ITG1&2 songs/simfiles

Ok so I noticed on various forums that people have a hard time finding the songs from ITG1 and 2 for stepmania or ITGpc.

So I decided to help everyone out and link you to them.

Credit goes to http://www.jeffrey1790.com

ITG 1 songs

ITG2 songs

Pump it up metal pad

Alright I thought the day would ever come for someone to design and make a home version of the pump it up metal pad, but it has been done. mymybox has made a piu metal pad similar to the ddr/itg blue shark metal pad. In a sense its pretty much the same thing but it looks like 10x better than the blueshark and im sure its made to last better. For anyone who is into the home version of PIU this would be great for you.

For people with stepmania you can enjoy all your fav pump songs and feel like your in the arcade at home.

Beatspace.net

Alright im writing on this because I visit this website constantly and love it. Beatspace.net is pretty much the myspace of DDr players, and is really a website to meet people who share the same interest in dance and rhythm games. Right now the site has only about a little over 400 members but its a growing community and I hope to see it succeed in all aspects. Besides just having friends there you can upload your stats from ITG/USB's to it so everyone can see, even custom songs will show.



Evenetually more features will be added to the site, but for now enjoy blogging, uploading your stats, and meeting new people who share the same interest as yourself.



BeatSpace

Idance Game?

Ok from what i've been reading and looking over on various forums and sites there is a game being produced called "I dance" by Positive Gaming, similar to dance dance revolution and in the groove in gameplay. I Dance is a game that will mostly be used in schools or in gyms, as far as this game making it to stores or maybe a machine arcade made for it, I think probably not because we all saw what happened with Roxor and In the Groove here in the States with konami taking them out.

for more information visit http://www.idancegame.com/

R21 for ITG

For songs longer than 2:30 you need an OGG patcher that I will link here: Ogg Patch

Ok I want to get more detailed about R21, R21 is an update to your machine that lets you enable custom songs in which players can make or edit their own step charts and play them on the machine. The thing about R21 is it only allows the song to be 3 minutes or less and the song must be converted from MP3 to OGG format, You can find OGG converters free if you just google it. Besides changing the MP3 format you must make sure there are NO banners in the folder, no background pics of movie files because they will not work so there really isn't any point to them.

On R21 there are ways to get around the 3 minute timing frame, you have to find an Ogg patch length converter, which pretty much tricks the time timestamp to thinking its 2:30 minutes when it can be as long as you want it to be. The only bad part about this is people will take long files and they take forever to finish the song. I really recommend you do not update the machine to R23 or higher because no matter what you do it stops the song under 3 minutes even if its patched.

Calimist gets 1ex on Uber Rave!!!

K I think the flash has already done this but here's a vid of JJ getting 1 ex on Uber Rave!!!



FUCK!!! x_x, seriously I hope to be half as good as he is one day hah...

Doubles Play

So we all know that a DDR machine has 2 pads 1p and 2p side, most people think that there are two that way two people can play together, which is true though a lot of people aren't aware of doubles play, what is Doubles play? Doubles play is when 1 person plays both pads at the same time, On a DDR machine and any dance game really such as PIU and ITG they both have their versions of Double play. DDR being the easiest in my opinion just because the songs are a lot easier. Not really much of a difference between double and singles same concept, but your hitting arrows on both pads which in a sense makes it a lot harder because your having to more your body more freely on the pad and your really not restricted to just one side. If your going to play doubles I suggest you try and get good at singles first just because most people who start with doubles aren't very good and it takes them longer to learn easy things like cross steps. Doubles is fun and challenging for the experienced players who want to take their dance gaming to the next level, and anyone that can get good at doubles I have a lot of respect for because it takes a lot more time to get good at it. Here's a video of "JasontheGreat" doing PSMO on doubles

10 footer and you

Alright we all know that if you want to be known at being good at DDR, or dance games in general, then you have to pass a really hard song. 10 footers are by far the hardest songs to on a DDR game songs like max300, maxx unlimited, the Legend of Max, Paranoia Survivor, and Paranoia Survivor Max Oni are the basic of 10's that most people try to pass.

The big mistake is that people rush into trying the hard songs that they don't try getting better at other 8 or 9 block songs. For me it took me about a year of playing before I could actually pass my first 10 footer, that being Max300. I had no stamina and I had to play it and fail it so many times before I passed it on foot and it can get frustrating to players who haven't put in the time to play those hard songs such as myself. For some people its easier and they can do it within 2 months of playing it just depends on the person usually its easier for the young teens to pass these songs.

