| We Have DDR At Home |
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I love playing DDR, but it's one of those games where it's best to experience it at the arcade.
Unfortunately not many arcades have them, and that number is only continuing to shrink.
The nearest one that I could find with the game is Dave and Buster's, which is a 30 minute drive from my house.
There is the home console version of the game, except the cheap plastic soft mat it comes with is horrendous to play on. They're slippery, wrinkly, and lack the handbar. It's not like I can just purchase an official cabinet either. Konami only licenses their arcade machines to a few select companies at exorbitant prices. Even their old cabinets such as Extreme and SuperNova are rare and expensive. I really want to have the arcade-like experience at home but I don't have the budget for the real deal. Well, it turns out there is another option! |
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Okay I'll admit, this doesn't look anything like an arcade cabinet.
It's not even running the official game.
It's StepMania reskinned to look like DDR.
But this is the compromise you get when working with a budget.
However, I think this is a really convenient setup. Having it on wheels makes it easy to move around. The wide legs also give enough room to slide the pad underneath once you're done playing. The TV is attached by a vesa mount which itself hooks onto the stand, making it easy to take apart. Using StepMania also means I can easily load up custom charts. There's a big community with talented map makers producing simfiles for pretty much every song out there. |
| Construction |
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| Most of the parts here were sourced from my local Microcenter. That includes the 43" LG TV, the InLand Heavy-Duty cart, and the Edifier G2000 speakers. The hard mat itself is an L-TEK EX Pro X w/ the handbar. Personally I'm not a fan of their handbar, it's not as sturdy as I would like it. |
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| This panel was my lame attempt at trying to add an arcade aesthetic. It's honestly so awkward and elongated that I already began working on a new panel that is smaller and more faceted. |
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| The Computer |
| When it came to selecting which computer to use, I needed one that was small and yet powerful enough to run the game. Like my previous project, that lead me to get myself another Dell Optiplex. You can get a used Dell Optiplex Micro for dirt cheap prices nowadays. Here I 3d printed a simple mount for it to sit behind the TV. |
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Originally this computer came with Windows 11 installed.
Since I only needed a minimal OS to run Stepmania, I replaced it with Debian OS instead.
With the addition of i3WM, you have a very lightweight desktop operating system.
It genuinely only takes 15 seconds to boot to the game.
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| Conclusion |
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While this project is still a work in progress, I'm already having a blast playing!
Another reason why I really wanted to make this is because it's a great way to exercise.
Some charts require a ridiculous amount of stamina and mental reflexes.
If you're a rhythm gamer looking to shed some weight or just wanting to get into rhythm games, DDR might be for you!
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| Links |
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LG 43" UHD TV
InLand Heavy-Duty Cart Dell Optiplex 3070 Micro L-TEK EX Pro X w/ Handbar Uxcell Arcade Push Button Arcade Keyboard Encoder |
