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(updated 08/09/2001).
Video Arcades Game thrives on
dance fever In Revolution,
video gamers drop the joysticks and get hooked on
hoofing By Marco
R. della Cava / USA TODAY
Robert Hanashiro / Gannett News Service
Ben
Kaminski of Round Lake Beach, Ill., tries a Dance Dance
Revolution game in San Francisco.
Local DDR
spots Here are the arcades where Dance Dance
Revolution can be found in Metro Detroit:
Macomb County *
Caddyshack Arcade, Warren * C.J. Barrymores,
Clinton Township * Dave & Busters, Utica
(in two weeks) * Van Dyke Golf & Games,
Warren Oakland County * Gameworks, Auburn Hills
* Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum,
Farmington Hills * Putt-Putt Golf &
Games, Farmington Hills Livingston
County * Blasters Family Fun Center,
Brighton Wayne County * Red Baron Family Arcade, Taylor
Players move their feet to correspond to
arrows on the screen.
Reports
have yet to trickle in from Hades about Lucifer's lair freezing over.
But what else could explain the staggering scene playing out at video
game arcades nationwide? A dozen people cluster
around a machine as two contestants prepare for battle. The onlookers
have the triple-espresso fidget of antsy boxing fans; the duelists
squat, flex and shuffle like two flyweights. The
video game begins, yet no one here has that glazed-over Night of the
Living Dead look that plagues teens the world over when they
mainline a joystick-and-monitor fix. In fact, with contestants and
audience both hopping around as if stepping on hot coals, there is more
sweat being shed than in a steam bath. It works
like this: As a generic Japanese techno-meets-bubblegum-pop dance tune
thumps over the machine's sound system, players watch a pattern of
arrows (north, south, east, west) scroll down a screen. The goal is to
step on the corresponding dance floor arrow as it lights up -- on the
downbeat -- beneath you. A bit like Twister, if you spun that plastic
dial four times a second. Depending on the arcade,
each trip to this dance floor can range from less than a dollar to a
pricey $2.50. But cost means little to Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)
addicts, who as a group defy definition. "I used
to just sit there staring at a screen," says reformed video-game couch
potato Samantha Valdez, 15. "Then my dad had me try this. And I am
hooked." A monster hit in Japan since 1998, DDR
hit California's shores a year later. But only now is the game coming
into its own across the country, as web sites trumpet tournaments
everywhere from Antioch, Calif., to Brighton. When
http://www.ddrfreak.com/ expanded
its focus last spring, the fan site saw its monthly page views triple to
a million. "Every time I think this will end, another machine pops up
somewhere," says site co-founder Jason Ko, 22. By his site's count,
there are 620 arcades nationwide with at least one DDR machine;
California tops the list with 218 locations, while Texas (37) and New
York (23) follow. Michigan has at least 15. Dave
& Buster's, a restaurant and arcade chain targeting adults, has
added a DDR machine at each of its 29 locations nationwide. Bob
Hoppenrath, general manager at Dave & Busters in Utica, says he'll
install a DDR machine in the next two weeks. "It's
a great piece," Hoppenrath says. "It's more interactive. People don't
want to just play the game, they want to be part of the game."
Mike Magyari, owner of Blasters Family Fun Center
in Brighton, has three DDR machines on his game floor and has sold about
50 of the machines to other Metro Detroit arcades.
"In the last year, it really started to catch on.
Now everybody wants them," he says. In fact, the
dance video game has developed such a following, Magyari is hosting a
DDR tournament Nov. 10-11, which is expected to draw more than 100
competitors. At Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical
Museum in Farmington Hills, the DDR machine draws a crowd whenever
anyone tries it. "It does very well here. It's one
of the most popular games," says owner Marvin Yagoda. "When people see
it, they want to try it, too. It's really a workout."
In DDR chat rooms, many players refer to the "DDR
diet," for the game's ability to double as a hip StairMaster. Eric
Kjellman, 24, of San Jose, Calif., stomped his way down from 380 to 250
pounds. Todd Brown, 25, dropped 35 pounds but got tired of hunting down
DDR machines, his exercise equipment of choice. So he bought a used
arcade version on eBay for $5,000. Dave Henkin,
24, of Austin, Texas, has been playing for a year, lost 60 pounds ("my
sister didn't recognize me") and figures he has spent a few thousand
dollars in tokens. Henkin could soon shell out
more money as other interactive video games tearing up Japan make their
way across the Pacific. Dubbed Bemani games (for "beat mania"), they
include contests that involve strumming guitars, beating drums and
playing keyboards. But right now, DDR reigns.
Detroit
News Staff Writer Kara Morrison contributed to this report.
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