Now when I first started to play I would do my research online especially google/youtube video to see how people played the songs, most players use the bar for the upper level songs. Here's a video that I used to watch only when I played DDR, its "Kevbo" doing legend Road which is a course on DDR machines that has all the hard songs and if you miss 3 you fail it he pretty much Full combo's it.

Tag Names for machines and Nick names

Ok I talked to one of my buddy's and he thought that a good topic to talk about was gamer tags, you know the names you leave on the machines when you get high scores, mine is MB which is basically my inititals. Think about it and you really introduce yourself to people you've never even met going to a machine that has a high score with the letters DOC or ALW and you wonder who these people are, then also how much you want to get the score for whatever song or course that is on the machine that is your favorite of course :-). I've met a lot of people over the course of dance games with different tags, some such as "Guru" "PNCH" "JJXX" "JLG""M4XX" and so on, although these are people I know in real life now, I really don't really refer to them by their names, everyone calls eachother by their game tags which is funny in my opinion but its pretty cool down the line and in a way shows some sort of respect for the other players.

Metal Pads for Home use

If your not one of those type of players who likes to show off his skillz in the arcade and prefer to play at home then you want a DDR pad that will last and not mess up the first day you get it. Obviously a metal pad is what you want and a good one at that. Most people really don't do their research before buying a metal pad which is the first mistake on doing so. I myself bought a metal pad I thought would be good off ebay for around $250 dollars, don't get me wrong if your a player who is still learning the pads are decent until the arrow panels break on you and the bars if you order one with the bar, usually the pads that are sold on ebay are the TX-series of pads which are mostly for PS2, in my experience with them their not very accurate when your doing fast streams and you will get a number of pad misses on the hard songs. For experienced players who want the arcade feel, there are really only 2 pads that you can get in my opinion that are the best to use for the game.

First being the Cobalt Flux which is nearly indestructable and is very good for home use with DDR versions, only downside is no bars but they do sale conversion kits from what im told.

Second being Mymybox's Blue Shark metal pad, which is probably the closest you'll feel to as an arcade at home, the pad has actual arcade pad sensors so accuracey is a must of course for players experienced with In the Groove and custom songs from Stepmania.

Hacking an ITG2 machine

Ok for those who are experienced with ITG you probably already know that the machine is hackable and you can add songs, change themes, and other things with the right tutorials. If your going to do this, make sure you have the arcade/owners permission because if you do it without consent you can get in pretty big trouble from my experience. Now I can't tell you how to hack a machine but there are tutorials you can use at BoXorRoXors Tutorials which is what helped me out a lot its hard to explain but lets just say you need some things like a USB, Myslax, and to make sure your songs are Ogg patched converted from MP3's to OGG files and the files are ".SM" files and not DWI files. There are videos you can watch on youtube including some that i'v taken so if you have any questions feel free to ask or e-mail me.

Health Problems and playing

Ok for those who don't realize it dance games can be a very tiring game and one who isn't prepared to sweat or play the game shouldn't. Most games say please consult a doctor before playing because you never know what can happen to certain players. People can get sick or pass out from playing this game and i'v seen it happen so take it seriously when your playing and know your limits with this game because you can end up in the hospital for not being careful with yourself. Keep in mind other problems such as ankle or knee problems can persist over time so make sure to do proper stretches before trying to play the hard stuff so your muscles and limbs are loose and make sure to keep hydrated while playing.

Freestylin =P

Ok we all know the game is called "Dance Dance Revolution, Pump it Up, and In the Groove" they are all dancing games but do people really dance on these games? I've known maybe a few good people who can actually freestyle to a song on a cabinet and have seen a couple of freestyle competitions. Most players just play for score like myself, I just can't see myself actually trying to dance on one of these machines. I think its great for the players who do though because some are really good at it and make it look amazing. Take Smidget for example
watch this video and you will be amazed!! maybe you'll decide to bust a move and dance instead of just play for score lol

Lack of female players

Ok we all know this game is mostly dominated by males, there are very few girl players that are very well known for their dance gaming skills. Don't get me wrong that doesn't mean that there isn't any good lady players out there. But my personal experience you don't see a lot of female competitors espeically in tournaments and stuff and if you do see them you usually see them seperated from the boys in tournaments. Why am I posting this? maybe because I see a lack of effort on the girl part to get better at this game. I myself don't know many good girl players. Out of 15 guys I know personally who play the game maybe 3 girls I know that are decent, can't really play competitavley and are really medicore at the game. Perhaps the hogging of the machine by guys is what causes them to care less im not sure. I would want to encourage more girls to play seriously because im tired of seeing men dominate the dance game thing. Maybe its just my area im sure in other areas of the country more girls play but I would like to see more great girl players out there. Here's a video of a really good girl player that i'v seen on youtube her name is Tessa she is really good x_x

The BAR!!!

