DDR A

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Diamondback1996
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DDR A

Post by Diamondback1996 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:03 pm

UPDATE 3/30: Out now!



http://p.eagate.573.jp/game/ddr/ddra/p/ ... REDIRECT=1

This must be why DDR isn't coming to D&B until summer.
Last edited by Diamondback1996 on Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: new DDR

Post by Amp Divorax » Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:06 pm

Diamondback1996 wrote:

http://p.eagate.573.jp/game/ddr/ddra/p/ ... REDIRECT=1

This must be why DDR isn't coming to D&B until summer.
Would rather play Pump Infinity and Prime to be honest. Then again, if they brought back Dancemania then I would be really interested.
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Re: new DDR

Post by Diamondback1996 » Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:18 pm

I think as long as the licenses are like X2's it would be fine.

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Re: new DDR

Post by Ho » Mon Feb 22, 2016 10:08 am

What I learned from this:

Andamiro way makes way better game announcement promos than Konami.

I'm happy there's going to be another DDR game, but this promo does not make me hype for it at all.
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Re: new DDR

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:04 pm

HAPPY SKY!

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Re: DDR A

Post by Diamondback1996 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:19 pm

It's out now. Gameplay screen is basically the same but graphics are overhauled. New character outfits. Drastically different song select. New grading scale, and goods now add points.

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Re: DDR A

Post by Ho » Mon Jul 11, 2016 9:00 am

I went to the Orland Park, IL Dave & Buster's over the weekend to check out their new DDR A machine. I have to say that overall I was really impressed with it. The machine looked great (obviously it was brand new, but I also like the design of it) and seemed well built of quality materials. The stage played like a dream...hands down the best I've ever played on. Absolutely no force was required to hit or hold steps. You basically just had to get your foot there and it would register. It did seem like maybe there was less give in the panels.

The machine there was turned up very loud. Too loud, actually. The stage was very close to the cabinet (maybe 8"), and the volume was bordering on painful at that range. It was starting to distort just a bit due to the high volume, but it generally sounded like it had capable amps and speakers.

I didn't use it, but e-Amuse was enabled. I'll have to remember to bring my card next time, but I believe there were also cards available for sale on site.

The song selection menu/process felt a little busy--lots of options and lots of things on screen all at once. It's definitely very different from the menu style that remained mostly unchanged from 5th MIx through X. And it's not particularly similar to X2 through DDR 2014 either. The menus reminded me of Sound Voltex. The whole theme, actually, reminded me of SDVX. With the exception of the Happy Sky-like cloud backgrounds underneath everything, all the UI elements felt very angular, cyberpunk, and techy.

The menus now very much take advantage of the up/down selection arrows on the cabinet, but it does appear that using only the traditional left/right is still possible. In something of a throw back to the days of DDR USA and 4th Mix, you are actually presented with the option to change the step difficulty after choosing the song. However, you are also still able to change the difficulty by double tapping either up or down on the stage in the main song menu as you have been for years.

There are US licensed tracks in the game. From what I can tell, these were added to for the US launch of the game (since it's been out in Japan about 3 months already at this point).
ddraussongs.jpg
ddraussongs.jpg (229.32 KiB) Viewed 21519 times
This feels like Konami is actually trying for this release to be successful here (in the US). None of these songs are particularly any of my favorites. But as someone that doesn't listen to much American music, I do at least recognize most of them. Hopefully that will give this game some mainstream appeal for casual/new players...assuming all the kanji that still quite prevalent in the menus hasn't scared them off already. ;)

Well, that's my quick review after playing just two games (that's all I had time for on that visit because I had to get home). This is easily the most excited I've been about DDR--probably since at least DDR X (though that excitement faded very fast after I played on our trashy US cabinets). I look forward to getting another chance to play again soon!
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Re: DDR A

Post by Riot » Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:19 am

Cool! Wonder if there are any stepmania packs for the whole mix out yet so that I can try.
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Re: DDR A

Post by Amp Divorax » Mon Jul 11, 2016 11:12 am

Interested in seeing the non-license songs. Sadly, everything Dancemania based that returned in X2 and X3 VS 2nd Mix isn't in this release.
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Re: DDR A

Post by Diamondback1996 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:22 pm

Location test announced for the UK: http://www.lasvegasarcadesoho.co.uk/?p=1007

I didn't expect them to go any further than US chains. Maybe it will be possible for a local arcade here to get a machine if D&B won't get one?

Maybe Laser Flash could get one when they finally move, without replacing the ITG machine of course.

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Re: DDR A

Post by Ho » Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:50 am

Possible? Maybe. I don't know how they're distributing. D&B may have a deal directly with Konami. At any rate, I have a bad feeling that many independent locations without the buying power and corporate backing of a place like D&B would find the price prohibitive.

That's the pessimist in me talking (bred by 16 years of watching scenarios like this play out). The optimist in me of course would love to see this happen!
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Re: DDR A

Post by Ho » Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:06 am

LAWL.

Konami US hasn't even updated their webpage.
https://us.konami.com/arcade/

There is no mention of DDR A. X2 is the most recent DDR game they list on that page and they're still listing Betson as the distributor. I thought that agreement had ended and there certainly aren't any Konami products listed on Betson's page: http://www.betson.com/manufacturers/amu ... onami_Inc/
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Re: DDR A

Post by Amp Divorax » Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:19 am

Ho wrote:LAWL.

Konami US hasn't even updated their webpage.
https://us.konami.com/arcade/

There is no mention of DDR A. X2 is the most recent DDR game they list on that page and they're still listing Betson as the distributor. I thought that agreement had ended and there certainly aren't any Konami products listed on Betson's page: http://www.betson.com/manufacturers/amu ... onami_Inc/
Sadly, this is a reflection of how Konami stateside hasn't had their house in order for quite a while.

Also, this is a bit off topic, but can you send me info on the distributor you usually use to get Pump cabinet upgrades? (My MK6 I/O is dying and I probably am better off getting a mk9 outright at this point.)
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Re: DDR A

Post by Diamondback1996 » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:58 pm

New boss song:


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Re: DDR A

Post by Riot » Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:28 pm

That's honestly really helpful - always been meaning to have something like that to introduce new players who are super timid to even try the game.
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