Video Game News 7

Wii Games that use the DDR Dance Pad / Dance Mat Controller

In many ways, the company that brought “exergaming” into the mainstream has been Konami. In 1998, they introduced a new arcade game called “Dance Dance Revolution”. It was one of the first mainstream games that involved not just exercise of the thumbs, hands, and wrists but the whole body. It was such a simple concept–move your feet to match on-screen arrows moving to the pace of pop music–but it was as addictive as a video game as as effective as the best aerobic workout in the gym.

Fast forward to 2006. Nintendo introduced the Wii which also ended up reversing a trend of video games turning kids and grown-ups into flabby couch potatoes. Suddenly, every video game company started producing games that focused not just on fun but on getting exercise.

Konami ported DDR to the Wii, but was a little late to the game as far as producing fitness games. But in the coming months, they’ll be making up for lost time in a big way by introducing a number of new titles which make use of the good old DDR dance pad.

Here are the upcoming games which will use the Dance Pad with their release dates. Click on any link to see the product on Amazon.Com.

Walk It Out (October 20, 2009). This game will be an exercise title which focuses on walking or step exercising using your DDR Dance Mat controller. It’ll feature a huge “virtual” world that you can walk through and a rich music soundtrack.

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 Bundle (October 27, 2009). This game will be the sequel to Dance Dance Revolution. The biggest improvements will be a much improved music soundtrack and optional support for the Wii Balance Board.

Ultimate Party Challenge (November 3, 2009). This game will be a set of over 40 minigames, many of which use the DDR Dance Mat controller. From early screens, it looks like this will in part be a response to Namco Bandai’s Active Life series of games, which itself introduced its own mat controller. Here’s hoping this competition is a good thing, and Konami will step up to the challenge of making high quality mini-games.

Many of these games will support multiple players, so if you already have DDR, you can either get the game alone or find the game bundled with a dance mat so you can play together with friends and family.

7 Comments

  • Reply
    Jac
    Dec 05, 2010 5:22 pm

    Do you think the Active outdoor Challenge game by Namco Bandai game mat[2player single mat] be use in DDR [uses single player types] or other related games by Konami?

  • Reply
    steve
    Dec 05, 2010 10:20 pm

    Hi Jac,

    Funny, I’ve always wondered the answer to that question, so tonight I tried plugging in my Active Life mat to see if it would work on DDR.

    Unfortunately, the answer is no. The Active Life pad has eight buttons to the DDR Mat’s four. While some of the buttons on the Active Life Pad will perform actions in DDR, the buttons are totally in the wrong places (blue/left on Active Life = up in DDR, blue-down in Active Life = right in DDR, etc.) and some buttons don’t have a mapping, so it’d be pretty much impossible to use them interchangeably. It’d be nice if Namco and Konami played well together, but at the end of the day each wants us to spend money on their mats, unfortunately!

    Thanks for the question! 🙂

  • Reply
    Jac
    Dec 06, 2010 1:00 am

    Hi Steve,

    Yes, how nice it is to save some $ so that can buy 1 lesser mats for multi-player modes. I too finally did a test after leaving comment here.

    As like you say the buttons are mess up, but all is not lost. Here’s how to use Active mat on DDR. Rotate the mat so that blue left on Active life is the up button for DDR while blue square is your down button for DDR. Now after rotating the mat, the blue arrow on your current left is right button for DDR while the orange arrow on your current right is left button for DDR. Hope this helps.

    🙂 Thanks for replying.

  • Reply
    Konstantin
    Jan 04, 2011 1:26 pm

    I read Jac’s comment without having Active mat to look at while reading and assumed that Active mat could be used for DDR.

    So i went and bought 2 DDR mats and one Active mat. That way i was hoping to have 3 mats for dancing and 1 for Active Life games.

    I am looking at the Active mat right now and trying to see what Jac described!
    It seems very difficult to play DDR this way:
    – Up is just above Down – not perfect but ok
    – Right is next to the left of Down – that’s a mind warper
    – Left is below and to the right from Down

    I am not even going to try it 🙂

  • Reply
    Konstantin
    Jan 04, 2011 1:31 pm

    Another attempt to describe the Active Mat layout if used for DDR:

    It’s a Tic-tac-toe 3×3 board with Down in the middle

    *|^|*
    >|V|*
    *|*|<

  • Reply
    September
    Oct 19, 2011 12:38 pm

    OMG how confusing! LOL I am kind of upset that I bought this other mat being told that it would work with DDR and take it home and find out it doesn’t work like it should!!!! How much are the “real” mats for DDR?!

  • Reply
    steve
    Oct 19, 2011 1:30 pm

    Hi September,

    Amazon sells DDR dance mats for $29.99. You can find them here: http://amzn.to/pcWK2v

    If you see them for a higher price, it means that Amazon is out of stock and other vendors are trying to take advantage of you. Avoid those other vendors at all costs.

    Here’s a “secret” way to get an official dance mat on the cheap. Purchase an old copy of Ultimate Party Challenge bundle here: http://amzn.to/puWBW5

    You’ll get the game PLUS a dance mat for less than the cost of a dance mat alone, which you’ll be able to use with other games, including the newly released Dance Dance Revolution 2 (alternatively, you can purchase that game in a bundle for $49.99 here: http://amzn.to/r4bse8 )

    Hope this helps!

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