Go outside and play!

[Ho]

Letshavetea's (llamajuice) video of him playing DDR in the back of a truck reminded me of something and gave me an idea for this thread. I ask this question:

Have you ever played a music game outside?

I will define "outside" as having no permanent structure above you (i.e. a roof). If you have, please tell your story. And if you have pictures, even better! Please post them.

I will accept playing in a tent for the purposes of this discussion. I am specifically interested in arcade, console, and I guess PC games (as in letshavetea's example)--especially if the play involved setting up a specialized controller and some sort of TV/monitor in an outdoor setting.

I am not interested in stories involving portable systems (DS, PSP, etc.). I'm happy if you played Elite Beat Agents while waiting in line for some roller coaster, but that's not nearly as interesting as how you got attacked by a bear while playing DDR in the woods. Laptops are ok if they involved some sort of special setup as described above. Again, playing Stepmania on your keyboard while you were waiting outside a theater to catch the midnight showing of the latest Harry Potter isn't the kind of story I'm looking for.

(DISCLAIMER: I am mostly interested in events that have already occurred. However, if this post inspires you to try something, I take ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITY for the outcome of any such attempt. If you electrocute yourself because you tried to play DDR while whitewater rafting, don't pull a Konami and sue me over it. I didn't tell you to do anything. I only want to hear about what's been done.)

[Ho]

The answer to my question from my own experience is: YES!

Set your wayback machine to the summer of 2004...right around this time, actually. Drew (UberAvonDancer here on IndyDDR) had invited me to participate in the Relay for Life at Avon High School. Since we'd be there all day, overnight, and into the next day, I figured it might be fun to have games to play in our off time while we weren't walking in the relay. I brought a PS2, a boombox, a couple Ignition Pads, a couple chair mats, a IIDX ASC, and a microphone so we could play DDR, IIDX, and Karaoke Revolution. I don't recall now who brought the TV. I also remember moving our base camp to position near the concession stand (I think) so we could reach a power outlet with an extension cord. You can see the results in this photo album.

I remember playing DDR and Karaoke Revolution for sure. I'm sure I probably played IIDX, too. I just don't remember. IIDX and Karaoke Revolution weren't too big of a deal. The only issue was glare on the screen during the day. DDR, on the other hand, was quite an adventure playing on uneven grassy ground. There's something very weird about playing DDR on a pad with low spots and high spots.

Unfortunately, it seems that only one picture of me playing Karaoke Revolution was taken on my camera. I wonder if anyone else took any. Of course none of those people are active on IndyDDR at this point.

[Merk]

Nope, I've never had the opportunity to play a music game outside. But, I have played at some arcade in Missouri near the Ozarks and at the arcade on the Santa Monica pier which were both open-air buildings. You know, those types of buildings that are basically a roof with some supports here and there.

I vaguely recall wayyyyy back in the day that there was a plan to hold a DDR tournament outside in the parking lot of Putt-Putt up in Ft. Wayne. I don't think that idea came to fruition and we all just had our 5th mix tournament inside.

/\/\/\/\

Oh my God I remember looking at these back in the day.

[Ho]

Yeah, I've played in a few open air buildings like you describe. But that's why I defined "outside" as not having a permanent roof above you. I'm really looking for stories where there was some kind of special effort made to play in an place you normally wouldn't expect.

I've always wanted to hold an outdoor tournament. The idea is less exciting these days as the community has dwindled, but I still think it would be cool. Well, it could actually be rather hot.

[letshavetea]

I threw a LAN party at a friend's house, where we played Halo 1 and 2.
We had four TVs setup, each with an Xbox and four players to it.
TV 1 was in his basement, TV2 was in his front yard, TV 3 was in his back yard, and TV4 was on the roof.... not really any special controllers or anything... but still was rather silly.

Similarly, there was a video ages ago of a Halo 1 LAN party at like 70 MPH, where they had two vans with xboxes in each and a link cable going between them.... and they were driving down the interstate. I can't seem to find the video now though :/

When I was waiting in line to get my Wii, I had a friend drop off an Xbox and a TV, and we ended up playing N64 roms (Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 64) while waiting for the Wii.

My friend played DDR SuperNova in a parade. (about 2:30 into this video you can see their float go by)

All of this just reminds me of a video that I wanted to do since I got a soft pad that's USB... where I can fit my laptop and the pad in one bag and take it anywhere.... I wanted to do a video where I just played the same song in a bunch of places, and then edited it all together kinda like the "Where in the world is Matt?" videos.... but with DDR.

