Dancing the morning away...

[jducoeur]

I know I've asked one or two people about this, but it was in the crush of the housewarming party, and I don't think I internalized all of the answers. So:

Now that we've unpacked most of the high-priority stuff, I finally have floor space in the playroom. And now that I've mostly gotten over The Sick that I came down with after Christmas, I have little excuse not to get off my ass and start exercizing every morning. In the medium term, this particularly means getting an elliptical machine, which seems to be the device I most like for burning calories and getting a decent cardio workout. But whilst I'm shopping around for that, I may as well do the fun alternative, and get myself a proper DDR setup.

So -- which DDR game should I start with? (Bearing in mind that I'm playing this on a PS2.) I seem to recall that keshwyn recommended starting with DDRMax2, on the grounds that it was the first game with a good beginner mode for getting oneself up to speed -- is that correct? Even more important: what recommendations do people have for which pad to buy? (This will be on a tile floor; I'm willing to go for either a foldable or rigid pad.) Finally, any suggestions of where to buy this stuff? I've noticed that the selection at my local EB is pretty lame; I suspect I can always resort to Amazon, but if there are any good mom-and-pop video game stores around, that might be an interesting alternative...

Comments

[keshwyn]

The problem with BestBuy is that they won't take it back if it breaks. (This is why I don't buy from them, even though they're more convenient than waiting for shipping.)

My suggestion (gleaned from the DDRFreak forums and a friend who's even more into this than I am) is:

Get a RedOctane Ignition pad -straight- from RedOctane, if you want the soft pad. Resign yourself to the fact that between 2 and 12 months from now, it's probably going to break. (It might not! But if you expect it might, you won't be so disappointed when it does.) And start with DDRMax 2, as I said.

The other option is to shell out $300 for a CobaltFlux pad. These are the hard pads that they've driven SUVs over and still work. If you think you might want a hard pad, and you think you can decide that within 30 days, get the RedOctane pad anyway - they accept returns for any reason up to 30 days of purchase (less shipping and handling, they'll give you a full refund.) If you don't think you can decide that quickly, you might try one of the cheaper $20 pads - those WILL break within a few months of hard dancing, but you won't be out quite so much money as you would be with the RedOctane.

You need to wear shoes with the CobaltFlux. You must not wear shoes with the RedOctane.

Good luck!

[jducoeur]

Okay -- that's just the sort of nuts-and-bolts advice I need. Thanks. I suspect I'll start with the soft pad and make sure I'm serious before shelling out that sort of money (and finding space) for the hard one...

[outlander.livejournal.com]

If you haven't bought a pad yet, the Toys R' Us near the old Fresh Pond Cinema is going out of business. They have two versions ($20 & $40, original price) available at 50% off. So if you are just wanting to get started, you might try those. The $40 one has a one inch foam insert, so you aren't dancing on the floor--it is also less easy to store, but can be taken apart.

[jducoeur]

Actually, I've got a loaner to start out with, so I'm probably set until I get the Red Octane that keshwyn recommended. But thanks for the suggestion...