The Difference A Week Makes

So last week, I was on this high about DDR and how accepting a game it is. I still feel strongly about the dancing with arrows, but this week I'm more confused and partially saddened by the direction one of my favorite games went.

So this week's Main Event trip was cut down by some sort of fire alarm malfunction. I arrived up north to find the parking lot pitch black and employees walking to their cars. I was left in a situation I hadn't been in since I picked up DDR again. I really was in the mood to play and didn't want to just let the night go to waste. I came home and made my way to the local arcade on campus, the place where I had spent many quarters and late nights educating my feet. At it's height, the DDR machine was surrounded by people. Sometimes you'd have to wait for three or four groups of people to finish before you got a turn. But since I left school the first time, I've never seen more than two or three people at a time.

This was the case tonight. There were three guys I immediately recognized when I walked in. They were regulars and frequented the arcade. From my experience, I wouldn't say they're especially sociable. The mostly keep to themselves but won't mind to talk to you if you offer them praise. They were huddled around the In the Groove machine, each cheering on the next. In the Groove is sort of the cousin to DDR. Konami let support for DDR wane and since there were still players still craving more, in came RedOctane to make a half-clone of the four direction dance game. I observed them for about an hour and watched them do some of the most difficult songs I've ever seen. I became disgusted at what DDR had mutated into. It has become this creature composed of unfamiliar pauses, hand presses, and ridiculous streams of notes that cannot be passed without bar hugging. And while this isn't necessarily what In the Groove is completely about, it is what the fans and hardcore players have made it. The game is too easy for them so they try to make it ridiculously difficult. It is my personal opinion that no matter how hard you make a game, there should always be certain rules or guidelines to follow. The game should be available to all players and no one should be left out.

I could sit here are argue my point all night. Some would agree while others completely disagree. I've run through the scenarios in my mind and there's no real right or wrong answer. I think that's what makes this game and life completely worth it. Make up your own mind and then run with it as completely as you like.