One of the most important titles in the history of casual gaming can stand up proud this week, with Konami's Dance Dance Revolution dance mat series reaching the ripe old age of ten.

Known as Dancing Stage in Europe, the series first arrived in Japanese arcades on November 21st 1998 and quickly went on to become a gaming sensation. Konami ditched the traditional joypad or joystick and introduced a pressure-sensitive dance mat that registers when a player's foot hits each of the four directional pads.

It didn't take long for the arcade craze to make the move to consoles, and the series arrived on Sony's pioneering PlayStation in Japan early in 1999, bringing with it the first iteration of the console dance mat.
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7 Feb 2008

Study Says Video Games Can Give a Workout

PS2 News from N4G | Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2

PS2 - Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 - Study Says Video Games Can Give a Workout

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) put the video game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) to the test and fond that the game can be a very good workout for children. ACE commissioned the study out of the University of Wisconsin to look at the caloric expenditure of players during the game.

The study used male and female subjects from 12 to 25 years old and half the volunteers were under 18. The study showed that players had a marked increase in exercise intensity as they participated.

Adults burned more calories and on average teens burned 5.9 kcal/min on light, 6.7 kcal/min on standard and 8.1 kcal/min on difficult mode. Test participants used DDR Extreme 2 for the PS2 and a dance pad.

The full report of the study in PDF format is available for download via 14U.
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9 Jan 2008

Introducing The MTV Rhythm Game Track Finder

PS2 News from N4G | Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2

PS2 - Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 - Introducing The MTV Rhythm Game Track Finder

In 2008, the team at MTV Games are proud to present to you the MTV Rhythm Game Track Finder, your beacon in the confusing swirl of rhythm games.

The regularly updated database will allow you to search any artist and any song to find out which rhythm games it is in and to compare song lists for any major music-based video game.

The database currently indexes song lists for more than two dozen rhythm games, including a range of SingStars, Guitar Heroes, Dance Dance Revolutions, Rock Band, and lesser-known favorites such as FreQuency, Elite Beat Agents and the Donkey Konga series.
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6 Jan 2009

Subway Restaurants Will Have Kids Dancing At Their Tables With DanceDanceRevolution Premiums

PS2 News from N4G | Dance Dance Revolution X

PS2 - Dance Dance Revolution X - Subway Restaurants Will Have Kids Dancing At Their Tables With DanceDanceRevolution Premiums

IGN writes: "Kids can dance into the New Year at SUBWAY restaurants with the all-new DanceDanceRevolution promotion. Konami and SUBWAY restaurants today announced a partnership that will help promote a healthy lifestyle for children by delivering the fun and excitement of Konami's best-selling get-up-and-move video game to children everywhere. From December 29, 2008 thru March 29, 2009, participating SUBWAY restaurants will offer one of six exclusive, high quality DanceDanceRevolution branded premium toy accessories along with a $10 coupon good on any of the newest DanceDanceRevolution games with each purchase of a SUBWAY FRESH FIT FOR KIDS meal."
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24 Nov 2008

Dance Dance Revolution celebrates 10th birthday

PS2 News from N4G | Dance Dance Revolution X

PS2 - Dance Dance Revolution X - Dance Dance Revolution celebrates 10th birthday

15 May 2008

Three new DDRs announced for 10th anniversary

PS2 News | Dance Dance Revolution X

Konami's massively long press conference was filled with brand-new announcements, with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and Rock Revolution taking center stage. We even caught a glimpse of Pyramid Head in Silent Hill: Homecoming. But for all the music game junkies who desperately need a new set of 120BPM songs to dance to, there were three glistening new editions of DDR set up for the fall.

DanceDance Revolution ...

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29 Jun 2006

Dance Factory in motion

PS2 News | Dance Factory

Publisher Codemasters has officially started up the publicity machine for Dance Factory - its do-it-yourself answer to the classic stomping-on-arrows-in-time-to-music game Dance Dance Revolution. The first output is a new website and trailer, the latter of which you can watch by clicking the Movies tab above. Dance Factory is unique in that it's built around a long-overdue feature: by reading the beats in music CDs, it enables players to create custom levels using their own music collection. ...
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15 Feb 2006

Dance Factory

PS2 News | Dance Factory

Another year, another dance mat title? Not quite. When Codemasters' Dance Factory makes its moves on the arrows in April, it's bringing a setlist limited only by the size of your music collection. Like PlayStation oldie oddity Vib Ribbon, it can build routines from any music CDs you feed it. At last, the chance to do a relaxing shuffle to your favourite ambient album, or at the other extreme, shorten your lifespan to the rhythm of a death metal drummer. If you already have a four-directional ...
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26 Mar 2007

Two new Manas: Dawn and Heroes

PS2 News | Dawn of Mana

Final Fantasy this, Dragon Quest that. What of Squaresoft's forgotten role-playing son? Well, here's some great news for fans of the Mana series: 2007 will see the release of not one, but two games in the beloved franchise, giving imports one less reason to gloat. After all, the Mana series remains the third most popular reason suburban white kids learn the Japanese language, right behind diplomacy and Sailor Moon fetishes. Dawn of Mana marks the first time the series will appear on a home ...
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4 Sep 2006

Square-Enix unveils line-up for Tokyo Game Show

PS2 News from N4G | Dawn of Mana

PS2 - Dawn of Mana - Square-Enix unveils line-up for Tokyo Game Show

Square-Enix has confirmed that a video of highly anticipated PlayStation 3 title Final Fantasy XIII will be shown at the Tokyo Game Show later this month.
Speaking to Eurogamer, a spokesperson said it was highly likely that the video will contain previously unseen footage, as will a trailer for FFXIII Versus.

PS2 title Dawn of Mana will be playable at the event, alongside Project Sylpheed for Xbox 360, FFIII for DS and FFXI for the PS2 and 360. Other games on show will include Chocobo Magic Picture Book and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, both for the DS.
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