Weight Loss through Dance Dance Revolution?

An anonymous reader writes "Looking at the beer gut that's developed over the winter, and the excercise schedule that I haven't kept for more than two days at a time, I realize that I need a new plan. A gym isn't the answer; I can't keep a schedule for working out in my apartment, there's no way I could make it to the gym on any regular basis. I've had multiple people in the last few weeks tell me stories involving weight loss through Dance Dance Revolution, and it sounds like a great idea to me! working out is hard, playing video games is easy, and dancing is fun. But a Google search turned up way too much info, and way too little of it was useful unless I want to spend the next four weeks researching this. Does the Slashdot community have any ideas, suggestions, or personal experience that they cared to relate on any of these topics?" "First, what's the best pad to get? What kind of differences are there between pads? Is it worth spending $100+, or will the cheaper pads do? Second, what software is best to use? Ideally I'd like to have something expandable, which means getting a PC rig rather than a PS2 one. Are there any open source DDR-type programs? How does one acquire songs?"