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GuitarFreaks doesn't have a home version though.

Actually, there are home versions of GuitarFreaks and DrumMania. The first two mixes were released for the original PlayStation back in '99. The 3rd and 4th mixes were released together with DrumMania 2nd and 3rd respectively on the PS2, preceded by the first DrumMania. After a hiatus, Konami re-launched the home editions with V. (more info here.

As for songs, along the lines of Konami's other rhythm games and unlike Rock Band/Guitar Hero, a majority of the songs are done by in-house artists sprinkled with some covers.

I was going to say this. Actually, there's been a whole community of people using real drums and electronic drums for drumming games. There are also people who create their own pads. I saw one of these years ago but couldn't find the page now. You have some chance reading through http://vdrums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=48 and http://www.bemanistyle.com/forum/f7/

Some of these guys have been making their own pads and drum sets for years, so they might have a little more experience.

Try http://www.stepmania.com/Stepmania for the computer. If you get a converter for your dance pads (I've heard you can get them at Radio Shack), you can have any style of music on DDR that you want! For songs, try http://www.ddruk.com/DDRUK and http://www.bemanistyle.com/Bemani Style.

I have to protect the identity of my sources, but apparently, some studio wants to adapt this book for film, and I've received a leaked copy of the film's theme song.

Download MP3: "Paranoia Theme" by Naoki Maeda

Throw in some stepdancers

Can't you find some of them on the various rhythm game sites?

You seem to have time to play games.

Can you program in VB or VC++? I'll give you some work. Oh, that's right you don't want to work with Microsoft products. Well, then I suggest you start a company that develops Open Sores programs, I hear you can make a lot of money like that. Also, did you ever hear of a thing called telecommuting? How about consulting?

Believe me, I don't feel bad for anyone who *chooses* death over using Microsoft products, I encourage it.

The boxing game you speak of is called Mo-Cap Boxing, and it's produced by Konami, the same company that brings us Dance Dance Revolution, Para Para Paradise, DrumMania and Percussion Freaks (the drumming game you mention), and a wide variety of other motion-sensor and music-based games. Their Bemani division produces all of these (except for Police 911 and Mo-Cap Boxing).

The Korean knock-off is called Pump It Up, and it's produced by Andamiro. It is more difficult, but in my opinion it's not as fun as DDR. The song selection isn't very good. Another Korean knock-off, Techno Motion, basically builds off the Andamiro formula, which says "More arrows *must* mean more fun!" There's also Stepping Selection, by Jaleco, which is the system that is the basis for Britney's Dance Beat. That's a pretty loathsome game there.

Para Para Paradise, for the uninformed, uses five vertically positioned infrared beams placed in a pentagon shape around you. Similarly to DDR, you follow the arrows on the screen and break the light beams at the appropriate time. You don't have to use your feet, unlike DDR - Any body part will do. The orientation of the arrows makes it so that you have to rotate and twist more often, frequently making upper-body motions more efficient and viable. It's named Para Para Paradise because the motions you perform in the game are similar to a type of Japanese karaoke bar dancing called "parapara".

For a good combination of both DDR and Para Para Paradise, try DanceManiax/Dance Freaks. These games have sensors on the front of the machine which you can place your hands/arms/knees/whatever over or under, and foot panels on the bottom similar to DDR.

Bemani makes a lot of other good stuff too (Like Beatmania!), but it's not exercise-oriented, and so I won't mention it here. For anyone interested in Bemani products, take a look at BemaniStyle.com and DDRFreak.

isn't this just like DrumMania, which has been out for years?

DrumMania info

oh, btw, there is a console version.