Ok for those who play in the arcade you'll notice there is a bar behind the arrows to help keep your balance in songs that are a little hard. Now although there is no right or wrong way to play Dance games a lot of people don't like the fact that the bar gives players certain advantages especially in tournaments. To me the bar is there for people who need it, not all people need the bar. In my expereience I can get better scores and play harder songs if I use the bar, now that doens't mean I always use the bar I tend to no bar a lot of the DDR stuff and I no bar on the PIU dance cabinet just because the songs require you to move your body more freely. I only use the bar on anything above a 9 footer or if im trying to get a really good score on the song and when I don't want to get tired but thats it. Players shouldn't rely on the bar unless they know its gonna help them get better at the game, trust me i've people who use the bar who are horrible so it just depends on the person as I said. Here'e a Video of a ddr legend JSB owning a really hard song no bar classic ddr vid btw:

Dance Shoes!!!!

Ok if your a casual player this topic might not matter to you, but if your looking to get better, your gonna want to wear shoes that are light and durable. I didn't really care about what kind of shoes I played in until I noticed I felt lighter and faster after buying my first pair of Pumas. Although its really preference to what kind of shoes the good players use. The more popular shoes that I've seen used for dance games are Nike free's and different style pumas, I myself own sierra trail racer pumas and are really good and of coures Nike Frees some of my best dance game shoes, comfortable light and nice :), Here's a pic of my shoe collection for dance games lol.

But yea think about a good pair of shoes if you play a lot in the arcade and want faster and more accurate streaming.

Themes for Stepmania

Ok if you already read my stepmania post then you'll have more of an idea of what im talking about here about themes. Stepmania like I said is a simulator program, as a simulator you can also change the way it looks by changing out the theme. You can choose from a variety of themes made by different people themes that range from looking like DDR mixes to looking like ITG themes to other colored themes that don't look like themes at all for a DDR game. My point in this post is that you can change it up a little and not just have to use the old boring theme that is default you can change the look and feel to whatever is in your preference. Here's a video of me playing stepmania with a Supernova theme:
Please visit http://stepmaniathings.com/ for a variety of themes

Stepmania

Ok I wanted to talk a little about Stepmania: which is a PC based dance simulator which pretty much simulates DDR/ITG/PIU, its free so you can just download it off the site at www.stepmania.com and also download some simfiles from that page. Stepmania is a good way to get better at reading fast speeds if your not used to reading anything past 3x on foot and it really helps with your FA in my opinion. If your into playing at home you can buy a metal pad or even use a foam pad that has a USB connection and play at home with stepmania. Although when I first found out about stepmania I knew nothing about it so it took me a while to figure the entire thing out, also finding playable songs is even harder if you don't know where to look. bemanistyle.com is a good website for files and so is flashflashrevolution but if you want packs like DDR 1-8 you'll probably have to look a little harder but you can always ask on forums like ddrfreak.com and some people will gladly direct you in the right direction where to get good song files.

I myself have stepmania and play at home on a metal pad that I modified no im not some great player who can AAA everything and Quadstar songs, im just your average player who likes to have fun with dance games. Anywho any questions on stepmania feel free to message me or e-mail me.

Here is a screen shot of stepmania:

My History with Dance Games

Well I started playing when I was 18 and im 22 now, I was working in a pizza place that had DDR extreme and PIU exceed 2. I thought it was interesting after watching a few of my co-workers who played it do very well. I started playing at home on PS2 bought versions DDR Max and Max 2, started to get good at singles doing 8 footers on heavy so I decided to step it up to the arcade, unfortunatley I didn't know anything about PA "perfect attacks" and most of my scores even though I full comboed the songs were pretty bad because I had a great attack on most of them. After doing more research and watching footstyle over the years I transfered from playing on my toes to flat footing and my PA was getting better. I managed to get even better with the help of Stepmania a simulator program which I will write another blog over. My reading got a lot better, I'v met other people in my area who were also good at dance games so I started to hang out with people I would probably never hang out with in real life, friends that are awesome and people who you build relationships with over time, fun times in my opinion. I'v learned alot over the years of me playing DDR and I guess could say I made this blog to help people who are interested in playing the game and having fun and meeting new people, sounds lame but I didn't know a lot about the game I didn't even discover speed mods until after I played 6 months, so the more you learn the better you get I would say.

Custom Songs on ITG

This is a video of Moogle playing a custom song on his machine Dokudenpa and probably getting the world high score on it, check it out, for people who think max300 is hard lol.

