Total Noob Here - Need Advice

[silverose]

I haven't exercised regularly for some time and need to lose a lot of weight.

I need advice: what platform do you recommend? Is the PS2 the best?

Is StepMania on the PC just as good or better? then DDR? What about ITG?

For the true noob, which game in particular is good? DDR2?

What dance pad is good?

Thank you.

[silverose]

Oops! Looks like a thread below that addresses this. Sorry.

[Spooty Biscuit]

Well the other one's kinda just about pads. To answer your questions:

I'd say PS2 has the best games. Gamecube was lacking in selection (One DDR mix, Mario Mix, which was largely kid based, as well as some terrible dance games made by other companies), and the XBox games tended to have atrocious load times.

Of course, as you mentioned, there's always Stepmania on PC. It has the advantage of being open source, so you can put your own songs into the game and make your own stepcharts/download stepcharts. It's a good choice for a little more advanced players (Newer players generally have problems getting the game to sync up correctly).

In short, I'd suggest starting with some good PS2 titles. I'd suggest:

DDRMAX2 - No silly unlock system, beginner level is present, decent songlist
ITG - Every song has a Level 1 stepchart (meaning very newbie friendly)

I'd avoid:
DDRMAX - No Beginner difficulty
DDR Extreme - You can't turn off the corner buttons, which can make learning the game hard for someone who's still finding the way around the pad

Then there's DDR Extreme 2 - You start with a very limited selection, and have to do some silly little challenges to unlock more songs. I think the thing that bugged me most though was having to play beginner for a while, in which case, this game might actually work well for you. However, in my opinion, this one had the best songlist of all the PS2 DDR games (although I still liked ITG's songlist better).


Anyway, onto the pad issue. First thing: have you actually played DDR/ITG before? If not, I'd start with a nice cheap flat mat. That way, if it turns out to not be your thing, you only spent about $30 on the mat, and you're not out of a fortune.

On the other hand, if you know you love these games, start with something a little more high quality. I'd suggest (if you can still find one) an Ignition 2.0 (The 3.0's I've found to be a bit low quality). These have a thick foam insert and are (to most people) more comfortable to play on. They're also quite a bit more durable than flat mats. They tend to run about $70 (?). DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy pads off of E-Bay.

I think that hits most if it...

[Nuggets]

Really your DDR style reflects what is best for you. I can agree with some of the things SB says, but I wouldn't be so quick to discount DDR Extreme. It has one of my favorite songlists. Also, DDR SuperNova will help to make up for any songs you might lose by choosing to play PS2 over XBOX. Generally, XBOX tended to be one game ahead of PS2 and would always have more superpopular songs. SuperNova made up for most of that. I would definitely choose PS2 over XBOX, but that's a personal bias. PS2 just seems to run more smoothly for me, but on the other side, XBOX has downloadable song packs if you're on LIVE. From what I've heard of the online play experience in general though, it isn't worth it.

StepMania is okay for some, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. Many of the better songs out there for SM that you couldn't get with a console game are only available in certain levels, which is just a nice way to say they're usually something like 13 footers in Heavy. As a beginner, it will probably be easier to play the console versions, though in the case of Extreme2 and SuperNova, the unlock system is really heinous. You should be okay with it though, since it is just a loooooooooot of beginner songs.

Your best hope for a beginning pad without going high end into the range of $100+ is just to buy a pad that is bundled up with the game, and make sure it is an authentic Konami pad. You won't find better quality in a soft pad. In fact, you usually won't find any quality in a soft pad. The Ignition 2.0 is pretty good, but you'll spend about 3-4x as much on it as you would this Konami soft mat, and that's if you can find it at all. Just as an aside, you can only buy the Konami mat in a bundle with the game, so don't be fooled by people claiming they have them for separate sale. Also be wary of people claiming to have them in bundle pack. If it doesn't have a big black KONAMI label on the bottom lefthand corner, don't buy it. And NEVER EVER EVER buy pads off e-bay. Sell your mom to the devil before you buy pads off e-bay.

Here is a link to the bundle and a free music sampler as well. Gamestop is the only place I know of that still has the bundles left. This game came out last year and usually the bundles disappear relatively quickly, but they just reordered some and so your best shot to get a good soft mat is from them. Plus, you get the game with it. The game alone would cost you $40, so you're paying only $20 and shipping for an awesome mat to go with it . Good luck in your DDR forays and reply back if you have any more questions.

www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=B281621A