbox360 can play the Xbox Ultramixes? If so I would say the 360 might suit your criteria.
posted by aubilenon at 3:37 PM on January 2, 2008

You tend to find more Japanese synth-pop (Naoki, etc) in the PS1 and early PS2 versions of the game, so as long as you stick with anything new you'll be fine.
Go with PS3 as mentioned above, there are at least 5 or 6 mixes for PS2, and another 4 or more for PS1, including the *ahem* interesting Disney Mix.
posted by Meagan at 3:39 PM on January 2, 2008

Step 1. Get a USB DDR Pad.
Step 2. Get StepMania for PC
Step 3. Download songs online. A site (and many other more. stepmania song packs, etc)
posted by PowerCat at 4:05 PM on January 2, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

The later PS2 games (Extreme; Extreme 2; Supernova; Supernova 2) have more licensed Western tracks than the earlier ones. (Though in my opinion the J-pop tunes tend to have better stepcharts.)

The thing about DDR is that once you get to a certain level, you'll happily listen to otherwise annoying music for the pleasure of playing through a difficult chart. So the quality of the music doesn't matter that much, unless this gift is going to result in you having to hear these songs over and over while the recipient is practicing.

PS3 is the way to go, I think. But note that PS3 backward compatibility depends on the model--some PS3s have hardware BC, some have software BC, and some have no BC at all. You want the 80GB PS3, or preferably the 20 or 60 GB if you can find it. You don't want the 40GB.
posted by Prospero at 5:11 PM on January 2, 2008

I know you didn't mention PC, but an as yet unmentioned advantage to Stepmania over all the other systems is that in addition to the music already available for download, you can make your own dance tracks for it, from whatever music you want to use.

You could thus take the traditional "mix-tape" gift to the next level - a mix-tape of dance game levels created from your own collection of music.
posted by -harlequin- at 5:28 PM on January 2, 2008

You might want to look into dance pads while you're at it. Last time I looked into it, neither the Xbox 360 nor the Wii had any quality accessories, and playing on a cheap thin mat sucks.
posted by liet at 6:01 PM on January 2, 2008

Thanks for these answers! As you guessed, the DDR fanatic is less picky than I am about the music. A last question: any advice on control pads? Apparently some pads suffer from high lag?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:15 PM on January 2, 2008

It's been a while for me, but a few years ago the best dance pads were made by Red Octane (who went on to make Guitar Hero). The metal arcade pad is pricey, but man does it make a big difference to the fanatic.
posted by team lowkey at 11:01 PM on January 2, 2008

I too vote for extremely expensive metal dance pads. I personally use Cobalt Flux pads because Red Octane wasn't making metal pads at the time and CF really had no competition to compare.

I believe both companies make excellent products, but I would just like to take a second and point out the sort of uncanny similarity between the two companies' names.

The two advantages I found to using the hard pads is a) they're more sensitive, and b) they don't break after a month. Oh also c) they don't try to slide under the sofa when you dance on them like the soft pads did, because they weigh 40 pounds.
posted by aubilenon at 5:17 AM on January 4, 2008