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Dance Dance Revolution
Christopher G. Ellis
Game Analysis
Dance Dance Revolution
Konami Corporation had delivered the world of video games a cataclysmic change in 1998 when it had released its completely new, totally different form of video game entertainment, Dance Dance Revolution. The first system Dance Dance Revolution, also known as “DDR” for short, was released on was the Nintendo 64, but it appeared as an arcade game many years before that in Japan. DDR’s first debut was at the Tokyo Game Show, one of the biggest video game expo/conventions in the world. Dance Dance Revolution’s success was attributed to its unique play format. This game does not require a controller, joystick, or steering wheel oh no, this game requires a dance pad!
Dance Dance Revolution is a game with over 90 official versions and over 950 songs to choose from. The object of the game is to position ones feet to arrows which fly across the screen. The arrows will fly in rhythm (or “beat”) to the song, and success of the individual playing is determined by their ability to synchronize their steps with the arrows as they approach the top of the screen.
This game is a classic example of abstraction and representation, two terms used by Mark J.P. Wolf (Pg. 48). Abstraction is the act of simplifying something, reducing it to a few essentials and basic forms instead of trying to reproduce it whereas representation seeks to resemble and reproduce something (sometimes called realism). Dance Dance Revolution’s use of abstraction is what had made it such a great hit in the video game world. Instead of creating a new dance, the creators of DDR decided to make an interactive game which focuses around dance instead. By doing this, they came up with a game which is controlled not by the hands but by a dance pad with four arrows in different directions, a perfect example of abstraction. Hence the name, Dance Dance Revolution is a game that merges the fun and excitement of dancing with the rules and interactivity of a video game. Because of this, DDR is able to portray dancing through their game even though they only contain four steps and no required upper body movements. Although the four steps alone are a very simplified way of encompassing the complex steps of everyday dance, DDR is able to resemble dancing it is purest, most “basic form” in a highly entertaining way (Pg. 48).
The representation of DDR is also taken into consideration while making DDR through their avatars. Although the person playing DDR does not have complete control over the appearance of their on-screen avatar, they can make the avatar dance with more complicated steps and cool moves with bigger combos and fewer misses on the game. The onscreen avatars are the example of representation in DDR. Even though it’s extremely difficult to dance with summersaults and break-dance moves on a real DDR mat, the avatars are able to defy basic laws of gravity and time, thereby allowing them to perform such incredible moves onscreen. It is these avatars that mimic, or “resembles and reproduces” (Pg. 48), real dancing in its purest form.
As opposed to fighting games that are played with controllers and basketball games that require little to no physical activity while playing, Dance Dance Revolution asks more than the average video game by taking the player into an a higher, more involved state of arousal while playing the game. They must be into the game both mentally and physically in order to compete, which differentiates it so much from most other video games. It is DDR’s abstraction that allows it to be played by those who are “rhythmically impaired” but it is also DDR’s representation of real dancing that gets even professional dancers enjoying what this game has to offer.
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