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Dance Dance Revolution Exercise Study
krf writes "Gamasutra reports that researchers in West Virgina are doing a study on using DDR to fight childhood obesity." From the article: "The study, which is currently budgeted at $60,000, provides each of the selected 85 child participants with a game system, copy of the game, and dance pad."
Perhaps the link should have pointed to the original AP article:1 4&e=8&u=/ap/20050404/ap_on_he_me/fit_dancing_away_ obesity / dancing.away.obesity.ap/index.html?section=cnn_lat est
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=5
or
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/04
instead of Gamasutra's brief synopsis.
I love that kid's "tough guys wear pink" t-shirt, BTW. He's no wuss, like that StarWarsKid is.
because I've been waiting for a 9th mix forever.
9th Mix is here. Contact your arcade operator, or buy the forthcoming version for PlayStation 2 (NTSC U/C).
Just remember, ddr is a cool game... PERIOD.
More than a cool game, it is The legend. (period)
The pad seen in the photo (in this article) appears to be the Red Octane Ignition. Or, at least, it looks identical to the ones my sister has. Anyway, they cost something like $110 each, not including game. That's still only going to come to $20k or so, but I'm sure a good chunk of the money goes to paying the researchers, paying for medical exams to monitor progress, etc.
$30 pads do not make for a good gaming experience.
Well, I must confess I'm trying to loose weight with DDR myself. I'm doing Ultramix 2 at the moment. 1 hour a day, 5 days a week. I'm up to getting A's on 4 feet dances, passing some 5 feets (the hardness of a song in DDR is measured in feets, 1 feet being easy, 10 being suicide). My main goal is more on getting A's than passin harder songs, as I find I get better faster by practicing my techniques.
:( Since I play on the XBOX, I can't get a cobalt flux, and I've been hearing bad things about the ignition pads and XBOX support. :(
I've had a yo-yo problem with diets for the past four years. I've lost 30 pounds, put 10 back on, lost 5, put 10 back on... now I'm at 160 (175 was my max). I really want to be 140. Actually, what I really want is to wear size 10 jeans. Currently I wear size 12's. I'm female, 5'5". Yes, I'm fat, you don't have to tell me. But at least I'm trying.
I've done many different diets. I eat healthy. I don't ever eat at McDonalds or Burger King. I eat small portions of meat, low-fat frozen yogurt, no candy or chips. I usually stay under 1500 calories a day, 2000 max when I'm being bad. But my metabolism is very slow. I can only drop weight through dieting by going down to 1200 calories a day, then I get dizzy and start fainting. I've done atkins - twice. I lost weight but couldn't keep it off. My best dieting system was the Hacker's Diet, using my palm pc to count calories.
I've had gym memberships. I hate doing cardio on the exercize bikes or on the treadmills. It's so dull. After 5 minutes I'm so bored, that I give up. You can't read while running on a treadmill, and the TV in the gym has no sound. I love to walk outside, but in Seattle, it rains most of the time so I can't walk every day. When I do walk, I walk 3 miles or more.
DDR is something I can do every day, rain or shine. My xbox and my dance pad are always waiting for me. I've been dancing for 2 weeks, and my husband has noticed how toned my legs have gotten! I haven't weighed in this week, but my jeans are getting looser and my butt is firmer. I'm also getting much better at all the jumps and fast steps on DDR. A week ago I couldn't get higher than a D on any song. Last night I got my first A on a 4 feet song, then immediately got another A on another 4 footer. Sweet.
DDR really is a workout. Your heart races, you sweat buckets. But you don't want to quit, because you were SO CLOSE to getting through that song with no Boo's. You ALMOST HAD IT - ONE MORE TRY! So you go back on and do that song again, and again, and again, because it's addictive. But at least this sort of addiction has me exercising rather than just slaying virtual dragons.
I play DDR with a big glass of water next to me. I drink all of it during my workout. I have a timer that lets me know when an hour has passed, so I don't cheat, but usually I play a few more songs after it goes off as I was SO CLOSE to beating "In your eyes", or some other song.
Anyway, I wouldn't say DDR is for everyone. But for those who are saying "go outside" - in Seattle, it's rainy and cold and windy. For those saying "it's a video game - it's not exercise", I dare you to try and get a high score without making your heart thud in your chest. You find yourself bouncing, hopping, jumping, leaping from square to square trying to get your timing just right. It's a better workout than yoga - it's as fast paced as the Step class I took once. Nearly as hard as the spinning class I did last year. And I am having lots of fun.
My only gripe is my pad is dying. It's a cheap softmat, I'm going to have to invest in an ignition pad soon.
Tepp