Health Benefits with Dance games

Well as a lot of you know DDR/ITG/PIU and any other dance game you can think of makes you use your feet. Of course you move your feet to the arrows and the music. I'v been playing for almost 4yrs and its really great exercise, i've been out of highschool for a while already and im really not into different forms of exercise being that I was never into sports or anything like that. Playing i'v noticed i'v kept a steady weight since I got out of highschool not majorly gaining a lot. I think the better you get in the game the more calories you tend to lose when you play the harder songs, more sweat=more calories burned. Although I know a lot of people think its a waste of time it could really help a lot of people with weight issues. I know a girl who lost 60 pounds playing the game after having a baby, it took her some time but she lost a lot of weight playing the game. Take that as insight for yourself perhaps you can get back into shape with a simple rhythm game as DDR.

Foot work... and dance games

Alright a lot of people don't realize that footwork does play a big role in getting good at dance games. Most players who start to play in the arcade that I've seen mostly play with their tippy toes, and for a lot of people it works but most people can't get good scores that way, if your going for accuracy I would suggest trying the flat foot method. It saves a lot of energy in the long run when playing hard songs as well. Playing flatfoot takes sometime to get used to, you have to stay center with the pad and most players only hit the inside of each arrows when moving through streams and jumps and essentially makes the hard songs easier for you.

Pump It Up

Ok so im going to talk about Pump It Up a 5 panel dance game by Andamiro, which is similar to DDR in all aspects except for the fact, that it has 5 panels and they do not go up down left and right, the panels go in the corners and one in the middle. The game is probably more challenging than ITG and DDR and is expressed more for Free Style, although they do have yearly PIU festivals where the worlds best players get together and compete for a big prize. PIU's music is somewhat different going from more modernized classical music from k-pops station to Banya channel. Very good selection of songs but sloppy step patterns for most songs in my opinion. Very challenging Mod modes as well. Overall a great game for people who get bored of DDR/ITG.

Difference Between DDR and In the Groove

Ok there are several differences I want to discuss about the games, although they are both 4 panel games the layout and theme is different with different song artists and Mods.

ITG2 by Roxor: Was essentially created to be similar to DDR but for players who were beyond a skill level than DDR because DDR is essentially rather easy once you can pass all of their songs. ITG cabinets also have better pads and have a screen shot system with USB's on their cabinet where you can take screenshots of high scores and even bring your own custom songs to the game with R21 upgrade on machines. Enthusiasts also figured out that you can add songs to the machine by Hacking which will be discussed later on.

Dance Dance Revolution: Which is still popular among dance game players was created by Konami to simulate dance and although its great in all aspects when it comes to songs, cabinet pads don't stay good for very long i'v seen it happen with new machines. There is really no scoring or ranking system that you can take home with you. DDR also changes their time frames from Marvelous to Perfects to greats and feels different in each version of the game. There are a lot of versions as mentioned the lastest DDR X which is new and I have yet to do any research on. But most player are familiar with DDR Extreme and Supernova, and for the long devoted players 3rd and 5th Mixes. People still refer In the Groove as DDR because ITG was basically a cheap knock off of DDR which is why konami took roxor to court and ITG can no longer be produced even though the game was 10x better in my opinion.

Other Rhythm Games

Besides Dance games such as In the groove and DDR/PIU I also play Guitar hero, and am fairly good at it I wouldn't say the best ever but I am decent and can play most expert songs. I'v touched a little on rockband and I like it just as much as I do guitar hero, although I have yet to purchase Rock Band yet.

I had beatmania for the PS2 but I did't like it I couldn't get great at it so I sold it but still pretty challenging game for someone who is into it has great songs.

Getting Started with Ryhthm Games

I myself was iffy when I first started to play dance dance revolution, I knew I wasn't good enough to pay for games at the arcade so I managed to buy a few of the home versions for PS2 and wanted to practice there and get better, it takes a lot of time and effort for some people its easier than others to play these games, for others its very frustrating and takes more time, just depends on the person. My suggestion is though buy home versions and then work your way up on to the arcade.

If your going to play other games such as Guitar hero or Rockband and all they have is home versions I would suggest you start off with easy mode on all levels, take the time know the game and how its played.

First time poster

Well I decided to get one of these to share my Dance Gaming Experience with the rest of the world. My name is Michael and I like to play rhythm games, music is what drives the soul for some people and I myself love video games so music and video games is a 10 times plus for me, I have been playing rhythm games for about almost 4yrs now and I would have to say it has changed my life, i'v meet a lot of people, I'v seen some pretty cool things and have learned a lot about many different games and styles. Anyone interested in talking about rhythm games with me please do talk to me, I play DDR ITG, PIU, Guitar Hero, i'v played beatmania, have many more games I want to play