Muleskinner

Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: Features

Dance, Dance- Nathaniel Donley and Jason Atcheson play Dance Dance Revolution in the Union arcade. DDR, as it is known to those who play frequently, has gained a loyal following of players over the years.

Ben Dellheim's black New Balances fly across the metal pad, landing on blue and pink arrows. Across the screen, yellow "PERFECT!!" messages are interrupted only by an occasional green "GREAT!!" Pink and white lights flash, and techno music pumps out of two large speakers under an arcade screen.
Dellheim is playing Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (DDR) in the Union Recreation Center.

Dellheim finishes the last stage of his game with a 311 combo. That means he's gotten a "perfect" or "great" rating 311 times in a row. But he said that's not really impressive.

"That song is hard to get a full combo with," Dellheim said.
A full combo means the player gets "perfect" or "great" ratings the whole stage. No "goods." No "boos." No "misses." Even a full combo is not as exciting as getting a AAA, the best rating in the game.

Dellheim writes down his score, 208,545,115, with an "A" grade. Later, he will add his scores from today to DDR.DDRecall.com, a Web site that keeps track of players' scores and allows players to see their best efforts, compare their scores to other players and check out their friends' progress.

The Web site also allows friends to issue each other DDR challenges.

But for many DDR players, the focus is on individual goals.
John Hardegen, for instance, plays DDR on his lunch break about three times a week. He spends a dollar on tokens before heading back to work at Lowe's.

"My favorite song is 'Sexy Planet.' It's the one I wanted to beat since I started playing, and I can finally beat it," Hardegen said.
Sophomore computer science major Jason James has also seen improvement since he first began playing DDR.

"At first, it was awkward and difficult to get the coordination," James said. "I've gotten better. It's a game that takes a lot of practice. It's more than hand coordination. I mean it's foot coordination, too-obviously. I guess my timing and rhythm have gotten a lot better."

Don't misunderstand. James said DDR is not necessarily a replacement for dancing lessons.

Continued...

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