Dance Dance Revolution

Dance Dance Revolution took the video game world by storm in 1998. Game producer Konami brought the game to life after a strong showing at the '98 Tokyo Game Show. Since the inception of DDR, Konami has licensed more than 90 versions of it and spurred a cottage industry of adroit video game competitions.

Players develop a number of skills based on their rhythmic abilities and styles. If you can spin, gallop, and alternate feet, you can get points. The game also rewards stamina--if you can follow a procession of arrows for a long amount of time.

Game versions include Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, Dance Dance Revolution Club Mix, and Maxx Unlimited. Songs are rated by their beats per minute, abbreviated as BPM. Slow songs stick to 60 to 100 beats per minute, but some songs dip down far below that. Fast songs can top out at 300 beats per minute and reach well over 600 beats per minute during small frenzied measures. Music composers include Scottie Dee, Paranoia, and Naoki Maeda. Most songs just last 60 to 120 seconds. However, some DDR players opt for medleys, which are sometimes called marathons, and these plays can last up to eight minutes.

The object of the game is to sustain your life bar, which you do by dancing on top of arrows in time with the music. If you successfully pass a level, you go onto the next song. Generally, players are limited to five games on arcade style machines. Technically adroit DDR players need to have great rhythm, but they need not demonstrate the finesse and style of 'true' dancers.