Then of course, there's always Kyle Ward's ITG in the mountains that White Dragon alerted me to when I told him about my DDR Truck idea.

[Merk]

Ho you should hold an outdoor, "old fatties" only tournament where really old school and/or real fatties are invited.

We can have a barbecue! It will give us a great opportunity to show who is the most fat and old school.

Of course we'd have to limit the games to 4th mix and below.

[Fluffyumpkins]

In all my years of DDR, I don't think I've ever played in an outdoor setting. I set up a TV outside during IU's little 500, but we only played Puzzle Fighter and Psyvariar (2?).

I've heard of Guitar Hero / Rock Band vans show up on college campuses to demo their games. The vehicles are fully equipped with TVs and game consoles.

[WhiteDragon]

Back in Junior High when I lived in Washington, I played N64 outside all the time. We had a townhouse, and I would take my 13" TV, put it on a chair in front of the garage, and hook my N64 up to it. Then All the kids in the neighborhood, myself included, would hang around and play games all day. It was fun.

[chocobojoe]

I played DDR outside at my friend's cookout last year in Louisville and will probably be doing the same this year (in just a couple weeks) so I'll take some pics if it happens.

[Ho]

My friend played DDR SuperNova in a parade. (about 2:30 into this video you can see their float go by)

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!

Ho you should hold an outdoor, "old fatties" only tournament where really old school and/or real fatties are invited.

We can have a barbecue! It will give us a great opportunity to show who is the most fat and old school.

Of course we'd have to limit the games to 4th mix and below.

I'd love to, but getting my machines outside is way more trouble than it's worth. Maybe Brandon and Chad could set something up?

[MonMotha]

Ho you should hold an outdoor, "old fatties" only tournament where really old school and/or real fatties are invited.

We can have a barbecue! It will give us a great opportunity to show who is the most fat and old school.

Of course we'd have to limit the games to 4th mix and below.

I'd love to, but getting my machines outside is way more trouble than it's worth. Maybe Brandon and Chad could set something up?

I'm game if he is. Just no bitching about pad perfects. You'll get plenty.

[Fluffyumpkins]

My friend played DDR SuperNova in a parade. (about 2:30 into this video you can see their float go by)

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!

Ho you should hold an outdoor, "old fatties" only tournament where really old school and/or real fatties are invited.

We can have a barbecue! It will give us a great opportunity to show who is the most fat and old school.

Of course we'd have to limit the games to 4th mix and below.

I'd love to, but getting my machines outside is way more trouble than it's worth. Maybe Brandon and Chad could set something up?

Sounds like a lot of work. Why not just do it inside? I'm not trying to be a smartass, but I don't see much appeal in playing these games outside. Shouldn't Merk be planning that ITG trip or something?

[Fluffyumpkins]

I threw a LAN party at a friend's house, where we played Halo 1 and 2.
We had four TVs setup, each with an Xbox and four players to it.
TV 1 was in his basement, TV2 was in his front yard, TV 3 was in his back yard, and TV4 was on the roof.... not really any special controllers or anything... but still was rather silly.

Similarly, there was a video ages ago of a Halo 1 LAN party at like 70 MPH, where they had two vans with xboxes in each and a link cable going between them.... and they were driving down the interstate. I can't seem to find the video now though :/

When I was waiting in line to get my Wii, I had a friend drop off an Xbox and a TV, and we ended up playing N64 roms (Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 64) while waiting for the Wii.

My friend played DDR SuperNova in a parade. (about 2:30 into this video you can see their float go by)

All of this just reminds me of a video that I wanted to do since I got a soft pad that's USB... where I can fit my laptop and the pad in one bag and take it anywhere.... I wanted to do a video where I just played the same song in a bunch of places, and then edited it all together kinda like the "Where in the world is Matt?" videos.... but with DDR.

Then of course, there's always Kyle Ward's ITG in the mountains that White Dragon alerted me to when I told him about my DDR Truck idea.

The DigDug music in the parade is forever win.

[Merk]

Soooooo...

Cookout and (inside) old fatties tournament at Brian's then? Or Chad's? Playing on 4th mix and under is crucial for this event.

Fuck I just want to eat.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Let's talk about this IRL sometime.