Regarding Dance Dance Revolution (or it's various clones)
Tagged with: explanation, games, policies
Dance Dance Revolution will never be played again in my Video Game Room. Before you fire off a hate mail at me, read the rest of this article. I have not come to this decision lightly, and I’m not proud of going back on my word. However, the worst thing to happen during all of NDK 2003 was the Dance Dance Revolution people. Here’s the breakdown:
- The DDR people had the most complaints about the setup. Everyone had their own ideas about how it should be done, and I needed to go and change it just for them. Most people knew better than to whine to my face, but no one had a problem standing in line for DDR and complaining loudly enough that my doorstops got real tired of them by Friday night.
- The most flagrant rules violations came from DDR people. It was clearly posted before we opened: “Do not reach under tables. If there is a problem with a system, please get a Staff member.” Friday night we found the PS2 drug out from under the table and sitting open by the pads.
- It’s also clearly posted that you cannot have food in the VGR. All our doorstops were stopping people who tried to come in with food, so the DDR people started sneaking it in, presumably in their bags. How do we know they did this? They left their wrappers and empty bottles laying next to the pads, where they sat and ate while waiting their turn for the game. We found their garbage laying there when we closed for the night.
- The level of destruction wrought by the DDR people has set a new con record. The nice hard pads that were donated last year lasted 2 hours on Friday night, and then they were gone. The soft pads that we scrounged up lasted us through Saturday evening. Sunday morning, nothing we could do would make DJ Bullock’s Playstation 2 work again. Presumably this was because of the handing of the disc and system that was expressly prohibited. That PS2 was later declared permanently broken, and had to be replaced by the convention.
This is a real dilemma for me, as I want to have popular games in the VGR. I want people coming in and getting excited and playing a lot – it’s why I’m here. I’ve got nothing against DDR, it looks like a lot of fun. It is the actions of the people who play it that have driven me to this, and me and my Staff are not willing to go through what we have to go through in order to have it in the room. Perhaps this is punishing everyone for the actions of a few poorly behaved people. I won’t deny it. But I’m not going to change my mind. I’m sorry to have to go back on a promise I made last year, but I’m never having DDR or any game like it in my room ever again.
Updated 01/02/2007
