Dance Dance Revolution is a rhythm game by Konami, makers of arcade hardware involving ridiculous peripherals since the early '90s. The gameplay of DDR involves stepping rhythmically, or dancing, on four panels, pointing in the four cardinal directions. Listen to the music and watch the screen. When the arrows match up, step on the corresponding arrow on the floor.

Because of the rigidity of some player's techniques, many believe the gameplay holds little resemblance to the commmon notion dancing, while some players hold steadfast that DDR is legitimate dancing. Competive DDR tends to be jerky, while "freestyle" competitions range from classic dance moves to elaborate skits involving costumes and dialogs - all done on the pad. The latter forms tend to occur at "tourneys", however, and are seldom seen on local machines except by people rehearsing for a competition.

Some find it silly. Some find it curiously addicting. Some find it incredibly loud, especially if it's taking place in the apartment above you.

The best player in Davis, by all accounts, is a guy named Zack. Local afficionados claim that his patterns are at near-maximum efficiency, and his form is excellent. Other DDR players of fair-to-middling skill include KennethWaters, ct, Mpled and NathanDodd (These three have been playing Pump it Up a lot more of late, though).

The last one was located in Tapioca Express, a business on E Street downtown that has since closed. If you want to dance, you can also try Pump it Up in the MU Games Area, or buy a Playstation and a hard pad cause we all know that soft pads just != work when you get to > 7 feet or heavy...

DDR Machine Locations

  • Bizarro World has a PS2 hooked up to a huge TV with hard DDR mats. —AlexanderHo
  • Century Laguna 16 in Elk Grove has a DDR SuperNova machine in its arcade. Costs 2 tokens for 4 songs, if you're willing to drive 30 minutes to get there. —Wavy

Third and B used to have some quasi hard pads and weekly tournaments, but I think that is now defunct —StevenDaubert

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