Dance mat!!!

Well, I've been researching the dance mats after getting a link from one of the girls here .....

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise /reviews/dance_mat.htm

Anyway, my bf happens to have a PS2, so I mine as well put it to good use!  I think this looks kinda fun, and it will sure burn calories!

Anyone know where to get all the different games for this thing?

Which kind? Are the arrows pointing up, down, left and right, or to each corner? :)

You need a game called Dance Dance revolution. I think it has a different name in the UK (Dancing Stage, I beleive). The arrows for this game point up, down, left, and right. There are other companies that make games like this, but DDR is my favorite.

You can probably find a bundle somewhere where they sell both the game and the mat. Go to any gaming store or Amazon.com to find these. Playing this game for an hour is just like an aerobic workout. There is also a forum for DDR players:http://getupmove.proboards26.com/

If you see a thread with in it DDR' they are talking about this game.

That's why I was asking what sort of arrows she had, ricen. If she's got the wrong arrows, DDR won't do. Is it.. StepMania that's got the arrows pointing towards the corners?

If the arrows go up down left and right, definately look into DDR :)

I'm getting DDR for sure........ the idea just came from the site ;)

I'm really looking forward to it!  I'm going to a used game store today!

I just played DDR Max II on "heavy" for 30 min, and it thinks I burned 350 calories... anyone have a guess what it might really be?  that seems high, even though it is on heavy mode and it's basically jumping and fast foot hopping for 30 minutes straight.

hey Hkellick, the game where the arrows point to the corners is called Pump it up; its a Korean Game where the emphasis is more on dancing, rather than hitting the arrows. The songs are more 'dancable' and less hi-energy techno. Stepmainia is the PC version of the game where you play with thet keyboard and your fingers. I found it very helpful, as it helped me learn to 'read' the sequences on heavy mode.

Radbird191, that's probably not acurate. I like to use 'calories burned' counters, put in 'low impact aerobics' my weight, and see what it tells me.

Is there one that doesn't require special equipment, just the tv and the mat? I would like to do it, but have no desire to pay $200 for a PS that I don't really want.

No, that can't be right... There's no way I only burned 100 calories in half an hour of "Heavy" mode DDR.  It's gotta be more than that.

I'm going to estimate 250... It says 350, so it's gotta be at least around that, I figure.

Just reviving this thread.  I have a dance mat which just plugs in the tv that I got a few years ago, it has crappy songs though that are similar to the old ringtones.  I want to have something a bit better but without having to shell out for a PS/2. 

We've used the play station DDR for a few years , We have 2 pads and when the kids come over we have contests. This can go on for hours. A matter of fact it's the only game we have for the ps. We love it.

hey there, I have been doing DDR for 5 weeks now.. it took me a while to get past the lite mode but now it's the cardio of choice. My husband and I do it together.. What a hoot. We can do this for a couple hours. Been doing it twice daily to split the burn.. And believe me at our age there is definately burn. Figure it's better than sitting on our butts in the evening.. Anyone else figure out the calorie burn.? Would like to know. We went from sitting to really moving.. Lost 8 lbs before I found this site. Now I am really pumped..

If you put the game on the 'workout mode,' it will tell you how many calories your burning. Beware though, it goes VERY fast, so start out on the lowest setting and then go from there.

I'm going to start this tonight... going home to clean our room and dig out the DDR mat and game from the closet!! I need to lose 16 lbs by November!

DDR is definitely the classic game.... however I prefer Dance Factory... this game allows you to dance to ANY CD so you can pick your own songs... this is much more fun and motivating for me. Also some of the faster stuff I can still DO!! I'm certainly not a dancer and just couldn't do a lot of the steps in DDR, so that wasn't much help to me. This game also has a workout mode and even an endurance mode to see if you can do one whole CD at once!! You also have the classic battle modes and some other special stuff... but the freedom to pick your own songs is really the best!!!!!

P.S. I find it better to log DDR stuff as aerobic exercise.... and that can vary depending on the intensity of your dancing (there are several options on the activity log). The calorie counter on DDR isn't accurate, so it's better to go by how much you did.