Start the revolution

As you previously heard, I fell in love with Dance Dance Revolution the first time that I played it, on New Year's Eve. Since then I have been plotting to acquire my own game. I don't have a PlayStation 2, however (or any sort of gaming console with DDR on it), and buying one just to play DDR would not have been ideal.

Enter StepMania! StepMania is a free and open-source rhythm game that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. :w00t: Essentially it emulates DDR. Not only that, but it works with dance pads. With StepMania, I was one step closer to my own DDR setup.

I needed a dance pad. Either I would have to find a dance pad that connected with USB, or I'd need to get a dance pad and some sort of adapter. Today I went shopping with Laura (who has blogged about that adventure in detail) for a dance pad and (if we needed it) an adapter. I found an Intec dance pad for PS2 at EB Games for only $15, so I snagged that, and I got a $17 PS2 to USB adapter from the Source. ^_^

Got home, ate supper, and then plugged everything in and downloaded StepMania. Lo and behold, success! :jay: No error messages, no big warning screens, no explosions. The dance pad works perfectly except for what appears to be a common problem with some adapters--it doesn't recognise simultaneous up/down or left/right. That's a bit of a problem, since many songs use those moves often. So I'm probably going to have to buy another adapter.

StepMania is an awesome program. Not only does it let me play DDR on my computer, but I can also take my own MP3 files and use them. I just spent my night adding steps for the Hampsterdance Song (what?! :angel:). It an exhausting process. And that song is fast. :ph34r:

De-da-dee-dee-dee-de-do-do ... de-do-dee-dee-do...