DDR Overview: A description of the subculture

Dance dance revolution is a music based arcade game designed in the same style as sing star and guitar hero. When playing DDR the player stands on a dance mat with four arrows on it. A screen in front of them shows a display with arrows moving up the screen. When an arrow reaches the top of the screen the player must place their foot on the corresponding arrow or lose a portion of a life bar. When the life bar is empty the player loses the game. The arrows are displayed to match various songs that the user selects from a play list. The arrow sequences are designed so as to give the player the illusion of dancing.

The kind of music that is played in DDR is primarily techno or Jap-pop, although there are a large number of other songs that would not fit under these categories. Despite the diverse style of songs there is a definite binding theme to them, with all the songs being upbeat and light in nature.

It is primarily the scene and origin of DDR that gives the subculture its identity. Originally made in Japan and later exported overseas, the game has a bit of a stigma of only being played by Asian people. In truth though the game is played by a large range of people from all backgrounds, although the age group seems to range between the ages of about 10 and no older than 30.

Being based around an arcade game, the subcultures scene is of course the arcades. With the DDR machines allowing two players at once and in some cases it being free for the second person to play, thus the machine forms a focus for the DDR players which encourages social interaction through the machine. Because of this catalyst for interaction DDR communities can form based around the frequency that people visit any given arcade. With the presence of informal chat such as MSN, newsgroups and forums, players can easily keep in contact and find out if/when there are gatherings.

While the focus of DDR is usually on the person on the mat and how well they can do on any given song, the music is always there and is essential. Because of this and the fact that there is a binding theme to the music, DDR players either already have or develop a taste for the kinds of music played on the machines. This music is by no means ill-made arcade tunes, with songs from DJs such as “DJ TaQ” being part of the play lists, although the songs are more mainstream in Japan.

Overall the subculture of DDR encompasses a wide range of people, although it has many preconceptions made about it. It is a fairly unique musical subculture as it is not based around any one band or philosophy. The actions of people part of the DDR subculture are not influenced by their being part of it. It is because of this that the subculture is so diverse.