Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad

by Konami

Product Features

• Dance Pad lets you bust a move with your favorite arcade dancing games, right at home!
• This dance pad is what you need for the full effect of dance games like Dance Dance Revolution, Dance Dance Konamix, and DDRMAX
• The pad works just like a real controller - it features four arrow buttons you can dance to and four extra buttons
• Made of extra-thick padding for a more durable and longer-lasting dance experience
• Works for PSX and PS2 - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Product Details

• ASIN: B000N5ZNOK
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 13 x 13 inches ; 3.8 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,507 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #70 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Hardware > Controllers

Product Description

The Pad lights up with LED lights when you play!! This is the least expensive pad of excellent quality out there. It is a soft pad and can be folded. But you really should remember to fold it in thirds so the stepping areas don't get creased. A cushy carpet combined with the softness of the pad does NOT negatively affect the sensitivity of the controller.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Modding, January 1, 2008

By 

Chris Redford (Lawrence, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad (Video Game)

THE PROBLEM: EASILY WARPED FOAM
These were a great buy for us, the cheapest we could find on Amazon. However, after about 10 heavy uses, one of them started to become drastically less sensitive. The game became virtually unplayable with it because we felt we couldn't trust the pad.

After some searching on the Internet, we discovered what the problem probably was: the foam both on the inside and the bottom of the pad was becoming deformed because we were playing with them on the bare carpet. I discovered this by going to the first site returned by the google search "how to fix ddr pad". It explains the structure of the pad and what happens to the foam.

THE SOLUTION: MOD THE PAD
I wanted to salvage the pad so I looked up how to use the original pad to make my own, high quality, superior pad.

First, I had to fix the foam. I accessed the foame by cutting off the black borders on the left, bottom, and right sides of the pad as shown on the site above. I then straightened out the sensor layers and pulled the lumps out of the foam. The foam required backing tape to fix. I had to make folds and tape them. The important part was that I made sure the sensors didn't have bunched up lumps blocking the sensors (as shown in the site above).

Next, I had to keep this foam problem from happening again. I did this by sandwiching the pad in plywood as shown in the first site of the google search "halo 3 ddr pad". Basically, I needed each pad to have a thick base plywood for support on the bottom and a thin, more sensitive plywood for covering on the top. The bottom layer keeps the pad from getting squished around in the carpet. The top layer keeps your feet from scrunching the pad against the bottom layer.

I made my bottom layers out of two 37"x32" cuts of 1/2" plywood. I made the top layers out of two 31"x31" cuts of 1/8" plywood. The people at Home Depot made the cuts for me out of boards that costed $16 and $7, respectively.

After placing each pad on their bases, I discovered lumps in one of them. These lumps came from the black bottom foam of the pad. I cut the lumps out with scissors. This way the whole pad surface was level and smooth on the board. This is important because otherwise, when you step on the top layer, the step button with the lump under it will be pressed, causing annoying things like the up arrow constantly changing the selection on the main menu.

Once both pads were fixed (all sensor layers straightened, white middle foam straightened/taped, black bottom foam lumps cut out), I taped them to the thick bottom plywood with clear packing tape. Then, when we play, I throw the top, thin plywood on top of the square part of the pad. Since we play the game a lot, we know where the arrows are. However, I drew a circle in the middle so we can quickly reposition ourselves when we get off-center.

ADVICE: MOD BEFORE YOU USE THEM
I don't know for sure, but I probably could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had bought the plywood right away after receiving these in the mail. Those 10 heavy uses really seemed to have messed them up. If I'd modded them right away, I might not have had to cut them open and fix them. So I suggest trying that: just get the plywood and stick the pads on and under it. They might work and last without internal modification.

CONCLUSION
These pads are great. For about $20 plus some packing tape and about $23 for plywood, you can have two pads that probably rival the quality of metal pads (which cost a minimum of $150). You can even use your shoes on them since they will be protected by plywood (except for the start/select buttons, on which you would need to be careful). Since modding them, their sensitivity has been excellent.

But you have to mod them. They won't last nor be anywhere near as sensitive or durable if you use them on the carpet.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun? Yes. Good deal? Hmm..., September 10, 2007

By 

Amalia S. "Lia" (CA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad (Video Game)

For what it is, it is a very good deal. Both pads are exactly as they have been marketed, and work with the PS2 and DDR games. Although I do think this is a good and fun way to play DDR and/or lose weight, keep in mind that the button which correspond to the arrows slide around inside the pad, making it difficult to play with after a while.

Mine have already begun to have this problem, and I bought it less than a month ago, playing it four times a week, two hours everyday.

So, as a beginner, it's a good deal, but if you have a little more experience under your belt and want to practice DDR hard-core, I suggest investing your money in the Red Octant 2.0 or something similar.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet!, April 10, 2007

By 

itsalena (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad (Video Game)

Two for the price of... actually they may be cheaper than other singles I've seen. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now, and they are wonderful! All the controls work wonderfully. [[I was worried that they'd be a cheap knock off or something.]] The only downside is that this particular type of pad crinkles if you slide your feet around, so it's best for beginners.